SWAT Medic Casualty Care in the Tactical Setting

Training and time matters when lives are on the line in the tactical setting. Knowing how to treat casualties in the tactical setting is paramount for SWAT medics. We will begin the discussion of the three zones of care and how to safely and effectively assess and treat casualties in these three zones. We must neutralize the threat so we can stop the killing before we can stop the dying. Tactical medics are charged with the duties of preventing casualties and treating casualties. Medics must strive to stop the preventable deaths (extremity exsanguination, tension pneumothorax, and airway compromise) in the austere environments in which they work. We will discuss how negotiators and the command staff function alongside the tactical medics and doctors during planned raids and hostage situations. I will finish with a particular case study in which our team made crucial, last-minute decisions to use nonlethal weapons to save the suspect's life after we used medics to coach the suspect on how to treat his hostage's injuries through the negotiators. We will also focus on the types of injuries found in the tactical setting and how to assess and treat in the three aforementioned zones of care.