A Gilbert police report reveals an 18-month-old boy was found alive in a hospital morgue in Arizona, five and a half hours after being pronounced dead

The toddler was found breathing inside the morgue at Dignity Health Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona, after a physician ignored signs of life, observed and brought to his attention by two police officers and some of the nurses

Records identified the doctor, an osteopathic physician licensed in Arizona on the staff at Chandler Regional Medical Center

While public records show there are no disciplinary actions on the doctor’s license, it is not clear that he is still practicing at the same hospital

Gilbert police sent the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review and decide whether the parents will face charges in connection with the drowning

The ‘hasty’ death certification happened at Dignity Health Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona, in February

18-month-old Vincent Lorenzo Fiordilino wandered into the backyard on February 8, and was found face down in a pool during a Super Bowl gathering at a home in Gilbert, Arizona.
Paramedics performed CPR and rushed the boy to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where a doctor officially declared him dead at 6:20 pm.
A Gilbert police report reveals the toddler was found alive in a hospital morgue in Arizona, five and a half hours after being pronounced dead by a physician on the hospital staff. However, following the certification of death, two police officers and some nurses noting possible signs of life, including audible gasps and breathing, raised concerns. Those concerns would be dismissed and the child was moved to the hospital’s morgue
The physician involved is listed as A. Toosi in the police report, with records identifying a Dr. Aryan Toosi, an osteopathic physician licensed in Arizona on the staff at Chandler Regional Medical Center.

A police report and body camera video show that two Gilbert police officers saw signs of life multiple times, but the toddler was still taken to the hospital’s “cold room,” which is also considered to be the morgue.
One officer wrote in the police report that the baby was pronounced dead “in error” by the Mercy Gilbert doctor even after a tense exchange about a pulse possibly being detected.
It has taken five months for the Gilbert police to release public records related to the near-drowning.
Review of a half dozen body camera videos, including videos from the initial drowning scene and videos inside the hospital. Most of the videos are heavily blurred, most of the audio had been muted, but one critical moment was captured between the doctor and the officer.
A nurse in another room said: “I have a pulse,” according to the police report, but when he tried to alert the doctor who was with the family in another room, the doctor was dismissive. He “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,” the nurse told police.
Records show that shortly after that exchange, the doctor went on to declare the baby dead.
Over the next hour, two Gilbert police officers continued to document signs of life in their police report.
One officer wrote, “The release of air was audible and visible,” later writing, “It also began to sound like [redacted] was gasping for air.”
The report goes on to say that when medical staff went to move the boy’s body to the morgue, the officer wrote that she “observed what appeared to be another audible gasp.”
That was not the last time she heard signs of life, either.
While inside the morgue, the officer said, “I again observed what appeared to be a gasp or air release, which was now almost an hour later.”
A nurse who was there said those sounds could be a response to efforts to save the toddler.
Some of the last audio recordings heard on the body camera videos were of an officer telling the family that they could say goodbye.
The report says, hours later, at 11:52 p.m., the Medical Examiner’s transport showed up and found the toddler was breathing inside the hospital morgue. The toddler was then flown to Phoenix Children’s Hospital where an MRI confirmed the baby suffered brain damage, and probably would require lifelong care.
While it is not clear that Dr Toosi is still practicing at Dignity Health group, the Gilbert Police Department sent the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review and decide whether the parents will face charges in connection with the drowning.