swat medic

[Reaver]

News flash, as I have been a part of our hiring for many many years, and we also correspond and work closely with our local LEO's..I can promise you many agencies, especially LEO agencies… are absolutely hip to what you post and how you present yourself in internet land. EMS is a small world, and I know of several would be hires we have passed over after review of what they said and the pics they posted on their face book pages, on internet sites, and such.

Fair? No. Reality? Definitely.

As for an "in" to being a swat medic? Not to be harsh, but grow up, focus in the first 5-10 years on becoming an oustanding medic.

In addition, work HARD on your physical fitness, most LEO circles recommend a cross-fit type program for "functional fitness". I would strongly recommend becoming a reserve deputy/officer in the process. Finially, becoming a part of the "warrior" culture through shooting and martial arts will help too. This is a years long process. I speak from knowing all the members on our TAC-MED team, as well as many LEOs. And trust me, we all can sniff out badge bunnies and B.S. from a mile away. Get serious about your career first, and then worry about the TEMS team.

On the plus side, I know of three very fit females on our team over the years who were very successful in TEMS, so it is absolutely achievable by a female. And trust me, not one of them exhibited an ounce of groupie behavior.

Good stuff here.

I started as an EMT out of highschool then became a medic, Long story short I became a LEO and over the years merged the two together. Being fit is good being fit of mind is imperative, Seeing someone shot be it the suspect or a fellow team member or an innocent person even possibly a child CAN NOT INTERFERE WITH YOUR JOB PERIOD. You must be able to treat a man who has just slaughtered people. Your a medic not a jury.

[Carlton_Triple_Canopy]

I'm a bit late on this topic but I'm actually a Triple Canopy Tactical Recruiter. I'm looking for EMT-I's and EMT-P's for a contract opportunitiy in Iraq. You must have at least 3 years of experience and 1 year of protective security/convoy security/executive protection experience within the last 3 years. Basically, we are looking for combat medics or pararescue types. Contact me as we are sending qualified candidates to training ASAP! Shoot me your resume/dd214 to carlton.carpenter@triplecanopy.com

[FormerEMSLT297]

Let me tell you a little story about someone who wanted to be a "SWAT Medic" since he was a little boy.

He became an EMT in high school, and joined the local VFD.

Then spent 3 years in the U.S. Navy as a Combat Corpsman attached to various Marine Infantry units.

He also rode volunteer as as FF/Paramedic, and was a Fire LT. then Captain for 14 years.

He then worked 10 years full time as a Paramedic, and LT in NYC.

He left that job and went to work as a police officer.

After 8 years full time as a cop, making many arrests and being involved in a bunch of high profile incidents, and still riding p/t to keep up his medic skills, the SWAT team invited him to join on as a tactical medic.

So, that is the kind of road you have ahead of you.

Remeber, when the bullets start flying, and the stuff is hitting the fan, the SWAT team you are with wants someone who has seen hundreds or thousadns of patients, and many many trauma patients.

I was fortunate enough to ride in NYC fron the mid 1980's till the late 1990's, I worked in Harlem, the South Bronx, and Jamaica, where I saw hundreds for GSW's and traumas.

This is what the SWAT team wants in a medic, a mature, provider with great skills and a deep deep knowledge base from which to draw on.

Not some 19 year old right out of school.

Good luck with your quest.

Edited August 6, 2011 by FormerEMSLT297

[Adrianna Espino]

So far from what I have read, I have a good understanding of how to become a swat medic. I also know that they want someone with police or military training. My questions is will they accept me based on military reserves? Or do I actually need to be active? 

[Doczilla]

You don't actually need to be in the military. There are plenty of non-military SWAT medics. You don't necessarily have to have police training. You have to have solid EMS skills and know someone on the department to get on board, typically.

[Just Plain Ruff]

13 hours ago, Doczilla said:

You don't actually need to be in the military. There are plenty of non-military SWAT medics. You don't necessarily have to have police training. You have to have solid EMS skills and know someone on the department to get on board, typically.

Plus you probably should have cohones of steel because it's a very stressful job from what my swat medic friends tell me.  

[Off Label]

Not trying to be contrary here, but sincerely curious...is there really an established need and demonstrated utility to tactical paramedics in the day and age of very close access to trauma centers via ground and air? What ultimately saves trauma patients is delivery to a surgeon. Why isn't it enough to evacuate patients to waiting medics/flight crews outside of the line of fire? How long can meaningful care be given by tactical teams on scene?

I get that there may be shelter in place situations, or barricaded/trapped patients, but I'm wondering if that happens a lot to where having a medic on the team makes a difference.

Also, do these teams carry WB or blood products?

 

Thanks

[Just Plain Ruff]

2 hours ago, Off Label said:

Not trying to be contrary here, but sincerely curious...is there really an established need and demonstrated utility to tactical paramedics in the day and age of very close access to trauma centers via ground and air? What ultimately saves trauma patients is delivery to a surgeon. Why isn't it enough to evacuate patients to waiting medics/flight crews outside of the line of fire? How long can meaningful care be given by tactical teams on scene?

I get that there may be shelter in place situations, or barricaded/trapped patients, but I'm wondering if that happens a lot to where having a medic on the team makes a difference.

Also, do these teams carry WB or blood products?

 

Thanks

I have long been a supporter of this concept but I have always felt that it's just as easy to evac the injured patient from the hot zone into the loving arms of a EMS Crew that can do just the same amount of skills that the tactical medic does.  

There may be some situations where a medic in the thick of things is a great thing, but you should be able to evac that injured person out quickly in many if not all circumstances.  

I think it's just like so many other things in EMS and life in general, you want the biggest and best and quickest thing so why not put a medic in the hot zone.  

 

[scubanurse]

Recently, I've been apart of some active shooter drills and MCI drills with SWAT medics.  The tactic currently in use, at least in my experience, is team members initiate a sweep ignoring victims except a quick search for weapons, then a secondary team comes through to check the victims, stabilize with tourniquets etc and evacuate to the green zone.  Rarely did the care they provided need the skills of a medic, but having the skills to rapidly triage in the thick of it is not something every medic has the skill to do.

[Doczilla]

There is the "tyranny of distance" as it is referred to in combat medicine, where the tactical situation prolongs extraction of a patient to definitive care. I have seen tactical situations where an ambulance was parked 100 yards away but took 30 minutes or more to reach the patient because of safety concerns and volatility of a situation. For extracting the patient, who will do that when the officers on the SWAT teams are engaged in a search for the subject or explosive devices? That's not a setting the average street medic is trained to be in. TECC training and the Rescue Task Force concept gets us closer to where we need to be, but this trauma care at the point of wounding is a small portion of what the SWAT medic does.

Many SWAT teams, mine included, do foot patrols to locate subjects in wooded areas that are a significant distance from a road or other route of extraction. Those medics have to carry not only their tactical protective gear (body armor, helmet, gloves, gas mask) but also water, snacks, and medical supplies. If you look at the average "first in" bag on an ambulance, it is not in any way designed for being carried a distance over rough terrain for a long period of time. So they need to have a kit that is specially designed with that in mind (it's more than throwing stuff together. Much of the kit has to be repackaged altogether, and interesting choices made to reduce size and cube.) And that whole time you are advancing on a subject that may be lying in wait for you. The average street medic has probably not been trained in tracking, terrain selection, and counter-ambush techniques. And then there is the prolonged field care during extraction from that scene. Carrying a grown man over rough terrain takes a lot of time, a lot of people, and cannot be done easily.

The SWAT medic is also responsible for team health, preventive medicine, minor injury care, sick call, medical contingency planning, and analysis of medical resources. No mission goes out the door without a medical plan and the SWAT medic is the one to create it. Appropriate hospitals for various issues, casualty collection points (primary and secondary) unconventional means of carrying patients there from and possibly through a hostile environment, conventional prehospital medical systems (EMS, flight) and their capabilities. Commo plans are an achilles heel at all times and need to be vetted, but no cop knows how to get hold or a hospital, so that falls to the medic.

A team that has a mishap grilling food for the group may find itself completely combat ineffective for the mission if there is a case of food poisoning. Someone has to think about that, and someone has to treat it to keep guys on the line. Something as simple as a dental issue can be a distraction for someone at the wrong time. A corneal abrasion, properly treated, is the difference between the operator finishing that mission or not.

 

SWAT medics fill many responsibilities other "take care of the guys that's shot."