ISP troopers revive responder after he suffers massive heart attack at triple fatal crash scene

MCCAMMON — Father’s Day was an emotional and difficult day for emergency personnel who responded to two fatal wrecks locally that claimed the lives of four people and sent another to the hospital with critical injuries.

But if there can be a silver lining to such a tragic day, it’s that the quick actions of two Idaho State Police troopers and other emergency responders were able prevent a fifth death.

They helped to save the life of a Bannock County Search and Rescue member who suffered a heart attack at the scene of one of the wrecks, a triple fatality, near McCammon.

“In a very chaotic scene with a lot of things happening, for them to switch gears so rapidly and work toward saving the life (of a search and rescue member) — I couldn’t be more proud of their actions and what they did to help that gentleman,” said ISP Capt. Eric Dayley.

The head-on crash on U.S. 30 near McCammon killed Pocatello siblings Eric, 15, and Lauren, 13, Neibaur and Nampa resident Jay Lanningham, 70, all of whom died of their injuries at the scene. Another juvenile, whose name has not been released, was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

Emergency personnel had been busy that day transporting the sole survivor, working to get the other victims out of the vehicles, speaking with victims’ family members who had also been traveling and who were among the first on scene, and investigating the crash.

Things were just starting to slow down when ISP Trooper Ryan Mattox decided to sit in his vehicle for a brief moment to get out of the heat.

That’s when he noticed the Bannock County Search and Rescue member, who did not wish to be identified, collapse.

Although Mattox is brand new to police work, he spent 15 years as a Navy corpsman and has worked with battlefield injuries, broken bones and other ailments. He said his muscle memory kicked in and he went to help.

“I initially thought it was heat stroke. It was a hot day,” Mattox said.

But when he checked the man’s pulse, he couldn’t find one. He soon started doing chest compressions on the man while another responder used a bag valve mask to give the man breaths.

ISP Trooper Spencer Knudsen saw some of the other emergency personnel gathering around the man and he ran to help.

He said the man who collapsed fell down a small embankment and landed face-first in the gravel. Those on scene were able to move him onto a spineboard where they could better render aid.

Knudsen said he got an automated external defibrillator (AED) from another officer and administered one shock when the machine advised him to. He then continued to monitor the AED.

The AED didn’t advise a second shock, and Mattox said he was able to find a pulse when he checked the man again.

Still, they were worried about the man who had gone into cardiac arrest and didn’t have the equipment they needed to continue helping him. That’s why they cleared out the back of an SUV and began transporting him on their own when they weren’t able to get an ambulance to the scene right away.

“Normally we wouldn’t do that,” Mattox said, but they made the decision so they could get the man help as soon as possible.

They proceeded until an ambulance was able to meet up with them on Interstate 15 and finish transporting the man to the hospital.

Knudsen said many emergency personnel worked together to help save the man’s life that day.

“It was a team effort to bring him back,” he said.

And they were able to work quickly despite the challenges they were already facing.

“It was one of those things where you get on scene and there’s sheer chaos at the scene,” Knudsen said, adding that things had just calmed down and they had a plan of action and a way to deal with everything. “Then another serious medical emergency happens on scene that you’re not expecting that day. Your adrenaline goes down … and then right back up again,” he said. Knudsen is grateful they were able to help and that the man pulled through OK.

The Bannock County Search and Rescue member did recover and returned home from the hospital on Wednesday, said Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen.

Mattox said he was able to visit the man at the hospital and plans to stay in touch with him in the future. He too, is grateful that the man survived — a blessing on a day filled with so many other losses.

“It was a tragic day,” Mattox said, adding that his heart goes out to all of those families that lost loved ones in the fatal crashes.

This article was originally published by the Idaho State Journal. It is used here with permission.