You are correct. This changed with the standardization of Paramedic licensing. My daughter is a medic and she pronounces people dead all the time. The medical controller (the doc on the phone) actually signs the document, but paramedics have seen enough dead people to know when someone is dead.
They DO often transport dead people, doing “courtesy” CPR. This is to benefit the family who don’t want grandpa dying in the bathroom and having to wait until the hearse gets there.
Yes, we did that a lot as well.