FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ As school staff rushed the injured to awaiting paramedics, rescuers called for a perimeter to block parents from entering Stoneman Douglas High, audio recordings of the response to the mass shooting show.
In the early moments after the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 and wounded another 17, a commanding paramedic told a dispatcher to alert the county to send as many rescue units as possible, according to the audio files released Thursday.
"This is going to be a big event ... contact all the area hospitals," the commanding paramedic said. "We may be sending patients in all directions ... trauma centers especially."
"Get the appropriate units here, we're going to need a lot," he said.
School staff brought injured people to an intersection outside of the school, including at least one with a gunshot wound to the head.
One of the injured, who was being taken away in an ambulance, alerted paramedics that multiple people were shot inside the school.
A paramedic called for police to form a perimeter around the school because "we have parents running in the building."
The Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department released the recordings at the request of The South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and CNN.
The audio does not include timestamps so it is unknown when exactly the events described occurred.
With uncertainty about where the gunman was paramedics were told to take cover while they also worked to get the injured to hospitals. "Command to all units on scene, the shooter is not down. The shooter is not down. I need you to make sure that you guys are secured behind vehicles."
Paramedics were told to stage in the intersection outside of the Parkland school and patients were supposed to be taken to the football field where paramedics could get to them. But at least one paramedic unit reported difficulty getting to the field because of buses and police cars in the way.
"Due to the unsecureness of the scene, currently we're using the intersection as a patient drop-off point to rendezvous with the rescues," one paramedic said. "If we can continue to get them to the intersection that would be best for us."
Requests for air rescue were denied because the gunman was still at large. "They will not fly until they confirm that the active shooter is down."
At one point officers started calling paramedics directly because they could not get through to dispatch.
Concerns about a backpack that might have an explosive device in it prompted a request for a bomb squad.
Paramedics eventually were told that the suspect had run away from the school, mixing in with students that were running away, and was armed with a gun.
An additional report of shots fired inside a school building was made by a paramedic after the gunman had fled.
Paramedics were still trying to clear patients from the school an hour and 20 minutes later when it was reported that a suspect was in custody.
Police say that Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 14 students and three adults after he entered the school in Parkland with an AR-15 rifle. Seventeen other people were wounded in the shooting.
Previous releases of 911 calls and police radio communications revealed anxious and frenzied moments, as law enforcement officers searched for a shooter and those inside the school described horrific scenes.
Broward Sheriff's Office personnel have been criticized for how they handled concerns about Cruz before the shooting and how deputies responded at the school.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, at the direction of Gov. Rick Scott, is investigating the law enforcement response to the shooting. State lawmakers have asked the governor to suspend Broward Sheriff Scott Israel.
