Tccc

The PreHospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) educational program is pleased to host the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care’s (CoTCCC) updated curriculum for the Tactical Combat Casualty Care(TCCC) course. The TCCC course is the companion course to PHTLS for the military and for the warriors who are preparing to be deployed in support of combat operations. The PHTLS course teaches thebasic principles for the management of the trauma patient. Within this educational program is emphasis on the need to rely on critical thinking and a strong fund of knowledge to modify the care of thepatient as required by the situation, the condition of the patient, the knowledge and skill of the provider, and the resources available at the time the care is needed. These are the preferences thatnecessary to correctly apply the principles of good patient care - otherwise known the “Art and Science” of trauma care.

In the combat environment, the situation is very different from the civilianenvironment. Casualty care in this setting must be the best possible combination of good medicine and good small-unit tactics. The critical thinking skills of the individual as both a tacticaloperator and a medical provider must be brought into play. The specifics of casualty care in the tactical setting will depend on the tactical situation, the injuries sustained by the casualty, the knowledgeand skills of the first responder (who may not be a medic or a corpsman), and the medical equipment at hand. In contrast to an Emergency Department setting where the patient IS the mission, on thebattlefield, care of casualties sustained is only PART of the mission. TCCC recognizes this fact and structures its guidelines to accomplish three primary goals:

1) Treat the casualty

2)Prevent additional casualties

3) Complete the mission.

In the combat environment many challenges exist that will affect patient care. Although the principles of trauma care must be...