…The Rich and The Famous!
I saw this presentation years ago at a symposium in Dayton, OH, when I was a young Basic EMT presented by Peter Lazzara from the Chicago Fire Dept. It was a fun presentation, and really impressed some things I wanted to integrate into future presentations. So, in a change to Peter’s original presentation, take your steps into history as I present a case study very near and dear to Memphis…
The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr
Martin Luther King Jr was perhaps the most influencial civil rights leader of the last century. Not many school children these days know who Fredrick Douglass was or his contributions to the Union Civil War effort by pressuring Massachusetts into raising the first battalion of black soldiers or raising awareness of the plight of enslaved persons in Confederate states. They do, however, know about MLK Jr and his death in Memphis at the Lorraine Motel.
Dr. King arrived in Memphis during the ’68 sanitation worker strike which was quickly evolving into a low scale riot. In order to allow peaceful demonstrations to prevail, he arrived in Memphis in the afternoon of 3 April, 1968. Shortly thereafter, he delivered the famous “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech and retired to the Lorraine Motel to make plans for the demonstration in the coming days.
Dr King stepped out onto the balcony of the 2nd floor of the Lorraine Motel with several others to go to dinner on 4 April 1968 and was shot in the face from long range by a large caliber rifle at approximately 1801.
An undercover police officer attempted to provide first aid while an ambulance was called. Dr King arrived at the St Joseph’s Hospital (which stood where St Jude Children’s Hospital stands today) 15 minutes after being wounded with a simple oxygen mask on his face. Despite the best efforts of the physicians, Dr King was pronounced dead at 1905 CST.
Injuries described at autopsy were extensive to the face and neck. The bullet entered his face on the right lateral face at the jawline, traversing his neck severing the carotid and destroying the spinal cord. The bullet finally came to a stop in his left shoulder blade.
Trauma care provided by the Memphis Fire Department in those days was basically rudimentary first aid care, but were we to transplant modern techniques into 1968…
“… respond to a 27D3G, report of a man shot at the Lorraine Motel…”
Engine 2 would be on top of this immediately as the Lorraine Motel is directly behind Station 2. Response for the initial ALS company after receiving the call would be about 2 minutes.
You’re on Engine 2. What are your initial priorities on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel, with the severely wounded Dr. King as your patient?
I won’t approve comments on the story until after I have published Part 2 to give everyone an equal chance