Michigan suspends licenses for two paramedics who declared woman dead but was alive at Detroit funeral home
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - The State of Michigan has suspended the licenses of two paramedics who declared a woman dead but was later found to be breathing at a Detroit funeral home.
The City of Southfield said it received a notification from the state that the licenses of two of the paramedics who pronounced Timesha Beauchamp, 20, dead have been suspended while two other paramedics will likely have their license suspended as well.
The city said it received notices Friday and that all four firefighters involved are on paid administrative leave while the city investigates.
Firefighters found Beauchamp unresponsive in her home around 7:30 Sunday morning.
When paramedics arrived, they determined the 20-year-old wasn't breathing and performed CPR and other life-reviving methods for 30 minutes. "Given medical readings and the condition of the patient, it was determined at that time that she did not have signs of life," read a statement from the Southfield Fire Department.
Fire Chief Johnny Menifee said on Wednesday the firefighters checked three different times for vital signs but none of them showed any signs of life.
"They checked her vital signs on three separate occasions, each time Ms. Beauchamp didn't show any signs of life," Menifee said. "At each intersection with medical science, our paramedics and the patient showed no signs of life."
Manifee said the firefighters feel terrible about what happened and were placed on leave.
He also said that the family's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, has made inaccurate statements about how Beauchamp was treated.
He said she was not taken away in a body bag, the fire department contacted a doctor, and the police department did contact a medical examiner.
Menifee affirms the crews followed standard medical procedure, despite an ambulance not being called.
"The main theory is after we are done doing CPR as medical providers and administering medications to try to revive the patient, it's thought after we stop, then those medications may have time to circulate to the arterial system to the heart," said Dr. David Donaldson.
Donaldson says Lazarus Syndrome is extremely rare with less than 50 reported cases. He says it usually happens around 10 minutes after a patient is declared dead.
"There have been cases described hours later, just the majority of them occur within the first 10 minutes," the doctor said. "It's extremely rare, I know there are fears of being pronounced deceased and you're not and what transpired after but exceedingly rare. But again I've never seen it, I would not be overly concerned about it."
Donaldson says he doesn't know the specifics of this case so he is unable to comment on if he believes Beauchamp experienced Lazarus Syndrome.