Dr John Burton chairs the emergency medicine department at Carilion Clinic. As a Level 1 trauma center there’s always a mobilization plan in place.
If there’s a surge of 10 to 20 patients at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital they can bring in extra personnel – but something approaching what happened in Las Vegas, where hundreds were wounded and 59, at last word, had died at the hands of a shooter with automatic and semi-automatic weapons, approaches an “incident command mode” said Burton. He estimates that an all hands-on deck call would see most medical personnel arrive within 30 minutes.
“You’ve got transport personnel, operating rooms, emergency departments, supplies, all sorts of details that have to be pulled in,” said Burton, “and that becomes part of the command structure.” A triage mode would focus on those in the middle of the curve – with the dead on one side of the equation and those with wounds that can wait for treatment on the other side. Pipelines to supply the blood and other medical equipment needed are in place, he said. Burton also said that months from now those in Las Vegas involved with treating the hundreds of people wounded will share what they experienced – and other hospital systems will learn from that.
Sponsor Hounds president Waynette Anderson released this statement about Dr. Pepper Park at The Bridges development on South Jefferson Street:
“Dr Pepper Park at the Bridges management and staff are deeply saddened by the tragedy and loss of precious life at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas. We and the entire Roanoke event community mourn for those lost and pray for the quick recovery of those who were injured. Guest safety is the number one priority at Dr Pepper Park. We have a strong and evolving security plan that includes bag checks, state certified security officers inside and outside of the facility, off-duty police officers for larger events, and designated evacuation areas. We will, once again, review our policies for future events to ensure our guests’ comfort and safety in the wake of this attack.”
Gene Marrano
