Tactical Emergency Casualty Care

TECC is the civilian operational standard for emergency medical care in high-threat and active-threat environments. Developed by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and based on the military TCCC framework, TECC is designed for EMS practitioners, tactical medics, and rescue task force members who may be required to provide care while a threat is still present or active.

The course is built around three phases of care that reflect the operational realities of civilian tactical environments:

Direct Threat Care -- Care provided while actively under threat. Focuses on self-aid, buddy aid, and hemorrhage control under fire.

Indirect Threat Care -- Care provided once the immediate threat is suppressed but the environment is not yet controlled. Covers the full range of life-threatening injury management.

Evacuation Care -- Care provided during patient movement to definitive medical care. Covers monitoring, reassessment, and handoff.

Skills taught include:
- Tourniquet application and conversion
- Wound packing with hemostatic agents
- Chest seal application for penetrating thoracic trauma
- Needle decompression for tension pneumothorax
- Airway management in the tactical environment
- Hypothermia prevention
- Casualty movement and extraction

The 16-hour classroom course includes interactive lectures, skill stations, and patient scenarios. Completion awards a certificate of completion, a 4-year TECC provider wallet card, and 16 hours of CAPCE credit recognized by NREMT.

TECC is appropriate for EMTs, paramedics, tactical medics, rescue task force members, and other prehospital providers who operate in or alongside law enforcement or active-threat response environments.