In the wake of the on-duty shooting death of a Wisconsin firefighter this week, two other fire departments around the state are re-evaluating how they handle certain medical emergencies.
Appleton firefighter Mitchell F. Lundgaard, 36, was shot and killed while treating a patient with a medical emergency Wednesday, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Appleton police returned fire, hitting the shooter, who was later pronounced dead at the hospital, WISN-TV reports. A police officer and a bystander also were hit by gunfire, but they are expected to recover.
"We go on calls like they did where somebody's down, unconscious, and all of the sudden they wake up and now they start shooting," Milwaukee Fire Lt. Brent Jones told WISN. "So I know that our members are now going to make sure that whatever person they're taking care of, if they're unconscious, we're going to make sure that they don't have a weapon on them."
Milwaukee isn't the only fire department that will be adopting more-cautious policies when it comes to medical emergency calls. Greenfield firefighters and paramedics also will be checking patients for guns and other weapons as a way to keep both patients and first responders safe, according to WISN.
