Minneapolis school shooting was HCMC's 2nd mass casualty event within 24 hours
A shooting during a school Mass in Minneapolis early Wednesday morning that killed two children and injured 21 others is not the first mass casualty incident within 24 hours for a nearby hospital.
Hennepin Healthcare, which is a Level 1 Trauma Center, received 10 patients from the shooting, according to Chair of Emergency Medicine Tom Wyatt. Eight of them were children and two were adults. As of Thursday night, the hospital says one adult and one child are in serious condition, one child is in critical condition and four children are in satisfactory condition.
"We are dealing with gunshot wounds from a high-velocity weapon. Gunshot wounds can be very problematic because they can involve multiple body systems. They require a lot of resources to manage," Wyatt said.
This is the second mass casualty incident the hospital has dealt with in the last 24 hours.
"Whenever a type of page like this goes out again, it really puts into motion a lot of big response from all of the teams," Wyatt said. "Because we're a Level 1 Trauma Center, we have to mobilize certain types of resources like operating rooms. We have emergency providers and nurses. We have to mobilize things like the labs and the blood bank. There's a lot of planning and exercises throughout the year to prepare for these events and, unfortunately, we respond to many of them throughout the year."
Seven patients were rushed to Children's Minnesota, also a Level 1 Trauma Center, after the shooting. The hospital says one child remains hospitalized as of Thursday evening.
The grandfather of an 8-year-old girl who was released from care earlier in the day says he raced to her side.
"It's very sad. It should not be this way. People should not have guns," Zuheir Safe said.
M Health Fairview said one child had been admitted to its Masonic Children's Hospital and is in stable condition.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said that everyone injured in the shooting is expected to survive.
Mental health worker encourages parents to connect with children
The director of mental health services at Children's Minnesota has advice for parents everywhere in dealing with the tragedy.
"Today, one of the most important things is gonna be to be there with a child and provide support," Dr. Sarah Jerstad said. "Depending on the age of the child, some kids may just want to go outside and play, some kids may want to take a break, but many kids are gonna have questions. Many kids are going to have fears and this is such an opportunity for parents to be there and provide comfort. And also, if kids want to know what the plan is, parents need to talk through that. Parents are that safe space for kids."
Jerstad adds that it is OK and important for your kids to see you cry.
"Parents need to be there as a model for their kids to express their own emotions. Parents have feelings, and they don't need to be just OK," Jerstad said. "Kids can see parents are struggling too and it's great for parents to model, 'I am feeling sad and scared and I can express my feelings about that too.' It's absolutely OK and it's normal and it's human."
Staff at Children's Minnesota will also be getting mental health support.
Jillian Peterson, a criminology professor from Hamline University in St. Paul who has been tracking mass shootings in the U.S. going back to the 1960s, says what we know so far about the shooter matches what she has seen in the past.
"They usually commit suicide on the scene, and they often target elementary schools specifically. They usually have some sort of connection, but they also know that that is going to make the message go viral," Peterson said. "Those are such horrific events that they make everyone pay attention to them so there's this narcissism piece, and sadly, this shooting seems to follow all those sorts of patterns."
Peterson says the impacts of shootings like this go well beyond those directly affected, spreading across the community, and that the mental health trauma can last for years.