Page 116 - JSOM Spring 2020

◆ A – Airway status intended to inform training and education through the Force
◆ B – Breathing rate including active and reserve in both conventional and Special
◆ C – Pulse rate Operation Forces. By adopting a common reference for the
◆ D – Conscious or unconscious treatment of wounded MWDs, improved treatment of these
◆ E – Other signs valuable animals can be expected. Furthermore, by adopting
o T – Treatment given: Treatments rendered, med- consensus guidelines for the treatment of injured MWDs, up-
ications given dates to these guidelines can occur as new information and
17. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) research are made available.
a. CPR within a tactical or high-threat environment for
victims of blast or penetrating trauma who have no Disclaimer
pulse, no ventilations, and no other signs of life is not The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the au-
often successful. thors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the
b. Bilateral needle decompression (See section 3) for Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the
MWDs suffering torso or polytrauma with no respira- US Government.
tions or pulse should be performed to verify that ten-
sion pneumothorax is not the cause of cardiac arrest. Author Contribution
This should be completed prior to determining if CPR All authors contributed to the design, writing, editing, and ap-
should be initiated or continued, proval of the final manuscript.
18. Documentation of Care
a. Complete the canine TCCC Card – DD Form 3073 Disclosures
(available on the JTS website: https://jts.amedd.army The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
.mil/index.cfm/documents/forms_after_action). Re-
42
quest general information from MWD handler or as- † Joint Trauma System, Committee on Tactical Combat Casu-
signed escort. alty Care. Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Guidelines,
■ Document evacuation category, evacuation type, 20190801. https://deployedmedicine.com/market/31/content
MOI, treatments, and medications administered. /40. Accessed 28 October 2019.
■ Update the vital signs and parameters every 5 min-
utes for critical and/or unstable MWD casualties
and every 15 minutes for stable, noncritical canine References
casualties. 1. Butler FK. TCCC updates: two decades of saving lives on the
■ Document any additional information that would be battlefield: Tactical Combat Casualty Care turns 20. J Spec Oper
Med. 2017;Summer;17(2):166–172.
beneficial for higher level of care under “NOTES” 2. Butler FK, Hagmann J, Butler EG. Tactical combat casualty care
portion. in special operations. Mil Med. 1996;161(suppl):3–16.
19. Prepare Casualty for Evacuation 3. Joint Trauma System, Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty
a. Secure completed canine TCCC Card (DD Form 3073) Care. Historical Revisions of TCCC Guidelines. https://www.
to the MWD. deployedmedicine.com/market/11/content/134. Accessed 28 Oc-
tober 2019.
b. Verify placement and efficacy of all interventions. 4. Butler FK, Kotwal RS. Tactical Combat Casualty Care. In: Mar-
c. Secure all loose ends of bandages and wraps. tin M, Beekley A, Eckert M. eds. Front Line Surgery. New York,
d. Secure litter straps on the basis of configuration re- NY: Springer: 2017:3–16.
quirements if applicable. Consider padding for ex- 5. Butler FK Jr, Blackbourne LH. Battlefield trauma care then and
tended evacuations. now: a decade of Tactical Combat Casualty Care. J Trauma Acute
e. Stage MWD for evacuation on the basis of unit stan- Care Surg. 2012;73(6 Suppl 5):S395–402.
dard operating procedures. 6. Reeves LK, Mora AG, Field A, Redman TT. Interventions per-
formed on multipurpose military working dogs in the prehospital
f. Position MWD handler or assigned escort at the head combat setting: a comprehensive case series report. J Spec Oper
of the MWD. Med. 2019;19(3):90–93.
g. Protect artificial airway, if present, from excessive 7. Miller L, Pacheco GJ, Janak JC, et al. Causes of death in mili-
wind, dirt, foreign objects. tary working dogs during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Opera-
h. Maintain security at the evacuation point in accor- tion Enduring Freedom, 2001–2013. Mil Med. 2018;183(9-10):
e467–e474.
dance with unit standard operating procedures. 8. Baker JL, Havas KA, Miller LA, et al. Gunshot wounds in mili-
i. Transport injured MWD requiring emergent surgery tary working dogs in Operation Enduring Freedom and Opera-
to the closest surgical team regardless whether there is tion Iraqi Freedom: 29 cases (2003–2009). J Vet Emerg Crit Care.
a veterinary team at that location. 2013;23:47–52.
9. Edwards TH, Scott LL, Gonyeau KE, et al. Comparison of mil-
For the next phase of TCCC tactical evacuation including both itary and civilian canine traumas. Abstracts from the ACVECC
Casualty Evacuation and MEDEVAC as defined in Joint Publi- VetCOT Veterinary Trauma and Critical Care Conference 2019.
J Vet Emerg Crit Care. 2019;29:S2–S50.
cation 4-02, the committee recommends following the human 10. Orman JA, Parker JS, Stockinger ZT, et al. The need for a Com-
TCCC guidelines with the appropriate modification based on bat Casualty Care Research Program and trauma registry for mil-
the above guidance. itary working dogs. Mil Med. 2018;183(11–12);258–260.
11. Joint Trauma System. Clinical Practice Guidelines for Military
Working Dogs. https://jts.amedd.army.mil/assets/docs/cpgs/JTS
Conclusion _Clinical_Practice_Guidelines_(CPGs)/MWD_CPG_12_Dec
_2018_ID16.pdf. Accessed 28 October 2019.
K9TCCC guidelines provide consensus- and evidence-based 12. Palmer LE, Maricle R, Brenner JA. The operational canine and
guidelines that can be used to guide the treatment of MWD K9 Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Initiative. J Spec Oper
causalities at the POI and follow-on care. These guidelines are Med. 2015;15(3):32–38.

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