School employees and 911 operators in Montgomery County, Maryland, need to undergo training on what to do during school shootings and schools should stock more "Stop the Bleed" kits, according to a safety report released months after a student was seriously injured in a shooting at a county high school.
A 17-year-old boy was charged as an adult with second-degree attempted murder in January after police said he used a ghost gun to shoot another student at Magruder High School.
The school was on lockdown for hours before police found the teen suspect inside a classroom.
A security guard found the 15-year-old shooting victim bleeding heavily from his stomach area in a bathroom. The guard and several staff members used a "Stop the Bleed" kit to provide life-saving aid to the teen, according to Montgomery County Public Schools Chief Safety Officer Edward Clarke's after-action report.
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"The situation was complicated initially for a couple reasons," Clarke said.
The student who was shot wouldn't tell the guard what happened to him or who was in the bathroom, and students who ran out of the bathroom didn't report the shooting or ask for medical attention for the victim, the report states.
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Staff at the front office of the school also told the 911 dispatcher it was a possible stabbing when the operator asked for more information, according to the report. The operator didn't dispatch an ambulance to go to the school until the staff realized the student was shot, not stabbed.
"It is extremely important for MCPS staff to have all necessary information to provide the 911 call taker so that the necessary emergency resources are dispatched correctly," Clarke said in the report.
Clarke's report recommends the school system work with the fire and police departments to develop trainings for school staff and 911 dispatchers.
The report also said the first aid measures the school staff took likely saved the teen's life and schools should stock more kits that help stop bleeding, as well as make sure that staff are trained in how to use them. Clarke's report didn't specify how many kits should be made available to schools.
In addition, the report says school administrators and staff went through "incident command" training after the shooting and that Montgomery County Public Schools would work with police to ensure they have access to school key fobs so officers can get into schools quickly in emergency situations.
