Posted: Jan 15, 2011 6:12 PM
Updated: Jan 15, 2011 8:26 PM
TUCSON - Several agencies responded to last week's shooting. Those first responders who raced to the scene spoke publicly about their experiences.
However, they were unable to talk about the patients they treated or what the patients may have said to them because of the health privacy laws.
The first 9-1-1 call came into the Pima County Sheriff's department at 10:11 a.m., the first to respond Northwest Fire District at 10:14 a.m.
The firefighters and the paramedics who responded say it was a chaotic scene.
Station #33 was there within three minutes.
Battalion Chief Lane Spalla was the Incident Commander.
"This particular incident happened rather fast fortunately we were well prepared, well trained."
Tony Compagno began the triage process.
"In my head I had to prioritize and started directing people to those patients."
Capt. Dustin Schaub of Station 31 describes the scene. "We saw lots of civilians running around they were trying to help the victims to the best of their ability."
He was quickly told which patients were injured the worse and needed help immediately.
"We had no idea who the victims were or who they were going to be. I wished we could've helped everyone and I wished there were no funerals afterwards."
Fire officials say within in 45 minutes they had treated and sent to the hospital 13 patients.
Battalion Chief Spalla adds, from the 911 dispatchers, to the first responders to the hospitals it all just seemed that the stars were lined up to take care of these poor folks last Saturday."
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