Tactical Combat Casualty Care

Almost 90% of American service men and women who die from combat wounds do so before they arrive at a medical treatment facility. This figure highlights the importance of the trauma care provided on the battlefield by combat medics, corpsmen or pararescue personnel but more importantly by their fellow teammates or even the casualties themselves. This line of thinking is also relevant for our emergency medical services and police officers. The war years, have seen many lifesaving advances in battlefield trauma care pioneered by the Joint Trauma System and the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care. These advances have dramatically increased casualty survival. This success is especially true when all members of combat units – not just medics - are trained in Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC.) Combat medical personnel and non-medical combatants in U.S. and most coalition militaries are now being trained to manage combat trauma on the battlefield in accordance with TCCC Guidelines.

The Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) course introduces evidence-based, life-saving techniques and strategies for providing the best trauma care on the battlefield. The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) oversees TCCC courses under the auspices of its Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) program, the recognized world leader in pre-hospital trauma education.

The TCCC-MP (TCCC for Medical Personnel) course is designed for combat EMS/military personnel, including medics, corpsmen, and pararescue personnel deploying in support of combat operations. The TCCC-AC (TCCC for All Combatants) course is designed for non-medical military personnel and includes first responder skills appropriate for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.

Asymmetric Solutions' TCCC course uses the PHTLS Military textbook and is fully compliant with the Department of Defense's Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) guidelines. Our TCCC course is taught by a team of experienced, well-trained physicians and special operations medicine, TCCC qualified, instructors. Course administration is overseen by NAEMT and certification is granted with successful completion.

The NAEMT TCCC course is endorsed by the American College of Surgeons. The course is also accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS) and recognized by the National Registry of EMTs (NREMT).