GRAND BLANC, Mich.—A “stoic” 6-year-old boy who survived the Sept. 28 mass shooting and fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the first person from the tragedy treated at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, according to the physician who cared for him.
“He didn’t shed one tear,” Dr. Sanford Ross, the attending physician and assistant director of the emergency department, said at an Oct. 1 press conference.
“He walked into the emergency room stoic. Mom was a wreck, which, as a parent, I completely understand, and what I did was I looked at the wound, had an idea of what was going on,” Ross continued. “I comforted them both by telling him and Mom, ‘You’re going to get through this. You’re going to be OK.’ “
The boy was treated and released Sunday, according to Dr. Chris Ash, a trauma and general surgeon who is also Henry Ford Genesys Hospital’s medical director of surgical services.
Ten people were shot, including two fatally. Two bodies were later found in the rubble.
Sanford, 40, was killed by law enforcement officers in the church parking lot after exchanging gunfire.
As of Oct. 1, three of the wounded remained hospitalized in fair condition, Henry Ford Genesys spokesperson Lauren Zakalik said.
Some of the church congregants work at the hospital and took action, said Dr. Michael Danic, medical chief of staff. Employees went “in and out of the fire” to help bring people out of the church, he said.
“Those on the scene were absolute heroes,” Danic said.
Dr. Alan Janssen, program director for the hospital’s residency program, described the scene leading to the victims’ arrival.
“It was a bright, sunny day and a Sunday morning. The combination of those two things usually means volumes are pretty low to start the day off. We didn’t have very many patients in the department,” he said.
That changed when a resident doctor called the hospital, Janssen explained.
“My resident was actually in the church and the resident said, ‘There’s an active shooter in our church.’ That was before EMS had been called. That was before anyone else knew about this. So, initially, we just started preparing the emergency department,” he said.
Janssen and Ross called the surgery and anesthesia departments. They alerted the staff to prepare for a mass casualty situation. Ambulances arrived around 15 minutes later, bringing in victims.
Henry Ford Genesys staff members underwent mass casualty training “a month or two ago,” Ross noted. “You always say it could happen, but it probably will happen, which is the unfortunate thing.”
Two people injured inside the church were medical residents at the hospital. Several more hospital employees attend the church.
“Our resident whose kids were at church with his wife while he was operating with me that night at the hospital—his kids will never be the same,” Ash said.
At least five hospital residents regularly attend services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ash said.
“Some of them acted with heroics to pull people out of the fire, and they shared that story with us when they came in for their own treatment. This is deeply personal to our community,” he said.
Ash hopes the tragedy will encourage people to “start having a little more grace and tolerance.”
“I’m from this community. I have lived 25-plus years here,“ he said. ”These are our people. … They are part of our extended family, and to see them go through this and their families go through this is just heartbreaking,” Ash said. “I’ve told a lot of people, words cannot describe the feeling. We really shouldn’t have to go through this in any community.”
Outside the hospital entrance, a row of tents stretches for a couple of blocks, housing hundreds of nurses employed by the hospital who have been on strike for five weeks amid new labor contract negotiations that several nurses told The Epoch Times are about “patient safety ratios.”
On Sept. 28, these nurses on the picket line noticed black smoke rising in the distance and saw ambulances and police cars speed past their location. They read online that a mass casualty event termed a “Code Black” had occurred at the hospital.
“This is what we are trained to respond to. We didn’t just want to stay here and watch. We wanted to help,” a nurse on the picket line told The Epoch Times. She asked to remain anonymous because she was concerned about repercussions.
A group of nurses received permission from the president of the Teamsters Local 332 union to leave the picket line and help at the hospital, the church, and a nearby triage center. When they arrived at the church, the injured had already been taken to the hospital, the nurse said. The group offered comfort and support on the church lawn, she said.
Several nurses walking the picket line on Sept. 30 said they were ordered to leave the hospital after 15 to 20 minutes, citing the ongoing strike.
“Bringing too many team members into a fluid, multi-casualty emergency situation has the potential to endanger or compromise the ongoing care,” the statement read. “We look forward to continuing negotiations but respectfully ask we do not use the tragedy that occurred in our community as a bargaining tool.”
Several nurses said that since the tragedy they have rallied to show community support, switching strike-centered signs to messages urging love and prayers for Grand Blanc.
“We do what we do as nurses because we genuinely care about people. That is why you see what you see right now,” nurse Jennifer Gregory said as she looked down the street lined with hundreds of her coworkers waving signs of encouragement while passing motorists honked.
A vigil held at Genesys Hospital on Sept. 30 drew dozens of local residents, including Robert Hempel, who has lived in Grand Blanc for more than 50 years.
“What happened at the church is an attack on religious freedom,” Hempel said. “We’re all brothers and sisters, regardless of our denominations and beliefs.”
