What makes a medical provider "tactical?"

[NREMT-Basic]

I have made no statement in this thread whatsoever, positive or negative, about the value of tactical EMS.

There is one thing I care more about than EMS, and that is semantics.

I care about the English language being used clearly and unambiguously to define our field and our profession. Yes, Websters says DMAT is tactical. But according to the dictionaries, a "paramedic" is also anybody trained to provide first aid or assist a physician. Obviously, professional usage and even legislation are the final authority on these terms, not Websters. Consequently, lifeguards are not paramedics, and DMATs are not tactical medics.

The popular professional usage of Tactical Medicine is, as Doczilla says, limited to that practice which is expected to take place within a hostile environment. And yes, you can call a snowstorm "hostile" if you want to, but it's still not tactical medicine.

If you, through the stupidity of your team leaders, end up in a hostile environment, that does not make you a tactical medic. It just makes you a DMAT EMT getting shot at. If I fall out of the bleachers, and onto the playing field at a Red Sox game, that does not suddenly make me a major league ballplayer. It just makes me an idiot holding up the game. Just because your mission objectives are fluid does not mean your title is fluid.

To be fair, you havent made comments about the value of tacmed in THIS thread. Not in THIS one. But you have been known on occasion to essentially compare them with "fire monkies, vollys" and other "whackers."

[brentoli]

If I fall out of the bleachers, and onto the playing field at a Red Sox game, that does not suddenly make me a major league ballplayer. It just makes me an idiot [s:e6fd62758a]holding up the game.[/s:e6fd62758a] for watching the Red Sox to begin with.

[Doczilla]

Dust's comments about tactical medicine are regarding those who think that because they went to a SWAT call-out once, they are suddenly an 18D. His comments are grounded in his experience in real tactical medicine in combat environments. And they are important at a time when everyone and their mother wants to call themselves a "tactical medic" after a 5 day course. Like SWAT "operators" after a 5 day basic SWAT course.

I don't expect that Webster's Dictionary really knows the first thing about "tactical anything." The fact that the dictionary definition of "tactical" appeared in this thread is laughable.

Giving nerve agent antidotes makes you a tactical medic? Give me a freakin' break.

NREMT, it is clear that you really haven't heard anything that anyone has said here. It sounds like you are trying to get support for your notion that as a member of a DMAT team, you are a "tactical medic". Failing to gain that support, you are making the argument on your own to others who know far more about the topic than you do.

'zilla

[AnthonyM83]

Webster's has the term "tactical medic"? Or did you look up medic and then tactical? That's now a valid way of defining a term, since "terms" don't always mean the same as the definition of both words put together...

[triemal04]

Why is there such a trend in EMS these days to make yourself into something more than what you are? Why do people feel the need to add a bunch of gibberish to their job title in order to make it sound more spectacular? People who take a cheesy 2-day critical care course and are now "critical care paramedics." Or an equally crappy flight medicine course and are now (even though they've never worked on a helicopter/fixed wing transport) "flight medics." Same for the 5 day TEMS courses and people who don't work as part of a SWAT team and never will.

Be happy with what you are doing and proud of it. Or get out and do it now. Don't do everyone else in EMS a disservice by pretending to be a superhighlytrainedspecialtytacticalcriticialcare paramedic and further confuse (and disgust those in the business) the public. If you are doing this job soley to stroke your own ego then the only place you are welcome is standing out in the street.

I applaud those people who are willing to go the extra step and become a more advanced provider because they want to provide better care for their patients. For those people who do it halfassed because all they want is a way to make themselves look good/feel better all I have is contempt and utter disgust.

(to stop some comments now, I know their are plenty of places that do a good job at teaching someone to be a CC-EMT-P; but there are plenty of bad ones too)

[Scaramedic]

Giving nerve agent antidotes makes you a tactical medic? Give me a freakin' break.

'zilla

Does GIVING nerve agents make you a tactical medic?

[p3medic]

NREMT, it is clear that you really haven't heard anything that anyone has said here. It sounds like you are trying to get support for your notion that as a member of a DMAT team, you are a "tactical medic". Failing to gain that support, you are making the argument on your own to others who know far more about the topic than you do.

'zilla

Thats exactly what I was thinking...If you sleep better at night taping your blood type to body armor in preparation for armageddon and like to tell people you are a "tactical medic" knock yourself out....your a volunteer EMT with a state sponsored disaster team...without a disaster....

[unknown]

This is kinda delayed however this Tacticle Medic was busy becoming a new daddy again... and since he took the time to respond to the Form question posted I felt it was worth posting it here for you to read.........

Anyway as for the forum question about tactical medics. It has become common place for EMS to specifically consider tactical medics as paramedics who have completed tactical medic training and who are actively assigned to swat or a law enforcement special response team. Now as for being armed or wearing armor that is up to the team commander and the sponsoring EMS director to create a tactical medic position and the associated protocols and operating procedures. The person posting states they are part of a DMAT team which sets up field hospitals or supports existing medical personnel. DMAT medics are charged with caring for patients and supporting local medical systems in the event of a disaster. Their primary objective is patient care in a warm or cold zone (ie: field hospital). Tactical medics are medics assigned specifically to swat, military or other special response units. These medics are trained in close quarter combat, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, CBRN, and rapid patient extraction. Tactical medic's loadout or gear is specific to support the tactical team to which they are assigned. The goal is to keep their team medically sound and functional in order to complete their mission with everything else being secondary. These medics are held to the same physical condition standards and weapon training standards as the other tactical team operators. There are MATT teams that use tactical medics these teams are medically assisted tactical teams but they are not DMAT teams. While a lot of equipment these days are being designated as tactical what needs to be understood is that post 911 this has been the best selling market. The two priciest designations for equipment is CBRN and tactical. Almost every piece of medical equipment or bag now comes with the option of OD green, black, or ACUPAT...the tactical colors. So anyway I would consider DMAT medics to be Disaster Support Medics or Operators if they choose. To me that sounds better than tactical.

[spenac]

So the easy short answer. Tactical medics go into the hot zone with law enforcement.

[kuo34]

I like spenac's answer. Short and to the point. It's just a different label for the same old game, though I've noticed that the civilian world is a lot less healthy than the military world (barring nastiness from unnecessary trauma). All the "tactical" stuff we've been prepping here is a lot of who will be providing medical control and who's in charge of what and when. Environment seems to have a lot to do with it, but in the end we're there in case something goes wrong. Not much else.

The current vision for our "tactical" support will require us to be unarmed, so the deadliest thing we'll be armed with is a state license.

I'd rather we were called "Wooly Mammoths" instead of tactical medics though. At least there's some personality there.