In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, I would like to extend condolences to all who experienced such horrors that day. I would also like to honor some of the women and men who were heroic survivors:
Amy McAslin, an off-duty EMT, who treated another woman’s neck wound — fortunately a graze that didn’t hit a major artery or vein — while hiding under a table and herself being shielded by a man who was shot in the rump for his trouble. All survived and the wounded were soon taken to the hospital.
Lindsay Padgett and Mark Jay, who ran to their pickup truck and drove away, then stopped when asked and loaded people on makeshift stretchers into the bed of the truck. They met an ambulance at a freeway entrance, unloaded the most seriously injured to their care, and followed the ambulance to the hospital to deliver the rest of the injured.
Vanessa, an off-duty nurse who provided no last name, who three times (!) ran back into the line of fire to rescue and help those with gunshot wounds.
Lynette Brinkis, a Laguna Hills nurse, stopped running away as she encountered people with gunshot wounds, and began triaging and helping all those she could. She administered CPR and obtained supplies from an ambulance, so that her husband could bandage people while she organized triage. When she heard others were hiding in the hotel, she entered the Mandalay Bay to check on them — they were shot but stable. She, her husband and friends later sheltered at the Desert Rose until morning.
Tami Colosimo, a military police officer and civilian ER nurse, after the shooting began applied tourniquets, applied pressure to wounds, inserted IVs, and covered dead bodies. As of October 6, she has not been able to wash all the blood off her hands.
There are more stories at this CNN link, and at this Mercury News link, but the stories I’ve seen of the heroes list the men exclusively or first, so I wanted to list the women.
And also, honors or at least treats should be extended to the therapists brought in after the crisis:
This can’t be easy for them either. For more doggie photos, please click the link to Twitter, https://twitter.com/JimDalrympleII/status/916005331087482880