School Shootings

Published

Sad that we may need a category for this.

Another school shooting in NoCal.

Thinking of NoCalMimi and hoping she's okay.

Here in Mass my son's principal threw away a magazine clip loaded with bullets and told no one... until the local news found out last week. An innocent pre-med student was randomly selected and stabbed to death by someone in a library one town over this weekend. There are currently 3 high schools within 10 miles from me on lockdown. I'm scared for my children and this violent society we live in.

Specializes in Emergency Department.

Personally I wouldn't want to force anyone that doesn't want to carry guns to carry them. I have said many times over the years on many different forums that choosing to be armed is a very personal choice. When you do choose to carry, you are also making a conscious choice to protect those around you because in protecting yourself, you are also protecting them. One of those decisions you make when you are going through the process of choosing to carry or not is whether or not you are worth protecting at the potential cost of someone else's life and potentially substantial financial cost as well. This is a choice I have made. I have decided that my life is worth defending because if I no longer am alive, I can no longer work to better other people's lives. I have decided that the lives of my family are also worth defending because if they're no longer alive, they can not go on to better society in what they do either. I also hope I never have to take a life. I am not a police officer and therefore I do not go out of my way to find trouble. That's their job. Mine is to simply live my life and stay alive. I am a Sheepdog, I protect my very small flock and that's it.

Extending beyond this, I am also a Paramedic. I have taken PHTLS and I do understand the concepts behind TCCC, it's just a different application of PHTLS priorities. The big takeaway from that is that in any large casualty incident (doesn't mean just shootings), stopping bleeding is of great importance once you have ensured that you are sufficiently safe that you can respond with minimal risk to yourself as you are useless to the victims if you become one yourself. It is OK to liberally use tourniquets to stop bleeding because you have HOURS before any significant tissue damage occurs, though the vast majority of bleeding stops with direct pressure alone. Your next concern is ensuring a good BLS airway. No open airway = dead. Time is not your friend.

If a lot of people have taken a class that's similar to the "Stop the Bleeding" course, then things can be done much faster. The basics of this can be taught in a very short time and is easy to understand. The idea is similar to the military's "Combat Lifesaver" course. Nearly everyone, if not everyone, in the military is taught this stuff and this is a HUGE reason why the US has a very low combat mortality rate.

Here in Mass my son's principal threw away a magazine clip loaded with bullets and told no one... until the local news found out last week. An innocent pre-med student was randomly selected and stabbed to death by someone in a library one town over this weekend. There are currently 3 high schools within 10 miles from me on lockdown. I'm scared for my children and this violent society we live in.

THREW IT OUT??!

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

I took TCCC late last year with a group of police officers. They fully understood that I was a nurse during the class. During one of the practical evolutions they wanted to simluate a scenario similar to the Pulse night club - dark, gun fire, loud music which is very disorienting. Before we went in, the instructor passed out fake orange guns so we could practice covering ourselves while doing care under fire. Not everyone needed a gun and i gently explained before the scenario that there would be no possible way that I would envision myself going into an active shooter event WITH a gun as an officer's backup. Nevertheless i ended up getting a plastic orange pistol put into my hand and we ended up looking for a mannequin and i ended up juggling a pistol that i had no place for. oy vey. All in all it was a good class. I learned a lot about tourniquets. Remember when they were verboten??

I took TCCC late last year with a group of police officers. They fully understood that I was a nurse during the class. During one of the practical evolutions they wanted to simluate a scenario similar to the Pulse night club - dark, gun fire, loud music which is very disorienting. Before we went in, the instructor passed out fake orange guns so we could practice covering ourselves while doing care under fire. Not everyone needed a gun and i gently explained before the scenario that there would be no possible way that I would envision myself going into an active shooter event WITH a gun as an officer's backup. Nevertheless i ended up getting a plastic orange pistol put into my hand and we ended up looking for a mannequin and i ended up juggling a pistol that i had no place for. oy vey. All in all it was a good class. I learned a lot about tourniquets. Remember when they were verboten??

I see they are timed now. Yes?

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.
I see they are timed now. Yes?

?? the scenarios?

?? the scenarios?

The tourniquets.

Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.
Personally I wouldn't want to force anyone that doesn't want to carry guns to carry them. I have said many times over the years on many different forums that choosing to be armed is a very personal choice. When you do choose to carry, you are also making a conscious choice to protect those around you because in protecting yourself, you are also protecting them. One of those decisions you make when you are going through the process of choosing to carry or not is whether or not you are worth protecting at the potential cost of someone else's life and potentially substantial financial cost as well. This is a choice I have made. I have decided that my life is worth defending because if I no longer am alive, I can no longer work to better other people's lives. I have decided that the lives of my family are also worth defending because if they're no longer alive, they can not go on to better society in what they do either. I also hope I never have to take a life. I am not a police officer and therefore I do not go out of my way to find trouble. That's their job. Mine is to simply live my life and stay alive. I am a Sheepdog, I protect my very small flock and that's it.

Extending beyond this, I am also a Paramedic. I have taken PHTLS and I do understand the concepts behind TCCC, it's just a different application of PHTLS priorities. The big takeaway from that is that in any large casualty incident (doesn't mean just shootings), stopping bleeding is of great importance once you have ensured that you are sufficiently safe that you can respond with minimal risk to yourself as you are useless to the victims if you become one yourself. It is OK to liberally use tourniquets to stop bleeding because you have HOURS before any significant tissue damage occurs, though the vast majority of bleeding stops with direct pressure alone. Your next concern is ensuring a good BLS airway. No open airway = dead. Time is not your friend.

If a lot of people have taken a class that's similar to the "Stop the Bleeding" course, then things can be done much faster. The basics of this can be taught in a very short time and is easy to understand. The idea is similar to the military's "Combat Lifesaver" course. Nearly everyone, if not everyone, in the military is taught this stuff and this is a HUGE reason why the US has a very low combat mortality rate.

Every word - absolute!!!! I am still amazed at the origin of the narrative of ANYONE forcing ANYONE to carry a gun against their complete and total agreement. Not factual.

I too have made the decision and pay a monthly fee for legal coverage if, God forbid, I ever have to "go there." God only knows...

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

they teach us to write a time of application on it - but i remember being taught this back in the day. I remember when i was being taught about them that they were a sort of last resort -they'd even want us to write a big T on someone's head if we were on the field so let the care team know that there was a tourniquet (gasp!) so that it could be addressed right away. (i feel like i am really dating myself here!) But in this class that logic was reversed - the tourniquet should be one of the first things you grab. The amount of time it's on becomes less taboo. Heck, they even had us spend a considerable amount of time learning how to apply them to ourselves.

they teach us to write a time of application on it - but i remember being taught this back in the day. I remember when i was being taught about them that they were a sort of last resort -they'd even want us to write a big T on someone's head if we were on the field so let the care team know that there was a tourniquet (gasp!) so that it could be addressed right away. (i feel like i am really dating myself here!) But in this class that logic was reversed - the tourniquet should be one of the first things you grab. The amount of time it's on becomes less taboo. Heck, they even had us spend a considerable amount of time learning how to apply them to ourselves.

I agree, and I remember that, too. Far's Mom is a retired ER nurse.

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

ok, i'm not old enough to be your mom

ok, i'm not old enough to be your mom

Don't tell, but I still have some.

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