Page 153 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Fall 2015
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TCCC Training in the DoD
Incompletely Trained
Incompletely Executed
TCCC Training 2015: Two Major Issues
1) Incompletely Trained in the DoD
2) Quality Assurance of TCCC Courses
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29
Saving Lives on the Battlefield Findings from the Two
I (2012) and II (2013) CENTCOM/JTS Prehospital
Care Assessments
• Surveys of prehospital care • TCCC is not being implemented evenly across
in Afghanistan the battle space
• Combined Joint Trauma
System/USCENTCOM team • These variations are not just SOF versus
• Directed interviews with conventional forces difference
hundreds of physicians, • Why is this happening?
PAs, and combat medical • We teach physicians ATLS (maybe) and then
personnel in combat units assign them to operational units and expect
• COL Russ Kotwal (I) that they can effectively supervise medics who
• COL Samual Sauer (II) have been taught battlefield trauma care based
on TCCC concepts
Saving Lives on the The Mabry Question: Who
Battlefield 1 Owns Battlefield Medicine?
• “Senior medical leaders cannot force individual • The U.S. military has four armed services, six
physicians to provide medical care that they do not Geographic Combatant Commands, and the U.S.
Special Operations Command, each of which
agree with.” (KAF Role I – 3 Infantry Division) operates autonomously unless directives are
rd
• Implication: An 0-3 Battalion Surgeon with no issued by the Secretary of Defense (SecDef).
prehospital or trauma training can overrule any • Lacking direction in the form of SecDef policy and
recommendation made by TCCC or the JTS. Joint Staff doctrine, there is no assurance that
• “This underscores the need for physicians to be lessons learned in trauma care will be used reliably
trained in TCCC and to be familiar with the or consistently across the U.S. military.
evidence base for recommended TCCC • The SENIOR LEADER in the chain of command who
interventions.” (CoTCCC Chairman) steps up on this issue effectively owns battlefield
medicine for his or her AOR.
TCCC Updates 141
