Orlando surgeons, OR staff saved dozens of lives

Editor's Note

Orlando Regional Medical Center treated 44 of the Pulse nightclub shooting victims; nine died, the June 14 Modern Healthcare reports.

A total of 26 surgical procedures were performed early Sunday morning, June 12, six more were performed on Monday, and eight were performed on Tuesday, June 14, with many patients going back for second and third procedures.

Six trauma surgeons started performing surgical procedures on the injured within 1 hour of their arrival, and vascular and orthopedic surgeons were called in. Many nurses and technicians came in without being called.

Two operating rooms quickly expanded to six, with surgeons walking from one room to another to another.

No patient has died since the nine who were pronounced dead on arrival.

The first victim of the nightclub shooting arrived shortly after 2 a.m. and was relatively stable, giving doctors working the overnight shift hope that any others would arrive in a similar condition. Then five more came, in much worse shape, and then more, and more still.