Proactive Planning for Tactical Emergencies

Tactical Casualty Care (TAC) training is becoming a necessity in today's society. While we would like to think we will never have to use these skills, they are skills we do not want to be complacent about. MAFFAA currently has 5 trained Tactical Medics. Tactical Casualty Care EMS providers respond as medical support to law enforcement incidents and provide tactical medical care to casualties usually in an are where there minimal to no direct or immediate life effect. Tactical providers are those professionals who are trained to function effectively and safely deliver rapid high-quality emergency medical care in austere conditions. Medical practitioners of many different levels of training and fields can be involved in tactical medicine. First Responders, EMTs, AEMTS, Paramedics, PAs, PHRNs, and physicians are all able to serve as active members of TEMS units. We hope to enroll more employees in the tacticle training course in the near future.

Recently, Clarendon Township graciously donated funding received from Covid funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to MAFFAA which enabled us to purchase additional tacticle gear, including flak vests and helmets. We now have 10 flak vests and 12 helmets in place on our response units. This gear will not only be used by our tactical medics, but will also provide protection for every EMS responder who is dispatched to dangerous incidents.

There are more than 50,000 SWAT callouts per year in the United States. Some of the injuries involved in these incidents require immediate response and any delay in life-saving treatment may result in a preventable death. Tactical medical providers can bring medical care rapidly and more safely to those in need. It is our goal to ensure that we are prepared in the event of any critical or mass casualty incidents.