Tactical Medicine


under austere conditions. Under the civilian context, there are assumptions of available resources (in general) and there are few considerations for aus‐ tere conditions such as security threats, adverse weather, remote and difficult terrain, etc. Additionally, equipment available and routinely used by medics involved in the tactical mission differs greatly from the equipment used in the traditional EMS contexts.


Lessons learned from military con‐ flicts such as Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operations Restore Hope, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have led to great advances in both battlefield and civilian trauma care. The contextu‐ al lessons learned spawned renewed


approaches to training methods not only for military medics, but also civilian medics involved in the tactical mission. Wound epidemiology differs greatly based on the situational contexts. For instance, civilian EMS traditionally finds great numbers of routine medical calls, “nuisance calls” as well as motor vehi‐ cle trauma, whereas the military medic does not get the same exposure when deployed overseas. The likelihood is that the military medic will find himself or herself dealing with blast and ballistic injuries rather than dealing with the chronically ill elderly patient. Tactical medicine epidemiology also differs between their contexts as well. The military medic is more likely to


encounter blast and bombing victims than the law enforcement support medic. The LE support medic on the other hand is likely to encounter more close‐quarters, intimate wounds such as stabbings and beatings. Additionally, the LE medic will be more likely to encounter intoxicated patients as a large part of the law enforcement mission in response to counter‐drug operations.


It’s Only A Plan Until The First Guy Hits The Door!


There are inherent differences not only between the application of tradi‐ tional medical approaches to the provi‐


26 EMS PRO Magazine


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