Anderson County EMS Director, Troy Armstrong says the Kansas City Fire and Police Departments had a detailed plan in place for just such an emergency, in which they were briefed on upon arrival. They were positioned close to the crowd, due to their stretcher-mounted ATV, which would be used to transport patients out to waiting ambulances on the perimeters of the rally grounds if needed. Their positioning put them an estimated 30 to 40 yards from the area where gunfire broke out. After the shooting stopped, they jumped into action and transported three patients, two critical and one serious, ages between 16 and 47.
Armstrong credits individuals in the crowd for immediately rendering first aid, particularly stop bleeding techniques. He says with out those people and the initial care they gave, there probably would have been more loss of life. Armstrong, EMT Sherry Schmitz and Registered Nurse Suzi Sykes with Saint Luke’s Health System were part of the Mutual Aid contingent of emergency workers assisting Kansas City Fire Department and Police Departments at last week’s event.
