Photos: Local first responders in Warren County receive ‘Tactical Emergency Casualty Care’ training
INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP, NJ (Warren County) – Several different agencies recently attended a Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) course that teaches EMS practitioners and other prehospital providers how to respond to and care for patients in a civilian tactical environment.
Police, fire, EMS, and members of the Warren County Rescue Taskforce participated in the training course which was held at the Great Meadows Middle School in Independence Township on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22.
The course presents the three phases of tactical care and integrates parallel EMS nomenclature:
- Hot Zone/Direct Threat Care that is rendered while under attack or in adverse conditions.
- Warm Zone/Indirect Threat Care that is rendered while the threat has been suppressed but may resurface at any point.
- Cold Zone/Evacuation Care that is rendered while the casualty is being evacuated from the incident site.
The 16-hour classroom course includes all new patient simulations and covers the following topics:
- Hemorrhage control, including immediate action drills for tourniquet application throughout the course;
- Complete coverage of the MARCH assessment;
- Surgical airway control and needle decompression;
- Strategies for treating wounded responders in threatening environments;
- Caring for pediatric patients;
- Techniques for dragging and carrying victims to safety; and
- A final, mass-casualty/active shooter event simulation.
The final simulation tested the students’ knowledge they learned over the two-day course in a simulated active shooter scenario with more than 35 “victims.”
NAEMT’s TECC course is endorsed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, is consistent with the current guidelines established by the Committee on TECC (Co-TECC), and meets all of the updated National Tactical Emergency Medical Support Competency Domains.
“This training class is crucial for all aspects of public safety to learn and train on. As we pray never to be involved in any incidents of this nature, we will continue to train on how to respond to incidents like this. This training allowed all aspects of public safety to train and work together, allowing us to respond efficiently if the day ever comes,” Independence First Aid Squad Chief Nick Vazquez said.
The Warren County Department of Public Safety and the Independence First Aid Squad sponsored the joint training course. Instructors from Saint Clare’s taught the class.
