By Dorothy Brooks
One way to accelerate care to victims of mass casualty events is to direct physicians who are accustomed to working with law enforcement to respond to the scene so they can provide high-level care to victims immediately. That is part of the emerging specialty called tactical medicine.
Recently, Texas Tech University Health Sciences started such a program, whereby physicians will be trained in law enforcement tactics and deputized as police who can respond to mass casualty events, according to Nancy Weber, DO, MBA, FACOEP, FACEP, vice chair of quality and patient experience at Texas Tech’s Health Sciences Center. The four members of the Texas Tech tactical medicine program are emergency physicians. This group includes the first physician to join as part of a new one-year fellowship training program in tactical medicine. This physician will spend the first six months of training at the El Paso Community College Law Enforcement Academy and will graduate with full police credentials. Then, this physician will join the other members of the tactical medicine team.
The program is led by Robert Root, DO, assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine at the Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech and an EMS in the region. Before joining the faculty at Texas Tech, Root spent four years as an emergency medicine physician in the Army. Administrators believe the specialty could attract other veterans.
The tactical medicine team is working with the SWAT team from the El Paso Police Department, but there are plans to train with other law enforcement agencies in the region. The idea is to be in a position to provide on-scene support when law enforcement is called to respond to a dangerous event and to be able to provide high-level medical care to the injured. In some cases, the tactical medical team might respond before a scene has been deemed safe for paramedics.
While members of the tactical medicine team receive law enforcement training, these physicians also intend to provide training on life-saving techniques to members of law enforcement. Although the program includes only emergency physicians, other clinicians with experience in treating trauma patients could join. Root says program administrators also might incorporate some cross-training with regional paramedics and fire departments.
One way to accelerate care to victims of mass casualty events is to direct physicians who are accustomed to working with law enforcement to respond to the scene so they can provide high-level care to victims immediately. That is part of the emerging specialty called tactical medicine.
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