New federal guidelines call for paramedics in active-shooting cases to put on protective gear and, where possible, enter dangerous places alongside police officers, as this can maximize survival chances for victims, writes Mike Schneider for the Associated Press. This wasn’t possible at the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, as local paramedics had not been issued with bulletproof vests. The new guidelines also contradict long-time rules of conduct.
Many questions are being raised about how feasible these guidelines are and whether lives would be saved by enforcing them.
Could lives have been saved if paramedics had gone inside the nightclub? No one can say.
