By Glen Simpson and Janet E. Smith
I will never forget the way the community came together to support each other, to support us first responders, to support those who were injured, the families, and I’ll never forget the true meaning of Vegas Strong.”
I’m in a position in my life where I have the ability to help people when they’re at the lowest of their lows, when they’re at their darkest moments. At the end of everything that we do, there’s a human, there’s a person and it’s our job to help them.”
I never thought I would die that night, but I definitely thought I was going to get hit by a bullet.”
All the people I knew – all the people that were in the tent that day – I couldn’t leave them. Something just told me I needed to stay. I needed to help them. I needed to make sure that our people were good and we could take care of these people, and that’s why I chose to stay.”
My head was 2 feet away from a big metal grill and I’m listening to bullets ping off this thing … how did I never get hit? ... why didn’t that happen to me? Was I supposed to be there because I was supposed to take care of all those people?”
As the fifth anniversary of America’s most fatal night turns once more around the calendar, we honor all of those who lost their lives during the Oct. 1, 2017, Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting. We again recognize our company team members and other public safety colleagues, and especially scores of fellow citizens who performed heroically on the frontlines. We know there were thousands more who were also impacted in Las Vegas and beyond. They too have our hearts.
This video reflects upon the courageous and benevolent actions of our Community Ambulance personnel serving that night in our communications center and supply department, as well as our leaders running operations at our headquarters and in the field. We couldn’t be prouder of our Community Ambulance family. This video presentation aims to lift up our team, fellow first responders and our Las Vegas community residents whose lives were forever changed that fateful night.
Read and reflect
Read more about the Route 91 Harvest Festival MCI response and reflections here:
- Not if; when: Factoring for violence during mass gatherings
- 5 lessons for special events standby services and emergency response
- Las Vegas 5-years later: ‘Going back is a big deal’
- Under fire in Iraq, then Las Vegas
- 8 recommendations for fire/EMS from the FEMA Oct. 1 After-Action Report
- The ‘anniversary effect’: Processing the pain year after year
About the author
Glen Simpson is director of special operations at Community Ambulance, based in Henderson, Nevada.
