Baltimore, April 27: The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) tonight honored 51 trauma professionals and first responders who saved the life of a 16-year-old Montgomery County high school student who was on the brink of death after being shot at a party in 2024. More than 700 people attended the trauma center’s “One Maryland One Shock Trauma” event at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center.
Chase Lancaster, now an 18-year-old senior at Northwest High School in Germantown, attended the celebration with his family. He was critically injured when gunfire erupted at a party attended by about 150 high school students in Urbana on August 9, 2024.
An innocent bystander, Chase lost 70 liters of blood (14 times the total volume in an adult’s body) and underwent 20 surgeries after a bullet pierced his right side and lower chest, nicking the inferior vena cava, the largest vein in his body. The bullet also ripped through his diaphragm, liver, stomach and right kidney and damaged his heart. Chase needed 150 units of blood products to save his life.
“Every one of his organs failed. His kidneys failed, his lungs failed, his heart failed, his liver failed,” recalled Thomas M. Scalea, MD, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and Shock Trauma’s Physician-in-Chief.
“If Chase was not the most badly injured patient we saw that year, he was very close. He was really on the brink of not surviving,” said Dr. Scalea, who also serves as System Chief of Critical Care Services at the 11-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS).
Chase spent two months at Shock Trauma and another two months at the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital (MWPH) for rehabilitation before going home in December 2024. WATCH CHASE’S STORY
Shock Trauma’s signature event, now in its 35th year, highlights the extraordinary collaboration between Shock Trauma and its emergency medical services (EMS) partners throughout Maryland. Shock Trauma is at the heart of the unique, highly coordinated statewide system, which is a national model for trauma care.
“One of my greatest privileges is having the opportunity to work alongside our extraordinary trauma care teams and our remarkable partners within Maryland’s EMS system,” Dr. Scalea said. “Every day these courageous men and women navigate unique and complex challenges. They do so without hesitation and at times, even risking their own health and well-being to save the life of another.”
This year’s celebration was held at the Weinman Hall, M&T Bank Exchange and the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center in Baltimore. Celebrated as heroes were doctors, nurses and other medical professionals at Shock Trauma and MWPH as well as members of the Maryland State Police (MSP) Aviation Command, Frederick County Fire & Rescue, Frederick County EMS and the Systems Communications Center (SYSCOM) within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services System (MIEMSS).
Proceeds will be used to acquire the latest state-of-the-art equipment and technology essential to advancing care within Shock Trauma’s Trauma Resuscitation Unit.
“This unit is slated for a significant renovation, and these investments will ensure that the updated space is equipped with the most innovative tools available, enhancing Shock Trauma’s ability to deliver faster, safer and more effective lifesaving treatment,” said Kristie Snedeker, DPT, Shock Trauma’s Vice President.
Shock Trauma has the highest designation for trauma care in the state as a Primary Adult Resource Center (PARC). Doctors there treat 6,500 critically ill and severely injured patients each year, about 95 percent of whom survive.
‘Is This How I’m About to Die?’
Chase was shot while attending a party with friends at the Urban Green Apartments clubhouse when a group of individuals wearing masks opened fire on the crowd. The teenager remembers being hit as he ran. He said he thought, “Dang, is this how I’m about to die?”
Frederick County Fire & Rescue and Frederick County EMS treated Chase on the scene. Trooper 2 of the MSP Aviation Command airlifted him to Shock Trauma, with paramedics giving him an emergency transfusion with whole blood, which is now available onboard MSP helicopters as part of a statewide initiative that is credited with saving lives. His blood pressure was 66/33 (normal blood pressure is 120/80), and he was bleeding heavily.
“He was losing blood pretty much as fast as we were putting it back into his body,” Trooper First Class Emily Brown, an MSP flight paramedic, said.”When Chase arrived at Shock Trauma, doctors quickly assessed his injuries and took him to surgery. “Chase was bleeding at an incredible clip. He lost 40 liters of blood in his first operative procedure,” Dr. Scalea said.
To stop the hemorrhaging, doctors threaded a balloon up through an artery in his groin to his heart. Chase developed severe swelling in both legs, and surgeons performed an emergency procedure to relieve pressure in his calves and thighs to prevent the nerves and muscles from dying.
Chase also received liver dialysis and continuous renal replacement therapy, which filters a patient’s blood like an artificial kidney. His right kidney could not be saved.
Learning to Walk Again
Chase was transferred to MWPH, a specialty pediatric hospital in Baltimore affiliated with UMMS and Johns Hopkins Medicine, on October 11, 2024.
“Our goals for Chase were ambitious because his goals for himself were ambitious,” said Mackenzie Nalepa, PT, DPT. “He hadn’t gotten out of bed prior to coming here so moving his legs was hard. We wanted him to walk within the first few weeks that he got here. By week three, he started taking some of those steps with a walker. By week six, he was walking without any assistance.”
Stephen Nichols, MD, senior attending physician in Rehabilitation Services at MWPH, said,
“Seeing a patient go from a very debilitated condition, with a lot of medical problems and weak and not able to do much for themselves, and be able to walk out of here is why I come to work every day.”
Chase, who has a tattoo on his left arm that says, “Let your faith be bigger than your fear,” has mostly recovered from his injuries and is back doing the things that he loves. He likes to fish and lift weights at the gym. He has a part-time job at a local sandwich shop and is considering going to college. “I want to thank everyone who helped me. They saved my life,” he said.
