Tactical Medicine: The difference in being alive and staying alive.

One of our members recently had the opportunity to attend the first weekend of a 3 weekend long tactical paramedic course. This initial weekend focused on movement, reaction to contact, and integration of medical personnel to the tactical environment. It was a highly engaging and rewarding experience. This article will contain a primer on the kind of considerations made by tactical paramedics and a taste of the educational content you will continue receiving from the Carolina Intelligence Group.

The most important point made repeatedly throughout the course is to know your equipment. You are useless without it. As the team medic, it is your job to train your team on medical interventions you want them to be capable of doing without your direct instruction or supervision. At a minimum, you should train your team on TQ (tourniquet) application, wound packing, and basic splinting. These are basic interventions that any shooter should be able to do. You will also be in charge of establishing your team’s medical SOPs, medical training, as well as standardizing your team’s IFAK and IFAK placement.  

While setting up your bag, it is important to remember your scope of practice and weight considerations. When possible, it is advisable to tailor your bag to the mission and environment. For example, conducting operations in an urban environment requires a completely different set of equipment than conducting operations in a static position as a casualty collection point or a hasty urgent care.  

At a minimum, the team medic should be carrying 4 TQs, multiple sets of chest seals, multiple pressure dressings, hemostatic or non hemostatic gauze, space blankets, casualty cards, writing utensils, airway management, pain control, and other mission dependent items or other items determined as necessary by you and your team. It is also advisable to carry items such as benadryl, tylenol, metered dose inhalers, anti-nausea medications, and antibiotics. Again, it is important to remember your scope of practice. If you operate at the EMR level, the only difference between you and the rest of your team is that you carry more medical equipment with you. However, for the EMTs and Paramedics reading, you are a real asset to your team. You have the ability to administer more advanced interventions and improve your team’s capability and survival.  

There is a writeup in the pipeline to go more in depth about Tactical Medicine, this is intended to be a primer to gauge interest and share some basic concepts. We all appreciate your time and hope this information serves you well. Remember, stay skeptical in pursuit of truth.

-C.I.G. Tactical Paramedic