Four Springfield Twp. officials on leave after allegedly declaring woman dead who was still alive

SPRINGFIELD TWP., Ohio (WTVG) - Multiple officials are on paid administrative leave after first responders allegedly declared a woman dead who was still alive.

Springfield Township Fire Chief Barry Cousino, Assistant Fire Chief David Moore, and two paramedics, Aiden Yoon and Bill Fordyce, are on paid administrative leave amid an investigation into possible misconduct from the incident on Jan. 2, 2024.

Emergency crews for both Toledo and Springfield Twp. responded to an overdose inside a home on the 6100 block of West Bancroft in Toledo, around 7:30 a.m.

Police-worn body cam footage shows crews first dealing with a dog before touching the woman in question. Once the dog is dealt with and the focus shifts to the woman lying in the bed, both crews come to a decision on the woman’s condition.

Springfield Twp. firefighters on Life Squad 10 called a doctor over the radio to get the official death declaration. When the Coroner’s Office is called in to take over, though, Chief Investigator Barry Porter found the woman was still alive. That’s when EMS crews were called back to the scene and the woman was taken to an area hospital “for further observation and follow up,” according to a police report.

So, how does this happen? How did these emergency crews pronounce her dead but she turned out not to be dead?

According to the Twp. Administrator, Michael Hampton, hopefully, the internal investigation can help answer those questions.

“The situation is tragic. It shouldn’t have happened and we’re very sorry that it did. 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,” said Hampton.

A ProMedica representative tells the I-TEAM they did not have any information on a patient with the name we provided.

Springfield Township said in its statement Tuesday that they believe the patient remains in intensive care.

We made several attempts to contact that patient, even going to a last known address, but we have not been able to locate her.

A Toledo Fire and Rescue Department spokesman says the incident is still under investigation and would not provide us with records surrounding it until the case is closed.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.