CLEARWATER, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida family is furious after two first responders declared a man dead when he was very much still alive, and now the paramedics are out of a job.
Back in February, Phoebe Maxwell said she found her father Thomas on the floor of his Clearwater home faintly breathing, so she called 911 and began CPR.
“When I was giving my dad CPR, his chest was rising and falling,” she said.
But when a Clearwater Fire & Rescue crew showed up, Maxwell said, the medics told her to stop, because her father was already dead.
“I said, ‘He is still alive. He’s not dead!'” she said.
Maxwell said it’s a memory that still haunts her, as she recalls hearing her father gasp for air.
She said that law enforcement showed up and witnessed agonal respiration, essentially a gasping breath, after the medics on scene had already left, failing to reassess Thomas and placing a sheet over his body.
“The fact that the patient had an agonal respiration should have indicated to the two medics they should have reassessed their initial findings,” said Clearwater Fire & Rescue Chief Scott Ehlers. “This is where they failed and showed no concern for family pleas or a second consideration for the patient.”
Both medics had years of service.
Ehlers said this was not an equipment issue but a lack of compassion.
Both medics were fired for not following proper protocol, but Maxwell said the trauma lives on.
“I have nightmares all the time. I don’t sleep well, and [I’m] getting up, checking on him all the time,” she said.
Maxwell said her father, who is still alive, was angry at first. Now, he’s resentful.
“He says it’s hard. He doesn’t ever want to deal with 911 again,” she said.
Hearing that nearly brought Ehlers to tears.
“That cuts to the core of my heart,” he said. “Again, I’ve been doing this for 45 years. Our whole purpose for this, for the people that are out there, that is why we are what we are.”
The two fired paramedics could have their state certification revoked. A Pinellas County medical director will look into whether a recommendation should be issued.
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