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'You did your job and you did it well,' head of panel tells hospitals
By John SankoDenver Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau
The doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who responded swiftly to the tragedy of Columbine High School won praise Wednesday from a man who leads a commission reviewing the incident. "All in all, I don't think there's a member of the commission who wouldn't say you did your job and you did it well," former Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice William Erickson told hospital representatives at a Columbine Review Commission hearing. The commission, created by Gov. Bill Owens to look into the shootings and to make recommendations on how to better deal with crisis situations, spent the day talking to medical emergency and mental health experts. One warning they got from mental health representatives and crisis consultants was to be prepared for the effects of Columbine in the future. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 13 people and injured more than 20 others in their rampage at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The two youths committed suicide. The commission listened as witnesses from some of the six hospitals that cared for the injured described the situation as chaotic but well handled. One victim, who was not identified by name, would have died if she had arrived five minutes later, the commission was told. Ray Coniglio, program director for trauma and pre-hospital services at St. Anthony Hospital, said much of his institution's early information came from the media. "We turned on the TV and that's where we first heard about Columbine," Coniglio said. "Doctors started calling and coming in. There wasn't a lot of communications from the scene." A nurses' conference was under way at the hospital on the day of the shootings and "we had more nurses than we knew what to do with," Coniglio said. Much of the afternoon testimony dealt with the impact of trauma on the victims, their families and the community, but included types of assistance that was provided to victims by professionals, the community and the nation. Jo Anne Doherty, vice president of Clinical Services for the Jefferson Center for Mental Health, said 3,000 hours of counseling services were provided to more than 1,500 people at 25 sites in the first 10 days after Columbine. Contact John Sanko at (303) 892-5404 or at sankoj@RockyMountainNews.com. August 10, 2000
The doctors, nurses and other medical personnel who responded swiftly to the tragedy of Columbine High School won praise Wednesday from a man who leads a commission reviewing the incident.
"All in all, I don't think there's a member of the commission who wouldn't say you did your job and you did it well," former Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice William Erickson told hospital representatives at a Columbine Review Commission hearing.
The commission, created by Gov. Bill Owens to look into the shootings and to make recommendations on how to better deal with crisis situations, spent the day talking to medical emergency and mental health experts.
One warning they got from mental health representatives and crisis consultants was to be prepared for the effects of Columbine in the future.
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 13 people and injured more than 20 others in their rampage at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.
The two youths committed suicide.
The commission listened as witnesses from some of the six hospitals that cared for the injured described the situation as chaotic but well handled.
One victim, who was not identified by name, would have died if she had arrived five minutes later, the commission was told.
Ray Coniglio, program director for trauma and pre-hospital services at St. Anthony Hospital, said much of his institution's early information came from the media.
"We turned on the TV and that's where we first heard about Columbine," Coniglio said.
"Doctors started calling and coming in. There wasn't a lot of communications from the scene."
A nurses' conference was under way at the hospital on the day of the shootings and "we had more nurses than we knew what to do with," Coniglio said.
Much of the afternoon testimony dealt with the impact of trauma on the victims, their families and the community, but included types of assistance that was provided to victims by professionals, the community and the nation.
Jo Anne Doherty, vice president of Clinical Services for the Jefferson Center for Mental Health, said 3,000 hours of counseling services were provided to more than 1,500 people at 25 sites in the first 10 days after Columbine.
Contact John Sanko at (303) 892-5404 or at sankoj@RockyMountainNews.com.
August 10, 2000
