WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - What started as a dangerous high speed chase ended with deputies using battlefield medical tactics to save the suspect's life.
It all began at around 4:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon when Williamson County deputies tried to pull over a van driven by Patrick Lomantini.
The 54-year-old man from Columbia refused to stop and instead drove erratically, even forcing a deputy off the road into the median at close to 70 mph.
Once into Rutherford County, a deputy there successfully spiked one of Lomantini's rear tires.
Lomantini eventually stopped and multiple deputies approached with their weapons drawn, ordering Lomantini out of the van.
When Lomantini raises his arm, deputies realized he was bleeding profusely from his neck.
According to investigators, Lomantini used a three-inch knife, later found in the van, to slash his own throat.
On body camera footage, you can hear the approaching deputies notice the problem and start to transition from felony take down to medical first responders.
"He has an arterial bleed. We need EMS now. Get your gloves on. He has cut himself, slashed his throat. Let me get the gauze," deputies were heard saying.
On camera, several deputies were seen racing back to their cars to get their medical kits that are heavily stocked with many life saving tools, including an AED.
Because Lomantini cut himself so severely, deputies used their combat medic training to save his life.
Lt. Chris Mobley described the transition from deputies to medical first responders.
"The focus is preservation of life, and once they realize the suspect is not a danger to them and is a danger to himself, they will switch gears and provide for his safety. So they did pack the wound. He did have a pretty significant knife wound to the right side of his neck, " Lt. Mobley said. "They are literally shoving gauze into the wound, trying to put pressure onto the artery to keep it from losing blood."
Lt. Mobley told News 2 deputies who once served as combat medics in the military taught Williamson County deputies in a rigorous training campaign on how to deal with life and death medical emergencies like this one.
"It is something we have developed and been trained on by our combat vets who were medics, and they've taken the training they had in the battlefield and they brought back to civilian law enforcement, and we've equipped our deputies with the equipment to be able to do it. It's more than just band-aids in that kit," Lt. Mobley said.
Lomantini is at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in stable condition. When discharged, he will undergo a psych evaluation before facing multiple felonies.
Why Lomantini ran from deputies is unknown, but News 2 discovered he was arrested for aggravated assault in Maury County in January.
After Sunday's chase, he now faces aggravated assault on a first responder, evading arrest, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.
from WKRN News 2 https://ift.tt/vURlqfy
No comments: