Who is the first to respond to every high-risk incident? 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.
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.
Our Student’s Experience
This course is amazing for an online course.
No death by power point here. I definitely felt as if I was in the classroom the entire time. Hands down best online course for any subject matter I have taken.
I've sat through hundreds of hours of online training. Dr. Shertz's course was totally different. He was engaging and authentic.
This is outstanding training. I'm a Firefighter, but I spent nearly a decade as a Federal agent, plus several years in two different branches of the military. In these jobs, I've sat through hundreds of hours of online training. Dr. Shertz's course was totally different. He was engaging and authentic. Rather than speeding through slides to get to the end of the course, I found myself taking notes, rewinding lectures, and viewing blocks of instruction multiple times until I was certain I understood the concepts. I appreciated his depth of knowledge and his passion for the subject matter is clear. This is a high-quality course that I'd recommend to both Firefighters and LEOs.
I highly recommend this online course to any physician considering tactical medicine.
Recently I joined a SWAT Team as the team physician, after being a board-certified emergency physician for over 10 years with ATLS training I thought I was ready for the team. After taking the complete course I realized how much I did not know about Tactical Medicine.
After hours and hours covering relevant topics backed up by real-world experience and research studies, I feel much more confident that I can contribute to my SWAT team in a medical capacity. Mike gave solid advice of what works and what doesn't work, I felt he spoke my language as a physician and was very to-the-point. His experience as a Special Teams Medic and a current Emergency Physician made him the perfect instructor for this topic.
...one of the top 10 trainings I've taken. Period.
My Lt asked me to evaluate the course and see if it was something we should offer to the rest of the agency. After taking this course, I am giving him a resounding yes.
In 25 years of LE experience, I have sat through HOURS of in-person and online training. This is by far one of the best online courses I have ever taken. I might even say the top 10trainings period. The Dr. was informative, engaging and enjoyable to watch.
...Refreshing to watch an online class that kept my attention
After being in Public Safety for over 20 years in a mix of LE and Fire/EMS it was refreshing to watch an online class that kept my attention. Being a Tactical Medic this CE was extremely relevant and will do our team well. I look forward to the other classes Crisis-Medicine offers. I must also add the customer service is amazing. Prompt email response, and genuine willingness to work with us, and doing so the whole time in a nice friendly manner. You can not go wrong by using this group! Excellent job from A to Z.
...Both erudite and entertaining with a massive dose of brutal reality
The Crisis-Medicine TC2 Course is an outstanding block of curriculum for organizations aiming to bring individuals and groups up to a vital standard for emergency response to trauma casualties. Dr. Shertz delivers compelling and entertaining, no-nonsense solutions to critical problems. The material is both erudite and entertaining with a massive dose of brutal reality and comprehensive trauma problem solving for the tactical paradigm. Our unit has implemented this program as a required block for all personnel. Excellent training.
Agency-wide training: all positive feedback
My agency recently used the Wound Ballistics section for supplemental training for all our EMR certified police officers. The information was great and the officers learned a lot. This course is great for anyone who treats or creates gunshot wounds. I had nothing but positive feedback from all of our police officers. In addition, the staff at Crisis Medicine was great to work with!
Anyone who carries a firearm should take this course.
Dr. Shertz has the unique ability to provide tactical medical training from both a Special Forces Medic (18D) background as well as being a board certified physician.
Being prepared to defend yourself or others from a violent incident includes being prepared to provide lifesaving medical attention when needed. Anyone who carries a firearm professionally or as an armed citizen should take this course.
Wow, Fantastic
Having completed a TCCC prior to this I was a bit unsure doing one online, however, I had heard a lot about the good Doctor and took the plunge... and I'm glad I did, great work really enjoyed the course.
Keep up the great work.
Kept my interest start to finish
Great information, even better presentation of the material. A fantastic alternative to an in person class. It kept my interest start to finish (which is tough to do for cops). Nice job Doc!
This online course brings you as close to real hands-on training as I can imagine
This online course brings you as close to real hands-on training as I can imagine and though it can’t replace practical training, it very likely outmatches many practical courses out there on the instructional side.
Mike Shertz has a solid background in combat casualty care in military, law enforcement, and civilian settings. He presents his material in a way that makes you feel like following an actual class. Good presentation skills and a sense of humour make it enjoyable to listen to him.
The online course is professionally made and offers you theory and skill videos, different quizzes about the topics of TCCC and a summary manual. After finishing the course, you can also print a certificate of your participation. You will learn not just how different techniques work, but also the why, results of different studies, historical background, statistics from military all over the world, and alternative techniques in case one doesn’t work. The videos contain a wide range of medical diagrams, pictures of casualties, videos where you see the techniques conducted on actual patients, followed by “pig-lab” videos and training on dummies, and even cadavers.
I highly liked the Instructor’s mindset regarding having a Plan B. By the end of the course you will not just have a primary and alternative, but also a contingency and emergency plan for almost all the techniques. His SF background really shows up, when he shows you how to improvise with the most basic and often improvised tools, in case you run out of commercially available products.
If you are looking for a way to self-study and improve your knowledge about this topic, I can highly recommend this course.
Exactly like training with Doc Shertz in person.
I have known Doc Shertz since 2001. In nearly two decades of having received training from him, I have attended numerous courses he's taught including his five-day/44-hour in-person TCCC course.
The training I just received in the on-line Advanced TC2 course is exactly like training with Doc Shertz in person. This includes everything from the way he shares various stories to his sense of humor. If one can't train with him in person, his on-line training through Crisis Medicine is the next best thing!
Some things I really liked that stood out with the on-line course was the ability to skip around the various modules if needed, as well as being able to see how many minutes each module was ahead of time.
The short quizzes were good too. They offered just enough of an assessment to ensure the student was awake and not just "clicking through," but not challenging at all for folks who payed attention through the course material.
Overall, the video and sound production was very well done including background colors, visuals, etc. This included various camera angles and a good balance between Doc Shertz talking and the PowerPoint presentation he was going over. At no point did it ever feel like a "death by PowerPoint" type of presentation. The instructional format kept me interested the entire time.
Being in a reserve component of the military, I have completed countless on-line training courses that are required. I can honestly say the on-line course I just completed through Crisis Medicine was the best on-line course I have ever done.
Thank you Doc Shertz for another incredible training opportunity! Your on-line training format is remarkable and the content will definitely save lives. I will certainly recommend it to others!
I learned more than I did in 10 years of practicing medicine
Thank you for teaching such a fantastic course (Complete Tactical Casualty Care)! I learned more in the past week than I did in all of my education and the last ten years of practicing medicine. Thank you for what you do!
The Advanced TC2 class was invaluable.
The Advanced TC2 class was invaluable.I’m glad this course was more than just learning about tourniquets for hemorrhage control. Having the hands-on practice of wound packing, wrapping junctional wounds, and needle decompression on real models has given me a lot of confidence in my ability to address more than just bleeding out of arms and legs.
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.
I feel much more prepared after this course (on-line TC2).
I feel much more prepared after this course (on-line TC2). I am a South African Police officer, am certified in First Aid, and also did the Control The Bleed course (the same one you have in the US) recently.
This TC2 course really taught me a lot. I like the style in which Mike presents it and I value his opinions. The course stimulated me to think about certain concepts and I will surely carry this knowledge with wherever I go.
