Features
An SHC Nurse's Act of Heroism at Las Vegas Shooting
01.31.2018
When a gunman opened fire onto the Route 91 Harvest Festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, Stanford Crisis Nurse Chris Reitmeier, RN, and his wife were listening to country music star Jason Aldeen perform on the festival stage. They heard a few bangs that sounded like a firecracker during one of the songs, but weren’t immediately concerned. Chris left his wife and headed to the restroom, but began to worry when he heard a more repetitive noise, the sound of shots being fired. He pushed his way through a sea of concertgoers fleeing to the exits to get back to where his wife had been, passing people who were running and knocking others over in a panic to escape.
Before he could reach his wife’s location, he came across a man who had been shot in the arm. Instinctually, Reitmeier began applying pressure to the wound and helped the man to a nearby exit where police were stationed. At the same time, his wife called. She was outside the venue and being escorted to safety at a nearby casino.
“Once I knew my wife was okay, I knew I could help and I wanted to help,” said Reitmeier.
He used a medical kit supplied by the police to dress the man’s wound. Then another concertgoer came up asking for help. This man’s wife had been shot in the leg and was still inside. Reitmeier and the man went back into the concert venue, following police who had their guns drawn. They crouched down behind a portable ice chest on wheels and used it as a shield as they made their way to the injured woman. In the distance they could hear what they now knew were more gunshots. When they got to the woman, Reitmeier applied a quick tourniquet to her bleeding leg using a belt. He and her husband grabbed a nearby folding table and used it as a gurney to carry her to a medical tent outside.
“There were people laying everywhere,” said Reitmeier, an Interventional Platform Crisis Nurse for Cath Angio Pre Procedure and Recovery (CAPR). He identified himself as a nurse and began helping EMS by applying tourniquets, starting IVs and helping to triage patients until ambulances began arriving.
After an hour of helping on the scene, Reitmeier made his way to a nearby casino to reunite with his wife, his jeans and shoes covered in blood. They made their way to the Excalibur Casino where blankets, snacks and water were provided, but could not return to their room at the locked down Mandalay Bay Hotel.
The Reitmeiers spent the night and early morning hours watching the horror unfold on the news, talking about the events and letting family members know they were okay. At six in the morning, they were able to clean up and rest at the Luxor Hotel, which was renting rooms for $20 to Mandalay Bay guests. By 10 am, they were allowed back into their room to collect their things. Despite the events of the previous night, they made their flight home Monday.
“It didn’t seem real,” said Reitmeier, who admits that he and his wife are more vigilant in crowds now than they were before. “You never think you’ll be part of something like this.”
“What Chris did was above and beyond the call of duty,” said Priya Prasad, RN, Assistant Patient Care Manager, CAPR. The CAPR management team, nominated Reitmeier for a Heroes Healing Humanity Award. “It took a lot of bravery and courage to stay and help. It is very fitting of his personality to do something like this,” said Prasad.
Reitmeier was honored at a recent monthly Manager’s Meeting. He is a reluctant hero, uncomfortable with the spotlight, and quick to point out that many everyday people stayed to help the injured when the shooting occurred.
“You do what you are trained to do,” said Reitmeier. “You have the skill and you use it in the situation if you can. This is why I went to school, to help people. It was what I needed to do.”