When paramedic Paddy Ennis arrived at the Manchester arena where a bomb blast had killed 22 people and injured dozens more, he froze.
Ennis, the first emergency service worker on the scene, was met with “overwhelming devastation”.
Then he noticed the screaming. Visibly injured victims were lying on the floor, yelling at him for help.
But instead of going to their aid, it was Ennis’ job to ignore them – there were people who needed his help more.
“The quiet ones were my first priority,” he told The Mail on Sunday.
“There were people screaming in pain and people terrified.
“But you have to ignore them because if they’re screaming the airways are open and you know they can breathe, so you are reassured by the fact they are relatively okay for now, although they had horrendous injuries.”
The North West Ambulance Service paramedic had arrived minutes after his daughter told him about the blast on social media.
Listen: Mamamia Out Loud needed to talk about the tragedy. (Post continues after audio.)
The 38-year-old told the newspaper of how he quickly assessed injured people – checking that they were breathing and their pulse was at an acceptable rate. But not everyone the paramedic attended to could be helped.
“Unfortunately for some, my assessment was they were beyond any help we could provide.”
“They were already dead.”
A suicide bomber killed 22 others when he set himself off at the end of the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester on Monday night.
So far, 14 suspects have been arrested in relation to the attack.
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