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Last month, the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactical Operations (STOP) Team completed the Tactical Medical First Responder course at BWH’s STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation.
The course was offered by the Operational Medicine Institute, a joint program between the emergency departments of BWH and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center that aims to improve medical care in austere environments through research, education and practice.
“We are developing a comprehensive medical support program with the State Police STOP Team,” said Amado Alejandro Baez, MD, co-director of the Operational Medicine Institute and former dignitary protection officer and tactical instructor. “These officers are highly trained to operate in complex and high risk environments. Our goal is to allow them to bring good to bad places and help them save the lives of other officers and civilians,” he said.
Baez developed the course, which consisted of lectures covering tactical medical support, medical intelligence and threat assessment, as well as combat casualty care. Skills stations covered cutting edge airway management and hemorrhage control skills and devices, simulated multi-casualty scenarios and medicine across the barricade drill, a combination of online medical control and hostage negotiation skills.
During one training session, STRATUS staff set up a realistic simulation of a school shooting. Six members of the force entered the dark, smoke-filled room while sirens blared to practice triaging trauma and gun shot victims.
STRATUS IT and Simulation Specialist Steve Poole acted as the perpetrator officers needed to subdue before beginning to triage the trauma victims. Administrative Assistant Andrew Camarato and STRATUS Program Manager Stephen Nelson, CCEMT-P, controlled the simulation mannequins and provided voices of the victims. The state police practiced effective ways to secure the premises and prepare the victims for transport.
“We did the same scenario three times with three groups, with simulation and then a debriefing session. The teams did a great job triaging the victims for gun shot wounds of varying severity,” Nelson said.