Just over a week after the September 4 shooting that left four people dead and nine injured at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, fire officials are saying several lives may have been saved by first responders on the scene.
Barrow County Fire Chief Alan Shuman said their initial reports indicate there were no medically preventable deaths in the shooting, with all nine injured people either already fully recovered or on the road to full recovery.
Deputy Fire Chief Brett Skinner defined what a preventable death is from a fire and emergency response perspective:
"A preventable death is (the death of) anyone who can be treated and saved," Skinner said. "We use a triage system when we go in on these types of calls, and basically, if they're unsavable, which we call those a black tag, we don't treat and we don't move those patients because it is a crime scene...Everybody that was not tagged black was treated and transported and they are alive at this point."
Skinner said having no medically preventable deaths in a school shooting scenario could be unprecedented in American history.
"In the research I've done, and I've done a lot of training and classes on this, there have been instances before where there were zero preventable deaths, but it was not a school shooting. It was at the (2013 Washington Naval Yard shooting.)" Skinner said. "This is the first known school case, that I know of, that there were zero preventable deaths."
Shuman, who has been with the Barrow County Fire Department since 2012, touted the training the department has done to prepare for potential mass shooting scenarios for the first responders being able to treat and transport the wounded quickly. He said that training has been in place for several years in the department.
"When a fire chief looks into the crystal ball as to what's coming and what do we need to be training on, it's what's going on around the nation to a big extent," Shuman said. "Since 2018, we've been doing a lot of drills...As a matter of fact, this past March we did an active shooter (drill) at Russell Middle School."
Shuman also praised the bravery of the first responders who went into the school while it was unclear whether or not the shooting was still ongoing.
"We don't wait until the building is secure and safe for us to enter, we enter with the teams that are going after the shooter," Shuman said. "They go immediately from patient to patient."
Skinner added that the fire department has made sure that the first responders who treated the wounded at the school have had mental health resources available to them.
"That group went through quite an ordeal. We had trained for that multiple times, and I hope they were prepared as best they could be, but I can honestly tell you no one can prepare enough what you would witness and see and hear and smell in those situations," Skinner said. "We had a robust system in place already with the crisis management system that we put in place a long time ago...Ultimately, they are doing good, but that's going to take some time to adjust to. That's burned into their memory forever."
Shuman said while he is proud of the work his crews did responding to the scene, the department is working to have a third party firm do an assessment of the response to see if there's any room for improvement should they face a similar situation again.
Both Shuman and Skinner spoke to the heartbreak the Barrow County community is continuing to feel after the shooting.
"As a person who was born and raised right here in Barrow County, even though we had been preparing and planning for an event like this, I never truly thought it would happen here," Skinner said. "As far as the department standpoint and the responders, I know we have a long road ahead and I feel confident everyone has done what they need to do...I know the community has got an even longer road ahead. I feel bad for the kids having to get back in the schools and I know they're worried about their safety."
Barrow County Manager Srikanth Yamala issued a statement Wednesday offering his thanks to the fire department along with the other county agencies who cooperated to respond to the shooting.
"I cannot give enough thanks and appreciation to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office, Barrow County Fire, Barrow County EMS and Barrow County E911 - along with the multitude of public safety agencies who provided aid from around the region and around the state," Yamala said. "Their selfless actions and dedication to service truly provided a light in the darkness for us that day."
To hear more from Barrow County Fire Chief Alan Shuman and Deputy Fire Chief Brett Skinner, click play on the video above.
