Last June, a Denver firefighter told a Denver Health Medical Center physician that a patient he had responded to was dead. There was a huge problem with that assessment though. The woman was still moving, according to a disciplinary record.

Firefighter Marshall Henry was given a 10-day shift — 240 hours of suspension — without pay for “misusing his authority,” according to the Departmental Order of Disciplinary Action obtained by The Denver Gazette. The report shows that Henry’s supervisor, Patrick Lopez, was demoted from lieutenant to firefighter and given a 14-day shift — 336 hour — suspension without pay over the incident.

In a statement, Denver Fire Department spokesperson JD Chism said that the department “…took immediate action to address this incident and ensure the patient was transported and admitted to the hospital.” He said that the woman was treated in the ICU and eventually released from the hospital. 

Firefighters work on average nine 24-hour shifts per month. 

The records explain that June 24, Denver Engine 19 was called to help two Denver police officers look in on a person whom relatives said they hadn’t heard from for five days. They told authorities that the woman had recently undergone stomach surgery.

Fire crews met officers at the residence and forced the door open. Police then found the woman, and relayed to waiting firefighters, who were still outside, that she was “bloated and had signs of lividity.”

Instead of assessing the situation themselves, Lopez took the officer’s word for it, called the hospital and handed the phone to Henry, who then told a Denver Health Medical Center physician that the woman was in an advanced stage of death.

“Is the patient pulseless and asystolic?” the report said the doctors asked. Henry answered that she was, according to the document.  

Henry acknowledged in his internal interview that he should have gone inside and checked for a pulse, according to the disciplinary record.

Denver Fire Department Patient Care Protocols stipulate that personnel must assess the patient from the scene.

After the doctor pronounced the patient deceased over the phone, fire crews left area. That’s when a Denver Police officer went back inside the home to check for weapons, the report said, and saw the woman’s head twitching.

Engine 19 returned and helped paramedics take the woman to an unnamed hospital for treatment. Henry realized his mistake and notified his District Chief and an EMS educator right way, according to the document.

During his internal affairs interview, Lopez explained that he thought this may be a crime scene.

“I made the call that none of the crew would go inside based on the officers’ statement that ‘you do not need to go inside,’” he told the disciplinary team.

The officer denied telling the Denver Fire crew not to go inside, according to the order, and the investigation revealed it was more likely than not that Lopez had lied to his supervisors in order to shift blame to the officer.

The disciplinary review stipulated that neither Lopez nor Henry had prior violations. Chism said that both have served their suspensions and are back on the job.