Meanwhile paramedics from engine #77 set up triage, treatment and communication procedures for the other victims. 68 year old Isabelle S. and 16 year old Mindy F. (both staff members), and 6-year old James Z. were found in the entrance area of the building. They were treated and transported in stable condition within thirty minutes. Both females were sent to Holy Cross Emergency Department, and the little boy to a local hospital. 6-year-old Joshua S. was discovered suffering from a gunshot wound, but otherwise in good condition. He was airlifted to Children's Hospital in Hollywood, the only pediatric trauma center in the Los Angeles region.

High Profile Incident

Within minutes news helicopters were over the scene broadcasting in every major U.S. City and in less than two hours the media had responded with a nearly overwhelming number of camera crews, microphones and reporters at the scene.

Fortunately the LAPD as well as the LAFD had their experienced public information officer on hand to deal with the media and gave them facts in a professional manner.

In a very short time the significance of the incident had become obvious. The Mayor, the Police Chief and other city officials showed up at the location ninety minutes after the shooting, received a briefing from Police-IC Captain Egan and gave an on-site press-conference.

This caused additional pressure on the incident staff. They had to make sure that the area was safe and the shooter was not in a nearby hidden place, as well as taking time to brief the executives.

Frantic Parents

Nearly 200 children were dropped off at the community center that morning. Three groups were on field trips at the time of the shooting. Due to the immediate media coverage and the widespread use of cellular phones, many parents showed up desperately looking for their kids. This caused tremendous tension and was a big challenge in the incident handling. First of all, relatives of the victims had to be identified and filtered out of the crowd. In one case the parents of an injured child were escorted and brought to the hospital in a fire vehicle.

L.A.P.D. was in charge of the incident. But they were nearly overwhelmed by the scale of the necessary activities (organizing and communicating resources and assignments, gathering intelligence, etc.), coupled with the three concurrent crime scenes. Therefore the Fire Department assisted them. The parent-child reunification was handled principally by the L.A.F.D., under the supervision of Battalion 12 Chief Tony Varela.

By about 12:30pm, the authorities had informed all the family members of the victims, and all other parents/relatives could be assured that their children were not hurt. It calmed down the crowd a little bit, but there was still a high level of anxiety and uncertainty. This distress was triggered and boosted by countless media and camera crews who were on the lookout for crying and desperate parents.

The LAFD brought in their staff psychologist. He assisted in the critical incident stress debriefing for the parents.

The next step was to identify the location of every child. The kids were on three different field trip spots and at two different places in the incident area. Police units were sent to cover the field trip locations to ensure accountability and prevent further occurrences.

Further investigations proved to identify Furrow as the suspect in the shooting. He later turned himself in to the FBI in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Closure

LA Police officers were honored at a City Council meeting for their actions during the incident; and LA Firefighters were invited to a celebration at the Community Center on August 21st, where they were given a standing ovation from parents, kids and community staff.

Today all five injured people are back home without disabilities and fully recovered from their wounds. As a special sign of support from the LAFD, the last child to be released from the hospital was given a ride home in a fire truck.

Lessons learned

• Documentation is always a crucial factor. Somebody has to be assigned as soon as possible to gather the names of casualties, their location and their status. The names and actual location of injured victims has to be identified all the times. This is even more critical if children and/or people with disabilities, etc. are involved. This documentation function should be a part of your Standard Operations Plan.

• Relatives and others effected should be separated from the news media and especially from the pressure of microphones and cameras. A secured and quiet area/facility to comfort and council family members and friends should be assigned as soon as possible.

• Unified command is always the key to success. Programs should be in place to implement, maintain and train unified command on a regular basis, especially between large police, fire and other public and private entities. Commanding officers must know their colleagues from other departments and understand their organization, views and priorities. This ensures communication, coordination and control of a chaotic incident.

• Support by public leaders and appreciation by the community is beneficial for public safety personnel. It encourages them to "serve and protect" their community.