Contains well over 1,200 pages and slides!
Objectives
• EXPLAIN the differences between military
and civilian pre-hospital trauma care
• DESCRIBE the key factors influencing
combat casualty care
• UNDERSTAND how TCCC developed
• DESCRIBE the phases of care in TCCC
Introduction
• Three goals of TCCC
–Treat the casualty
– Prevent additional casualties
– Complete the mission
• Relative priority determined by
tactical situation
TCCC
• Originally a Special Operations research effort
• Trauma management plans that take into
account the unique challenges faced by combat
medical personnel
• Now used throughout U.S. military, most
coalition partner nations, NATO and other
countries around the world
• TCCC has helped U.S. combat forces to
achieve the highest casualty survival rates in
history
TCCC was written for tactical settings
• Input from Combat Medics and Corpsmen
• Published in the Prehospital Trauma Life
Support Manual, 7th Edition
• Updated periodically based on new evidence
• Endorsed by
– American College of Surgeons Committee
on Trauma
– National Association of EMTs
• Scenario dependent – appropriate care may
vary based on the specific tactical situation
Timing is Everything
• Casualty scenarios in combat usually entail
both a medical problem and a tactical problem
• Good medicine can be bad tactics; bad tactics
can get everyone killed or cause the mission to
fail. Do the RIGHT THING at the RIGHT
TIME!
• The Corpsman must know what to do and
when to do it: A medically correct intervention
performed at the wrong time in combat may
lead to further casualties
