First responders said George Floyd appeared to be dead by the time they arrived on the scene

First responders who arrived on the scene of George Floyd's death said Floyd showed no signs of life when they got there, according to the Star Tribune.

Still, emergency workers attempted to revive the man, who had no pulse and was unresponsive, for nearly an hour, believing "he still had an outside chance" of survival.

Hennepin Healthcare EMS Chief Marty Scherer said first responders didn't know how bad the situation was when they got there.

"I don't think paramedics knew what was going on," Scherer told the Star Tribune. "They just saw a split second of what was happening. Ultimately, if the police have somebody in custody, we have to get permission from them to work on the patient."

Paramedics, having realized the urgency of Floyd's condition, loaded him on the ambulance and treated him on the way to the hospital because that was quicker than unloading the medical equipment to treat him at the scene.

As the ambulance pulled away, a fire truck arrived. According to the information they had received, it was a Code 2 call to assist EMS at the scene, rather than a Code 3 call for a life-threatening situation, the Star Tribune reported. The incident report says firefighters were only told that Floyd had "trauma to his mouth."

Bystanders told the firefighters that police had killed Floyd, and were upset. An off-duty firefighter at the scene said he witnessed the struggle, which ended when Floyd lost consciousness after several minutes of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into the handcuffed Floyd's neck.

Floyd's condition never improved despite electric shocks to his chest and other lifesaving efforts by paramedics and ER staff. He was pronounced dead at the hospital about 90 minutes after his encounter with police began. Four MPD officers arrested him after responding to a forgery call.

His death led to the termination of all four officers involved, and calls for the arrest and prosecution of the officer most responsible for Floyd's death.

(H/T: The Hill)