I'm just wondering, if you have no pulse, are you considered dead?

Two ways to be dead: In the U.S. And most countries, there are two ways to be diagnosed as dead: brain death and cardiac death. Brain death occurs when there is no longer brain function. This is generally diagnosed with a brain flow study - if there is no blood flow to the brain, then the brain is dead. The heart may still be beating but you are legally dead. Cardiac death means the heart has ceased to beat. No pulse.