and onto a white school-bus style vehicle that drove away. About 25 of them were then led in single file through the gate into the U.S. So alongside feeling appreciative of your family, a heart goes out to those who will not be able to do that.A group of about 50 migrants initially approached a Border Patrol vehicle and personnel and sat or kneeled on the ground. And unfortunately, there were individuals that were not able to do that. I think there's no better medicine than to hug your kids and you get a laugh and a smile for them. Just like any other parent, I'm sure when I came home, I wanted to see him. SWANN: Well, my youngest son is still in high school and I have a grandson that lives with me that is in first grade. GMA 3: When you come home from this yesterday and when you came home, what do you say to your family? Again, this is just a tragic reality of where we are at in this day and time. And it is truly something that the whole nation can relate to, whether it's here in Nashville or it's in some other state or some other country. But when you step away from that moment and you get to yourself and you go home, of course we are reflecting and it becomes more personal because all of us have children, all of us have kids. So a lot of logistics have to take place in this part of training. We have to make sure also that on the scene itself, we know we're going to be there for a while. We have to make sure that we set a place up where parents can be reconnected with their children. We realize that instantly, once the threat is taken care of, we have to set up a reunification center. We realize that no matter what that scene is, there have to be things that take place. SWANN: Well, this is because of training. The logistics of safely getting them out of the school into a new, new safe place to be. GMA 3: Those images of the children from yesterday: holding hands, filing out single file - that the child with just the absolutely terrified-looking face on the school bus. But it's the nature of our job and, unfortunately, in this day and time is more frequent than we want. But it's just a scene in something that we never want to do. And then also making sure that our responders are taken care of in mental health and just trying to make sure that the healing process begins. Again, our prayers go out to those families. So, again, yesterday, we really want to focus on now that this scene is over. That moment changes everything for you because we all can relate to the innocence of it. But being in this field for 28 years, I will tell you there's nothing more gut-wrenching than responding to a child. We deal with people who are in distress and we deal with people if there's a shooting, stabbing or homicide, whatever it may be, we deal with this every day. SWANN: Well, when you think about the nature of what the fire department does, and then that includes our EMS division, this is unfortunately the nature of what we do. How does that change how you interact, how you respond? GMA 3: When you pull up to a place like this… these are little kids, young kids, the victims, 9 years old. This forever will be with them, the residue of this day.Īlso, the community, the city, the state and the whole nation can actually feel what happened yesterday and take it personally because all of us have kids and we think about sending our kids to school to get education and return home. So, again, yesterday, as I reflect on just what happened and we think about how horrific it was we had three kids that lost their lives what their families are going through the three adults what they, what their families are going through we our first responders what they've seen, and then the survivors, the kids and the staff that was there. Once the threat is neutralized, then our teams go inside alongside P.D., and we try to find individuals that we can pull out and begin lifesaving measures and also transport them to our local ERs…for more advanced medical treatment. So once the call came in, our job is a little different. But as you can see, it's something that happens all around the nation. We train for these moments and we wish they never happened. We responded along with the Metro Police Department. NASHVILLE FIRE CHIEF WILLIAM SWANN: Oh, absolutely. Tell me what they encountered when they got here. And your men and women were some of the first to respond to the scene. GMA 3: Joined now by director Swann from the Nashville Fire Department. Nashville Fire Chief William Swann spoke with GMA 3 Tuesday about the first responders who sped to The Covenant School after three students and three adult staff members were shot.
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