Paramedics declare woman dead and leave — then coroner finds her alive, officials say

Two paramedics couldn’t find a woman’s pulse, so they declared her dead and left the scene, Ohio officials said.

Then the coroner saw she was trying to breathe.

“This situation is tragic. It should not have happened,” Michael Hampton, the Springfield Township Administrator, wrote in a letter to residents shared Jan. 23. “We’re sorry it did.”

The town is investigating the Jan. 2 incident and has placed both paramedics and two fire officials on administrative leave.

Springfield Township first responders arrived at the scene of a possible overdose in Toledo, officials said

Four minutes after the call was placed, medical personnel found a woman lying unresponsive on a couch with blue/gray skin.

However, they couldn’t treat her right away because a “large, aggressive” dog was at her side, “growling and unwilling to move,” officials said.

They couldn’t lure the dog away from the woman, so they had to wait more than 40 minutes for the dog warden to come and secure the animal.

By that point, paramedics reported the woman was “cold and stiff,” and without a noticeable pulse. They called their supervising physician, who walked them through the steps to confirm she was dead.

Once they declared her dead, officials said, they called police investigators and the coroner to take over, and left the scene.

The coroner’s staff examined the woman’s body, and “observed that the patient appeared to be trying to breathe,” officials said.

They administered multiple doses of Narcan and began CPR. Additional medical personnel arrived at the scene and took her to the hospital.

Town officials believe she is still in intensive care.

In the letter to residents, Hampton described both paramedics as “very experienced,” but said the town’s legal counsel will conduct an internal investigation and evaluate what should have been done differently.

The chief and assistant fire chief are under investigation as well, while officials determine whether they followed policy after the incident.

“My promise to you is that we’ll get to the bottom of what happened and do everything we can to improve,” Hampton wrote.

This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Paramedics declare woman dead and leave — then coroner finds her alive, officials say."