The immediate medical attention delivered by Northern Illinois University police officers may have saved the lives of four or five individuals who were wounded after the shooting that took place Feb. 14 in Cole Hall, NIU Police Chief Donald Grady said in an interview with the Daily on Feb. 15.

The type of medical attention provided by Northern Illinois University police officers is provided by three separate entities on the ISU campus.

In the past, ISU Police officers had medical training at the first responder level, said ISU Police Cmdr. Gene Deisinger, but he said that type of training isn’t necessary for them anymore.

Police officers at Northern Illinois University are trained as emergency medical technicians, according to the NIU Web site.

Deisinger said that, while ISU Police does have one paramedic on staff, it was deemed unnecessary for them to maintain that high a level of medical training.

“When officers go through the state law enforcement academy, they have basic medical training,” Deisinger said.

This training includes knowledge of CPR and controlled breathing, he said. This means that they have enough training to respond to basic medical problems at the scene of a call.

“We have a very rapid response from Ames Fire [Department] on medical calls,” he said.

When the dispatcher at ISU Police receives a call, he or she has to determine whether or not the call is an emergency, urgent response, or medical call, Deisinger said.

He said that, in cases such as physical assaults, the dispatcher may have no preliminary indication that the call is a medical call, but will dispatch Mary Greeley Medical Center or Ames Fire Department personnel as a precautionary measure.

“Ames Fire is dispatched through Ames PD, as is Mary Greeley, so we only make one call,” he said. “If it’s a relatively routine call, then Fire might not be requested. But, by and large, having an extra couple of hands on scene is a good thing.”

He said that ISU Police officers often have other, non-medical, duties that need to be performed, and it is easier for them to perform those duties while other personnel are handling the medical aspects of the situation.

Ames Deputy Fire Chief Paul Sandoval said that the Ames Fire Department is trained in basic life support-non-transport, which includes operations such as operating automated external defibrillators, establishing airways and assessing whether or not it is safe to transport a victim.

“We’re trained at a first responder level,” Sandoval said. “We get a call for a medical assist whether [it be] ISU or city of Ames, we respond, and then Mary Greeley is dispatched at the same time.”

Sandoval said when it comes to calls on campus, the firefighters at Station Two on Welch Avenue will arrive sooner than the medical technicians from Mary Greeley. The firefighters will then asses the situation to determine whether or not the person should be transported and update the Mary Greeley personnel.

Training at the first responder level does not require a significant amount of funding, Sandoval said, but it does require that firefighters be recertified every two years.

During basic training, Sandoval said firefighters learn to deal with puncture wounds like knife or gunshot wounds. They did not receive any extra training when the ISU Police were granted the ability to carry firearms last semester.

There are situations, Deisinger said, that are exceptions from normal day-to-day activity.

“You know, major incidents like the Iowa Games or special events like home football games and Veishea – they do require a level of staffing and collaboration well beyond ISU,” Deisinger said.

These are situations in which the ISU Police, Ames Police, Story County Sheriff’s Office, Mary Greeley and private security contractors with the athletics department collaborate, Deisinger said.

“They run a command post so that assets are distributed where they are needed and there are paramedics on-site for the complex,” Deisinger said. “For the last several years now, we’ve had a paramedic or a paramedic team that is mobile out in the parking lot.”

Deisinger said the mobile paramedics are able to respond in situations it would be difficult for a normal emergency vehicle to reach because they use a modified golf cart and trailer.

Karen Dozler, medical training specialist at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, said that all police officers certified by the Academy go through 24 hours of training broken up over three and a half days. Afterward, trainees are tested for four hours and are then certified through the Department of Public Health.

Dozler said that officers are taught “how to treat medical complaints such as chest pains, seizures, diabetes and a lot of traumatic injuries like gunshot wounds.”

There are also some specialized training courses offered, such as a certification to carry tasers, Dozler said.

“They learn assisting in childbirth,” she said, with a laugh. “They just love that video.”