PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training

By Ms. Catherine Caruso (IMCOM)November 25, 2015

PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
1 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Police officers practice dragging their partners to safety during Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course training at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 2015. The PoM Police Department hosted the training for more th... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
2 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Matt Willette, International School of Tactical Medicine (at left) instructs students to grasp an injured partner by the wrists for better grip when dragging them out of harms way during a Law Enforcement Tactical Life... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
3 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Brian Burleson, Presidio of Monterey Police Department, practices using a manual resuscitation device during a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course conducted at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 2015. The PoM Pol... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
4 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- City of Salinas police officer Guadalupe Gonzales practices inserting a nasopharyngeal tube on a mannequin during a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course conducted at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 2015. The tu... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
5 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Participants learn how to insert a nasopharyngeal tube to open an obstructed airway during Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course training conducted at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 2015. The PoM Police Department hosted this training for mor... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
6 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Participants learn how to insert a nasopharyngeal tube to open an obstructed airway during Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course training conducted at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 2015. The PoM Police Departm... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
7 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Dr. Lawrence Heiskell, owner and lead instructor for the International School of Tactical Medicine, demonstrates treating a traumatic penetrating injury to the leg during a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course co... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
8 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Dr. Lawrence Heiskell, International School of Tactical Medicine, demonstrates application of an occlusive dressing during a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course conducted at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 201... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
9 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- A police officer simulates applying a tourniquet after dragging his partner to his patrol car before evacuating him from the scene as part of a training scenario conducted during Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Cou... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
10 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Sgt. Edward Tong, Santa Clara County Sherrif's Office, covers Nevada Lord, Presidio of Monterey Police Department, as she role-plays an injured officer during Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course training conduct... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
11 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- David Wishart, Presidio of Monterey Police Department, helps his partner move him to a waiting patrol car while role-playing an injured officer in a hands-on training scenario during a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Sav... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
12 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Students examine the contents of tactical first aid kits distributed during Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course conducted at the Presidio of Monterey Nov. 16, 2015. The PoM Police Department hosted the training ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
13 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Dr. Lawrence Heiskell, International School of Tactical Medicine, discusses the contents of tactical first aid kits distributed to participants in a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course conducted at the Presidio ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
PoM police, partners conduct tactical first aid training
14 / 14 Show Caption + Hide Caption – PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Thomas Velasco, Santa Clara County Police Department, and Edward Tong, Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, maintain tactical awareness while Tong maintains pressure on a simulated gun shot wound during Law Enforcement... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- Gunshots. Stab wounds. Shrapnel. They're injuries often associated with combat -- but increasingly, police departments are adopting lessons learned from battlefield injuries to train law enforcement officers facing deadly situations here at home.

To help prepare and protect its officers for such a possibility, Presidio of Monterey Police Department hosted a Law Enforcement Tactical Life Saver Course for more than 30 local and regional law enforcement officers Nov. 16.

"One of the things we've all focused on in the past few years is active shooter training," Major Stephen Krueger, PoM Police Dept. Operations Officer and acting Chief of Police, said.

Officers participating in the training learned about tourniquets, clotting bandages, and special bandages designed to seal a sucking chest wound.

They learned to stop bleeding, treat shock, use a nasopharyngeal tube, and identify signs of tension pneumothorax (air leaking into the chest cavity through a hole in the lungs).

Then, they trained to perform those critical, potentially life-saving interventions while under fire.

"We want to give them the tools that they need to care for anyone who's been shot, stabbed, bleeding to death from what we call penetrating trauma," said Dr. Lawrence Heiskell, owner and lead instructor for the International School of Tactical Medicine, which conducted the training.

Heiskell is an emergency room physician, and has been a reserve police officer for 25 years.

"Good medicine can be bad tactics," he said. "They need to have the skill set so when the perp has been neutralized, they can save as many lives as possible."

In a hands-on exercise, officers simulated providing critical first aid in an "officer down" scenario drawn from a real-world incident.

"Where's the bad guy? Keep your gun up," warned Matt Willette, a course instructor.

In an active shooter scenario, officers could be called on to pull security even while giving -- or receiving -- buddy aid.

"That's the difference between tactical and emergency medical services," Willette, who brings experience as reserve police officer and an Army veteran to the training, said.

"We're not fixing anyone, we're just doing what's needed to keep them alive until the doctor can get to them," he said.

The course was coordinated and funded through the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative, a partnership for San Francisco Bay-area law enforcement agencies that provides joint training opportunities for member departments through its Regional Training & Exercise Program.

"This is kind of cutting edge, to combine tactics with advanced first-aid techniques," Sergeant Marco Vazquez, PoM Police Dept. training coordinator, said.

First-aid training is especially important for police officers because they may have to escape or wait for evacuation from an active crime scene before they can access care, he said. "Medical aid can't respond until the scene is secure. We have to rely on each other (for care) until they arrive."

Participants said tactical first-aid training is the kind of training every officer wants to have, but hopes to never use.

But while the tactical scenarios focused on buddy aid to officers injured in the line of duty, the training could also help citizens with injuries at crime and accident scenes, officers pointed out.

"In our department, I've been there three years and already seen situations where this would be good information to have," said Guadalupe Gonzales, a City of Salinas police officer who took part in the training.

Vazquez agreed, saying he hopes the training helps PoM police officers better protect both themselves and the community.

"That's important to me, that people know we don't just 'shoot bad guys.' Our job isn't to take life, it's to save lives," he said.

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