Published: February 13, 2009
Showing posts with label Feb. 14 Shootings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feb. 14 Shootings. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Looking for answers, public yet to find many
Published on Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Northern Star
The Northern Star
University Police Chief Donald Grady offered an update Wednesday on the ongoing investigation regarding Steven Kazmierczak's motive for opening fire on a class in Cole Hall last Thursday.
In a news conference Wednesday afternoon at Altgeld Hall, Grady said the investigation had yet to turn up credible evidence of a motive, but assured that, "If there's a motive to be found ... I'm confident we'll find it."
Keys to this motive are believed to be found in a SIM card missing from Kazmierczak's cell phone and a hard drive missing from his computer.
Police believe Kazmierczak removed both himself before the attack.
Working with the FBI, Grady said investigators are looking through more than 100 pieces of information. They have also interviewed about 120 people, including Kazmierczak's girlfriend, whom Grady said was not currently being considered a suspect.
Grady's mood was perhaps best reflected when a reporter asked about the most frustrating part of his investigation.
"Dealing with the media," he said.
Injury details emerge from hospital press conference
Published on Friday, February 15, 2008
The Northern Star
By Ben Burr, Andy Mitchell and Dan Stone
Kishwaukee Community Hospital administrators held another press conference Friday morning to discuss the events of the previous night.
Kishwaukee Community Hospital treated eighteen victims of the Cole Hall shooting for gunshot wounds.
All the victims taken to KCH were brought there for gunshot-related injuries, said Dr. Michael Kulisz, Emergency Medicine Physician and Director of the KCH Emergency Room.
“As you can imagine, in this kind of scenario there can be individuals who are trampled, who can be pushed around, and we did not see any evidence of that in our facility, and I think that just speaks for how the students managed themselves at the site,” said Dr. Roger Maillefer, Chief of Staff and Surgeon on Call.
The hospital staff faced unfamiliar territory as they treated victims’ shotgun-wounds.
“The typical gunshot wound that most of us are trained for in surgery is ‘inner-city’,” Maillefer said. “Inner-city” gunshot wounds are characterized as rifle- or handgun-inflicted,
“It’s typically not what we saw yesterday. In a classroom full of students that were trying to leave as buckshot was being fired at them, there were a varierty of injuries from the front and from the back,” Maillefer added.
Maillefer went on to describe the damage inflicted by the unconventional weapon.
“These are little pellets; they look like little BBs, and although on the surface they look very small and insignificant, you cannot rely on that. They can travel to places where they’re not supposed to be,” Maillefer said.
However, the nature of the ammunition was in at least one respect less dangerous than large-caliber weapons: “We didn’t really sustain a whole lot of blood loss in these injuries; buckshot is relatively small bullets and so they tend not to cause a lot of blood vessel loss,” Maillefer said.
The Northern Star
By Ben Burr, Andy Mitchell and Dan Stone
Kishwaukee Community Hospital administrators held another press conference Friday morning to discuss the events of the previous night.
Kishwaukee Community Hospital treated eighteen victims of the Cole Hall shooting for gunshot wounds.
All the victims taken to KCH were brought there for gunshot-related injuries, said Dr. Michael Kulisz, Emergency Medicine Physician and Director of the KCH Emergency Room.
“As you can imagine, in this kind of scenario there can be individuals who are trampled, who can be pushed around, and we did not see any evidence of that in our facility, and I think that just speaks for how the students managed themselves at the site,” said Dr. Roger Maillefer, Chief of Staff and Surgeon on Call.
The hospital staff faced unfamiliar territory as they treated victims’ shotgun-wounds.
“The typical gunshot wound that most of us are trained for in surgery is ‘inner-city’,” Maillefer said. “Inner-city” gunshot wounds are characterized as rifle- or handgun-inflicted,
“It’s typically not what we saw yesterday. In a classroom full of students that were trying to leave as buckshot was being fired at them, there were a varierty of injuries from the front and from the back,” Maillefer added.
Maillefer went on to describe the damage inflicted by the unconventional weapon.
“These are little pellets; they look like little BBs, and although on the surface they look very small and insignificant, you cannot rely on that. They can travel to places where they’re not supposed to be,” Maillefer said.
However, the nature of the ammunition was in at least one respect less dangerous than large-caliber weapons: “We didn’t really sustain a whole lot of blood loss in these injuries; buckshot is relatively small bullets and so they tend not to cause a lot of blood vessel loss,” Maillefer said.
Kishwaukee Community Hospital administrators held another press conference Friday morning to discuss the events of the previous night.
The technology available at Kishwaukee Community Hospital played an important role in patient care after the Cole Hall Shooting.
Dr. Roger Maillefer, Chief of Staff and Surgeon on Call, was very pleased with the state-of-the-art technology the hospital had to offer, he said.
KCH was operating with a new facility as of October 2, 2007.
Among the new equipment was a portable X-ray machine.
“That really facilitated me as a surgeon taking care of these patients, because I could look at the X-ray immediately upon its being done- I didn’t have to wait for it to go to another place to be processed, and that allowed the helicopter people to be told, ‘this patient is cleared, get them on the gurney, and get them outta here,’” Maillefer said.
The hospital staff’s training backed their precise performance as they faced the event.
“There was never a question at our facility of ‘where is the equipment?’ In responding to certain needs, our nurses knew exactly what I needed and where I needed it,” Maillefer said. “Perhaps the layperson thinks that we’re frantically running around: we’re not; we’re trained for this, we prepare for this, we’re calm, we know what we need to do, we do it.”
“Once the job is actually done is when we sit back and start thinking about what had occurred, and I think that everything, how new it still is in our minds, I don’t think we’ve had time to reflect on that yet,” said Kulisz.
Kishwaukee Community Hospital administrators held another press conference Friday morning to discuss the events of the previous night.
Praise for the “teamwork and responsiveness” of the community was frequent during a press conference at Kishwaukee Community Hospital Friday morning.
Twice a year, KCH staff train for emergency situations similar to the Cole Hall shooting, said Dr. Michael Kulisz, director of KCH Emergency room. A Code Alert was issued upon hearing of the incoming victims, which summoned extra staff to assist with the wounded.
“At the time when the patients were presented to the emergency room, there were approximately five orthopedic surgeons, four general surgeons, [and] five emergency room physicians, not to mention physicians representing every specialty including radiology and anesthesiology,” Kulisz said.
“I was just amazed and very pleased with the response of the community,” said Roger Maillefer, Chief of Staff and Surgeon on Call, “We had surgeons coming from outside of our communities calling to see how they could help. We had all kinds of specialists available.”
Beyond medical employees, extra hospital staff from housekeeping, maintenance, security, chaplains and counsellors were on-site, said Kevin Poorten, President and CEO of KishHealth System.
Some staff members at KCH were parents of NIU students, which “added another element” to their response when staff members didn’t know if the next patient would be a relative, Poorten said. However, none of the victims were related to hospital staff, he said.
“At this point, we think everything went about as well as it could have under the circumstances,” Poorten said.
Hospital releases information on victims
Published on Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Northern Star
By Ben Burr and Andy Mitchell
Kishwaukee Community Hospital administrators spoke on shooting victims’ status at a news conference Thursday. The conference was held around 7 p.m. at Kishwaukee Health Care Building, 2727 Sycamore Road.
Kevin Poorten, president and CEO of Kishwaukee Health System; Brad Copple, administrator of Kishwaukee Community Hospital; and Joe Dant, vice president of business development of Kishwaukee Health Services answered questions.
VICTIMS ARRIVE AT KCH
Hearing of the incident, the hospital enacted a Code Alert, summoning more staff and physicians to the facility. The extra help would assist with the high number of expected patients.
“The first number I think we heard was about three [victims], and as information started to trickle in, we called the Code Alert,” Copple said.
The first victim arrived at 4:00 p.m., and a total of 18 patients had arrived as of press time.
Two surgeons were on site as of 5:00 p.m., with two more expected from KCH’s sister hospital, Valley West Community Hospital in Sandwich. Eventually, seven general surgeons, as well as orthopedic and neural surgeons, had been amassed to treat the wounded.
An NIU Crisis Team was dispatched to the hospital, offering support as well as a link between KCH and the university.
“That really enhanced the communication,” Poorten said of the team.
Also present were local religious figures, who arrived to offer support to families of victims.
“HIGH-TRAUMA” OVERFLOW TRANSPORTED NEARBY
Of the 18 admitted, there was one fatality, caused by head trauma.
“The one deceased expired of a gunshot wound to the head,” Poorten said.
Seven victims in critical condition were transferred to other hospitals because
“they needed a high level of care,” Copple said. He said most were head injuries, though at the time he could not confirm any specific details.
Of those transferred, two went to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Ill; three went to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downer’s Grove, Ill.; one went to Rockford Memorial Hospital; and one went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. KCH is a Level 3 trauma center while Good Samaritan, Saint Anthony, Rockford Memorial and Northwestern Memorial hospitals are Level 1 trauma centers capable of offering higher levels of care.
PATIENTS, FAMILIES FIRST AT KCH
No names or personal details of patients were released Thursday night, nor were reporters allowed to enter the hospital itself. Staff wanted to ensure that the families of the injured were made aware of any developments in patients’ health before details would be announced.
“Our staff has been in contact with the families,” Poorten said of getting information to the concerned relatives. “It’s very somber and tragic; people are shaken - the hardest part is just not knowing.”
SHOTGUN WOUNDS PREVALENT
According to an anonymous hospital staff member, about six or seven of the patients admitted had gunshot wounds, most of them from a shotgun.
There were “multiple BB entry wounds around head and chest areas,” the employee said, and “most were superficial but numerous.”
Because of the nature of the incident, the hospital was put on lockdown and staff members were called back to help with the treatment of victims. Staff members were organized in helping victims in treatment and the family members and friends waiting to see the victims.
Despite of the dark nature of the event, however, many patients refused to be kept down: “Most people, for being shot, were in relatively good spirits,” reported the employee.
More information on the patients of Kishwaukee Community Hospital and further updates are available on KCH’s Web site, www.kishhospital.org.
The Northern Star
By Ben Burr and Andy Mitchell
Kishwaukee Community Hospital administrators spoke on shooting victims’ status at a news conference Thursday. The conference was held around 7 p.m. at Kishwaukee Health Care Building, 2727 Sycamore Road.
Kevin Poorten, president and CEO of Kishwaukee Health System; Brad Copple, administrator of Kishwaukee Community Hospital; and Joe Dant, vice president of business development of Kishwaukee Health Services answered questions.
VICTIMS ARRIVE AT KCH
Hearing of the incident, the hospital enacted a Code Alert, summoning more staff and physicians to the facility. The extra help would assist with the high number of expected patients.
“The first number I think we heard was about three [victims], and as information started to trickle in, we called the Code Alert,” Copple said.
The first victim arrived at 4:00 p.m., and a total of 18 patients had arrived as of press time.
Two surgeons were on site as of 5:00 p.m., with two more expected from KCH’s sister hospital, Valley West Community Hospital in Sandwich. Eventually, seven general surgeons, as well as orthopedic and neural surgeons, had been amassed to treat the wounded.
An NIU Crisis Team was dispatched to the hospital, offering support as well as a link between KCH and the university.
“That really enhanced the communication,” Poorten said of the team.
Also present were local religious figures, who arrived to offer support to families of victims.
“HIGH-TRAUMA” OVERFLOW TRANSPORTED NEARBY
Of the 18 admitted, there was one fatality, caused by head trauma.
“The one deceased expired of a gunshot wound to the head,” Poorten said.
Seven victims in critical condition were transferred to other hospitals because
“they needed a high level of care,” Copple said. He said most were head injuries, though at the time he could not confirm any specific details.
Of those transferred, two went to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Ill; three went to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downer’s Grove, Ill.; one went to Rockford Memorial Hospital; and one went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. KCH is a Level 3 trauma center while Good Samaritan, Saint Anthony, Rockford Memorial and Northwestern Memorial hospitals are Level 1 trauma centers capable of offering higher levels of care.
PATIENTS, FAMILIES FIRST AT KCH
No names or personal details of patients were released Thursday night, nor were reporters allowed to enter the hospital itself. Staff wanted to ensure that the families of the injured were made aware of any developments in patients’ health before details would be announced.
“Our staff has been in contact with the families,” Poorten said of getting information to the concerned relatives. “It’s very somber and tragic; people are shaken - the hardest part is just not knowing.”
SHOTGUN WOUNDS PREVALENT
According to an anonymous hospital staff member, about six or seven of the patients admitted had gunshot wounds, most of them from a shotgun.
There were “multiple BB entry wounds around head and chest areas,” the employee said, and “most were superficial but numerous.”
Because of the nature of the incident, the hospital was put on lockdown and staff members were called back to help with the treatment of victims. Staff members were organized in helping victims in treatment and the family members and friends waiting to see the victims.
Despite of the dark nature of the event, however, many patients refused to be kept down: “Most people, for being shot, were in relatively good spirits,” reported the employee.
More information on the patients of Kishwaukee Community Hospital and further updates are available on KCH’s Web site, www.kishhospital.org.
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