There are certain calls that hospital doctors and health care workers dread while on duty. On or near the top of that list is a mass shooting event.

In the wake of events unfolding in Maine, doctors at the Westchester Medical Center – a level 1 trauma center – explained how staff prepares for the worst.

The key, doctors said, is advanced training and preparation, putting procedures in place so if a shooting should happen, they are ready to respond.

Dr. Kartik Prabhakaran, the chief of trauma and acute surgery at Westchester Medical Center, said responding to a mass casualty event is something they prepare for intensively.

The staff is always training so that in the event of a transportation accident or mass shooting, clinical staff can move quickly and efficiently.

“We actually have mock scenarios so that staff knows exactly what to expect," Prabhakaran said. "People know exactly what to do in those situations. And so we go through those drills multiple times a year because like any symphony, it takes practice.”

In the event of an incident, patients may get flown to the level 1 trauma center.

Aidan O’Connor, who has flown medevac helicopters, said air ambulance flights save precious minutes by getting critically injured patients to hospitals faster than a traditional ambulance.

“When we talk about trauma, they're time sensitive because they're typically surgical emergencies," O'Connor said. "So again, we can try to get that patient to the place that they need to have surgery or receive blood within one-third or half the time that it would traditionally take.”

Dr. Prabhakaran said the center has 22 surgical and trauma ICU beds, but can open up more beds in other ICUs throughout the hospital if there’s many patients. If necessary, they can also get assistance from and give it to other hospitals in the area.

“Able to marshal those resources in terms of facilities, personnel and equipment in the event that we are really pushed to the brink of of capacity," he said.