A few months ago, we made the decision to carry the Heartsine Samaritan 500P AED in our TacMed vehicles. This video shows a few items we carry with our AED’s to assist with patient treatment.https://youtu.be/X-zUbeBTkIY

As I looked up from the bag of dismembered body parts in my hand I remember being slightly surprised by the expression of repulsion on the face of the experienced trauma surgeon standing next to me. His gaze moved from the severed arm I was holding to meet my eyes and he promptly confirmed that […]

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed an increase in the number of incidents where Police Officers (especially Motorcycle Officers) have been injured in the line of duty. See the video below from Queensland Police if you haven’t seen it already. The video got me thinking as to how and what I would do […]

Course Schedule – JAN FEB MAR 2019 Tactical Emergency Trauma Course (TET-C): Melbourne 14th to 18th Jan 19 Tactical Emergency Trauma Course (TET-C): Sydney 27th Feb to 3rd Mar 19 Remote Care Course (RCC): Blue Mountains, NSW 1st to 3rd Feb 19. The Tactical Emergency Trauma Course (TET-C) is the pinnacle of TacMed’s Tactical Medical […]

On the 13th of May 2018, our Training Manager Ben and Specialist Trainer Tim flew to Charlotte NC to compete in the world-class National Tactical Medical Competition (NTMC). Despite the name, three international teams competed in this physically and mentally challenging competition. After months of training and an intense 45 minutes of multiple scenarios in […]

The Afghan village was deathly quiet and still in the early hours of the morning as our element of Special Operations soldiers approached it silently on foot. It had been a 4-hour walk in from our helicopter insertion point and I was approaching 24 hours without sleep. I could feel the tiredness behind my eyes […]

Currently, the Australian Government National Security division assesses the National Terrorism Threat Level as Probable (Australian Government 2018). Further quoting from that reference “credible intelligence, assessed by our security agencies indicates that individuals or groups have developed both the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist attack in Australia”. The advice goes on to suggest that a […]

Our TacMed Tip this week is something a little different. I have made a short video on 3 uses of chemical light sticks for Medics, Paramedics and Search & Rescue Tech’s. What I like about chem lights is they are cheap, lightweight and multi-use. The later 2 are the most important for medics working in […]

TacMed: We are very privileged to have the secretary of ATMA, Tim Makrides, write us a guest post on the recent winter meeting of the Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care. At the bottom of the post are the replays of the live videos from the meeting. Thanks Tim & ATMA (and of course C-TECC!). […]

How many times have you been on a job or at an incident and a bystander or family member says: “quick hurry… they’re in shock”. In my 17 years as a medic, this has to be one of the most common terms I have heard from the sidelines. So, let’s have a look at shock […]

We’ve all seen that dude on shift that carries so many pouches and gadgets on their belt that they look like some sort of Paramedic Batman. Well, it’s sad to say, I was once almost “that guy”. I’m not embarrassed to say I love gear and gadgets. I wouldn’t have started an equipment company all […]

It is a well-known fact that bleeding is one of the biggest killers of trauma patients. Those from a military medical background will also know that extremity bleeding is the #1 preventable cause of death on the battlefield. But what happens when a wound is not amenable to a tourniquet? Or is a large cavity? […]

INTRODUCTION Australian snakes are some of the most deadly in the world and as such timely first aid treatment for a snake bite is critical in the outcome of a patient. Australian snake venoms are complex mixtures of many toxic substances which can cause a range of effects on humans including death. The neurotoxic effect […]

When I saw this brilliant video I immediately felt the need to share it with the TacMed community for a variety of reasons. First of all however I would like to state that I think this is an incredible piece of policing, coupled with a life-saving intervention under extreme duress. Any comments that I make […]

Well that’s a wrap for the first Australian Tactical Medicine Conference (ATMC) held in Sydney over 19th-20th July. For the first time in Australia personnel involved in tactical medical operations and training from all over the country converged in one room for two days of presentations, discussions and breakout sessions with the goal of advancing […]

This article focuses in on the tactical considerations of the Primary Survey that are applicable to first-responders in high-threat environments. Whilst it uses military examples to illustrate the points, the concepts are as just as applicable to civilian environments such as car crashes, animal attacks, fires or other natural disasters, and many other casualty situations […]

Dr Dan Pronk and Jeremy Holder recently delivered a webinar on Tourniquets and 10 of the common mistakes we see/hear people making with them. Tourniquets aren’t a new device but they certainly have many myths associated with them and our aim was to have a discussion surrounding some of these mistakes, myths and dogmas. Grab […]

Hopefully, by this point, we don’t need to discuss if arterial tourniquets are safe or effective. Something I wanted to discuss and demonstrate is the self-application of the SOFTT-W Tourniquet. This blog is only really relevant for those working in tactical or high threat environments. Sorry non-tac people….. As most people are aware, the SOFTT-W […]

Here’s a quick case study of a slightly unusual case (told with the patient’s permission) that came through work a couple of weeks ago. In a similar fashion to my mate who was shot through the neck by an AK 47 round whilst fighting Taliban in Afghanistan (for that full story click here), the current […]

Massive haemmorhage is one of the leading causes of death in motor vehicle related trauma, and with only minutes to death from a significant arterial bleed, the reality is that a percentage of salvageable casualties will die from potentially compressible bleeds prior to emergency services arriving. The authorities in the United States have recognised this […]

If you have followed our blogs and social media accounts for some time you would know we are kind of obsessed with tourniquets (haemorrhage control in general actually). We are also very driven to pass on our skills and knowledge in battlefield medicine to Law Enforcement Officers (LEO’s). We talk A LOT about Tactical Emergency […]

This is a case study of a casualty that I was involved with a number of years ago in Afghanistan. I feel it is worth sharing due to the fact that it was initially a bit of a perplexing case, however applying common Advanced Life Support principles allowed us to identify the life-threatening injury and […]