TEMS - El Reno, Oklahoma

Tactical Combat Casualty Care

The Emergency Medical Technician - Tactical (EMT-T) combined with Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC-3)Trauma Skills Sustainment is a unique educational experience that cannot be obtained without actually doing the procedures on individuals who have sustained traumatic life-threatening injuries posed by these threats. The purpose of this course is to provide prehospital emergency care first students (traditional and non-traditional) with a solid foundation in the philosophy and skills associated with tactical combat casualty care as they pertain to both military and civilian tactical environments.

This course addresses both Basic and Advanced Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC-3) and Tactical EMS (TEMS) Trauma Skills outlined by the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) guidelines, USSOCOM memorandum: Combat Trauma Training in Special Operations Forces.

Unlike conventional EMS where the chief complaint is the result of blunt force trauma, the majority of the combat and civilian tactical related injuries are the result of penetrating trauma, and "90% of combat deaths occur on the battlefield before the casualty reaches amedical treatment facility (MTF)."

The skills sets needed on the battlefield are governed by the tactical environment, limited medical equipment, and unknown evacuation times which is not the primary case in current civilian based prehospital emergency care. The primary concept that is crucial to decreasing preventable combat or tactical related deaths is "the correct intervention must be performed at the correct time," and student must have a solid foundation in prehospital emergency care.

Students who attend this class are not entry-level medics or operators. The intent of our program is to force students already proficient at performing lifesaving procedures to conduct these procedures quicker and to a higher standard under simulated tactical scenarios which are more stressful, more challenging, and more austere than is available with conventional civilian prehospital emergency care training or experience. This course reinforces trauma skills that will allow them to perform with greater accuracy, skill, and confidence if faced with treating patients in a gambit of austere environments.

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