CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Clearwater woman's father was found breathing after paramedics declared him dead.
Phoebe Maxwell said her father, Thomas, suffered a cardiac arrest on Feb. 15.
She performed CPR until paramedics 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 Phoebe Maxwell.
Two fire medics with Clearwater Fire and Rescue responded to the call around 10 a.m. The paramedics from Station 47 declared the 65-year-old man deceased, according to a spokesperson for the City of Clearwater.
RELATED: 2 Clearwater fire medics clinically suspended after mistakenly declaring patient dead, officials say
Maxwell is 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.
After the arrival of a deputy from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the two fire medics left the home. A Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy noticed the patient breathing and requested medical crews to return to the scene.
Largo Fire Rescue crews were dispatched to the home and arrived at 10:28 a.m. They began patient care that ultimately resulted in the patient's transport to a local hospital.
"If it wasn’t for that sheriff's deputy and Largo Fire and Rescue, my dad would probably be dead," said Maxwell.
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 Maxwell.
The two Clearwater Fire & Rescue medics are on administrative duty and have been clinically suspended by Pinellas County’s EMS medical director. At this point, the two fire medics cannot provide any patient care.
“Upon notification of this incident, we immediately removed both fire medics from their normal duties and discontinued their abilities to provide patient care, in conjunction with the county’s medical director,” said Fire Chief Scott Ehlers.
“On behalf of the city, I apologize for the actions and the inactions of our crew during this incident. We have strict policies and procedures in place that were not followed, according to our preliminary review. These two did not perform to the standard of care that our citizens expect and deserve. We will address this incident swiftly.”
“Our first responders proudly serve our community each and every day, and they are expected to help people when they need it the most,” said Interim City Manager Jennifer Poirrier.
“When this does not occur at the level at which we expect, it is incumbent upon us to determine exactly what happened, why it happened, and then ensure it will never happen again.”
