ORLANDO, Fla. – As story after story of survival and death unfold around the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, first responders who dealt with the aftermath firsthand must come to terms with the emotional toll of what they experienced.
Firefighters with Orlando and Orange County Fire and Rescue responded to the scene of the mass shooting, where Omar Mateen gunned down 49 people and wounded more than 50 others before he was shot and killed by police.
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“I got reports that early on it was very chaotic,” said Ron Glass, with the Orlando Firefighters Union. “There seemed to be two separate flows of EMS patients coming out. The initial flow once the incident happened around 2 o’clock in the morning. We had units that were on their way back from the hospital that actually intercepted the call as it was coming out and arrived on scene within seconds.”
What those firefighters saw in that aftermath could haunt them.
Glass said they won’t be affected immediately because they’re trained to do a job. But after the adrenaline rush and urgency of aid pass, problems may begin to show in the lull after the storm.
“Once the scene alleviates, becomes a little calmer, then it starts to set in what happened," Glass said. "You start going (through) your mind the patients that you saw, the scenes that you saw and what you had to deal with.”
Glass said his profession was changed after the tragedy of Sept. 11, when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center towers and hundreds of first responders lost their lives trying to save others. Glass said firefighters now recognize the importance of addressing emotions.
“We’re going to be keeping a close eye on our guys for the next couple of days to make sure everyone is doing well, behaviorally acting normal and is not impacted," Glass said. "A lot of times, with calls like this, you have scenes where guys become -- they start getting distracted, lose focus, and it’s because they’re still processing what they saw on that call."
Glass said the firefighters will take part in a critical incident stress debrief.
"We’ll be bringing in professionals from the International Association of Firefighters that dealt with the 9/11 tragedies and will be going over those with guys, the calls, so that anybody that has any issues and wants to talk about it can get some counseling and help alleviate some of the problems that might occur from this type of incident," Glass said.
For those who live with or are friends with firefighters, Glass offered some advice.
“A lot of firefighters don’t talk about stuff that they see on scene, so we’re just happy when somebody comes up and says, ‘Hey, we appreciate the work you do!’ That makes us feel good," Glass said. "That’s everything in the world to us."
If you or someone you know needs counseling dealing with the tragedy, the Zebra Coalition out of Orlando has counselors available at 407-228-1446.