Pa. EMS Team Gets Ballistic Vests, Tactical Training

The emergency medical service that operates in Ross and West View is preparing for a day members hope won't come — an incident like the June 12 mass shooting at a Florida nightclub, in which 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded.

Emergency medical personnel who responded to the Pulse nightclub in Orlando couldn't enter behind SWAT-team members because they didn't have proper protective gear.

“When we look back at the mass shootings that have occurred over the years we learn that the quicker we can get medical personnel into an active shooting scene, the better,” said Bryan Kircher, president of Ross/West View EMS-Rescue. “We don't want to put medical personnel in harm's way, but we want them to be close enough to do what they can to save a patient's life and then get them out.”

Paramedics traditionally have had to wait for an “all-clear” from police, indicating it's safe to enter a situation.

But a 2014 Federal Emergency Management Agency policy statement suggests that victims' chances of survival improve when paramedics are escorted by police into the “warm zone” to begin lifesaving treatment even before an incident has ended.

Eight members of Ross/West View EMS-Rescue are part of a tactical medic team that has been outfitted with ballistic vests, helmets and protective goggles and trains with local SWAT teams, Kircher said.

Tactical medic team members also have undergone firearms training, and are permitted to carry personal weapons if they respond to a potentially dangerous situation.

“The medics are not armed for offensive purposes, rather it's for them to protect themselves and their patients if necessary,” said Kircher, adding that a $5,000 grant from CSX Transportation was used to buy some of the ballistic vests the medical service has in each of its six ambulances.

The EMS also has begun placing “bleeding kits” in its ambulances and municipal police cruisers, to provide first responders with basic tools to quickly treat injuries such as gunshot wounds, Kircher said.

The kits, used in military combat, are packed with tourniquets and hemostatic agents that quickly stop bleeding. Each kit contains enough supplies to treat six to eight patients.

Tom McElree, executive director of the Emergency Medical Services Institute in Robinson, said training paramedics to enter situations involving active shooters is a fairly new idea.

“There are only a very, very small number of EMS agencies that have a tactical team component,” he said, adding that the state Bureau of Emergency Medical Services is developing guidelines for licensing tactical EMS teams.

While Pittsburgh paramedics as a rule don't enter a potentially dangerous situation until police determine it is safe, the department has 13 medics embedded with the SWAT team, according to Robert Farrow, acting chief of the city's emergency medical service.

City EMS, police and fire officials met recently to discuss training that would allow medics to enter right behind police, before a scene is declared safe, Farrow said.

In April, paramedics with the Medical Rescue Team South Authority in the South Hills traveled to Washington, D.C., to learn how to provide medical treatment during situations such as shootings and chemical attacks, MRTSA paramedic Matt Coleman said.

McElree said while he supports including EMS agencies in “an operational component of a tactical situation,” it should not be done unless personnel have proper training and protective equipment.

“This equipment is exceedingly expensive and EMS agencies that are already financially stressed can often not afford to equip all of their personnel,” he said. “Training for EMS providers to operate in tactical or dangerous situations is not yet widely available, and the classes that are offered are often very expensive.”

Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-772-6368 or tlarussa@tribweb.com.

———

©2016 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)

Visit The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.