DES MOINES, Iowa — Nearly 20 minutes after first responders and law enforcement received the initial calls of shots fired at Perry Middle and High School in Perry, Iowa, the Iowa Methodist Medical Center trauma services team received a call too.
Dr. Carlos Pelaez, the medical director for Trauma Services at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Blank Children’s Hospital, told Local 5 there were prepared for the worst.
"You really don't know how many casualties you're going to have," Pelaez said. "You have to prepare for three, five, 10, 20, and you have to make sure that you have all the resources and the teams available to care for a large amount of patients."
Dr. Pelaez said he's never dealt with a mass shooting event like this in his medical career, and the closest thing trauma services have responded to are fatal car crashes.
However, the trauma services team, along with surgeons, nurses and so many others, implemented their mass casualty plan.
With this strategy, their first priority was to stop the patient's bleeding. After that, a team of surgeons and nurses worked to address removing the bullets.
Five victims from Thursday's school shooting were transported to Des Moines, and Iowa Methodist Medical Center received three of them, all males, for treatment.
The first victim had immediate surgery on his multiple gunshot wounds. He's in the ICU and in critical condition, Dr. Pelaez said.
The second victim -- a minor, and male -- underwent surgery on his multiple gunshot wounds, and is currently in the ICU in stable condition.
A third male, also a minor, arrived with superficial wounds to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, and has since been discharged back home to his parents.