Oral and maxillofacial surgeons among first responders at Fort Hood

Nov 12, 2009

Before news of the November 12 Fort Hood shootings reached the public, oral and maxillofacial surgeons Major Mark Ranschaert, DMD, and Major Joseph Dylan Bowles, DDS, were in Fort Hood's Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center emergency room working to save the lives of the shooter's victims.

A press release issued by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons described their experiences.

Arriving in the emergency room to help treat the influx of patients, Dr. Ranschaert and Dr. Bowles found 30 injured soldiers awaiting treatment and the operating rooms already full. The doctors immediately turned their attention to a patient with a penetrating neck wound.

Assisted by two staff members, the surgeons intubated the patient, inserted an IV and a central line, and gave him two units of blood.

"The patient was bleeding constantly," said Dr. Bowles in the release. "We were concerned he wasn't going to make it. Without care, he definitely would have expired."

Dr. Ranchaert and Dr. Bowles were able to stabilize the patient and accompanied him to the helipad, where he was transferred to Scott and White University Medical Hospital for further treatment. He is now in stable condition.

"It was pretty chaotic," Dr. Bowles recalled. "It was like being in the middle of a combat zone. You didn't know if somebody would walk into the ER and start shooting at you. We reverted to our training and did what we do best: taking care of patients. I'm thankful the decisions we made were the right decisions and we saved a soldier's life."

Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 people were injured in the attack at the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Center. Sixteen of the victims remain hospitalized.