LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With law enforcement's swift actions front and center, we're beginning to hear first-hand accounts from those first to respond to Monday's mass shooting.
"It's horrifying once you realize that it's real, it is happening here," Jesse Yarbrough, chief of Louisville EMS, said. "I think it strikes you when you arrive at the scene and see everyone doing what they've been trained to do and realize that [it's] not a training, it's a real event."
Maj. Bobby Cooper, Louisville Fire's battalion chief, said it was clear "that it wasn't just another run."
Cooper has responded to countless scenes during his tenured career with Louisville Fire but said the Old National Bank mass shooting stands out among the rest.
"It's tragic. It's amazing how much damage can be done in nine minutes, and how much can be lost in nine minutes," Cooper said. "I hope that the community has confidence in public safety's ability to keep them as safe as possible."
And keeping first responders safe was state-of-the-art, combat tactical gear.
Twenty-five Louisville Fire personnel assisted with treatment, triage and transport, and 18 EMS personnel responded—spread out among ambulances, supervisors and command staff.
Along with the dozens of first responders was a mass casualty incident bus.
"Well, it is a deliberate, tragic incident that we all wish it never happened. It's reality. It's incredibly unfortunate," Cooper said.
Louisville's Emergency Service personnel received yearly mass-casualty response training to keep up with the ever-changing reality of tragedies.
"[That's] from Standard Gravure in [1989], to Columbine," Cooper said. "We've tried to, try to learn from other people's experiences."
While the response to Monday's mass shooting was swift, leaders have this to say about its impact on future mass-casualty responses:
"Every event affords you the opportunity to improve your response for future events," Yarbrough said.
"There's always ways to improve," Cooper said. "We'll continue to train. We'll continue to be as proactive and progressive as we possibly can."
Officials said Monday's events exemplify a rapidly changing reality, requiring an ever-evolving response.
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