CLEARWATER, Fla. — Two medics in Clearwater have been fired following an internal investigation into an incident in February where a man was mistakenly declared dead.
Clearwater Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Ehlers announced the findings of the investigation in a press conference on Friday.
"They failed their oath of office and they failed this patient, his family and the citizens of Clearwater," Chief Ehlers said.
According to Chief Ehlers, Sebastian Pickens and Jacob Rivero were dispatched to a home on Feb. 15 at 9:55 a.m. The call was for an unconscious person.
While en route, Chief Ehlers said the call was upgraded to one for a cardiac arrest because CPR was being administered. The upgrade provides more resources, including an EMS supervisor and an additional advanced life support unit.
Chief Ehlers detailed the following timeline of the incident:
- Medics arrived at 10:00:35
- 10:01:49 they reported at patient
- 10:01:58 they reported a confirmed death
"Within that short period of time, they stated they assessed the patient and determined he was deceased," Chief Ehlers said.
At that time, according to the chief, the medics canceled all responding units and notified law enforcement.
A short time later, Chief Ehlers said agonal respiration, which the National Library of Medicine describes as a "gasping breath," was witnessed. At that time, Chief Ehlers said the medics put a sheet over the man instead of performing another assessment.
Chief Ehlers said the breath should have led the medics to reassess their findings.
"This is where they failed," Chief Ehlers said.
Phoebe Maxwell said she performed CPR on her father, Thomas, until the medics arrived.
"I was still doing mouth-to-mouth. My friend's doing chest compressions. My mom's calling 911. They’re asking her if you have a defibrillator," said Maxwell.
Officials said the medics left after deputies from the sheriff's office arrived. Nearly half an hour later, at 10:28 a.m., Largo Fire Rescue crews arrived at the home after one of the deputies noticed that the man was still breathing, according to Clearwater Fire. The Largo crew treated the man and transported him to a local hospital.
"I've been doing this for 45 years. The job of a firefighter is to help people; it's the bottom line. They didn't help anybody," Chief Ehlers said.
In February, Maxwell said she was furious over the actions of the paramedics.
"You’re still supposed to do anything to save a person's life. That EMT chose to do nothing," said Maxwell.
"If it wasn’t for that sheriff's deputy and Largo Fire and Rescue, my dad would probably be dead," she later added.
Maxwell said she still lives with the trauma.
"I have nightmares all the time. I don't sleep well, getting up, checking on him all the time," Maxwell explained.
Thomas Maxwell said he woke up in a hospital room after spending nearly two days in a coma.
"I was quite dumbfounded. Let’s leave it at that. I don’t recall any of it," said Thomas.
We told Chief Ehlers Maxwell and her family said they don't know if they'll ever trust first responders again. It nearly brought him to tears.
"That cuts to the core of my heart... And it tears me apart to see individuals in this profession that do not have the compassion," Ehlers replied.
