The easy to remember mnemonic MARCH reminds us of the priorities in treating casualties during TECC and TCCC situations. MARCH provides a framework to address immediate life threats and gives an organized approach to begin a casualty evaluation. The MARCH mnemonic is preferable to the ABCDE model because it takes into consideration the reason you need an airway and to be breathing is to circulate blood to the casualty’s brain. Recognizing that, the first step in our casualty evaluation should be to look for massive hemorrhage.
Once past massive hemorrhage, A-R-C is loosely approximated by A-B-C. H- is a reminder that a large number of traumatic casualties arrive at the emergency department or medical treatment facility hypothermic which dramatically increases their death rate.
The MARCH mnemonic can be applied to any patient, as the initial casualty evaluation usually rules out massive hemorrhage.
🕖 Reading Time, 4 minutes Researched and written by Mike Shertz, MD/18D, not AI Oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) was recently removed from the TCCC guidelines. It wasn’t removed because new literature showed it doesn’t work or causes complications. It …
Three Junctional Tourniquets. One Casualty. Which One Do You Reach For? Researched and written by Mike Shertz, MD/18D, not AI 🕖 Reading Time, 2 minutes Miyamoto Musashi one of Japan’s most famous samurai and author of “the book of five …
There is a new JTS CPG for freeze dried plasma use, updated 09 June 2026. Researched and written by Mike Shertz, MD/18D, not AI 🕖 Reading Time, 2 minutes One such product, OctaplasLG is a freeze dried plasma approved by …
Researched and written by Mike Shertz, MD/18D, not AI 🕖 Reading Time, 4 minutes Creatively free-thinking under stress is extremely difficult. Learn to see improvised techniques in your every day environment and they will occur to you when you need …
In war wounds, nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections are common. This occurs due to initial high wound contamination, extensive devitalized tissue in the wound, multiple surgical interventions, prolonged hospitalizations, and extensive use of early broad-spectrum antibiotics.1 In late 2025, Co-TCCC changed their …
WWII’s Most Compabt Proven Tourniquet? Six Feet of Surgical Tubing Our first choice is always a proven, commercial tourniquet. For historical reference only, we demonstrate the most combat proven tourniquet of WWII, proven by doppler ultrasound: six feet of 1/2 …
