Tactical First Aid and “System Collapse” Medicine

Description

This hands-on class will develop proficiency in basic battlefield medical techniques utilizing the military's latest "Tactical Combat Casualty Care" protocols.

Students will learn to stop traumatic bleeding from gunshot and knife wounds using the latest pressure bandages, tourniquets, and hemostatic agents. Self care and care under fire will also be addressed.

Students will also learn simple patient assessment techniques, how to treat a sucking chest wound and tension pneumothorax as well as field fracture immobilization and expedient c-spine immobilization. Options for assuring clear airways (including improvised surgical airways) will be practiced.

In addition, students will learn how to treat themselves and families in the event of a long-term breakdown in our current medical system. Wound cleaning and disinfection under field conditions, injection of local anesthesia and wound closure (including minor suturing) will be practiced in our "trauma lab". If time permits, students will integrate all of these skills in several practical scenarios.

Information about what types of drugs to stockpile for natural disasters or a collapse in the health care system will be discussed, along with methods for legally acquiring those pharmaceuticals. The instructor will also discuss what items should be included in a comprehensive medical kit and how to improvise those items in an austere environment.

Topics Covered

Some of the subjects covered in class:

• Medical and legal issues

• Principles of Tactical Medicine

• Patient Assessment Techniques

• Hemorrhage Control Techniques

  • Tourniquets

  • Pressure Dressings

  • Hemostatic Agents/Adjuncts

• Identify and treat penetrating chest trauma

• Identify and treat for shock

• Active killer and mass casualty considerations

• Medical equipment selection and carry techniques for Every Day Carry (EDC)

Expectations and Outcomes

Students will learn to stop traumatic bleeding from gunshot and knife wounds using the latest pressure bandages, tourniquets, and hemostatic agents. Self care and care under fire will also be addressed.

Students will also learn simple patient assessment techniques, how to treat a sucking chest wound and tension pneumothorax as well as field fracture immobilization and expedient c-spine immobilization. Options for assuring clear airways (including improvised surgical airways) will be practiced.

In addition, students will learn how to treat themselves and families in the event of a long-term breakdown in our current medical system. Wound cleaning and disinfection under field conditions, injection of local anesthesia and wound closure (including minor suturing) will be practiced in our "trauma lab". If time permits, students will integrate all of these skills in several practical scenarios.

Types

Basic Life Support, F.A.S.T. (First Aid for Severe Trauma), Medical Other, Tactical Casualty Care (TCCC / TECC)

Requirements

None