MILWAUKEE — More than one week after the tragic mass shooting at Molson Coors, Milwaukee firefighters are speaking out about rushing into potential danger.
"Anybody that would have had a chance was given the very best shot by our firefighters and paramedics," Lipski said.
Lipski raced to Molson Coors, arriving in a sea of flashing lights and sirens, and more continuing to pour in.
He quickly stepped in to command his team in what he said was probably one of the most chaotic situations any of them have responded to in their career.
"What you're really doing is trying to dot a lot of i's and cross a lot of t's so that your folks aren't going to needlessly be in harm's way any more than they're already going to be," Lipski said.
You can hear his urgency on the scanner.
"Go ahead and start sending rescue task forces down here. We are going to call State Street a warm zone," he said to his team on the radio.
Lipski had to make a game plan, not knowing where the shooter was, or if that person was alive or dead.
"Hold all companies, hold all companies. They do not have the shooter down. It is an additional victim at this point," Lipski said on the radio.
"Even the best and brightest, all the kings' horses and all the kings' men and women can't tell you where that danger is right now," Lipski said.
Nearly 100 firefighters and paramedics worked together from Milwaukee and other agencies.
Now, in the days, weeks, and months later, they all will cope differently.
"Our members, day in and day out, are witness to anguish and pain, terror, and just the primal agony of loss," Lipski said.
What helps in the process is the department's peer support team, led by Kristen Herreid. It's a specially trained group of first responders who check in with each other to see how they're doing.
"They actually will follow peers' advice in terms of what might they be able to do for self-care or what next steps are or perhaps when they should refer onto mental health," Herreid said.
Because the job doesn't stop, caring for themselves is what they need to do so they can go back out and care for the rest of the city.
"We're seeing people are not resistant to it. They're willing to at least sit and have the conversation, and that's the most important thing," Lipski said.
A bill to allow firefighters access to worker's compensation for PTSD is currently being discussed by state lawmakers.
