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GILBERT, Arizona (KNXV) — A local surgeon is now raising new questions after an East Valley toddler was pronounced dead only to be found alive hours later in the hospital morgue.
The ABC15 Investigators broke the story, giving the public a first look at the body-camera video from inside Gilbert Mercy Medical Center.
The video is from Super Bowl Sunday but was just released this month. The heavily redacted and blurred video, provided by Gilbert police, captures the response to a near drowning involving an 18-month-old.
“I mean, when you read the police report, it’s a little shocking,” said Dr. Keith Zacher.
Zacher is a local doctor who has over a decade of experience as a trauma surgeon.
He has reviewed the public records released in this case but has not seen the medical records associated with the call.
Along with body-camera video, Gilbert police have released a more than 150-page police report detailing key moments from the response and a minute-by-minute breakdown of what happened at Mercy Gilbert
At 6:03 p.m., the ambulance carrying the toddler arrived at the hospital
Ten minutes later, at 6:13 p.m., one officer noted the doctor talking about measurements that were “incompatible with life” before walking toward the room where the boy’s parents were waiting.
Another officer writes that a nurse can be heard saying, “I have a pulse.”
That’s when one of the officers tries to alert Dr. Toosi.
According to the report, a tense exchange plays out somewhere between 6:17 p.m. and 6:19 p.m.
“Toosi arrogantly told me he was the doctor, he has the medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing,” wrote the officer.
The doctor requested another pulse check, and at 6:20 p.m. Dr. Toosi pronounced the toddler dead.
Over the next hour, police officers, family and hospital security staff reported seeing signs of life.
Those signs included what witnesses described as “gasping for air”.
Staff was alerted, but according to the report, nurses said it was “agonal breathing”.
When the medical examiner’s transport showed up, four hours later, the boy was found breathing.
Those warning signs noted in the report are something Dr. Zacher says he would have taken seriously.
“I mean, that would prompt me to maybe go back and take another look or, you know, reevaluate,” said Dr. Zacher.
The police report said first responders found the toddler in a pool that was 57.2 degrees. It also said the child had a light blue coloring to his skin.
“It’s not like an iced over lake in the Midwest, but 57 degrees, especially toddlers and infants are way more susceptible to hypothermia,” said Dr. Zacher.
He told ABC15 that hypothermia can mimic death and now questions if the cold pool water may have played a critical role in what happened.
“Actually, it mimics death when you’re hypothermic and actually preserves life,” said Dr. Zacher.
He said before you can pronounce someone dead, you need to first warm the patient.
The records reviewed by Dr. Zacher and obtained by the ABC15 investigators do not show if that happened.
“I don’t know if a temperature was even taken,” said Dr. Zacher. “I haven’t seen a medical record, but just the timeline tells you that the hypothermia probably wasn’t even entertained as a diagnosis.”
He believes “without a doubt” that more time should have been spent evaluating the toddler.
The ABC15 Investigators have continued to push for answers regarding the doctor who pronounced the 18-month-old dead.
After reviewing the police report and state records, ABC15 also spoke with the lawyer representing Dr. Aryan Toosi.
Online records show a biography for Toosi that was once posted on Dignity Health’s website.
The summary listed his title as GME Director of Clinical Teaching and said Toosi is an Arizona native who once attended Arizona State University.
That page appears to have been removed from Mercy Gilbert’s website.
ABC15 also contacted Dignity Health over several weeks to ask if that page was removed and why. Our team also asked if Dr. Toosi was still employed or if he was teaching.
A communications director for Dignity Health only responded once and did not answer our follow-up requests.
“Like many hospitals, we have both employed and independent physicians who are affiliated with our facilities,” said the email. “We are unable to comment on those involved in patient care.”
Our team also reached out multiple times to Dr. Toosi’s attorney with follow up questions, but we did not hear back.
He previously told ABC15 there is much more to this case and that there are important medical facts that have not been reported.
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