Paramedics join Ohio SWAT team
By Suzanne Hoholik
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — These are not your typical paramedics.
These guys wear body armor and helmets and join SWAT teams during raids, shootings and hostage situations.
"We used to have Columbus EMS come to the command post (from a block away), but history shows us, across the country, that's too far away if an officer gets shot," said Lt. David Wood, who leads the Columbus police SWAT squad.
"It's key to have the medics up close to the situation."
Columbus created a 24-member tactical EMS team late last year. Two members go out with the SWAT team as needed.
The medics don''t carry guns. Same goes for Cleveland''s tactical medic team, founded last year.
"Now we can do immediate lifesaving interventions on the scene," said Mark DePhillips, a tactical paramedic with the Cleveland Fire Department.
Tactical medics, like those in war zones, learn how to better control bleeding and shock, said Capt. Shawn Koser, a member of the Columbus tactical EMS team.
Over the past decade, police agencies across the nation have trained paramedics to work with SWAT and narcotics teams. Some carry guns.
No one is sure how many tactical medic teams are in Ohio because no agency keeps track. Training and education also vary.
The Ohio EMS board, which oversees training and education of emergency medical workers and firefighters, wants to make sure there are uniform rules for tactical teams.
"You see a lot of SWAT teams putting tactical medics into their teams, but there really were no standards, no regulating authority that oversaw the development of this medical community," said Mark Resanovich, a board member and a tactical medic in Akron.
The board is considering an advanced-practice paramedic level that would include tactical teams, bomb squads, flight medics and dive teams. Creating this would require legislation.
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