ORLANDO, Fla. — Nearly a year after the June 12, Pulse nightclub attack, emergency personnel at the fire station closest to the club are still dealing with the horror of that morning.
Orlando Fire Department Lt. Davis Odell Jr., remembered the first person treated at the station, which is just feet from the Orange Avenue nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people and wounded dozens of others.
“He was brought to us as soon as the scene was deemed safe for us to go into action,” Odell said. “He was patient No. 1.”
Firefighters later found out that the first victim survived his injuries, Odell said.
Firefighters at Station No. 5 pass by the memorial at Pulse nightclub sometimes a dozen times a day.
“(It’s) not lost on us the tragedy that happened and the loss to the community and the families,” Odell said. “It’s always in our consciousness.”
Since the Pulse attack, firefighters must carry bulletproof vests.
They are hanging on the wall at Station No. 5 in preparation for when they might be needed, but Odell knows there is no way to be ready for something like the Pulse attack.
“No one could have expected, or been absolutely prepared for, the largest mass shooting in modern-day history,” he said.
Cox Media Group
