CLEARWATER, Fla. — Two medics with Clearwater Fire and Rescue were fired after pronouncing an alive man dead back in February, the department announced Friday.
Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department Chief Scott Ehlers says after an internal investigation, medics Sebastian Pickens and Jacob Rivero have been fired.
"First and foremost, I would like to apologize to the family for the lack of concern that these two medics displayed on that call. I am truly sorry," the chief said Friday during a news conference.
"They failed their oath of office and they failed this patient, his family and the citizens of Clearwater," Ehlers said in part. "The job of a firefighter is to help people, is the bottom line. They didn't help anybody."
The two medics from Station 47 responded to a cardiac arrest call around 10 a.m. on Feb. 15. at a private residence in unincorporated Pinellas County.
Once at the home, the two medics took less than ten seconds to pronounce a 65-year-old man dead, according to their termination and dismissal notice. The medics reported their initial assessment included checks for pulses and respirations, and they found the man wasn't breathing and was without a pulse.
"After the arrival of Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies, the two fire medics left the scene," the initial news release explained. "A PCSO deputy noticed the patient was breathing and requested medical crews to return to the scene."
Less than 30 minutes later, Largo Fire Rescue crews were called out to the home and began patient care, which resulted in the man being taken to a nearby hospital, according to the statement.
When asked about what the medics should've done, Chief Ehlers said in part the medics "should've reaccessed the basics and they missed that. It's as simple as that. They missed the basics that they should've accomplished. And that is at the lowest level of training, is basic life support."
10 Tampa Bay spoke with the cardiac arrest patient, now 66-year-old Thomas Maxwell. Maxwell was rushing out to a doctor's appointment shortly after the chief announced Pickens' and Sebastian's terminations.
"I'm okay," he said when asked how he was recovering.
His daughter, Phebe Maxwell shared how much of a toll the event has taken on her entire family.
"You know, I have to call my family in Ohio, tell them that my dad was dead," Phebe Maxwell said. "And then 10 minutes later, I have to call them back. And so of course, they thought it was crazy."
Maxwell said the medics took barely longer than a moment to check on her dad before pronouncing him dead.
"Those EMTs — there was no compassion, no empathy like they just didn't care," she said. "You know, if you have a job like that, you're supposed to care.
When asked if there was a concern over events like this severing the trust people have in first responders, Chief Ehlers got a bit choked up in responding.
"That cuts to the core of my heart," Ehlers said. After a long pause, he continued, "Again, I've been doing this for 45 years. Our whole purpose for this [is] for the people that are out there, that is why we are what we are, that is why we're paramedics, that is why we firefighters."
Watch the full news conference below