Training for Law Enforcement

Did your department issue you a tourniquet?

Did they give you a 5-minute block of instruction on how to use it?

Did you know the best medical evidence is that tourniquets are only 70% effective on thighs?

If you are a law enforcement officer, you will see someone who has been shot. It is the reality of your job. Do you have a realistic understanding of what your duty weapon does to an assailant? Do you have a realistic expectation of what the assailant’s weapon can do to you? This course will help you separate the scientific realities of gunshot wounds from fiction.  The FBI recommends a duty-load that penetrates 12-18 inches in ballistic gelatin. What’s the evidence behind those recommendations? How does ballistic gelatin compare to actual shootings?

In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, the Hartford Consensus recommended tactically relevant medical training for law enforcement, which was subsequently endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. As public access hemorrhage control kits become more widely available in public spaces, all First Responders should know what is in the kits and how to use them.

The White House’s Stop the Bleed program teaches hemorrhage control. Bleeding is not the only cause of death in high-risk environments. Although typically in law enforcement, we think of high-risk incidents as an active shooter or high-risk situation, (Boston 2013, bombing not shooting, not an active shooter event) high-risk environments can include many other sources including unstable buildings from explosion or fire, and natural disasters. Ultimately, a high-risk incident is one where you are as worried about your own safety as you are that of the casualty. Where does casualty evaluation and management fall within your priorities during a high-risk incident? How do you take care of a casualty in an on-going tactical situation? How does your medical treatment of a victim change when they were injured in an explosion? In a high-risk event, you will have to move casualties. Do you know how to do that safely and efficiently? This course will teach you the answers to all of these topics and more.

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You will see multiple photos and videos of actual casualties to give you a better understanding and familiarization of the injuries and wounds you can expect to see. The first time you see a critically wounded person should not be when you are trying to render aid to a citizen or your fellow officers. Expecting the Fire Department or EMS to be there to manage massive hemorrhage is naive. A casualty can bleed to death in less than five minutes from massive hemorrhage; average EMS times well exceeded that time frame. If you are not prepared to help, you will watch the casualty die.

You are required to be CPR certified. That’s great for the public. This course will teach you how to manage life-threatening wounds to yourself,  your partner, and the general public you are protecting. How much training did you have to take to get CPR or AED trained?  4 hours? More? How much tactically relevant medical training have you had? Did your agency issue you a tourniquet supported by medical literature? Or did someone select the life-saving equipment based on cost or appearance? 

An Emergency Medicine physician can teach you the science. A former special-operations veteran can tell you what works. Mike Shertz, MD-18D can do both. With almost 20-years of law enforcement experience running a tactical medical program as an armed, embedded medic, Mike can integrate the medicine and tactics to apply them to the unique settings faced by law enforcement.