Lithuanian Police have decided against opening an official enquiry after a man was stopped by officers and later died en route to the hospital during the NATO summit in Vilnius.
"The assessment shows that the officers acted in accordance with the instructions. The officers at the checkpoint did not receive any information that the person being transported was facing life-threatening [symptoms] and therefore diverted the vehicle to a bypass road which also provides access to the hospital,” the police report says.
According to the Lrytas.lt news website, a man who recently had a jaw operation and a stroke felt ill on July 11. However, medics refused to send an ambulance, saying they should bring the man to the hospital themselves as the home was nearby.
The way to Lazdynai Hospital was blocked due to the NATO summit and the car was diverted to a bypass road by police officers at a checkpoint. The man then tried to reach medics on foot but was found dead several hundred metres from the hospital.
“The officers did not see the person being transported and only had a brief conversation with the woman driving the car,” the police report says.
The woman told officers that paramedics refused to send an ambulance and she was advised to bring the patient to the hospital themselves and “to call an ambulance if his condition deteriorated during transport”, the report adds.
Parts of Vilnius were blocked to regular traffic during the NATO summit in July. Because of it, people were diverted to alternative routes.
"Allowing an unauthorised car into the restricted area could have posed a real threat to the driver, passengers and the [VIP] transport. During the briefings, officers were instructed on how to deal with such situations. There have been a number of similar cases, all of which were decided by the shift supervisor," the report says.
A pre-trial investigation into the conduct of the medical personnel is currently ongoing.
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