Denver firefighters suspended for getting living woman declared dead

Two Denver firefighters have been suspended without pay for getting a woman declared dead even though she was still alive, CBS Colorado reports.

It incident happened June 24. 

According to a disciplinary letter obtained by The Denver Post through an open records request, Lt. Patrick Lopez and firefighter Marshall Henry responded to do a welfare check after a man called to say he hadn't had any contact from daughter, who'd just had stomach surgery, for several days.

According to the Post, Denver police Officer Eugene McComas went into the home and found her inside, and she appeared to be dead.

Without going inside, CBS Colorado says, Lopez dialed the on-call doctor at Denver Health Medical Center to get her declared dead, then gave the phone to Henry, who also hadn't seen her. 

According to the Post, "Henry relayed the police officer's description of the woman as though he had made the observations, saying 'she is bloated and obviously dead,' according to the letter. The doctor asked Henry whether the woman had a pulse or if there were signs of trauma and Henry said no, despite not having assessed her or looked at her himself."

The doctor declared her dead.

But then, the Post reports, McComas went back inside and saw her moving. He called an ambulance back to the house and she was brought to a hospital, the letter says.

She lived, Department of Safety records administrator Andrea Webber said, according to the Post.

Henry reported the incident the same day, the Post said, citing the letter, adding that Lopez reported it after he found out Henry had. 

Both Lopez and Henry were suspended without pay. Lopez was demoted.

The Post quotes Mary Dulacki, chief deputy executive director of the Denver Department of Public Safety as saying in the letter that, "The serious nature of this misconduct cannot be understated — the patient was pronounced, though she was in fact alive, and the medical care she deserved was delayed."