Three Johns Hopkins doctors waited downstairs as Maryland State Police secured the upper floor of a Springfield Hospital men?s dormitory where a lone gunman was shooting residents.
Upstairs in this training exercise Thursday in Sykesville, the troopers raided the room where the shooter had holed up with a hostage, then wrapped a pressure cuff around the injured suspect?s arm before removing both him and his victim.
“After the threat is dealt with, you have to deal with the consequences,” said Dr. Kevin Gerald, medical director for the Maryland State Police and Johns Hopkins physician.
“There?s a need to have a medical element in those operations. … Once they stop the killing or stop the wounding of the students or office workers, the focus shifts to the care for the casualties that are there.”
Ever since two students took guns and bombs into Columbine High School just over eight years ago, Maryland State Police have trained to go after homicidal gunmen without specialized SWAT team backup, said trainer Sgt. William Dashiells.
They are ready if a Virginia Tech-style catastrophe happens in Maryland, he said. “We?re very proud at Maryland State Police; we?ve been doing this, been on top of this for some time,” he said.
The police also consider the real need to save lives while stopping the killing.
Paramedics are not trained to follow police into an unsecured environment, Gerald said. Instead, Maryland State Police cross-train some troopers as medical officers and teach all officers to administer basic, life-saving care.
“We?ve had a tactical medical program in Maryland for over 10 years,” Gerald said.
This year, state police will cross-train with Johns Hopkins physicians every week for 30 weeks until all 1,200 troopers have fresh experience working with emergency responders and practicing basic first aid.
“Increasing violence in society has caused a need for law enforcement to change their tactics,” Gerald said.
The partnership also gives Johns Hopkins a key role teaching resident physicians how to handle hostile situations, he said.
“Hopkins is inthe business of training the future leaders in emergency medicine,” he said.
