Paramedics fired after wrongly pronouncing man dead

Almost three months ago, Thomas Maxwell was declared dead by Clearwater paramedics – but he wasn't. Now, the two first responders who were initially placed on administrative leave have been fired.

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[olewornhat]

Revoke their certifications. They are too sloppy to be paramedics.

[thomaschodak]

i'm an EMT and what these paramedics did pisses me off if they arrive and the family is doing CPR on the patient they should have done something instead of looking at him for a minute and declaring him dead without doing any kind of assessment is wrong i'm glad they are fired it's clear they didn't follow their states protocols

[missyjohnson]

As a nurse, this appalls me 🤦🏻‍♀️ Having a job in the medical field is stressful and oftentimes overwhelming to the point of getting completely burnt out at times; but when a paramedic, equipped with thousands of dollars of equipment at their disposal, can’t or won’t evaluate a patient’s basic ABCs competently, they obviously have no compassionate drive for their community and therefore, they should seek other employment…it’s time.

[tarabauerle]

My father in law was pronounced dead in the hospital after his ventilator was removed. He was still hooked up to the monitors. The preacher was in the middle of praying and I saw him take a breath. He did eventually die 12 hours later, but he definitely was still alive then. His family all had to go through the worst moments twice. It was terrible.

[ericamoore]

That poor chief. You can tell he adores his job

[adamxcix]

As a paramedic that is reprehensible! You need to confirm asystole in at least a 4 lead before you call someone

[openseekeroftruth]

Those medics didn't give a sh*t! Bottom line.🤦🏻‍♀

[Rebecca-hcju]

Wow!! Smh!! What if he was one of their loved ones?!!
*Edit* Thank God his wife and daughter were there!! This man has not finished his purpose here on the earth!

[LonelyOutlaw]

June of 2021 my Dad had COVID and was having trouble breathing. He was hesitant to go to the hospital, but I was able to convince him to go. We called the ambulance and when the EMTs arrived, they began questioning my Dad and when he said he was having trouble breathing they began attempting to convince him to not go to the hospital. They said things like, "well... We can take you but there's probably not much they can do for you." I was like.... Are you kidding me? You're trying to convince him to stay home?? What if it's something serious!? Finally my Dad said he wanted to go, and they took him.

Turns out he had bilateral pneumonia. He's fine now but I was really upset and disappointed with the EMTs. That's when my distrust began.

[LJ]

Paramedics diagnosed my brother with asthma at 30 something years old when he’d never had asthma before. Turns out, the ED doc on duty took their word for it, did no further work up until our sister who’s a nurse told doc to do X-ray. Turns out he had a complete aortic dissection and was bleeding out into his lungs explaining why he couldn’t breathe when paramedics picked him up 🤬

[brendawolf]

I worked as a medical first responder, we were not allowed to pronounce a DOA, we had to have a Dr. make that call

[kindredmalise]

Isn't this why most paramedics and doctors keep going like until 5 minutes after?

[retired]

Wow, human incompetence overwhelmingly clear. 🤦🤦

[sunnyscott]

Doctors are the ones who pronounce patients dead...not paramedics.

[griceltorres]

Can they also charge them for negligence and revoke their certification. You can't just show up as a first responder and say "okay yeah he is dead " and not attempt to do anything at all!?
Either they didn't care or they are severely and dangerously incompetent!

[Rob_Basich]

The worst part is, there were two of them and neither one knew better.

[nicholaspatti]

In new York City. A coroner is the only one that can pronounce you dead.

[watsonspuzzle]

Yes, revoke their certifications. They didn't want to be bothered. They didn't even try.

[BooWhooLosers]

Can only imagine how many people died from these two paramedics. You know it’s not the first time. They’re too comfortable with their decisions. I’m sure their body count adds up to serial killer status. Disgusting. They need to examine the calls these medics pronounced people deceased.

[carolechenowith]

I rushed home from work once( I was 80 miles from home) because the person watching my mom who had dementia told me that she wasn't responding to anything. I told her to call 911. They came, told me that she " wasn't coming back" meaning that she would be like that til she died. I get to the hospital and she's sitting up in bed and says " hi hon". Paramedics should not be able to say anything they want. I was pissed at them.