Law enforcement special operations medical support.

referring to nonmilitary emergency medical services (EMS) that have been modified for the realities of the tactical environment and is emerging as a new subspecialty with nationwide application in prehospital care. 1 It can be defined as the spectrum of services necessary to establish and maintain the health, welfare, and safety of special operations law enforcement providers, and refers to " tactical emergency medical support, " rather than " tactical emergency medical services, " recognizing the broad spectrum of health services beyond acute care. The goal of TEMS is to help the tactical team accomplish its mission. This is achieved by keeping the team members healthy before, during, and after operations by providing preventive, urgent, emergent medical, and, in some cases, dental services. Few prehospital providers and fewer medical directors are knowledgeable of the unique attributes and skills necessary to safely and effectively function in this potentially hostile and functionally austere environment. The objective of this paper is to discuss the roles and responsibilities of TEMS providers. POSITION The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) endorses the concept of integrating EMS capability into law enforcement special operations, including tactical emergency medical support (TEMS). The providers must be trained in the provision of preventive , urgent, and emergent medical care of patients in a functionally austere environment. Furthermore, they should be proficient in the preparation of operational medical plans and have a working knowledge of law enforcement special operations procedures. The NAEMSP supports the creation of educational standards that meet the needs of field medical providers in this environment. A TEMS core content should be developed, validated, and implemented into a national model scope of practice. Instruction should be based on scientific data. A certification process should be developed to ensure proficiency in the medical and administrative skills established by the standard curriculum. The NAEMSP concurs with federal , state, and local government authorities in that a licensed physician must ultimately supervise every EMS provider. Hence, the NAEMSP believes that medical oversight through physician involvement is required of any EMS personnel assigned to support law enforcement special operations. The NAEMSP supports the development of a standard medical director's continuing medical education curriculum designed to prepare physicians to provide this specialized medical oversight. The NAEMSP supports the development of relevant basic and clinical research aimed to answer the questions surrounding the provision of preventive, urgent, and emergent medical care in the special …