TEMS Training

[Andrew J]

As I said in my intro I’m trying to get into Tactical EMS. I’m an EMT-I working on my medic. I was given a chance to take a week long tactical medic program, but was unable to attend to due to finances. There is one coming up in April at my school that I would love to take. However, before spending the time and money I wanted to see what you all thought of the curriculum and if there are other courses I should look into that might make me a better candidate for working in this field.



This is the course curriculum.

* The Role of the Tactical Medicine Provider
* Pre-deployment Care/Keeping the Team Healthy
* Medical Threat Assessment and Barricade Medicine
* Operational Casualty Care/Tactical Casualty Care
* Wound Management
* Wound Ballistics
* Management of Blast Injuries
* Medical Aspects of Clandestine Drug Labs
* Distraction Devices and Less Than Lethal Weapons
* Crush Injury and Compartment Syndrome
* Dynamic Clearing Techniques and Team Movement
* Chem./Biological Weapons/Radiological Environments
* Pediatric Trauma Management Considerations
* Gear selection/Improvised Gear
* Tactical Medic Training
* Firearms
* Medical Incident Command
* Advanced Airway Management in the Tactical Environment
* Spinal Injuries/Removing Protective Gear
* Environmental Injuries
* Tactical Field Labs
* Forensics and Evidence Preservation
* Many additional topics will be addressed in the course

Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Doczilla]

We could provide better feedback if you told us which program you're going to. Most programs follow the same general principles but there are substantial differences in execution.

'zilla

[Andrew J]

It's the 54 Hour TEMS program being taught by the Ohio Tactical Medicine Association (OTMA). The name of the program as listed on my schools site is just 'Tactical Medic Program'. That may be why it's been hard to find any good info on the class itself.
If I can give you anymore info I will, this is all I've been able to get off the site and talking with the department head over at my school.


Thanks

[swatsurgeon]

like anything YOUR money goes to, check out references. Who has been there from your department/region/etc., who are the instructors; are they all 'actively' involved with special operations teams, what is their backround? What do you want to get out of the class? Are you looking to learn tactics because you are up on medical issues or are you looking to further your medical education and not worry too much about tactics because you'll never be in a hot zone?
Do your research, we don't do that for you. People will have opinions on courses they have taken, but can't comment if they haven't been to the particular course you are interested in.....Google is a good start, calling police departments in the area of the course may help if their are local tactical medical providers around.
I would recommend you begin with information from the state of California which has passed a policy on tactical medicine training. www.emsa.ca.gov...look for the tac-med training on their site and read all 70+ pages, then you'll figure out if the course you want to take is up to the task and appropriate for your educational needs.
Good luck and go for it,,,,we need more tactical medical providers.
BTW, TEMS is old school and only 1 component, the operational component, of Tactical Medicine...read the CA document and you'll see what I mean.

ss

[swatsurgeon]

here is the link I mentioned
http://www.emsa.ca.gov/personnel/Tactical_Medicine.asp

ss

[wook]

Agree with above. May want to check out the National Tactical Officers Association (http://site.ntoa.org/) as they offer a course and additional information about TEMS. You may also want to check out CONTOMS(https://www.trueresearch.org/contoms/).


Wook

[Doczilla]

I took a K9 class that OTMA put on a couple of years ago. It was a good class and I enjoyed it. I and several other docs who attended paid our dues there to become members of OTMA. They took the money and we never heard from them again, despite several emails. So buyer beware when it comes to OTMA.

A few years ago when Denis Fitzgerald was at UC, he helped develop and run the TEMS class, and it was good. I don't know what it's like now. It may be good, but after the membership experience, I'm not shelling out a bunch of cash to find out.

Some other programs, in addition to the NTOA and CONTOMS classes mentioned (both excellent, BTW):
Rescue Training Inc. www.emtt.org
Tac-Med www.tac-med.org
ISTM www.tacticalmedicine.com

'zilla