pfaria
12-17-10, 16:44
Course Review: LMS Defense’s Defensive Medicine
Date: 21 Nov 2010
Location: San Jose, California
Background
I do not have any military or law enforcement experience. I’m a private citizen who has a vested interest in learning how to become more proficient with my medical and shooting abilities. Any comments or recommendations that I make in this review and for this course are to be consumed from a civilian perspective.
Course Review
The course was hosted at a local police department training facility. We had 11 students in the class who had varying backgrounds in law enforcement, high-tech industry and others.
The instructor was Jim “Doc” Amentler. Jim is a US Navy Corpsman, serving for many years attached to a US Marine unit overseas. Many of what Jim taught us was based upon his firsthand experiences in combat with his Marines. One important point that was highly stressed in the class was that this course does not provide you with any certifications.
Many may argue that the lack of certification puts you at risk for lawsuits when you employ your medical skills. Speaking for myself, when I use these skills it will be to help a loved one or close family member survive long enough for EMS to arrive and take over providing medical care. I’m very confident that my close friends and family will not care that I don’t hold a certification while I’m controlling their bleeding or keeping their airway open. The American Red Cross provides several certifications which are highly recommended; however, the Defensive Medicine course is designed to expand your medical knowledge. It is your responsibility to determine when you should use this knowledge.
Jim explained that your decision to provide medical assistance can put you at great risk. Not only are there the issues with becoming infected from contaminated blood and other body fluids, but the legal ramifications of acting in good faith and within your span of training. The Good Samaritan Laws can protect you to a point.
The purpose of this course was to provide the necessary medical skills and techniques to help sustain the patient(s) until emergency medical services (EMS) can respond. In an urban setting, emergency medical services typically respond within 5-10 minutes. It is in this span of time that you may need to use your medical knowledge to render aid to those in need.
You must realize that EMS’ arrival can be delayed beyond the 5-10 minute window. Depending upon the emergency, it may be too dangerous for EMS to safely enter the scene. In these situations, the Police will work on securing the threat(s). This will increase EMS’ response time, potentially into hours.
Jim explained Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC or “T-triple C”) to us. It is a military-based program that varies from the civilian approaches for providing medical care. TCCC is based upon a setting where the patient and caregiver are under fire and aid must be provided. The procedure is split into three phases:
1. Self Aid
2. Buddy Aid
3. Corpsman/Medic Aid
While still under fire, your main priority is to continue engaging the threat. So long as the danger exists, then others run the risk of also being wounded or killed. Self aid occurs when the wounded assesses his/her own injuries and treats him/herself using their own medical kit. If Self Aid is not possible, then Buddy Aid may occur, depending upon the circumstances. Buddy Aid should focus on controlling the bleeding and if possible, getting the patient to cover. Only until the threat is gone and the scene is “safe” will the Corpsman or Medic move to the patient and begin treatment. The explanation above is overly simplistic as there are many variables that will determine when and how Self Aid, Buddy Aid and Corpsman/Medic Aid is applicable.
As stated earlier, TCCC and civilian emergency medical procedures differ. TCCC focuses more on controlling bleeding while civilian EMS focuses on ensuring an open airway first (ex: ABC). Jim presented to us “BBBBB” or the “5 B’s”. This is an abbreviation for: Bombs and Bullets; Bleeding; Breathing; Brains; Bones. The 5 B’s are used as a general guideline to provide the caregiver with a structured manner by which to prioritize and deliver the appropriate medical treatment.
Each student was provided with the Austere Provisions Company’s “Comprehensive Trauma Kit”. It contains several medical items which includes a pressure bandage, two different types of tourniquets, gauze, nasal airway, gloves, tape and other items: http://www.austereprovisions.c...tCode=APC+CBOK%2DLMS
Jim explained each item in the kit and demonstrated how to use it. Then each student practiced using the item on themselves and then each student paired up with a partner and practiced on each other. Lecture topics included how to identify and treat for shock, tension pneumothorax, airways, basic human anatomy, differences between arteries and blood vessels, personal protection and blood borne pathogens and so on.
The remaining portion of the class was designed to put all of the lecture and hands-on learning to use. Scenarios were designed for the students, putting them into medical emergency situations. Students were either going through the scenario, acting as role-players or observing as the scenario played out. Jim observed the students’ actions and each scenario ended with a debrief, explaining the objective of the scenario and how the students performed.
Summary
This was the second time that I’ve taken this course. Like any other skill, applying pressure bandages or tourniquets, is a perishable skill and getting a refresher from a professional instructor is a golden opportunity. There was a lot of material covered in the class that would fill several pages worth of information in this AAR. If you value your own life and the life of your loved ones, then I would highly recommend that you take a Defensive Medicine course, practice the skills outside of the class and then retake this course on a yearly basis as a refresher.
Thank you to Jim, Todd and my fellow students for a great day of training.
Date: 21 Nov 2010
Location: San Jose, California
Background
I do not have any military or law enforcement experience. I’m a private citizen who has a vested interest in learning how to become more proficient with my medical and shooting abilities. Any comments or recommendations that I make in this review and for this course are to be consumed from a civilian perspective.
Course Review
The course was hosted at a local police department training facility. We had 11 students in the class who had varying backgrounds in law enforcement, high-tech industry and others.
The instructor was Jim “Doc” Amentler. Jim is a US Navy Corpsman, serving for many years attached to a US Marine unit overseas. Many of what Jim taught us was based upon his firsthand experiences in combat with his Marines. One important point that was highly stressed in the class was that this course does not provide you with any certifications.
Many may argue that the lack of certification puts you at risk for lawsuits when you employ your medical skills. Speaking for myself, when I use these skills it will be to help a loved one or close family member survive long enough for EMS to arrive and take over providing medical care. I’m very confident that my close friends and family will not care that I don’t hold a certification while I’m controlling their bleeding or keeping their airway open. The American Red Cross provides several certifications which are highly recommended; however, the Defensive Medicine course is designed to expand your medical knowledge. It is your responsibility to determine when you should use this knowledge.
Jim explained that your decision to provide medical assistance can put you at great risk. Not only are there the issues with becoming infected from contaminated blood and other body fluids, but the legal ramifications of acting in good faith and within your span of training. The Good Samaritan Laws can protect you to a point.
The purpose of this course was to provide the necessary medical skills and techniques to help sustain the patient(s) until emergency medical services (EMS) can respond. In an urban setting, emergency medical services typically respond within 5-10 minutes. It is in this span of time that you may need to use your medical knowledge to render aid to those in need.
You must realize that EMS’ arrival can be delayed beyond the 5-10 minute window. Depending upon the emergency, it may be too dangerous for EMS to safely enter the scene. In these situations, the Police will work on securing the threat(s). This will increase EMS’ response time, potentially into hours.
Jim explained Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC or “T-triple C”) to us. It is a military-based program that varies from the civilian approaches for providing medical care. TCCC is based upon a setting where the patient and caregiver are under fire and aid must be provided. The procedure is split into three phases:
1. Self Aid
2. Buddy Aid
3. Corpsman/Medic Aid
While still under fire, your main priority is to continue engaging the threat. So long as the danger exists, then others run the risk of also being wounded or killed. Self aid occurs when the wounded assesses his/her own injuries and treats him/herself using their own medical kit. If Self Aid is not possible, then Buddy Aid may occur, depending upon the circumstances. Buddy Aid should focus on controlling the bleeding and if possible, getting the patient to cover. Only until the threat is gone and the scene is “safe” will the Corpsman or Medic move to the patient and begin treatment. The explanation above is overly simplistic as there are many variables that will determine when and how Self Aid, Buddy Aid and Corpsman/Medic Aid is applicable.
As stated earlier, TCCC and civilian emergency medical procedures differ. TCCC focuses more on controlling bleeding while civilian EMS focuses on ensuring an open airway first (ex: ABC). Jim presented to us “BBBBB” or the “5 B’s”. This is an abbreviation for: Bombs and Bullets; Bleeding; Breathing; Brains; Bones. The 5 B’s are used as a general guideline to provide the caregiver with a structured manner by which to prioritize and deliver the appropriate medical treatment.
Each student was provided with the Austere Provisions Company’s “Comprehensive Trauma Kit”. It contains several medical items which includes a pressure bandage, two different types of tourniquets, gauze, nasal airway, gloves, tape and other items: http://www.austereprovisions.c...tCode=APC+CBOK%2DLMS
Jim explained each item in the kit and demonstrated how to use it. Then each student practiced using the item on themselves and then each student paired up with a partner and practiced on each other. Lecture topics included how to identify and treat for shock, tension pneumothorax, airways, basic human anatomy, differences between arteries and blood vessels, personal protection and blood borne pathogens and so on.
The remaining portion of the class was designed to put all of the lecture and hands-on learning to use. Scenarios were designed for the students, putting them into medical emergency situations. Students were either going through the scenario, acting as role-players or observing as the scenario played out. Jim observed the students’ actions and each scenario ended with a debrief, explaining the objective of the scenario and how the students performed.
Summary
This was the second time that I’ve taken this course. Like any other skill, applying pressure bandages or tourniquets, is a perishable skill and getting a refresher from a professional instructor is a golden opportunity. There was a lot of material covered in the class that would fill several pages worth of information in this AAR. If you value your own life and the life of your loved ones, then I would highly recommend that you take a Defensive Medicine course, practice the skills outside of the class and then retake this course on a yearly basis as a refresher.
Thank you to Jim, Todd and my fellow students for a great day of training.