EMS EXPO: Former NAEMT president advocates preparing for school shootings
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By Jamie Thompson
EMS1 Senior Editor
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ATLANTA — Responses to school shootings in the United States were the focus of a presentation at EMS Expo in Atlanta on Thursday.
Ken Bouvier, past president of NAEMT and a paramedic and administrative liaison for New Orleans EMS, told the audience they had to be prepared for such events in their communities.
"It's not going to stop so you have to be prepared to deal with it," he said. "Have you had a school drill, have you prepared for a school shooting? It can happen while you are here."
Bouvier offered details and perspectives on a number of school shootings over the past two decades, and also said gun owners had to display greater responsibility for their storage and distribution.
"If you've got a gun, be responsible for it," he said. "If you decide you need the money and want to get rid of it, sell it legally, sell it to someone you know, sell it to someone who is going to do the right thing with it."
Audience members were told they had to be prepared for "total chaos" if they are dispatched to a school shooting.
"There may be chaos for the first three hours after it happens, which are normally in three situations — the school, the hospital and the home (of the shooter) and neighborhood," Bouvier said.
He told responders in the audience never to self deploy, but to wait for a mutual aid call.
"If you're a paramedic in a neighboring county and they don't call you, then sit at home and they are likely to call in a few hours," Bouvier said.
The session was told typical incident response challenges will include scenes of mass confusion, unknown identities, unknown medical histories and communication problems.
Among the issues police encountered at such events are parking problems, not enough officers and a lack of practice in working a unified command post.
Focusing on the lessons EMS has and should learn, Bouvier said agencies should have:
• A mass casualty plan already in place
• Activate the hospital disaster plan early
• Activate the mutual aid system
• Take charge of and activate a unified command post
• Set up triage-treatment-transport-staging area
• Maintain infection control protection
• Try to mark patient locations and keep notes
