By Laura French
Update Feb. 28, 2021: The Tulsa police officer who was seriously injured during a struggle with an EMS patient who escaped his restraints was placed in a medically-induced coma in the ICU, officials say.
Tulsa Police Officer Sean Love was the first officer to respond after the patient broke from his restraints in an ambulance and began to fight with paramedics, police said. While trying to control the patient, Love lost consciousness and a pulse, and life-saving measures were initiated by paramedics and officers at the scene.
Love went from critical condition to stable condition after being transported to the hospital, and is currently in the ICU. He was placed in a medically-induced coma “due to concerns developing from his loss of consciousness,” police officials stated Friday. He was expected to remain in this state for at least 24 hours.
Love has been with the Tulsa Police Department for nearly 10 years and is also a medic with the department’s Special Operations Team. Police said the patient involved in the incident was being transported by a different EMS agency outside of the police department at the time of the attack.
Original report:
TULSA, Okla. — A patient in an Oklahoma ambulance escaped from restraints and attacked medics and police officers Friday, seriously injuring one of the responding officers, officials said.
Tulsa police said the patient was in the ambulance arriving at St. Francis Hospital Friday morning when he broke from his restraints and began to fight with the medics, according to FOX 23.
After EMS personnel called police for assistance, the man began to fight with officers, officials said. One of the officers became unconscious during the struggle and turned purple, Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg told the Tulsa World.
Personnel initially could not detect a pulse from the officer and he was transported to the nearby hospital, where he was revived and is in stable condition, officials said.
FOX 23 reports that police initially called homicide detectives to the area due to the seriousness of the officer’s condition.
Another officer managed to get the patient under control. Officials have not yet released the suspect’s identity or said what charges he may face.