MARYSVILLE — Medics who provided emergency care to four critically wounded teenagers at Marysville Pilchuck High School on Oct. 24 now say they are owed an apology from UW Medicine.
Seattle medical leaders’ false statements regarding the on-scene decision-making added pain to what was already the saddest day in many emergency responders’ lives, said Dean Shelton, speaking for Local 3219, the union that represents 91 Marysville firefighters and paramedics.
Shelton, a paramedic and fire captain, also is the representative for more than 800 firefighters in the northern region of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters.
“We knew the truth would come out,” Shelton said Friday morning. “We knew that our members had met all industry standards. We knew our members had provided the greatest care… and with time, those (UW) statements would be proven wrong.”
UW’s motives in the immediate criticism remain unclear, Shelton said.
“They made statements that were out of context,” he said. “They made statements that were false. They made assumptions and they clearly didn’t take into account the facts.”
The controversy started within hours of the shootings. Publicly and privately, UW Medicine began questioning why Marysville medics put the victims into ambulances headed to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
UW leaders claimed the teens should have been flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and that medical helicopters were hovering over the high school and were waved off. Seattle media jumped on the story with fervor.
An investigation by The Herald turned up public records showing that Airlift Northwest helicopters weren’t even inside Snohomish County when trauma experts on the ground decided not to wait and sent the victims by ambulance to Providence.
Five students ultimately died from their wounds, including the shooter. One of the victims survived after being shot in the jaw.
The Marysville Fire District stands by the decisions and actions taken at the scene and at Providence, Interim Fire Chief Martin McFalls said Friday.
“I have no doubt that the victims of the MP tragedy received the best possible care available,” he said. “Our hope is that the families and this community will continue to heal and eventually move past this horrific incident.”
Local medics greatly respect the emergency medical professionals at both Harborview and Providence, Shelton said. Harborview provides the medical training required by the Marysville Fire District for firefighters who wish to become paramedics.
That makes the story told by UW Medicine even more puzzling, he said.
“We are paid to make decisions in these types of moments and our members went above and beyond, and the decisions they made in the time frame that they made them in was beyond exceptional,” he said. “For someone to criticize that, it’s beyond unacceptable. I would expect that the people responsible for those statements should own them and should make amends with the members and the people involved.”
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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