HANDA, Aichi -- A man in his 70s died on Nov. 10 after paramedics mistakenly assumed that he had passed away in his apartment, and failed to transport him to the hospital, a local fire department here announced the following day.

The Chita Chubu regional fire department based in Handa, Aichi Prefecture, said that it was "unable to determine" the causal relationship between the delay in lifesaving measures and the man's death.

According to the fire department, the manager of an apartment building in the town of Higashiura reported at around 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 10 that the front door of a tenant could not be opened. Emergency personnel arrived at the scene and found the resident collapsed in the apartment's bathroom. Two paramedics observed his consciousness and breathing, and determined that there were "clear signs of death," without using any equipment such as an electrocardiogram.

Police officers who took over the case confirmed that the man's fingertips and mouth were moving. The resident was then transported to the hospital at around 11:30 a.m. but died that evening.

Fire department chief Fumio Masuuchi said on Nov. 11, "This is a situation that should not have happened to a fire emergency response agency that is supposed to provide prompt lifesaving treatment, and we deeply apologize." He also stated that because about four days' worth of newspapers had been left in the resident's mailbox, the emergency personnel "might have had preconceived notions and relied on their five senses. They should have used equipment to make judgment."

As a measure to prevent a recurrence, the fire department notified its employees that they should not have any biases when observing injured or sick people and should use equipment such as stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors.

(Japanese original by Yuko Machida, Handa Resident Bureau)