Controlled Chaos at Las Vegas Trauma Center

After the event that happened Sunday in Las Vegas, I chose to use this as my topic for this week’s blog. The Vegas Massacre as it is now being called is the deadliest shooting in United States history. 59 people were killed and 527 were injured. I found an article on The New York Time titled, “Controlled Chaos at Las Vegas Hospital Trauma Center After Attack.” In the article, it discusses a first-hand insight on how hospital staff had to react to number of patients that were rushing into the trauma center.  One of the nurses, Toni Mullen, was called back in after a 12-hour shift to help treat the patients. She was quoted saying, “The minute I got there, I looked at the situation and said, ‘How am I going to utilize my resources?’”. Mullen had to think on her feet because for the next 3 hours’ patients were coming in, in ambulances, trucks, and cars.

With the over flow of patients staff had to think on their feet and react quickly. When there are this many people coming in at once things may have to be done in a different manor than usual. In the article, it discussed how one hospital ranked patients 1 to 5, with 1 being the most severe, in order to give care to the most injured. The goal of the hospital is to take care of patients no matter the cost. When an event like this one happens staff has to be ready to act to the best of their abilities even if it means coming back in after a 12 hour shift.


The New York Times Article

Comments

  1. Mark BonicaOctober 10, 2017 at 8:43 AM

    Your closing point is great - healthcare is more than just a job. You have to be ready to give more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MelissaOctober 18, 2017 at 7:47 PM

    Our UMC Level 1 Trauma Center had just had training with the Director of the Emergency Department in the Orlando hospital that treated the patients from their mass shooting a year ago. They discussed lessons learned and how they could improve their ER operations for a mass casualty event. No One can plan for an event like what occurred here on 1 October, it changed our lives as we know it. 17 local hospitals cared for the injured and wounded. This community did an amazing job coming together for these families, these patients, and each other. I am blessed to call Las Vegas home.

    ReplyDelete

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