Trinity Training & Consultants

Tactical  Survival Skills for EMS

Increasingly, EMS providers are seriously injured or even killed in violent confrontations. Knowing how to avoid violence when possible and how to protect yourself when it erupts is crucial.

Tactical Survival Skills will help EMS providers like you learn how to:

1. Appreciate the need for survival techniques
2. Understand how uniforms may be mistaken for law enforcement uniforms
3. Identify situations where responders may arrive without law enforcement backup
4. Understand the importance of the element of surprise
5. Appreciate the potential for violence during every call
6. Understand how to deal with a domestic quarrels with effective communication skills
7. Learn how to defuse yourself against a physical attack in the close quaters of an ambulance
8. Learn how to restrain a patient in the back of an ambulance

 As crime rates have been rising in many communities, EMTs and firefighters are experiencing a noticeable increase in exposure to hostile and violent situations. Over the past several years, examples of assaults and threats upon personnel have become far too common place. The medical personnel and safety committees have discussed issues relating to these incident types; including considering the use of body armor for district personnel. EMS workers are particularly at risk in situations where they do not know or suspect potential violence prior to arrival. The problem was that EMT’s safety was being inordinately compromised when responding to unknown hostile incidents. The purpose of this class is to provide for increased EMT safety when responding to unknown hostile incidents by developing he Tactical Survival Skills for EMS providers.

 Incidents of violence against emergency responders are on the rise, and first responders are finding themselves in hostile situations more often than ever before. In many municipalities, random and unpredictable violence against EMS providers is considered an everyday occurrence. According to one study, 5.4 per cent of U.S. firefighter deaths in 1996 were caused by gunshots. Referring to a 1994 study conducted by Donald W. Walsh, PhD, EMT-P, Spivak (1998), the following statistical data gathered from surveys of more than 250 paramedics in 25 major U.S. cities. 80% of the organizations surveyed said they had had paramedics shot at, but not hit, and 24% reported personnel shot while performing their jobs. In addition, 92% of the paramedics said they had been physically assaulted in some fashion, with 64% reporting injuries resulting from an assault. While law enforcement specifically trains and equips personnel to defend themselves, EMS services typically does not, leaving them at a gross disadvantage when threatened.

 Consequently, emergency response providers are increasingly approaching law enforcement agencies for advice regarding surviving violence in the streets. This session will discuss the complexities and pitfalls of teaching students how to successfully manage verbal and physical confrontations, increasing awareness/scene assessment, survival training such as cover and concealment techniques, defusing hostile situations, self-defense measures, protective holds and principles of physical restraint. It will also provide students tactics on how to successfully assess a crisis, de-escalate situations verbally and how to successfully thwart a physical attack with minimal danger to the EMS provider or the patient. This program was developed in a cooperative effort between certified defensive tactics instructors, mental health professionals, and EMS personnel to provide a safe alternative to “winging it” in one of the most dangerous situations EMS providers face.

 In today’s climate, self-defense skills are just as important as medical skills for emergency personnel. Also first responders should be taught various protective techniques such as holds, self-defense and the use of soft restraints and/or leather restraints.