Central Maine Medical Center is considering its response to the mass shooting in Lewiston

LEWISTON (WGME) – More than a dozen victims of the mass shooting in Lewiston were taken to Central Maine Medical Center for treatment on October 25, 2023.

The hospital’s chief physician reflects on their reaction that day, an award they received, and the lessons they learned that might be helpful in the future.

Dr. John Alexander had just gotten home from work on October 25, 2023 when he received the call.

“The task force was activated and there was a mass shooting, so I quickly turned around, got back in my car and headed back,” said Dr. Alexander.

He and well over 100 team members, including doctors, nurses, technicians and more.

“And our surgical teams had four operating rooms operating at the same time at one point, with multiple surgeons in each of those rooms. This is just not something we normally do, but we train for these experiences,” said Dr. Alexander.

The training became a real-life scenario and the recovery process for her patients was just beginning.

“Our last patient who was a shooting victim left a few days before Christmas. Dozens of team members, nurses, technicians, support staff and doctors lined the hallway and we said goodbye to these individuals and congratulated them on their courage,” said Dr. Alexander said.

In June, CMMC’s trauma response team was recognized for its life-saving work with the Maine Hospital Association’s Caregiver of the Year award.

“And when we heard about it, we just received the award. It’s just an incredible honor to be recognized by your peers. We previously shared some of our findings with the Maine Hospital Association and many member hospitals,” said Dr. Alexander.

Dr. Alexander says these lessons include a robust communication process.

“Most of the people who came in weren’t called, they heard about the event and came on their own to help, which is incredible. Once that happens, you need to assign roles to those people or set up a holding area where people can say, “Okay, I’m glad you’re here.” Thank you very much. “I don’t have a role for you yet,” said Dr. Alexander.

And this communication also applies to patients.

“It became a challenge to manage and understand who was coming from one of the crime scenes, who was coming from elsewhere, who were family members just looking for loved ones,” Dr. Alexander.

They also learned the importance of having a plan for caring for their 3,200 employees and other patients at the hospital, especially counseling services.

“We did it very quickly, but we’ve now put that into a written plan so we now know what we can do and how we’ll do it next time,” said Dr. Alexander.

Since it’s been a year since the tragedy in Maine, Dr. Alexander said everyone at CMMC recognizes the day in their own way and remains grateful for the community coming together on its darkest day and the days that follow.

“For at least three to four weeks, we kept receiving donations of food and cards and other thoughtful and memorabilia from the community just to support our team, and we just felt a special closeness to our community, that made us stronger “said Dr. Alexander. “Our hospitals here provide health care, but our community provides care beyond that for so many members, and I think that’s something we all need to keep in mind.”