Principles and Application of Tactical Field Care

What to remember

• Tactical Field Care (TFC) is care given when the casualty and the responder are no longer under direct or effective enemy fire.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.7
• The situation can fall back into Care Under Fire at any time, so keep your security and situational awareness up.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.7
• Set up a security perimeter. A casualty with altered mental status gets weapons cleared and secured, communications secured, and sensitive items passed to others.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.9
• For extractions, safety comes first, MARCH still applies (get a tourniquet on before the pull if you can), and the unit should train for it.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.8
• Assess and treat with MARCH PAWS. Massive bleeding is priority number one, and Pain, Antibiotics, Wounds and Splinting come after the life threats.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.11
• Keep talking: to the casualty, to your leaders, to the evacuation system, and to medical providers. Keep the DD Form 1380 current and read it off at handoff.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.12-13
• Triage sorts casualties when there are too many to treat at once. First pass is urgent versus non-urgent. Second pass is urgent, priority or routine, and it is repeated as conditions change.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.14

Where people go wrong

• Leaving weapons and radios with a casualty who is confused from shock, a head injury or narcotics.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.9
• Delaying access to a casualty to immobilize the spine when you could be doing lifesaving care or getting them out.CLS M04 Notes, PDF p.4
• Dropping your guard because the shooting has stopped. Tactical Field Care can slip back into Care Under Fire.CLS M04 Slides, PDF p.10
• Treating triage as one and done. Casualties get better or worse, so keep rechecking and report the changes.CLS M04 Notes, PDF p.8

Check yourself

Questions on this module, each with the reason and the slide it came from.