Tactical EMS/MCI pearls with Dr. Dan O’Donnell and Dr. Kevin Schultz

Tactical exposure and active shooter training is important for all EMS providers, working in tangent with law enforcement

May 03, 2019 04:02 PM •

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MCHD first.jpeg — Robert Dickson, M.D.; Casey Patrick, M.D.; MCHD Chief Kevin Crocker; and Kevin Schulz, M.D.

The EMS1 Academy is currently featuring “Module 47: Incident Management and Multiple Casualty Incidents,” a 1-hour accredited course for EMTs. Complete the course to learn more about how you can prepare to manage multiple-casualty incidents. Visit the EMS1 Academy to learn more and for an online demo.

With the multiple recent active shooter related mass casualty incidents across the country, tactical EMS team development and continuing education have become hot topics across prehospital care.

In these episodes of the MCHD Podcast, we address EMS response to active shooter incidents. First, Dr. Dan O’Donnell, medical director for Indianapolis SWAT, joins Dr. Casey Patrick on episode No. 25.

Then, on episode No. 46, Assistant Medical Director for Houston Fire and Houston SWAT physician, Dr. Kevin Schulz, M.D., joins the podcast with MCHD TEMS Chief Patrick Langan EMT.

Structuring a Tactical EMS team

Both discussions begin with the basics of setup and structure of a tactical EMS team. This can obviously vary depending on the specific needs of the local area and a “one size fits all” answer is impractical. Tactical team members can be multiple variations of EMS, fire and law enforcement personnel, and the key is collaboration and communication between agencies.

Feedback is vital both to and from law enforcement to develop trust and to identify areas for team improvement. Tactical exposure and familiarity is also necessary for non-TEMS medics as they often will be the first to arrive on an MCI/active shooter scene.

Specific TEMS procedures include surgical and other advanced airway skills, needle decompression, finger thoracostomy, tourniquets and wound packing. Which are included in any specific system depends on availability and frequency of training.

Each episode closes with the issue of arming and/or deputizing the TEMS teams, addressed from both an offensive and defensive perspective. Whether you are a seasoned tactical operator or looking to start your team from scratch, these episodes will be valuable to all EMS personnel.

Tactical EMS: Training in the tactical environment

Why it’s important to have a tactical EMS team

MCHD Paramedic Podcast

The MCHD Paramedic Podcast was launched in early 2018 in an effort to provide easily consumable core-content EMS education and insights from prehospital care thought leaders. The Clinical Services Department of The Montgomery County Hospital District EMS service developed the podcast as a tool to better engage and disseminate continuing education to our MCHD medics as well as first responders and EMS professionals nationwide.

Dr. Casey Patrick is the assistant medical director for Montgomery County Hospital District EMS and is a practicing emergency physician in multiple community emergency departments across Greater Houston. His EMS educational focus is on innovative paramedic teaching via the MCHD Paramedic Podcast. Dr. Patrick’s prehospital clinical research involves the investigation of paramedic use of bolus dose intravenous nitroglycerin for acute pulmonary edema and the implementation of lung protective ventilation strategies for intubated EMS patients. Casey and his wife, Alyssa, work and live in Conroe, Texas, and Spokane, Washington. Together they have five children: Mia, Ainsley, Brock, Dean and Will.

Dr. Dickson graduated with honors from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio in 2001 and completed emergency medicine training at Indiana University in 2004. He serves as the EMS medical director at Montgomery County Hospital District EMS and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His academic interests include systems of care in stroke and other time-sensitive emergencies, neurologic emergencies and education. He is board certified in emergency medicine in both the U.S. and Australasia, and has subspecialty board certification in EMS medicine. He has authored multiple professional articles and presented at regional, national and international conferences on emergency medicine and EMS topics.