Hospitals in the San Antonio area treated more than a dozen people injured in a May 24 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School, the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, according to The New York Times.
Uvalde Memorial Hospital's emergency department received 14 patients after the shooting, 11 of whom were children, according to NPR. Two children also arrived at the hospital already deceased. Five children were transferred from the 25-bed hospital to larger trauma centers in San Antonio due to the severity of their injuries, Uvalde Memorial CEO Tom Nordwick told NPR. At least four patients were discharged May 24.
"Our staff did remarkably well," Mr. Nordwick said. "Every hospital does disaster drills, and you hope you never have those things that happen, but today we did."
University Health in San Antonio confirmed it received four patients, including a 66-year-old woman and 10-year-old girl who were brought to the hospital in critical condition. On May 25, the hospital said the patients had improved and were now in serious condition. University Health is also treating a 9-year-old girl and 10-year-old girl in good condition.
South Texas Blood and Tissue, a large blood bank in San Antonio, is holding an emergency blood drive for hospitals in the area. The blood bank has already sent 25 units of donated blood to Uvalde, the organization said May 24.
Some medical associations and healthcare leaders have called for changes to better fight gun violence in the wake of the shooting.
"The shooting yesterday at an elementary school is horrific and sadly — and unacceptably — all too familiar in the United States," Gerald Harmon, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said in a May 25 statement shared with Becker's. "Firearm injuries and deaths are preventable. And while the ideal time to act and find common-sense solutions and common ground might have been years ago, the best we can do now is act today."