AUSTIN, Texas — One of the members of Lake Travis Fire and Rescue team injured in a Wednesday crash along of FM 620 is finally going home.
- Lake Travis Engineer William Tatsch is clear to go home
- Doctors say he suffered an extremely rare case of a presumed vasovagal syncope.
- will continue to be off duty while he receives treatment for a concussion.
Lake Travis Firefighters said all of Engineer William Tatsch’s tests have come back clear. Doctors said Tatsch suffered from an extremely rare case of a presumed vasovagal syncope.
According to the Mayo Clinic, vasovagal syncope occurs when someone faints because the body overreacts to certain triggers, such as the sight of blood or extreme emotional distress. It's sometimes called neurocardiogenic syncope. The vasovagal syncope trigger causes the heart rate and blood pressure to drop suddenly, and leads to reduced blood flow to the brain, causing someone to briefly lose consciousness.
On Wednesday, Tatsch was driving a fire truck was traveling south on FM 620, north of Comache Trail when he, suffered the medical emergency and lost consciousness. He had no history of medical emergencies while driving. The episode caused him to veer into oncoming traffic, leading to a fiery crash that sent nine people to the hospital.
Tatsch is a 17-year veteran of Travis County ESD 6. He will continue to be off duty while he receives treatment for a concussion.
Three other firefighters were treated for injuries and released Wednesday.
One civilian driver suffered serious injuries. The five other civilians were transported with non-life-threatening injuries. And two other vehicles were struck by debris that flew from the fire truck.