EMERISIS: That was the "Tactical Emergency Medicine"

The two-day course "Tactical Medical Operations" organized by EMERISIS took place in Vienna from April 10-11. The target audience included officers from the police, judiciary, and customs, as well as professional weapon carriers in personal protection, and others. We also participated and want to share our impressions with you.

The course was led by Mario Nowak from TACSURV. The goal of the course was to provide participants with basic knowledge in tactical casualty care in order to perform life-saving first aid measures for individuals with multiple traumas in emergencies.

The basic course was aimed at participants WITHOUT or with little tactical-medical knowledge. Over the course of two days, the knowledge was very well taught. Didactically well-prepared, some theory was presented in each area first, then demonstrated, and finally, participants were able to implement what was shown.

Naturally, the course began with the proper application of a tourniquet, as this is the fastest way to stop severe bleeding in the extremities. Starting on oneself in a relaxed classroom atmosphere, and then progressing to practicing on a colleague in a covered position lying on the ground. We must admit, it is not as easy as it seems and certainly requires practice.

Another major focus was bleeding in the neck area. Here, participants were shown how to dress these types of bleeding. Afterwards, participants practiced this bandaging method in all positions.

Finally, in terms of life-saving immediate measures for holes in the body where there shouldn't be any, the treatment of injuries in the chest area was addressed. Mentioning "Chestseal", but what to do if you don't have one? Improvise, of course, using tape and foil. Not ideal, but much better than doing nothing.

Training was based on the widely used C-ABCDE schema in Europe in civilian contexts. However, it does not differ fundamentally from the U.S. MARCH schema, just different abbreviations for the same key points. Personally, I prefer the C-ABCDE, as the order is easier to remember. This has proven particularly useful in times of increased stress, as one can always recall A-B-C-D-E, even with a perceived pulse of 150.

On the second day, the material was reviewed once again, and participants implemented what they had learned in increasingly challenging tactical situations. After each round, an analysis was conducted to determine what, when, and who did what. It was fascinating to see that under stress, no one could remember exactly what had happened.

Everyone played each role at least once, as a casualty, as a helper, or as a commander, as (small) tactical decisions also had to be made.

CONCLUSION: A very well-made TCCC course for beginners. After the two days, one leaves with the feeling of being able to treat heavily bleeding, severe injuries until the doctor arrives. Practice makes perfect, so the learned material should be constantly reviewed and hopefully never have to be used.

Overall, it was a very good course and all participants really enjoyed it. In the future, more TCCC courses will be offered by EMERISIS in collaboration with TACSURV. We are looking forward to it.

TACSURV on the Internet

EMERISIS on the Internet

Related Literature: “Tactical Medicine” by Carsten Dombrowski, SPARTANAT Black Book 3, Pocket-sized paperback, 136 pages, Euro 14.90

Patches for the book: IFAK Marker – exclusive to us &  HERE is the Tactical Medic Patch.

SPARTANAT SHOP on the Internet