Las Vegas Trauma Center Doctor Has Hudson Valley Ties

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The doctor who ran the Las Vegas University Medical Center’s trauma unit the night of the mass shooting has a Hudson Valley connection. Dr. John Fildes was born in Yonkers and graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes High School. He worked at hospitals in the Bronx and Poughkeepsie in the 1970s.

Fildes spoke with the Poughkeepsie Journal about the Oct. 1 carnage when Stephen Paddock opened fire with high-powered rifles on a country music festival in Las Vegas.

Authorities said Paddock killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more, before killing himself.

Fildes said the trauma center had been rehearsing for disasters such as what happened in Las Vegas and will use the experience to strengthen its current disaster plan.

For more, read the complete article by the Poughkeepsie Journal’s David Robinson here.

AP Photo/Chris Carlson.