- It's been over eight months since the mass shooting on Michigan State's campus and Sparrow Hospital of Lansing's President Dr. Denny Martin said they had over 100 extra staff come in that night, many without being called.
- Martin said overall he was pleased with how things ran in the Emergency Department that night. However, the communication to those on scene was difficult and said there's room to grow there as a community.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
It's been over eight months since the mass shooting on Michigan State's campus and the community is still grieving and reflecting. At the Graduate Hotel on Tuesday as part of the Fall Focus convention, Sparrow Hospital of Lansing's President talked about what went on behind the scenes that night.
“My initial response was just to get to the hospital as quick as I could,” said Sparrow President Dr. Denny Martin.
February 13, 2023, a day the community won't forget.
“Early on, we really didn't know the number the size of the group of victims that would be coming in,” Martin said.
Martin says he remembers that night clearly.
“It was a fairly busy night to start with, as are most nights in the sparrow emergency department, but the local team that was there, boots on the ground, in the ED, our nursing leadership in the hospital, really began to put some processes in place that we have to free up space for us to be able to handle an influx of patients," Martin said.
Setting their emotions aside, workers at Sparrow went into action with the practices and protocols they're gone over in case a mass tragedy like this ever happened.
“Each patient was assigned a physician lead, they were assigned a nurse that would take care of the patient," Martin said. "Once we started knowing what individuals would come in, we assembled those teams, we knew what room they would be going to so we brought equipment and supplies that we may need outside of those rooms."
Martin said along with the staff already on duty for the night, over 100 extra staff came in to help, most coming in without a call.
He said those extra hands really helped with the care they were able to provide to patients coming in and was pleased with how everything inside went. But it was the confusion outside the hospital that made the night so difficult.
“Communicating with the scene on campus was difficult," Martin said. "There was a lot of communication, but really getting accurate assessments on how many more victims would be coming, what was the total extent of other reported sites of shooting on campus, that was something I think that as a community we can work on. But in the hospital, I really don't know how much we could have done better than what we did.”
Like many, February 13 will go down as a day Martin will never forget and he said he would do it again when needed.
“We responded to the to the needs of the community when they needed it the most and I know we do the same thing tomorrow if needed,” Martin said.
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