TACTICAL COMBAT CASUALTY CARE AND WOUND TREATMENT

Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) has saved hundreds of lives during our nation’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 90 percent of combat fatalities occur before a casualty reaches a medical treatment facility. Therefore, the prehospital phase of care is needed to focus on reducing the number of combat deaths. However, few military physicians have had training in this area and, at the onset of hostilities, most combat medics, corpsmen, and pararescue personnel in the U.S. military have been trained to perform battlefield trauma care through civilian-based trauma courses. These courses are not designed for the prehospital combat environment and do not reflect current practices in the area of prehospital care. TCCC was created to train Soldiers and medical personnel on current best practices for medical treatment from the point of injury to evacuation to Role 3 facilities.

The Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) concept was developed in 1996 by special operations forces. Tactical Combat Casualty Care guidelines are evidence-based and battlefield-proven to reduce deaths at the point of injury (POI). Department of Defense (DOD) and NATO allies require TCCC training for deploying forces because it combines effective tactics and medicine.