Word or phrase that means to ascertain whether someone is alive or dead

Question

Diagnose comes close to this meaning, but the result of a diagnosis is not usually a binary classification. I'd like a word or phrase that means to determine whether someone is alive or dead, or analogously, a word or phrase that means to determine whether a device is functioning or broken.

Answer 1

Not sure there is a single word for this- 'triage' is possibly more apt than diagnose as it has more of a sense of life and death. However, it also does not result in a binary classification.

Answer 2

Triage ("the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition ... from the French verb trier, meaning to separate, sift or select") has been mentioned, but I'll write a bit more about it anyway. The wikipedia article on triage says

At its most primitive, those responsible for the removal of the wounded from a battlefield ... have divided victims into three categories:
• Those who are likely to live, regardless of what care they receive;
• Those who are likely to die, regardless of what care they receive;
• Those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference in outcome.

Techniques of triage are taught in medical school (during emergency-room or critical-care rotations) to allow coping with catastrophes.

Answer 3

For devices in computer networks, ping is the common word.

Ping the server to find if it's busy.

For human beings, check or check up stands for this meaning and is also easily understandable.

The doctor checked his pulse to ascertain his death.

Answer 4

It's not one word, but viability check may fit your bill

Answer 5

I cannot think of a one-word answer that means to check if somebody is alive or dead. However, if triage will not fit the bill, then you can consider palpation, which is "the act of feeling or pushing on various parts of a patient’s body to determine medical condition such as the normality of organs or the presence or absence of tumors, swelling, muscle tension, etc.". I've listed it here as, unlike diagnosis which is about identifying the cause of an illness, palpation is more about checking if something is wrong (or not). It, however, isn't applicable when it comes to checking for life or death.

Palpation is similar to diagnosis, albeit accomplished solely through touch, and is something performed as part of a diagnosis. A verb, palpate, also exists. It is not to be confused with palpitate or palpitation which are quite different.

The image below is captioned "Palpation of a man's chest":

Incidentally, while checking to see if there was something along the lines of vitametry or vitameter, I came across a company named "LifeScan" peddling a glucometer under the moniker of "One Touch Vita meter".