After gunshots broke out at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade on Wednesday, 12 patients were taken to Children’s Mercy hospital in Kansas City. All are expected to make a full recovery.
Nine of the patients were children between the ages of 6 and 15 who were shot. Two patients were children injured in the surrounding chaos. The 12th patient was an adult injured at the parade who was treated at the children’s hospital because her child was also injured and she wouldn’t leave her child’s side.
Stephanie Meyer, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at the hospital, said the care for the children will include fulfilling their mental health needs after the trauma they experienced.
“All of those patients we expect to have a full recovery, none of which are in critical condition,” Meyer said. “We are also going to have to make sure that we stay attuned to the care that’s needed after the violence that has been seen, not only for the children we treated, but for all the children and families in the community.”
Asked to describe how the patients were doing, Meyer answered, “Fear. The one word I would use to describe what we saw, and how they felt when they came to us, was fear.”
