Winston-Salem emergency medical workers are taking a bigger role in training for mass shootings. Jay Walsh, a Winston-Salem Battalion Chief, says the idea is to get medical care to victims more quickly.
“EMS and fire, with a lot of coordinated training, are going to be entering into zones, basically into areas with law enforcement support to extract victims and to give basic medical care to get them out as fast as we can.”
Walsh says there are more than 300 city firefighters with emergency medical training, in addition to EMS workers and paramedics. And he says getting victims immediate help could mean more of them will survive.
Walsh spoke during a police press conference that addressed mass shootings across the country, including one this month in San Bernardino, California.