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I have personally helped bring two people back with CPR and an AED

That's something to be proud of.

My parents both rode an ambulance for a long, long time. They made one save of an adult between them, and have always said that CPR is a waste of time, unless the person drops right in front of you. In the case of the save they made, the guy dropped dead, literally on top of Dad. (literally fell on to him. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Dad told him not to play the lottery ever again....)

Now - kids are a different story. Mom made a handful of saves on kids that stopped breathing. But - with the specific exception I discussed - this story was spot on about adults.

In fairness, both of the events I was involved with were witnessed and trained rescuers were immediately at hand.

I agree that outside of a very narrow window, any attempt at resuscitation is likely to be futile, or worse...

But yes, I have seen heroic efforts being expended on deceased persons even though they are cold and livor mortis has set in. I don't know why this is. Perhaps it is a product of people being afraid of liability for not attempting rescue, or because ‘medical authority’ isn't on hand to confirm what should be plainly evident, that the person is deceased. I recall back in the 80’s, when air ambulance services were getting established, having quite a few of my accident victims getting flown when they were OBVIOUSLY DOA. I guess someone had to pay for those birds - it was $2,500/hr once the blades started turning. Used to p*ss me off royally because then I had to drive 50 miles to the trauma center and find that my dead person had now been operated on (thoracotomy). Plus I now had to deal with the big city ME instead of my local coroner.

Even worse, I have seen mindless adherence to regulation resulting in deceased persons homes being turned into and searched as a crime scene, even though they have a long charted terminal illness and opted to die at home, surrounded by family, rather than in a sterile ICU with tubes in every opening. Just because someone died outside of a clinical setting. It was one of the regulations my department implemented without any thought of the consequences. Truly mind boggling.