THE KING KILLED HIM

By Ron Duval

I was working car 11 on EM's when we received a 
call to respond to MLK 
Hospital as they had a gun shot victim there. 
Apparently, the victim told MLK security that 
he had been shot at 89th st. and Compton.
 
Upon arrival, we found the victim lying on 
a stretcher just outside of the trauma room. 
There was a line of about 3 people waiting for 
trauma treatment. 
 
My trainee tried to question the victim who 
had 3 holes located in 
center mass. He was unresponsive so we stood 
there watching him.
 
We noticed that his left hand was hanging off 
of the bed. There was a 
steady flow of blood trickling down his arm 
and hand. It started to pool up on the floor 
just below him.
 
Then, out of nowhere, an orderly appears with 
a mop bucket and mops up 
the blood. As he leaves, we could see the blood 
continue to drip down 
the victim’s arm and onto the floor. Again, the 
orderly reappears and mops it up again. This 
process continues for about 45 minutes when finally, 
it's our victim's turn for trauma treatment. However, 
by now the trickle of blood has noticeably decreased.
 
The Dr examines him and suddenly becomes frantic. 
He starts calling out 
for someone to assist him as he throws back the 
sheet covering the 
victim and tears open his shirt. He listens to 
the victim's chest with his scope and has the nurse 
start CPR. Nothing. This goes on for about 2 minutes. 
We could see that when they first started CPR, the 
flow of blood increased slightly, then lessened. 
Finally, there was no more blood dripping to the floor. 
The Dr pronounced our victim dead and homicide 
was called.
 
When the Homicide investigators showed up and asked 
me if I knew how he was killed, I answered, 
"The King Killed Him!" 
 
We were amazed at how this poor smuck was brought in 
and never treated because no one ever saw the amount 
of blood he lost. 
When we tried to mention it to one of the ER nurses we were 
told stay out of 
their way.
 
No wonder no one ever wanted to be taken to MLK.