SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Multiple Springfield Township Fire & EMS employees are under investigation after paramedics mistakenly declared a woman dead while responding to a possible drug overdose.
The two Springfield Twp. paramedics who responded to the incident on Jan. 2 in Toledo and declared 31-year-old Arielle Diaz dead have been placed on administrative leave and their procedure is under evaluation, according to a letter addressed to residents from Springfield Twp. Administrator Michael Hampton. The paramedics are not named in the letter.
Springfield Fire Chief Barry Cousino and Assistant Fire Chief David Moore have both also been placed on administrative leave. They were not at the scene — which Springfield Twp. responded to because of a mutual aid contract with Lucas County — but are still under investigation for "whether they followed policies and procedures and proper chain of command in the days following the incident," Hampton's letter states.
The township's board of trustees first learned of the incident on Monday, Hampton announced at the trustees meeting on Tuesday.
The paramedics found Diaz "lying unresponsive on the couch" with a "blue/grayish" skin color when they arrived at the location, according to the letter. However, "a large, aggressive pit-bull dog" was at the woman's side and "unwilling to move."
Police and paramedics unsuccessfully attempted to lure the dog away to begin treating Diaz. They also contacted the dog warden, who secured the dog after taking more than 40 minutes to arrive, Hampton's letter states.
"The paramedics observed that the patient was cold and stiff," the letter states. "They found no pulse, which led them to believe she was dead."
The paramedics then called their supervising physician who walked them through multiple steps to confirm Diaz was dead.
WTOL reviewed police body cam, 911 calls and dispatch communication to piece together the events of the day.
Around 7:30 on Jan. 2, a man called 911 to report that he was awakened by a barking dog from upstairs at a residence on West Bancroft Street. When he went upstairs, he saw Diaz, his friend's girlfriend, lying on the couch, unresponsive.
At 7:44 a.m., police officers arrived and asked the caller about Diaz and if there were treats in the home to lure the dog away from her. The dog was found sitting on the Diaz's arm and the officer can be heard saying, "he's a good-sized one. You've got to be kidding me."
During the next several minutes, officers try to get the dog's attention and wonder whether they can pepper-spray him to get him to move. At one point, they can be seen tossing pepperoni treats toward the dog, which makes no attempts to move.
The dog warden was notified and an employee eventually arrived to remove the dog at 8:24 a.m., more than 40 minutes after efforts were made to reach Diaz.
A Toledo police report said that Diaz was pronounced dead at 8:28 a.m. That announcement can be heard on the body cam video.
The coroner's office and police investigators were called to the scene and the paramedics left. While examining the body, the coroner observed Diaz still trying to breathe. CPR and Narcan were used to revive her.
At 10:23, nearly two hours after she was declared dead, Diaz was transported to ProMedica Flower Hospital. Her current condition is not known.
An internal investigation conducted by the Springfield Twp. Board of Trustees' legal counsel into the incident itself and the administrative response ordered is underway.
"The situation is tragic. It shouldn't have happened, and we're very sorry that it did," Hampton said at the trustees meeting. "Our internal investigation will certainly get to the bottom of what happened, and we'll provide the public with as much transparency as we legally can."
While the investigation is underway, Battalion Chief Jon Ziehr has been appointed acting fire chief to replace Cousino and Battalion Chief Andrew Sauder has been appointed assistant fire chief to replace Moore.
It is not known what efforts paramedics took to revive Diaz. Dennis Cole, Lucas County's director of emergency services, was asked to provide the protocol that county paramedics must follow to declare a person dead. Those protocols were not provided by Wednesday evening.
Guidelines written by the National Association of State EMS Officials say that resuscitation efforts should be performed on an unresponsive individual unless there are obvious signs of death, such as decapitation or blunt force trauma. The same guidelines say that a heart monitor should be used on apparent drug overdose victims to detect any signs of a heart rhythm.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information obtained through police body cam, 911 calls and dispatch communication.