References
Durham and Cleveland police firearms unit tactical team medics: lessons from the first six years
Abstract
Background.
Since 2007 Durham and Cleveland Firearms Police have trained a small number of firearms police officers to an enhanced level of first aid qualification. This article reviews the history of this programme, the patient report forms submitted during the period 2013-2016 and analyses the types of incidents attended.
Methods:
66 PRFS were interrogated and analysed from a four-year period between Jan 2013 and Dec 2016. There was a marked increase in PRFs submitted during that time. Over half the casualties were male, resulting from assault (15) 21%), road traffic collisions (14)19%) and deliberate self-harm (14)19%). The most frequent medical interventions were wound dressing and direct pressure, airway manoeuvres and Oxygen therapy. On-scene times with patients prior to handover to NHS staff ranged from 0->60 mins. 0-20 minutes (22), 20-40 minutes (15), 40-60 minutes (10) and >60 minutes (1).
Discussion:
This data shows that the TTMs provide a useful medical response often arriving before other medical provision is on scene. Despite the primary role being to respond to firearms trauma, officers have dealt with a range of medical scenarios and provided a range of interventions.
Cleveland and Durham Police Tactical Training Centre began providing specialised trauma based first aid training for Authorised Firearms Officers (AFO's) in 2008 as part of both forces Strategic Threat and Risk assessment (STRA). This STRA identified the need to provide immediate trauma care for AFOs and casualties in a ‘Non-Permissive’ environment (where support from healthcare providers cannot be provided for tactical reasons). There is no agreed national standard for this programme which was termed the ‘Tactical Team Medic’ (TTM) programme. Training followed established military doctrine by prioritising the assessment and treatment of catastrophic haemorrhage and exceeded the police standards of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) emergency first aid at work. In parallel the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA), in consultation with the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh's Faculty of Pre-hospital Care (RCS Ed. FPHC), began to develop a firearms role related, trauma driven first aid curriculum, which would meet the needs of all firearms roles and operations. The resulting D13 curriculum specified many of the same aims and learning outcomes contained within the Durham & Cleveland's Tactical Team Medic Course.
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