Some questions for ya...

1. What does "tactical medicine" mean to you?

2. What is a tactical environment?

   I recently posted these two questions over on our Facebook page.  It was very cool to read everyone’s answers.  If you haven’t already done so, head on over there and post your own answer.  There are no “wrong” answers, but to be honest, I felt like there were some answers that were a little off target.  For some of those answers you could very easily chalked them up as perfect answers to the questions; “What is a field environment?” or “What does the term field medicine mean to you?”

   To me, “field medicine” is medicine outside a clinical setting.  For example; the type of medicine performed outside a doctor’s office or a hospital.  Notice I said nothing about it being “emergency medicine” or "tactical medicine".  As a medic in the US Army, I probably practiced more sports medicine and medicine you might find at your family physician’s office than a whole lot of trauma.           

These are just my thoughts & opinions…
1. Tactical medicine is a type of medicine performed in an environment that has an active threat(s), the high potential of a threat(s), or immediately following a violent act(s).  This type of medical care must provide the highest level or degree of mission success; no matter if that mission is to immediately stop the burglar from harming your family in your own home or a group of law enforcement officers serving a warrant or soldiers hunting terrorists up in the mountains.  Even with injuries and casualties; the mission comes first.  So therefore the medicine provided must cater to that mission’s goal. 

2. A tactical environment is an environment that has an active threat(s), the high potential of a threat(s), or immediately following a violent act(s).  The proper use of appropriate tactics in this environment will assist in the positive outcome of the mission. 

… Just my two cents.

   This was just to get your minds thinking and to see where your heads are at.  The reason for asking y’all these questions; was to make sure that the medicine applied is the correct medicine.  There are several different types of medicine; cardiology, podiatry, oncology, emergency medicine, pre-hospital medicine, etc.  There are also several different types of specific professionals for each of those types of medicine. 
To quote a mentor of mine when I was a young medic in the US Army; “Medicine is not a science.  Medicine is an art; and some artists’ art is better than other’s.”

Drink Water,

Caleb Causey,
Lone Star Medics