An Iraq veteran caught up in the Las Vegas shooting sprang into action to save lives, stealing a pick-up truck and driving victims to hospital.

Taylor Winston, 29, was at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival with friends when Stephen Paddock began spraying the crowd with automatic gunfire from a nearby hotel.

The former marine at first thought the sound of shots was caused by fireworks before he heard screams and saw bodies fall to the ground.

He fled the concert with friend Jenn Lewis.

But instead of continuing to safety they commandeered a nearby pick-up, which had no driver inside, and began transporting injured shooting victims to hospital.

“Jenn and I luckily found a truck with keys in it and started transporting priority victims to the hospital and made a couple trips and tried to help out the best we could until more ambulances could arrive,” Mr Winston, from San Diego, told the Daily Beast.

He said they took about 24 people to hospital in two trips, with wounded festival-goers piling into the back seats and truck bed.

He and others including a trauma nurse set up a makeshift triage outside the concert so they could assess who needed treatment the most urgently.

Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting – in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA

Mr Winston, a sergeant who served from 2006 to 2011, told the injured to apply pressure to wounds as attempted to speed to Desert Springs Hospital Centre "before they bled out".

He fears some of his passengers, who included a woman with neck and chest injuries, may have died.

“I can’t be for certain," he said. "There’s a few that I don’t think probably made it. They were pretty limp when we were pulling them out of the truck, but they still had a pulse, so I’m hoping for the best.”

At least 59 people were killed and 527 injured when Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

Mr Winston, who now works as a designer for a country music website, said he was "angry that someone did this".

He was hailed as a "hero" by friends for his efforts to save lives.

"Taylor Winston people were so fortunate to have your guidance during the shooting and for your willingness to take the wounded to the hospital in a truck and for making more than one trip,” wrote Jenifer Michelle on Facebook.

“I know you didn’t do this for recognition but because it was the right thing to do and that’s what makes you such an incredible human,” she added.

Las Vegas shooting: What we know so far

But Mr Winston said he did not want to take credit.

“People needed to get out of there and we tried the best we could to get as many as we could,” he added.

After two trips to the hospital the former marine returned to festival venue on the Las Vegas Trip to find most of the injured had been taken to hospital by ambulance.

He parked the vehicle outside a bar and planned to return it to the scene on Monday morning but it was gone when he went to retreive it.