By Remekca Owens

On the night of July 7, trauma surgeons from UT Southwestern Medical Center found themselves thrust into the center of another local and national crisis. They again – just as other physicians had done 53 years ago when the assassination of President John F. Kennedy placed Parkland Memorial Hospital in the national spotlight – stepped up to provide expert care.

This time, 12 Dallas police officers and two civilians were shot following a peaceful protest by members of the Black Lives Matter movement. Parkland received 10 of those 14 trauma patients, including three of the officers who ultimately could not be saved.

Dr. Alexander Eastman

Each day, the team of UT Southwestern surgeons working in the Rees-Jones Trauma Center of Parkland – the first Level 1 trauma center in Texas – treats hundreds of the region’s most severe trauma and critical care cases. On July 7, 300 other patients were awaiting care, not including another 130 patients who arrived during and after the time the shooting victims from the protest were being treated that Thursday evening.

Before being killed, a lone gunman fired more than 200 rounds near downtown, fatally shooting five officers – four from the Dallas Police Department and one from Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police Department – while also wounding seven other officers and two civilians at the scene.

While both the national attention and context of the shootings would eventually distinguish that night from any other, what remained consistent was the skill and level of care given to each person who entered the emergency room.

Dr. Joseph Minei, Professor and Chief of the Division of Burn, Trauma and Critical Care and Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery at UT Southwestern, said handling the medical challenges of such an event is the result of carefully preparing for the inevitable variables presented. Those on hand July 7 included Dr. Alexander Eastman, Medical Director of Parkland’s trauma center who is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at UT Southwestern, and Dr. Brian H. Williams, also an Assistant Professor of Surgery. Faculty members and staff from the Department of Emergency Medicine also played crucial roles that night, including Dr. Deborah Diercks, Chair of Emergency Medicine, and Dr. S. Marshall Isaacs, Professor of Emergency Medicine.

“While we train regularly for multiple-casualty scenarios, there are always issues with communications in the early part of the event,” said Dr. Minei, who also serves as Chief of Surgical Services at Parkland. “You have to prepare for the worst. We quickly mobilized multiple surgeons to assist Dr. Williams with patients already received and prepare for further potential victims.

“Teams were assembled that included emergency medicine providers, skilled nurses, and surgeons, and the injured were cared for with the expertise that only a Level 1 trauma center can provide. As communication from the scene came in from Dr. Eastman, we were able to scale back the medical response and attend more to the emotional needs of the families, police, and providers.”

Since 2004, Parkland’s trauma center has maintained a unique, mutually beneficial partnership with the Dallas Police Department. Four of its members serve dual roles as UT Southwestern faculty members and as officers on the Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) squad. The first of those dual-trained faculty members is Dr. Eastman, who as a Dallas Police Lieutenant serves as Deputy Medical Director in the Department. He said that as the incident unfolded, the partnership proved to be both crucial for a seamless continuum of trauma care as well as perhaps the most challenging situation of his career.

“I had no doubt in my mind that the trauma team at Parkland would be able to handle everything that was coming its way that night,” Dr. Eastman said. “Because of my role in the SWAT response, being at the scene of the shooting and subsequent standoff allowed me to provide real-time intelligence and updates to the Parkland and Baylor surgical teams to help to ensure that they were prepared to receive the officers and any additional casualties.

“It was particularly difficult while also being immersed in my role as a police officer responding to an active shooter scenario of a magnitude previously unseen in the United States.”

Dr. Brian Williams

For Dr. Williams, the shooting created an unexpected point of convergence in his personal and professional lives. As the lead surgeon on call that night, he was responsible for directing the team of surgeons, nurses, residents, and specialists caring for the flow of patients coming into the trauma center. After treating the officers, and eventually grieving with the families of the three who succumbed to their injuries, he began processing his own thoughts and feelings about how police interact with African-American men.

“Because I fit the demographic of people being directly affected by this issue, I couldn’t ignore the context of the situation,” Dr. Williams said. “It wasn’t until after we had done everything we could to save them that I began processing how much it was all affecting me personally. I was trying to make sense of the fact that while I respect law enforcement officers, in no way condone violence directed toward them, and have many of them as colleagues and friends, I also fear for my own safety in many ways.”

He said in the aftermath of the shootings, his hope is that people in America can have the more difficult discussions that are needed about race relations and violence, as well as the impact they have on people’s personal and professional lives.

UT Southwestern’s Division of Burn/Trauma/Critical Care is internationally known for its contributions in burn care and trauma care, including clinical research programs aimed at improving patient care and gaining a better understanding of the cellular, molecular, and genetic basis of inflammation and injury. More than 5,000 patients are admitted to the three dedicated trauma services at Parkland every year.

Dr. Diercks holds the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Distinguished Chair in Clinical Care and Research.

Dr. Minei holds the C. James Carrico, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Surgery for Trauma & Critical Care.