Is Baltimore Prepared For A Mass Attack?
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Baltimore's front lines of defense are ready in case of a mass attack, according to City police and surgeons.
The City's top surgeon says it's not a matter of if, but when, Baltimore will become the target of terror. Something police and hospitals can only prepare for.
No city wants it, but every city plans for it. The kind of terror that unfolded on the streets of Las Vegas Monday, and inside a Florida nightclub last year.
The country's two deadliest mass shootings to date has offered grim learning lessons for Baltimore's law enforcement.
"Every time there is an incident which occurs anywhere, which is of course a tragedy, we try to take something from each incident," said Baltimore police deputy chief Melissa Hyatt. "It's truly a reminder of how important it is, what we do, the partnerships we have and continuing to work with all of these partners to make us stronger."
While officers train to rush to the scene, doctors train to triage the waves of patients the attack could send through their doors.
"It's not if, it's only when. It's very clear to me. Why wouldn't there be a terrorist attack in Baltimore?" said Shock Trauma surgeon Dr. Thomas Scalea. "We need to be prepared to respond in the best way we can."
Dr. Scalea says every weekend is a practice run.
Baltimore's doctors treat more than their fair share of bullet wounds, but taking on gunshot patients en masse, is something they can only anticipate.
"You say 'how can another person be shot?' But, they are, and you put on your game face and you go," Dr. Scalea said.
He says surgeons would tap into a triage system like the one hospitals used in Vegas.
Police say they will train from after-action reports that come out of the attack in Vegas.
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