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Onslaught of shootings
EMS response to gunman's attack
GUNNAR J KUEPPER describes
how the lives of 70 children were put at risk from a white
supremacist armed with a gun, and how the Los Angeles emergency
services coped with the situation
In the US, Fire-Rescue and EMS departments regularly face
the demands of dealing with shooting calls. Alongside the
daily quota of violence, school and workplace shootings grab
more attention. In May 1998, a 15-year-old boy carried out
a shooting rampage at his high school in Oregon, in which
two classmates were killed and 22 others injured. However,
last year brought at least two extraordinary incidents. have
received more attention in recent times.
In 1999, here were at least two extraordinary incidents.
COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL
The most violent school assault in the US occurred at the
Columbine High School in a quiet suburb south of Denver, Colorado.
Two students fired more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, detonating
30 explosive devices during their rampage. More than 60 other
live explosives were found in and around the school in the
aftermath.
In the end, 12 persons were killed and 24 students were injured,
some of them critically; 160 patients had to be triaged; and
more than 2,000 people had to be evacuated during the shooting.
THE NORTH VALLEY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
Another incident occurred on August 10, 1999. At 10:40 AM,
a self-proclaimed white supremacist entered the Jewish Community
Center in Granada Hills, a quiet suburb in the northern part
of Los Angeles. There were about 70 children, aged 5-12, and
several staff members in the building at the time. The offender
immediately opened fire in the hallway with a machine gun.
He shot about seventy rounds and wounded five people. At 10:49
AM frantic calls for help were received at the 911 centre.
Police Activities
Within four minutes, the first units of the Los Angeles Police
Department (LAPD) arrived on scene. Sergeant Timothy Surette
and Officer Dean Thompson were among the first responders.
Outside the building they found a 16-year-old female bleeding
from a gunshot wound.
No one knew the location of the shooter, although some suspected
that he might still be in the facility. The patrol officers
entered the building with guns drawn, instead of locking up
the community centre and calling in the SWAT team. Inside
they could still smell and see the gunsmoke in the air and
see the damaged caused by the bullets. They encountered additional
victims.
Arriving shortly after 1100 the commander of the Devonshire
Police Division, Captain John Egan, assumed command and established
his command post inside a church building adjacent to the
community center.
Police focused on securing the location, evacuating children
and staff to safe places, searching the area for the shooting
suspect(s), and gathering intelligence. In addition, the police
in the relatively peaceful Devonshire Division had to handle
three other major occurrences nearby: a car hijacking at 1110,
the homicide of postal worker Joe Ileto at 1200, and a suspicious
van loaded with ammunition, paramilitary equipment and grenades.
At this time it was not clear whether these crime scenes were
related.
Fire-Rescue activities
At 10:50 AM, the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) initially
dispatched a fire engine and rescue ambulance to a shooting
scene at Hayvenhurst Street and Rinaldi Street. Within minutes,
police requested additional rescue units and the first crew
to arrive described the scope of the incident. More resources
were sent; within 30 minutes, six fire companies (two light
forces and four engines), seven rescue ambulances, one rescue
helicopter, two battalion chiefs, and Division-3 Chief Robert
Teachenor had arrived on scene. The fire incident command
post was set up outside, near the entrance to the church building.
A unified command post with the police was not set up.
Rescue
The first fire unit on scene, the rescue ambulance, was staffed
with paramedics Todd Carb and Daniel Jordan. Three victims
were seen outside the building. As LAPD officers moved in
to search the community centre, they were followed by LAFD
paramedics and firefighters. At this time the location of
the shooter was still unknown and, therefore, the building
was not safe. Todd Carb, a paramedic veteran with 19 years'
experience found five-year-old Benjamin K., suffering from
two gunshot wounds- one in his abdomen, one to his upper leg.
The boy was in deep haemorrhagic shock due to massive blood
loss and was obviously near death. His blood pressure was
too low to measure and his collapsed veins were too flat to
start an IV. The paramedics decided to rush the little boy
in their ambulance to nearby Holy Cross Medical Center. The
official incident report states that the boy arrived at the
trauma centre within 15 minutes after the first ambulance
dispatch. Minutes later trauma surgeons began a six-hour operation
to save Benjamin's life.
Meanwhile, paramedics 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 six-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. Six-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.
Media interest
Within minutes, news helicopters were over the scene broadcasting
the event in every major US 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 experienced public information
officers on hand to deal with the media, giving them the 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 90 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 children. This caused tremendous
tension and was a big challenge in the handling of the incident.
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.
LAPD was in charge of the incident, but was nearly overwhelmed
by the scale of the necessary activities (organising and communicating
resources and assignments, gathering intelligence, etc.),
coupled with the three concurrent crime scenes. Therefore
the Fire Department assisted it. The parent-child reunification
was handled principally by the LAFD, under the supervision
of Battalion 12 Chief Tony Varela..
By about 1230, the authorities had informed all the family
members of the victims, and all other parents and relatives
could be assured that their children were not hurt. This calmed
the crowd a little bit, but there was still a high level of
anxiety and uncertainty. This distress was triggered and boosted
by media and camera crews who were on the lookout for crying
and desperate parents.
The LAFD brought in its staff psychologist, who assisted in
the critical incident stress debriefing for the parents.
The next step was to identify the location of every child.
The children were on three different field trip spots and
in 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
Los Angeles police officers were honoured at a City Council
meeting for their actions during the incident; firefighters
were invited to a celebration at the Community Center on August
21, and were given a standing ovation from parents, children
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. Someone 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 time. This
is even more critical if children and/or people with disabilities,
etc are involved. This documentation function should be a
part of the Standard Operations Plan. Relatives and others
affected should be separated from the news media and the pressure
of microphones and cameras. A secured and quiet area or facility
to comfort and council family members and friends be assigned
as soon as possible. Unified command is always the key to
success. Programmes 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 organisations views and priorities.
This ensures communication, co-ordination 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.
Conclusion
First arriving police and fire officers made a consequent
decision to make immediate rescue operations a first priority.
Their response under chaotic circumstances ensured the survival
of five-year-old Benjamin K., found in extremely critical
condition, as well as the quick recovery of four other victims.
If any children had died from the white supremacist's shot,
it would have caused a enormous impact on the community of
Los Angeles and possibly even the U.S. Therefore police and
fire responders, through their proactive response, may well
have averted a national tragedy.
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