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For years students asked about the feasibility of teaching the Crisis Medicine in-person Tactical Casualty Care courses outside of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, to put on the courses takes a cadre of qualified assistant instructors as well as a lot of gear The Complete TC2 course, for example, takes two full truckloads of supplies and equipment to give students the opportunity to experience multiple hands-on skills stations through a variety of training tools, as well as the necessary equipment to ensure our scenarios are realistic and engaging.
The first time you see massive hemorrhage shouldn’t be when you’re being called on to give lifesaving medical care. We strive to stress inoculate students with realistic scenarios. Prior students have long suggested we video the courses and create an online Tactical Casualty Care course to allow students outside the NW the chance to train and obtain these skills, but that seemed very difficult.
"The training I just received in the on-line Advanced TC2 course is exactly like training with Doc Shertz in person."
It happens that my oldest friend Robert Meyer Burnett is an independent filmmaker, having directed his own feature film, as well as directing and producing behind the scenes coverage for films such as The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Usual Suspects, X-men, X2, and Superman Returns. It also happens that Robert was between projects and available over the summer.
In June 2017, we spent five 10-hour days at Picture This, a film stage in NE Portland, teaching the online Tactical Casualty Care course, the Advanced TC2, and the Complete TC2, back to back.
Over the weekend, we went on location and filmed scenarios for everyday citizens, law enforcement, fire, as well as paramedic level skills. We had the generous support and volunteer time of local SWAT members as well as paramedics from a local fire service to increase the realism and show the medical skills being applied in theatrically filmed, but realistic scenarios so we could show students at home how the casualty evaluation and treatment would go.
On Sunday, we filmed skills stations, so although students watching from home won’t have the actual hands-on of a live class, they will see:
Some former students have inquired about refreshing their skills by watching the online class and have expressed concern as to whether the online classes have been sterilized for filming. They haven’t been: All the real world examples, stories, and dry and off-color humor remains. These classes are as close as you can come to attending the in-person courses as you possibly can, from the comfort of your own home.
The online course including wound packing videos was very helpful and informative. I think [our police] officers have a lot of comfort with tourniquets but because they’re only for arms and legs, and it was interesting to be given a possible solution for bleeding from other areas of the body where the tourniquet wouldn’t be appropriate.
