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Do you respond with your local/regional SWAT team as part of the team? If yes, then yeah, you need a TEMS course, and hopefully have been put through one by your team. If no, then no, you in no way need a TEMS course. Don't waste your time or anyone elses.
I don't think that tactical EMS training is a worthwhile venture. Maybe if you live in a large area that has a lot of tactical involvement, it could be justified. In most cases though, this isn't the case.
As far as changes to patient care in a tactical environment, one of the largest focuses in a tactical situation where someone goes down should be extraction as opposed to patient care. For many teams, they use armed officers as their medical on the entry team and they'll extract the person to EMS in a safe zone for further treatment.
I absolutely agree with Medic001918, I've seen so many people who want the "coolguy" factor, but their basic skills are abysmal at best. If you are not involved with a tactical team, the money is much better spent on other things. If your agency is looking to pitch the "tactical medicine" angle, then maybe the training would be worthwhile, but to have, just to have, is like having a Ferrari for a Quick Response Vehicle, really cool, really fast, completely useless for day to day operations....I think there are better uses of training funds rather than tactical training. Your milage may vary.
Yeah, I'd agree with triemal04 about 99%, while there are other opportunities for people with tactical medical training, the key here is that you need to have a good reason to do it, you are going to need a team that you can train and practice with, the equipment isn't cheap, so if you're not agency sponsored, you're going to have a little education, and no way to expand it. Look at it this way, it's like when you went to EMT school, if you never got to work on patients, how long do you think you'd be able to retain that knowledge and maintain proficiency?Do you respond with your local/regional SWAT team as part of the team? If yes, then yeah, you need a TEMS course, and hopefully have been put through one by your team. If no, then no, you in no way need a TEMS course. Don't waste your time or anyone elses.
Just responding with the SWAT team is not sufficient enough to warrant a tactical course. I think a tactical course is only needed if you're part of the entry team. Otherwise, all of the patient care should occur in a safe zone with extraction performed by the entry team. Otherwise, it's just like any other call.
I would agree that tactical training paired with EMS training (whether it be EMT-B, or EMT-P) would be extremely beneficial, especially in the setting described.
I mean, really there isn't really a "draw-back" out there, unless I'm skipping over something? They would both compliment each other quiet well, and as said; be very beneficial in the field and on the job.
Exactly.Shane does have a good point. Work on other training that would directly benefit your day-to-day routines first, and then move on to advanced training that would only be used in special operations and events.
However, with this I suppose the wheel changes if you are doing EMT-B or EMT-P for a military oriented purpose, or another defined tactical operatable group.