Purpose:
An increasing awareness of activities across the country and in Colorado has led to the conclusion that Weld County Paramedic Services (WCPS), in cooperation with the Greeley Police Department Special Weapons and Tactical (SWAT) team, should organize a Tactical Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) team.
The decision to pursue the formation of the team is supported by the WCPS management team. The benefits to the formation of such a team are several:
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Protection of civilian and police agencies in situations similar in nature to those at Columbine High School
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Limiting exposure of fellow employees to hostile / unsafe situations thus diminishing the chances of injury and lost work time
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Limit the amount of unit hours of on duty crews at stand by situations.
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Utilizing the TEMS team for in house teaching for related topics thus decreasing the cost of outside instructors
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Taking a pro active stance in training as opposed to a reactive stance.
Training:
Physical Agility and Fitness:
Weld County Paramedic Services (WCPS) started its Tactical Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) team in 2008. The TEMS team initially was comprised of six paramedics. All team members passed the Greeley Police Department (GPD) physical fitness and strength testing for the initial test to qualify for the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Monthly Training:
Training with GPD was initially slow and was frustrating to both the TEMS and SWAT team. Adding a new dynamic to a well established SWAT team was more difficult than we had anticipated. We worked diligently to learn the language and tactics that we would need to know to become an effective team member. We were always supported and felt as if we were one of the team from day one. GPD took great care in teaching us everything we would need to know. GPD would only go as fast as we could pick up the new task for training of the day. We discussed training with GPD and agreed to work on tactics initially and then we could start rolling medical training into the monthly trainings. Training went well and all TEMS members learned at a quick rate.
SWAT School:
The next hurdle that the TEMS team faced was the SWAT school which is mandatory per the agreement. SWAT school was probably the biggest surprise of the year. The school was difficult but it answered many of the training questions we were all asking about. Once the SWAT school was over we were allowed to go on callouts.
Medical Training:
The week following SWAT school would be our first callout. Once SWAT school was over we started slowly adding medical training and casualty evacuation techniques to the monthly training. TEMS team members would help set off the medical training that would take place for the operators on the GPD SWAT team. Weld County Paramedic Services opened up and gave our medical director the opportunity to work with the TEMS team and it was a great addition to the team because of his military background and medical expertise. The SWAT team was given a basic life saving course and how to perform medical treatment on themselves and team members if needed. Training continued to improve throughout the year and ultimately we started becoming active members within the team.
Operations Today:
Currently as of today we are operating with a team of six paramedics and are meeting the required 10 hours per month training. We are currently working on TEMS protocols and expanding the medical training given to all team members. We as a medical support team for GPD SWAT have trained all operators in Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC). WCPS TEMS is also working on implementing our team with the Weld County Bomb team and expanding our medical training with regards to explosive injuries. All teams have a physical assessment performed with a base line 12 lead EKG for history purposes. It is our goal as a TEMS teams to not only protect the citizens and operators of Weld County but to provide the highest level of care and prevention assessment for all parties involved in the tactical situation.