Detroit medics fired, accused of not giving CPR to man in cardiac arrest

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Two Detroit medics both fired accused of not performing CPR when it could have saved a life.

A 30-year-old man was having a heart attack -- and died. Now one of the medics is sharing his story. The Detroit fire commissioner is not talking about what happened but the family of victim Patrick Clemons, is. 

"I just felt like I failed him," said Nancy Hodges, Patrick's aunt. "I am running and screaming his name, 'Patrick, Patrick, and he never answered. I didn't know that he was gone."

It was January 4th, early in the morning when the call came in about a man falling at a Detroit apartment complex. But in a matter of hours, Clemons, 30, would be dead.

"But his eyes were up, like back," Hodges said. "I didn't know he was gone until we got to the hospital. They never did anything. The only thing they did was say 'You're too big, look at us. You are going to have to get up.'"

In a complaint, Clemons' mom said Patrick was sweating, had chest pain and couldn't catch his breath. 

He was claiming he had to walk to the stretcher himself from inside and nothing was done for him until he was loaded into the back of the ambulance. His aunt was there.

"Never when we were there did they reach out, do anything," said Hodges. 

Now a formal complaint has been filed through Detroit EMS administration, alleging "inappropriate care."

The medics Julian Holts a paramedic and Michael Morgan, an EMT, were fired, pending an arbitration.

Morgan was the one riding in the back with Patrick Clemons.

"Doing CPR, saying 'Please don't go, this is not your time,'" Morgan said. "(I said) 'You have a family that loves you, you have a mother, a grandmother, you have everyone that loves you.'"  

FOX 2 spoke with Morgan over the phone in an impromptu call while we were interviewing his union leadership who back up him and his partner - 100 percent. They said he's saved lives before and was even awarded for keeping a teen girl alive.

"Nothing to lead anyone to believe they weren't totally and fully engaged in providing appropriate patient care," said William Harp, vice-president, Detroit Firefighters Association. "On this run and every other run they've been on."

The union says based on the situation and Clemons' heart monitoring readings, the compressions and care given were the right call.

"I didn't get into this job to not save a life," Morgan said. "The city hired me to do a job, and to do it the correct way."

FOX 2: "In your mind you did everything you could?"

"Yes," Morgan said.

The state is also investigating this case. There was a hearing this week in front of an administrative judge.

Clemons' mom now has an attorney, she referred questions to him.

The union has said it has concerns about the heart monitor and whether or not it is accurate and if it actually works. In fact, they say they filed a grievance against this particular heart monitor in terms of the amount of time they had to evaluate it in the field. 

They say that the EMTs that were there and the paramedic had never worked with that heart monitor before.