5.Matthew Patterson — Direct
168 linesMATTHEW PATTERSON, duly sworn
COURT CLERK: Have a seat. State your name, spell your last name for the record, keep your voice up and speak into the record so everyone can hear you.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Matt Patterson, P-A-T-T-E-R-S-O-N.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Good morning, Mr. Patterson.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Good morning.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Will you tell the jury how you are employed currently.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I'm currently employed with the City of Lynn Fire Department. I am a firefighter and a critical care paramedic on the ambulance.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. Now, before we go back to your job, where do you live? What town?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I live in Lynn.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And are you a Massachusetts native?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I am.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you give us something of your educational background?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was born and raised in Lynn, as I said. Graduated from Lynn Classical High School, joined the military. Upon coming back I received my bachelor's from Salem State and my master's degree from Anna Maria in public administration.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And your bachelor's degree, is that any special course of study?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: My bachelor's is in fire science. I also have a -- my critical care paramedic is from Pro Ambulance out of Cambridge, Mass.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Let me ask you about that. First of all, how long have you been with the Lynn Fire Department?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Eleven years.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And you serve two functions?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I do.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you tell us about those?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: So as a firefighter and a paramedic, we split our time, one, between the engine or the ladder truck, and the second, between the ambulance or more EMS capacity.
MS. PELLEGRINI: In the EMS capacity, what exactly are you called upon to do?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Anything and everything you can need. Call 9-1-1, as an ALS provider anything that has to do with -- "ALS" is the abbreviation for advanced life support, so cardiac related, respiratory, bleedings, traumas, burns, anything where you need immediate care.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And are you certified in that field?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I am.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And when did you receive that certification?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: My initial -- my initial certification was December of 2013, and we recertify every two years. So I actually just recertified last month.
MS. PELLEGRINI: I'd like to direct your attention to Marathon Monday 2013. Were you in Boston that day?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was in Boston.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what were you doing?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was at Abe and Louie's for an event that I go to every year.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what's Abe and Louie's?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Abe and Louie's is a restaurant-bar located on Boylston Street. Every year they throw a private party on Marathon Monday, and every other day of the year it's a restaurant on the street.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And do you have the address for them, where they're located?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I don't have the exact address.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Street?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Boylston Street.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Okay. And how long had you been at Abe and Louie's that day?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was at Abe and Louie's -- I got there around 12:30.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, prior to 2013, had you ever been to the marathon before?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: How many times?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Numerous. Nine or ten at least.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And how many times had you attended the event at Abe and Louie's?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: This would be my third year in a row at Abe and Louie's.
MS. PELLEGRINI: While you were there at Abe and Louie's at approximately 2:30 to 2:45, did something occur?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Something did occur. I was seated with a few of my friends when we heard a loud explosion coming off in the distance. It initially startled most of the people in the restaurant. It gained my attention for a different reason. I felt what can only be described as an energy release that I've had experience previously and I know that it's a very distinct feeling. And when you feel it, it just -- it made me think something more was wrong than an accident or whatever else could be going on, a manhole explosion or anything of the such.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you do?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I stood up, started to move towards the front. People started talking around me. I don't remember exact statements. Moved towards the front of the building to more or less investigate what was going on. As I made my way to the front, a second, much louder explosion and second release of energy that could only be attributed to someone punching me square in the chest, if I was to put it in my own words, was to hit me again. I knew at that point that my initial thoughts were correct and that something was wrong. At that point I instructed everyone in there to get down or get back, and I made my way towards the front and out the front window.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, do you recall what you were wearing that day?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I do. I was wearing black pants and a red T-shirt.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did you actually leave Abe and Louie's?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I did. I left Abe and Louie's.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So tell us what happened.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: So upon exiting Abe and Louie's, to the best of my recollection I went out the front window. There were some people in front of me. I, one, hopped off the window onto the ground over the Abe and Louie's barrier, and then hopped over the marathon barrier, making my way to the middle of the street. A quick left and right look, made my way down the street and came upon the first victim which I saw needed the most immediate care.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Tell the jury what you saw?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: What I saw was, I saw a girl laying in the street with an apparent full leg amputation above the knee with her father and at the time looked like her brother. She was holding herself up in complete shock. I kneeled down, instructed her that my name was Matt and I was here to help. I was a paramedic. I asked her her name. She did respond at that time. At the time she responded, and what I thought she said was "Shane" and not "Jane." Due to her injuries, her leg aside, her hair was singed, it was blown back, her face was full of soot. She looked more of a boy than she did as a girl at that particular time to me. The only importance I had was, from a medical point of view, she was able to speak, allowing me to know her airway was open, and patent. She was able to maintain it. I then go down my other assessments and notice, like I said, a full left leg amputation, and did what I could with what I had to control the bleeding.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Before we get to that, were there other people with her in the street?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: There was. Her father and her brother were in the street.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did you later come to learn her name?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I did later come to learn her name. It was not Shane; it was Jane, in fact.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you do?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: On-scene?
MS. PELLEGRINI: On-scene.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: My initial on-scene -- like I said, I went through an initial assessment. I realized that the most immediate threat to life was, in fact, the left leg amputation that she had. I was wearing a pretty good-sized leather belt that day so I knew mine wouldn't work. I stood up, I looked left, I looked right, I noticed the gentleman on the sidewalk. I ran up to him and in a non-polite way instructed him to give me his belt. He took it off. I ran back to Jane, applied it as best I could as a tourniquet. At this point other people had started to come up and asked if they could help. I instructed one of the gentleman who asked what he could do that we needed to get moving, Jane needed immediate medical attention, that he was to hold the tourniquet as tight as possible as we moved her.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, you said that you observed that this was the most immediate threat. Why?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: As a trauma triage, we're taught ABCs, or BCAs, whatever school you go to: airway, breathing, circulation. So in asking a question and having the victim look at you directly and answer, it lets me know that there's no brain injury currently. It also lets me know that she is breathing and maintaining her airway because she's able to answer. Once that is accomplished, bleeding becomes the next most important thing. If you don't control the bleeding, eventually that's what will kill you in the end.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So when you say a "full leg amputation," what do you mean?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Her leg was amputated above the knee. There was just barely enough left to actually place a tourniquet. Had that not been there, the tourniquet would not have been applied. The tourniquet is there to merely stop arterial bleeding. As far as the wound, from what I could assess, it was open, it was charred, it was just -- and it looked like as if you were to put meat through a grinder, what would come out at the other end. It was just chunks and coagulated blood and dried blood, and it had a very distinct, awful smell of four or five different things mixed together. I knew from looking at it that once the tourniquet was on, if this child wasn't seen immediately, she would either continue to bleed out or infection or something else would set in almost immediately.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, before coming to court, did you have occasion to review a video with me?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And this is Exhibit 41 for counsel and the witness only, your Honor, at this point.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, I'm going to ask you to look at the screen in front of you. Is this, in fact, the video that you had actually previously reviewed?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: This is.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did you, in fact, recognize yourself in this video?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I did immediately.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did it, in fact, accurately and fairly depict the events that you just described to the jury about your exiting Abe and Louie's and your running down the street, Boylston Street, on Marathon Monday of 2013?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Your Honor, the government would move this into evidence and ask that it be published to the jury.
MS. CLARKE: No objection.
THE COURT: Okay.
(Government Exhibit No. 41 received into evidence.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: Hold that, please, Mr. Bruemmer.
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, we just saw a man in a red T-shirt come out and hop the fence. Is that, in fact, you?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: It is.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. Continue.
(Video played.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: Stop right there, Mr. Bruemmer.
(Video played.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you tell us and the jury what is happening here?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: What's happening here is this is the first victim I came upon. It was a little girl with the leg amputation. I looked down, noticed the injury. At this point I immediately go into my initial assessment of the injury and what I can do at this time to render as much medical aid as possible in the field.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And is this where you made the decision that a tourniquet was necessary?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: It was almost instantaneous that -- upon the visual, looking at the wound, a tourniquet was the only thing that was necessary.
MS. PELLEGRINI: If we could play this to the end, please.
(Video played.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, where you went to the sidewalk on the video, what's happening there? What happened there?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: A bystander was taking off his belt and offering it as a tourniquet.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And were you able, in fact, to apply the tourniquet to her leg?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was. That belt was sufficient in stopping what bleeding was happening at the wound.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you do after the tourniquet was applied?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: After the application of the tourniquet, another gentleman came up and had asked me if I needed assistance. I instructed him yes, that we needed to move this child to an ambulance immediately. We picked her up. The other gentleman held the tourniquet as tightly as possible. We looked up and down the street and I noticed that we had incoming EMS personnel away from the finish line. I initially looked towards the finish line and decided to go in the opposite direction, to the incoming EMS. I ran about a half block up. I initially ran into the first responding ladder truck from the Boylston Street Firehouse, gave a quick assessment on what had actually happened on-scene, what kind of injuries we had and what kind of personnel we needed, and then continued on to the next incoming ambulance in which transfer of care happened, a quick report to those paramedics, and then I returned to the scene.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, going back to what you just told the jury about picking Jane up and removing her from the location in the street --
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can we have for the Court and the witness only, your Honor, Exhibit 40 marked for identification.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, do you recognize this photograph?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I do.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Have you previously seen this?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I have.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Are you, in fact, in this photograph?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I am.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And does this fairly and accurately depict the scene on Marathon Monday with your care of Jane?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: It does.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Your Honor, the government would move this be published to the jury.
MS. CLARKE: Subject to the same objection.
THE COURT: Okay. It will be admitted.
(Government Exhibit No. 40 received into evidence.)
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, tell us what's happening here.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: What's happening here is the gentleman in the blue -- his name was Michael, I came to find out later -- he is holding with as much pressure as he possibly can with the tourniquet -- if you can see it, it is actually above what was left of the left knee.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Actually, let me stop you there, Mr. Patterson. You're able to touch the screen and make an arrow or a circle.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I am?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Yes, and with the pad of your finger. And if you could do so to the area you are describing to the jury at this time?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. So I'd note for the record that it is an area of the leg, or what appears to be a leg, slightly off the center to the right of the picture.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Is that correct?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: That is correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And I'm sorry. Can you see the tourniquet in this picture?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: You can.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And where is that? Is that in the circle?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: The tourniquet is in the circle. It would be on what looks like above the knee.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And for the record, which person are you?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I'm the person in red.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And so do you know by looking at this which way you were facing at this time?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: At this time I'm facing the finish line.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. So this is where you indicated you didn't know where the ambulances were or where to go?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Yeah, at this point I had not determined the best route to take for -- the quickest route for care.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Patterson, also when you described Jane, you indicated that her hair was blown back?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you see that in this picture?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: You can.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you circle her head for us?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: So looking over, then, your left shoulder, brown hair?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Thank you. So after you transferred care of Jane, what did you do?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: After I transferred care, I returned to the scene to look for other victims, anyone else that might need medical attention.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And can you tell us what your observations were of the scene when you went back?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: By the time I got back, more help had arrived, but the scene was more or less in utter chaos. There was people everywhere. They were in the street, they were on the sidewalk. It was tough to tell who was walking wounded, who was there to help. There was not much of uniformed police or EMS at this time. I noticed that a large crowd had formed on the sidewalk outside of the Forum.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What else did you observe?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I observed CPR was being done, in progress, on -- it looked like two victims at the time -- and I made my way over to see if I could help.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And were you able to provide any assistance?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was not. I made my way to what was the second victim that I encountered. It looked to be a boy, juvenile-ish, between nine and 11, I would say, years old. I knelt down by the head, made room. I noticed that he was ashen in color, his cheeks were sunken in, his eyes were darkened and conjugate gaze to the right side. His shirt was removed. He had severe abdominal wounds. I just tried to adjust the airway to see if I could -- or if the child would breathe. And he was just -- from what I had seen, there was nothing that could be done at that time.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So did you move on?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I did. I actually instructed everyone at that location that there was nothing that could be done and that other people need help and they should move on to help those that they can.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And were you able to assist anyone else at the scene?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I was. I think I made my way to another gentleman and was able to make a tourniquet on his left leg with a shoelace.
MS. PELLEGRINI: How long did you remain at the scene, at the Forum?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: In my mind it seemed like an eternity. I would probably say two or three minutes in reality.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Were you able ever to return to Abe and Louie's that day?
MATTHEW PATTERSON: I did. I returned to Abe and Louie's to retrieve my jacket and my girlfriend, and made my way out the back door and to a local firehouse.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Thank you. I have no further questions.
MS. CLARKE: Thank you. No questions.
THE COURT: No questions? All right, sir. Thank you. You may step down.
MATTHEW PATTERSON: Thank you.
(The witness is excused.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: Dr. James Bath.