May 2018

FIRST RESPONDERS
Marjory Stoneman Douglas First Responders:
HEROES Every Step of the Way
by Beatrice Levine
Often times we hear of tragic events after they happen. Here is
how they begin.
It all starts with dispatch, “the calm voice in the storm.”
DISPATCH
Gunshots echoed in the dispatch room. Kathy Liriano picked
up the phone: “Help! There is a man with a gun shooting at kids
at MSD high school!” It was from a teacher who had students
in her room that were injured from gunshots that were fired
through the window and door of her classroom. As Liriano
heard gunshots through the phone, she remained strong while
attempting to calm the caller. She assured her that help was
on the way and told her, “as long as I can hear you breathe, I
know you are there, so it’s OK. I’m here.” Liriano is the head
supervisor for the dispatch call center at the Coral Springs
Police Department. She jumped on a call in order to help with
the more than 1,000 calls that came flooding in on February 14.
Since all 911 cell phone calls made from Parkland are directly
routed to the Coral Springs Police Department, the dispatch call
center had quite the task in front of them.
“911 dispatchers actually are our first responders,” Liriano said.
They document all pertinent information from callers and relay
that information to the officers being dispatched. They gather as
much information as they can, while calming callers at the same
time. First responders rely on this information in order to prevent
them from entering blindly into a situation. Dispatchers are often
referred to as the “ears before the eyes get there.”
POLICE
Sergeant Carla Kmiotek, head of training for the Coral Springs
Police Department, was in a meeting that day when an officer
charged in and proclaimed, “There’s an active shooter at
Stoneman Douglas!” Sergeant Kmiotek remembers jumping up,
running to her vehicle, opening the door, putting on her bullet
proof vest, removing her rifle from the top of her car, loading
it, and speeding over to the “north side of the building” at
Stoneman Douglas High School.
Kmiotek, who has a teenager herself in high school, charged
into the 1200 building. She immediately encountered the
carnage. Her first thought was, “This is bad, this is really bad.”
Children were strewn everywhere. Some dead. Some badly
injured.
There’s an active shooter? What do you do first? Help those
in need that might lose their lives or do you go after the active
shooter? First responders face the challenge of saving lives
or apprehending a violent killer. The challenge is real and
Valentine’s Day 2018 proved that to be the case.
A total of 30 first responders from the Coral Springs Police
Department were on scene that day. The main objective of the
first wave was to find the suspect. Sergeant Kmiotek was in
that first wave. The second wave of first responders entered the
building immediately and attended to the injured. They scoured
the building, performing triage on victims using tourniquets,
combat gauze, chest seals, and trauma dressings, which they
carry on their persons.
FIRE RESCUE
Michael Moser, Division Chief for the Coral Springs Fire
Department, was the first to arrive on the scene, making him
the Incident Post Commander. He informed dispatch where
he set up the medical treatment area. Dispatch then relayed
that information to the police officers so they knew where to
bring the injured victims. Upon arrival to the post, Commander
Moser decided which victims needed immediate hospital
transportation. He was in charge of managing the injured.
Further triage techniques were performed at his command post.
This enabled him to keep victims alive and ensure that they
received urgent care. He orchestrated the coming and going
of emergency vehicles and decided what hospital each victim
would go to.
While interviewing Chief Moser in his office he was multi tasking.
He simultaneously kept an eye on his computer while answering
questions. He was working diligently to arrange public safety
for the March in Parkland. Some events occur without prior
knowledge and some events are planned in advance. When
massive amounts of people will be in attendance, there is an
increased need for police and fire department presence to keep
the public safe and to avoid chaos.
Although all these first responder units, from Dispatch to Police
and Fire Rescue, trained extensively for this type of event,
nothing can ever really prepare them for the reality of an active
shooter. Kathy Liriano, Sergeant Carla Kmiotek, and Division
Chief Michael Moser are just three that are mentioned here,
but all those that give of themselves for others are truly heroes.
Most people don’t know of the efforts these true unsung heroes
made on that fateful day. Fourteen victims were saved. Many
more could have died if not for the quick and coordinated
efforts of all the first responders.
First responders, from the beginning of a tragic event to the
end, are our true unsung American heroes. P
18
MAY 2018