NJ doctor recounts experience during Vegas shooting

<p>A New Jersey doctor who was in Las Vegas during the deadly mass shooting earlier this month is credited with saving many lives.</p>

News 12 Staff

Oct 13, 2017, 2:04 AM

Updated 2,599 days ago

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A New Jersey doctor who was in Las Vegas during the deadly mass shooting earlier this month is credited with saving many lives.
Dr. Adiofel Mark Mendoza says that he was in the right place at the right time when the shots rang out. 
“I trained my whole life for a situation like this,” he says.
Mendoza, of Summit Medical Group, says that he was off-duty and at a casino in Las Vegas when he heard dozens of ambulances. He says that he knew something terrible was happening, so he took a taxi to the scene of the shooting.
"I was so focus on treating the victims that were there, I didn't really consider the danger to myself,” Mendoza says. “There were people with full penetration shots to the torso. There were people with bullet fragments lodged in their skull."
The doctor says that although he treated countless victims, there is one woman who he says he will never forget.
“She was so emotionally distraught from watching her husband die in front of her, that she had just completely collapsed emotionally,” Mendoza says.
Mendoza says that after eight hours he finally walked away from the scene. He is quick to praise the other first responders and civilians who also risked their lives to save others.
“Everybody gave their best that night and…that’s reflected on the number of people that made it to the hospital in time,” he says. “I think that a lot more lives could have been lost that night."
The doctor says that he posted on Facebook during the incident, letting his family know he was safe, but that his phone would soon die. He says that his family was proud of him, but upset that he risked his life.
Mendoza says that he has no regrets about his decision to help.
Nearly 60 people were killed and around 500 more injured when a gunman opened fire on a crowd attending a country music concert at the Mandalay Bay Resort.