News & Stories
Cooper Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course Supported By Grant from New Jersey American Water
In response to the rise of mass shootings and terroristic threats across the nation, Cooper University Hospital provided a one-day training course for emergency services providers in South Jersey.
More than 20 participants attended the “Tactical Emergency Casualty Care” course taught by staff from Cooper’s Division of EMS Disaster Medicine at the Camden County Emergency Services Training Center in Blackwood, NJ on January 31.
Christopher Taylor, MICP, EMS Outreach Coordinator at Cooper, explained that traditionally EMS providers have been staged away from incidents until law enforcement secured the scene and called for medical assistance. However, after reviewing high publicized incidents such as the shootings at Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School, reports indicated that integrating an EMS response alongside of law enforcement has a greater chance of reducing fatalities.
The “Tactical Emergency Casualty Care” course offered by Cooper aimed to train area EMS providers to work with law enforcement officers in a collaborative effort by responding to the immediate needs of the injured while another group of officers work to stop the shooter.
“The training provides the education and preparation for EMS personnel to be part of the immediate contact team with law enforcement,” Taylor said.
Participants received training with equipment such as tourniquets, chest seals, hemostatic wound dressings and tactical stretchers. The equipment was generously funded through a $2,000 grant, which The Cooper Foundation received from New Jersey American Water.
In addition, the course included a hands-on scenario similar to the Boston Marathon where participants had to respond to wounded mannequins while a smoke machine produced haze and sounds of panicking onlookers played in the background.
“Time is a factor,” Taylor said. “We are teaching them not only the tactics of going in with the law enforcement, but also the ability to treat multiple victims quickly.”
Cooper’s EMS Outreach program provides numerous educational programs on a wide variety of topics specific to the pre-hospital environment. The next “Tactical Emergency Casualty Care course” will be held in March. For more information, please contact Christopher Taylor, MICP, EMS Outreach Coordinator, Division of EMS/Disaster Medicine, at Taylor-Christopher@CooperHealth.edu.