JSOM Advanced Tactical Paramedic Protocols Handbook an Easy, Informative Guide

When first responders are called to remote environments, the Journal of Special Operations Medicine's Advanced Tactical Paramedic Protocols Handbook is a trusted resource for tactical casualty care instructions.

Dennis Lyons, EMT-P, ATP, a retired U.S. Army master sergeant, uses the ATP-P handbook in his work as a paramedic. He chooses to use the ATP-P because it has the “best layout and form factor and [is] constantly updated.” Lyons says he needed something to “standardize access to complex protocols and treatment algorithms in austere locations without access to Internet/network,” and found this to be the best option.

“All medical providers from across the entire force had quick, easy, cost-effective access to protocol information,” says Lyons. In life-or-death situations, the handbook acts as a quick reference guide. It contains the USSOCOM Tactical Trauma Protocol; Tactical Emergency Medical Protocol; Canine-TCCC; the Recommended Drug List (RDL) (which covers the side-effects/adverse effects/contraindications/warnings, adult and pediatric dosages, and relevant protocols); Burn, Nerve, Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) and prehospital Combat Medic/Corpsman Algorithm (CMA) charts, all of which are approved for use by the ATP.

“The JSOM and the ATP-P are the best source for the most up-to-date, evidence-based information regarding tactical and austere medicine from military, law enforcement and rural EMS prehospital providers,” says Lyons.

First responders can rely on JSOM’s ATP-P as a reliable source of information, as JSOM is the only academic peer-reviewed journal devoted to Special Operations medicine and is indexed in the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s PubMed. The focus is on unconventional and operational medicine, to include tactical casualty care, practiced in the remote and austere environment.

The JSOM's Advanced Tactical Paramedic Protocols Handbook was implemented by the United States Special Operations Command, Surgeon's Office in 2007 and is the advanced tactical paramedic’s checklist of emergent medical care protocols. The guidelines contained in this handbook are created, compiled and reviewed annually by the Curriculum and Examination Board, which consists of a combined group of Special Operations Forces (SOF) physicians, advanced tactical paramedics (ATPs), SOF medical personnel from all the USSOCOM component branches, and civilian medical personnel working to ensure that Special Operations personnel have the most highly trained medical care in the field. 

For more information, visit https://www.jsomonline.org/.