LAS VEGAS _ The chatter from a police radio instantly caught the attention of Kevin Menes, the senior doctor on duty Sunday night at one of the busiest emergency rooms in Las Vegas.
"Automatic fire." "Look for the shooter."
As more information came in _ country music concert, Mandalay Bay on the Strip _ his mind started spinning.
Menes had rehearsed this scenario in his head.
Four ER doctors and one trauma surgeon were on duty that night at Sunrise Medical Center. Menes needed more anesthesiologists, more trauma surgeons, more technicians, more nurses.
He needed more gauze, more chest tubes, more operating rooms left open, more gurneys and wheelchairs lined up in the concrete bay where ambulances would soon be arriving.
He ordered everything he could. It was about 10:30 p.m.
With a nurse at his side, Menes waited outside for the deluge of the fallen, ferried by cars, ambulances, taxis, Ubers and pickup trucks.
He had only seconds to assess each patient. The walking wounded got a green tag. Those seriously injured but who could be stabilized got yellow. Those on the brink of death _ pale complexion, thready pulse _ got red.
In 40 minutes, Menes saw about 150 patients. Maybe 50 of them had red tags.
Menes was needed inside. He turned to the nurse next to him.
"You saw what I've been doing, right?" he said. "I want you to take over and do exactly what I was doing."
