AUSTIN, Texas — It took first responders 57 seconds to get on the scene during the mass shooting on West 6th Street in Austin, Texas, in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 1. The shooter killed three people and injured over a dozen, but Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said there could have been more lives lost if it were not for the Counter Assault Strike Team (CAST).
CAST teams are made up of Austin police officers and emergency medical technicians (EMT) who go through specialized training. All officers on the team volunteer to be part of it in addition to their duties at the Austin Police Department. The officer’s duty is to protect emergency medical services (EMS), so they can get on the scene more quickly to render aid. According to Austin-Travis County EMS, nationally, on average, EMS arrives on scenes in approximately eight minutes.
The standard procedure is to wait until law enforcement gives EMS the all-clear to enter, but this program ensures law enforcement is with EMS at all times to protect them in order to save lives quicker. The most recent mass shooting in Austin is just one example.
“One of the beauties of our units being integrated with our law enforcement partners, that allows us to go into areas that wouldn’t typically be safe for a, normal ambulance response to go into large crowds, unruly crowds,” said Richard Murry, Austin-Travis County EMS.
Crews ride in an ATV vehicle filled with units of blood, ballistic vests and other medical supplies. The team is placed where large crowds tend to be, including the entertainment district in Austin.
“We have law enforcement with us dedicated to us, to protect us. And so that’s where we’re starting to see a lot of people survive injuries that they wouldn’t normally survive had they had they had to wait the normal amount of time for an ambulance to get in,” said Murry.