Fifteen years of sustained conflict against guerilla forces have led the Department of Defense reassess their approach to the trauma sustained by US and allied personnel - and it has paid off. Treatment and evacuation have of combat casualties has improved dramatically, due in no small part to the active roll taken by the troops in first-line treatment of the wounded. The days of Professional Responders staging in the cold zones are now gone. It is up to us as Professionals to better serve our communities and fellow public servants by sharpening our response to active killer situations that were once a thing seen only in war. I use the term active killer instead of active shooter because the method for executing such atrocities is irrelevant;
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Unless your agency has a dedicated team of these specialized medics on standby it can call upon in a moment’s notice, these specialized assets will rarely be deployed during the typical active killer situation and even then, will likely be too late to impact much. It will be your EMS Crew, Engine Company or Law Enforcement Agency that will be charged with controlling the chaos of such catastrophes; it is because of this reality that every Professional Responder must be trained in the principles of tactical medicine.
When looking at the history and success of tactical medicine within the US Military, one cannot help but look at the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. The Ranger Regiment was able to achieve dramatically lower morbidity and mortality rates, while sustaining worse injuries, than the entire DoD; this success can be attributed by the Regiment’s requirement that every soldier be trained in the principles of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3). If the medical community recognized the need for every responder, indeed many bystanders, to be trained in the use of CPR and AEDs, is it not time to recognize the same need applies to the ever-growing threat we face
Unless your agency has a dedicated team of these specialized medics on standby it can call upon in a moment’s notice, these specialized assets will rarely be deployed during the typical active killer situation and even then, will likely be too late to impact much. It will be your EMS Crew, Engine Company or Law Enforcement Agency that will be charged with controlling the chaos of such catastrophes; it is because of this reality that every Professional Responder must be trained in the principles of tactical medicine.
When looking at the history and success of tactical medicine within the US Military, one cannot help but look at the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. The Ranger Regiment was able to achieve dramatically lower morbidity and mortality rates, while sustaining worse injuries, than the entire DoD; this success can be attributed by the Regiment’s requirement that every soldier be trained in the principles of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3). If the medical community recognized the need for every responder, indeed many bystanders, to be trained in the use of CPR and AEDs, is it not time to recognize the same need applies to the ever-growing threat we face