If you want to learn first aid, emergency care or tactical medical care for real, you will need to practice these skills. A lot. Regularly. There’s no way to learn them just from books. But if you’re looking to supplement your training, can’t access hands on training, are a layperson doing research for your writing or otherwise just curious, here are some free resources (some may need a free account to access them).
TCCC
The current gold standard in the field is Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), developed by the US army but used by militaries around the world. There is also a civilian version of the system called Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC). Training materials, Standards of Care, instructional videos, etc. can be accessed at deployedmedicine.com. You’ll need a free account. This should be your first and possibly only stop.
Deployed Medicine
There’s also an app and a podcast if those are more your thing, although I haven’t personally tried them.
More TCCC (video) resources
STOP THE BLEED® Interactive Course
TCCC-MP Guidelines and Curriculum presentations and training videos
EURMED’s Medical Beginner's Resource List has suggested list of video materials (disclaimer: I haven’t watched the playlists, but I have been trained by nearly all of the linked systems/organisations and can vouch for them)
Tactical Medical Solutions training resource page (requires registration; some of the courses are free)
North American Rescue video downloads
Emergency medicine
WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care: approach to the acutely ill and injured — an open-access course workbook for basic emergency care with limited resources
Global Health Emergency Medicine — open-access, evidence-based, peer-reviewed emergency medicine modules designed for teachers and learners in low-resource health setting
AFEM Resources — curricula, lecture bank, reviews, etc.
Global Emergency Medicine Academy Resources (links to more resources)
OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology textbook
Open-access anatomy and physiology learning resources
OpenStax Pharmacology for nurses textbook
Principles of Pharmacology – Study Guide
Multiple Casualty Incidents
Management of Multiple Casualty Incidents lecture
Bombings: Injury Patterns and Care blast injuries course (scroll down on the page)
Borden Institute has medical textbooks about biological, chemical and nuclear threats
Psychological first aid: Guide for field workers
Prolonged field care
When the evac isn’t coming anytime soon.
Prolonged Field Care Basics lecture (requires registration)
Aerie 14th Edition Wilderness Medicine Manual (textbook)
Austere Emergency Medical Support (AEMS) Field Guide (textbook)
Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC) Guidelines
Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines
Austere Medicine Resources: Practice Guidelines — a great resource of WMS, PFC, TCCC, etc. clinical practice guidelines in one place
The Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Journal (you can read past issues without a membership)
Prolonged Field Care Collective: Resources
National Park Services Emergency Medical Services Resources
Guerilla Medicine: An Introduction to the Concepts of Austere Medicine in Asymmetric Conflicts (article)
Mental health & PTSD
National Center for PTSD
Psychological first aid: Guide for field workers
Combat and Operational Behavioral Health (medical textbook)
Resources for doctors and medical students
Or you know, other curious people who aren’t afraid of medical jargon.
Borden Institute Military Medical Textbooks and Resources — suggestions: start with Fundamentals of Military Medicine; mechanism of injury of conventional weapons; these two volumes on medical aspects of operating in extreme environments; psychosocial aspects of military medicine; or Combat Anesthesia
Emergency War Surgery textbook and lectures
Disaster Health Core Curriculum — online course for health professionals
Médecins Sans Frontières Clinical guidelines
Pocket book of hospital care for children: Second edition — guidelines for the management of common childhood illnesses in low resource settings
Grey’s Quick Reference: Basic Protocols in Paediatrics and Internal Medicine For Resource Limited Settings
The Department of Defense Center of Excellence for Trauma: Trauma Care Resources (links to more resources)
Improvised surfboard leash cords are slow, non-locking, slippery, and suboptimal in controlling bleeding. Why? Because they are not tourniquets, and they are definitely not surf tourniquets. Conversely, the OMNA Tourniquet Surfboard Leash is fast, self-locking, made with hydrophobic marine materials, efficient at controlling bleeding, and is a surf tourniquet for surfers. The OMNA TQ Leash can be rapidly applied to a limb to control arterial bleeding caused by an investigational shark bite, fin laceration, surfboard collision, rocks, etc… #tourniquet #surftourniquet #surfresponder #lifeguard #surfing #surfer #shark #stopthebleed #tccc #tecc #surflifesaving #surf #sharkweek #surfboard #surfboardleash #tourniquetleash #ems #emt #paramedic #marine #firstcareprovider #ifak #firstaid #wildernessmedicine #surfingmedicine (at Gray Whale Cove State Beach) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQtfShJgfD6/?utm_medium=tumblr
Pretty cool to wake up and see your kid and you on @northamericanrescue helping spread important information. #Repost @northamericanrescue with @get_repost ・・・ Just the facts... Great post from @fisherad1 !!! “ New study on pediatric tourniquet use. They enrolled 13 children ages 2 to 7 years old (mean 4.2 years). The tourniquets (CAT) were applied to 11 upper extremities and 13 lower extremities and had 100% occlusion. Additionally, they had 7 preschool children and tested in 12 limbs (5 UE and 7 LE) with 100% efficacy (95% CI 73.5-100%). The range for arm and leg circumference: 13-24 and 24.5-34.5 cm, respectively. They stopped the study early because there was 100% success rate. I wish they would have continued. . . Thanks to @practicallytactical for the screenshot. “ . Kelly JR, Levy MJ, Reyes J, Anders J. Effectiveness of the Combat Application Tourniquet for Arterial Occlusion in Young Children. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2020. . . #FOAM #wellandrew #TCCC #medic #trauma #combatmedic #68w #68whiskey #corpsman #PJ #ParaRescue #austeremedicine #tacticalmedicine #tacmed #tacticalems #tccc #tecc #tacticalcombatcasualtycare #specialforcesmedic #specialforcesmedics #socm #combatmedicine #emergencymedicine #paramedic #stopthebleed #hemorrhagecontrol https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ygJ3-HsAq/?igshid=c651pr53p5bv
#Repost @18z_paisley (@get_repost) ・・・ How many different procedures can you do out of YOUR aid bag? Pic: This is a mannequin pic from a SOMSA demonstration I did a few years ago on advanced procedures from an aid bag. I was pushing TIVA and whole blood plus a few other little tricks... #TCCC #TECC #CUF #TFC #PFC #18D #18Z #GreenBeret #SpecialForces #AssaultMedic #CombatMedic #CIBmedic #CIB #CFMB
