Online training in TECC/TCCC for Fire and EMS

Fire and EMS inherently work in high-risk environments. By understanding the priorities of patient management, i.e., what is killing the patient right now, you can provide the required care without wasting time on unimportant details and treatments, which just increases the risk to everyone working in a dangerous environment. All of these factors apply equally in a burning or unstable building after an earthquake or explosion.

Although the first step of an EMS testing scenario is to “ensure scene safety,” In active violent incidents*, you can never ensure scene safety. Rather, your goal is to mitigate risk. Fighting fires is not safe, it is inherently dangerous, but you mitigate the risk to rescuers and casualties with training and equipment.

In December 1970 the US government published a study showing what killed casualties in Vietnam. The report identified three preventable and treatable causes of death: massive external hemorrhage, tension pneumothorax, and airway occlusion. That data eventually led to the DOD’s Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guidelines.

Those TCCC guidelines are optimized for patient care on the battlefield. Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) guidelines used TCCC guidelines as an evidenced-based starting point for managing civilian trauma patients in high-risk environments.

If you are trained to manage those three causes of preventable death in a high-risk environment, doing them at a more typical scene call, car crash, or other accident it is simply easier.

Crisis Medicine’s courses don’t just present what is in the TCCC or TECC guidelines but also discuss the medical literature supporting or, in some cases, contradicting guidelines recommendations.

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In one sad case, a local fire service was taught all tourniquets are placed “high & tight” on a limb regardless of the situation because that is how their former military trainer was taught. Subsequently, that fire service placed a tourniquet high on the thigh of a forklift operator with a partial foot amputation after a warehouse accident. Eventually, the worker lost his entire lower extremity to the level of the tourniquet. An exceptionally rare and unnecessary complication could have been prevented with proper training.

US Army Special Forces Medics are the best-trained combat medics in the world: however, taking care of a casualty in a wadi in Afghanistan is not identical to managing a casualty in a nightclub shooting. You need to evaluate your instructor’s credentials to ensure you are getting a complete analysis of the medical evidence behind the techniques, not just something that worked once for them in a bad situation.

Is your service using a TCCC recommended tourniquet? If you are, what is the medical literature in support of the one chosen? What is the evidence supporting its use and efficacy? Most Emergency Physicians don’t know this literature, so even your medical director may not have the most up-to-date information.

We know most online training is mediocre. Ours is professionally filmed on a soundstage with clear audio, scientific backing, and step-by-step skills demonstrations of all the techniques taught. These skills stations will allow Fire and EMS to practice the skills independently, perfecting their techniques so they are amply prepared to save lives in dangerous situations. Note: Please review the content warning. The course uses photographs of actual injuries, diagrams of wounds, and step-by-step demonstrations. Strong language is occasionally used.

An Emergency Medicine physician can teach you the science. A former special operations veteran can tell you what works. Mike Shertz, MD-18D, can do both. With over 20 years as a Fire and EMS medical director and law enforcement experience running a tactical medical program, Mike integrates medicine and tactics to apply them to inherently dangerous environments.

*Although traditionally thought of as active shooter events, after the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, where 264 casualties were wounded, three triple amputees, and three killed, but no one was shot, the term was changed to more expansively cover these events.

Our Student’s Experience

Not sure if online training is for you? Don’t take our word for it. See what our students say.

TRAIN NOWOnline Tactical Casualty Care Classes

I've sat through hundreds of hours of online training. Dr. Shertz's course was totally different. He was engaging and authentic.

This is outstanding training. I'm a Firefighter, but I spent nearly a decade as a Federal agent, plus several years in two different branches of the military. In these jobs, I've sat through hundreds of hours of online training. Dr. Shertz's course was totally different. He was engaging and authentic. Rather than speeding through slides to get to the end of the course, I found myself taking notes, rewinding lectures, and viewing blocks of instruction multiple times until I was certain I understood the concepts. I appreciated his depth of knowledge and his passion for the subject matter is clear. This is a high-quality course that I'd recommend to both Firefighters and LEOs.

I am super happy with the course and have zero regrets!

I recently renewed my NYS EMT Certification and I was on the lookout for a TCCC and/or TECC class. Unable to locate any posted yet for 2021 that wasn't a 4+ hour drive from where I live, I came across Crisis Medicine's website. I am super happy with the course and have zero regrets! In particular, I really admired how the info was presented and the context surrounding all the topics.

I will encourage friends and those I train/shoot with to visit this site and get some quality training.

I categorically recommend it!

The format of the course can be savored from start to finish and the content is perfectly up to date. The scientific evidence outlined in each topic shows Dr. Shertz has left nothing to chance. I have taken the trouble to search for each scientific evidence that was presented and in each topic and I was amazed at the work that has gone into planning this course.

This course is an excellent opportunity for all prehospital providers and even more so for those who work in activities associated with the use of weapons. The syllabus for this course goes beyond the TECC syllabus and features a complete review of the guidelines.

All topics are given in connection with techniques and equipment in current use in the pre-hospital setting and in the combat field. This includes a review of the current use of some elements compared to the use in past war conflicts, such as the case of the tourniquet. The video and sound production are of very good quality and demonstrate the care and respect for the recipient.

Dr. Mike Shertz is an excellent presenter, his strong ability to manage the class makes the student have no doubts about the new topics that are being presented.
It is an excellent course. It is worth the money and time invested.
I categorically recommend it!

Extremely useful, well presented, and engaging

This was another great module, completing information not covered in traditional learning classes. I found this to be extremely useful, well presented and the lectures kept you engaged in learning the materials, with an abundant amount of information presented. The information learned is relevant to EMS providers and first Responders and has given me the edge of confidence needed if or when an event like this should arise.

Thoroughly researched and professionally presented

The Advanced Tactical Casualty Care course is everything I was looking for in such a course: thoroughly researched and professionally presented information. I found several things most useful. First, Dr. Shertz supplements the data in the course with his professional opinion. Second, the section on wound ballistics and combat mindset: I’ve never received such a deep look at the mechanism of traumatic injuries, particularly gunshot wounds. Finally, while I would have liked to be in-person for the scenarios, they were practical and well explained. Overall, the course and Dr. Shertz far exceeded my expectations. The course was worth every penny and then some. Thanks, Dr. Shertz for the course!. And, thank you Laurie Shertz for the engagement and quality customer experience.

Very happy I chose to take this online course for TECC/TCCC.

Dr. Shertz presents the full breadth and depth of TECC/TCCC in an engaging manner. His data-driven, evidence-based approach is very well reasoned. Drawing on an apparent depth of experience, he presents the material both lectures and skills in a very clear and efficient manner.

This course was amazing!!

Informative, engaging, functional and much more. As an Intensive Care Paramedic with a background in adult education and training, Mike delivered on all levels. The sessions were clear and well structured, and Mike's approach toward empowering others through learning was evident in his teaching. I would recommend these course to anyone in the EMS arena who wish to expand their knowledge and are serious about ensuring continuous and high standards of self development.

The online course is very well done and kept my attention throughout. The scenario videos were not only entertaining, they were relevant to the information taught

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I had the unique opportunity to both go to the in-person CTC2 class in Beaverton, OR and finish a portion of the course online because I had to leave early. I have to say that nothing can replace the muscle memory gained and the ability to ask questions and get immediate feedback that the in-person class provides. The practical scenario day was very well done and put you into situations that provided real-world stress. You had to treat very realistic injuries from real situations that have happened around the country. That being said, the online course is very well done and kept my attention throughout. The scenario videos were not only entertaining, but they were also relevant to the information taught and Dr. Shertz narrates during portions to help reinforce the M.A.R.C.H. pneumonic and treatment priorities. Overall, this is one of the best courses I have ever taken. I feel that anyone in Law Enforcement or FIRE/EMS should definitely take one of these courses because of the environment we live in today.

...Refreshing to watch an online class that kept my attention

After being in Public Safety for over 20 years in a mix of LE and Fire/EMS it was refreshing to watch an online class that kept my attention. Being a Tactical Medic this CE was extremely relevant and will do our team well. I look forward to the other classes Crisis-Medicine offers. I must also add the customer service is amazing. Prompt email response, and genuine willingness to work with us, and doing so the whole time in a nice friendly manner. You can not go wrong by using this group! Excellent job from A to Z.

Enjoyable, knowledgeable, and detailed

The Advanced TC2 online course is very enjoyable.
The presenter Dr. Mike Shertz is very knowledgeable, the way the course is presented is very detailed and the skills that you will learn could save a life, in a tactical or everyday life.
I will be doing the Complete TC2 in the near future.

This is an excellent comprehensive course.

This is an excellent comprehensive course. Even after being a military medic with multiple deployments and 8 years as a remote/austere emergency medicine PA, I learned about new evidence for certain interventions as well as more efficient ways to implement interventions from this course.

Dr. Shertz is direct with relevant information and real-world experience. What Dr. Shertz teaches is evidence-based medicine with no financial influence. You learn the science, how/why, and realistic application of medicine in a hostile setting. Highly recommend this course!

...One of my favorite online classes in any subject I've ever taken.

Have you ever taken a class, and then been kinda bummed that it was over? This class was so interesting, and well given. The amount of information, plus just the way it was delivered was perfect. Dr. Shertz knows his stuff back and front and sideways. He’s got the resume to prove it. But he doesn’t act like a know it all. He acts like one of your peers showing you the way and it makes the information that much more interesting and easy to digest. This was one of my favorite online classes in any subject I've ever taken. Dr. Shertz and everyone who worked on this should be commended.

Our Fire Department has benefitted tremendously from this course

I loved the course! I greatly appreciated the depth of information that went into each course topic. It was valuable for me to see information that was supported by literature, evidence, etc. through the lens of Dr. Shertz's unbiased opinion.

Myself, and the rest of our department participating in the course have benefited tremendously. I plan to make this course a requirement for the remainder of our team members and future team members, as I believe it helps create a solid foundation. I actually plan to go through it again while I still have access!! Thank you so much for all of your help along the way, and thank you all for developing a phenomenal course.

Well done.

I am a TEMS unit member for a small, but busy urban EMS service in Canada. With the advent of our K9 prehospital care program, I chose this course to augment my current knowledge. Dr. Shertz presented a very well-organized, module-based learning platform that is engaging and supported by studies. The timeline is more than adequate to complete the course at the learner's convenience. Visual skills demonstration and a final curriculum test rounds off this online-learning course. Very well done. Would highly recommend.

Excellent Course

This is an excellent course and should be a must have for every prehospital provider and LEO. This course gives you profound knowledge which exceeds the curriculum of TECC and gives you a complete review of the guidelines.

Dr. Mike Shertz is an excellent teacher, humorous, an outstanding presenter, diverting but enormously profound. One of the best courses I participated. Definitely worth the money and time spent.

...Providing information that other courses simply don’t cover

This course, like basically all Crisis-Medicine.com courses, is an eye-opener: providing information that other courses simply don’t cover. With the motto, understand the WHY not just the trick, crisis-medicine courses provide you with the background as well as the simple go-to techniques required to become better, more knowledgeable, and challenged in your field. The CBRN course is and has always been a very unique subject matter that not many master. Having done this course, at a minimum gives you an extra page in your book, to recognise where a patient is heading, if all your other ideas have failed! Great as always!

A Comprehensive educational experience

I just completed the Complete TC2 course presented by Dr. Shertz. This course was by far the best online course I have ever participated in. Dr. Shertz’s absolute command of the subject matter leads to a very comprehensive educational experience that leads the end user to be able to learn and apply new skill sets as well as confirming existing understanding to a deeper level. The production quality of the lectures, skills and scenarios make the learning process feel much more like it is in a classroom rather than online. The slides, charts and other graphics used are absolutely first class. This online education experience raises the bar for online education.

As a medical director for several fire departments, I can say it is the BEST trauma course you can take.

I have taken the 5 day TCCC class twice. As a medical director for several fire departments, I can say it is the BEST trauma course you can take.

I can say without reservation on that Dr. Shertz's courses are of the highest quality. He is a talented instructor who explains medical procedures to students at all levels, even in audiences ''with mixed provider levels. His lectures are based on a clear review of the medical literature and include demonstrative photographs and diagrams pulled from disparate sources including textbooks, newspaper photographs, and images pulled from the internet to support his teaching points. His material is always up to date and includes the most recent advances in the field of emergency medical services, TECC, and TCCC.

Top-notch information combined with dynamic presentation

I have 11 years of experience as a street, SAR, SWAT, and now an industrial medic at remote sites in Northern Canada. I’ve taken quite a few courses and been to and led countless tactical trainings/inservices. Dr. Shertz’s course was some of the best training I’ve received. He manages to provide a solid foundation and practice combined with a good amount of exploration of the different options available as far as gear, which is important when you may not know what you will have available or approved at different sites and services. His presentation style is engaging, without devolving into war stories. His SF background is invaluable, and his ER experience makes the information provided here relatable and actionable for civilian and LEO EMS professionals who aren’t downrange. He covered everything that we covered during my initial TCCC training, with updates and additions that help me integrate the TCCC principles to my everyday EMS and tactical practice. There is a huge amount of crossover between the tactical principles in this course and my current work as an industrial medic in the mining sector, as industry provides plenty of opportunity for blunt trauma, crush, environmental, HAZMAT, and blast injuries, not to mention extraction challenges.

There’s no substitute for hands-on training, so I’m looking forward to attending a course with Dr. Shertz when I need to refresh! That being said, I would recommend this online course to anyone, especially while it’s difficult to do in-person training during the current pandemic.

It has been an absolute pleasure to listen to the lectures and learn so much in the process.

I started having an interest in close quarter survival as it is becoming more and more relevant in our environment, working in EMS. With that tactical situations can also be faced and thus it was imperative for me to understand this environment better in order to be prepared should I be faced with such a situation.

Thank you for this very detailed and structured information and course. It has been an absolute pleasure to listen to the lectures and learn so much in the process. The real-life references and examples really bring the content to the point and show the realism of the situations.

It would be great to partake in a face-to-face session with practical application of the content. Being so far away may make that difficult to achieve though.

Over the weekend I completed the latest online offering from Crisis Medicine LLC, ‘Air Travel Emergencies’; the class was 7 total hours, of which 4 hours qualify for CAPCE credit, and wanted to leave a short review. The material covers in-flight medical emergencies, utilization of emergency equipment on the plane, what to expect during an evacuation or crash, and what First Responders traveling as passengers need to know to assist during an emergency.

As a fairly frequent flyer, circa 30 international flights per year, I have to hold my hand up to having become a little blasé about watching the safety demo, reading the safety card or even mentally clocking where my nearest emergency exit is located, so this course has definitely given me a hard-reset! I have responded to the “is there a doctor on board?” PA call quite a few times over the years, and the differences in emergency medical equipment across carrier airlines is immense- a whole section of this course goes into the whys & wherefores for this, but also (reassuringly) breaks down the most common medical presentations encountered mid-flight. Whilst aviation crashes are mercifully rare, precautionary emergency evacuations are far more frequent- and often involve injuries to those involved. I found the course content to be superbly well researched, with supporting data clearly explained & presented and with a ‘natural’ flow to the lesson progression. The presenter, Dr Mike Shertz, has obviously spent a considerable amount of time putting this together. This is not necessarily a course for pure medical providers by any stretch, but I would heartily recommend for all frequent air travelers- I’m all for a bit of self-preservation 😊

The material is presented in such a deft manner with illustrative examples and reinforced with repetition that retention of information comes pleasantly easy.

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Well worth the investment!

Yes, as Dr. Shertz says in his intro, he provides a lot of information in these lectures. “Encyclopedic” I believe was one of the terms he used, however, I never found an encyclopedia nearly as interesting nor as engaging as his topics and style of teaching. As an advanced practitioner of medicine, I find the “why“ almost as important as the “what“, and Mike does an excellent job of explaining why certain procedures, techniques, and tools are superior to alternatives.

The material is presented in such a deft manner with illustrative examples and reinforced with repetition that retention of information comes pleasantly easy. Dr. Shertz’s expertise in this subject matter is evident as he proficiently breaks down complex medical concepts for learners of all backgrounds. I am also impressed by the ease of use of the electronic platform. It has been easy to start, stop, and resume lectures as my busy schedule allows. All in all, I have truly enjoyed this lecture series and feel that my medical practice has benefited. My investment in this educational program has been well worth my time and my ducats.

The course is fantastic!

I am a Engineer/Paramedic with Bend Fire & Rescue. I am also a Tactical Medic with the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT). My fellow team medic and I were tasked with taking your course as a "test run" to determine if it is an effective way to educate the entire Bend Police Department on TCCC. We both intend to report back an enthusiastic 'yes' (in spite of the frequent disparaging remarks about Marines and our affinity for coloring books, reflective stickers and bouncy balls). Furthermore, we look forward to your company recommencing with in-person courses, so that the two of us can hone our robust and godlike medical skills for the tactical environment.

* [Note from Crisis Medicine, we deny any disparaging remarks about said coloring books, reflective stickers and bouncy balls.]

One of the best courses I have ever taken

What a Fantastic course, although the course was online, the feeling you get from this course is that you are there with Dr. Mike Sherz. I am already Qualified for Pre-Hospital Care, but to upskill my Tactical Trauma Knowledge, this was one of the best courses I have ever taken. The information was presented in a way that explains, the why behind the reason for the treatment, and also the, why behind ballistic injury, using the different rounds available.

I really enjoyed this course, having completed many courses in the past. This was by far THE BEST. With Dr. Shertz's Special Forces background and knowledge, the course really does what it says on the tin "LESSONS LEARNED IN BLOOD."

...Engaging and easy to understand...

I recently completed the Crisis Medicine Complete TC2 online course and I was very impressed with the quality of the content and the teaching methods. The course is comprehensive and covers a wide range of topics. Doc did a great job of making the material engaging and easy to understand. The scenarios were great! Thank you

Successfully resuscitated dogs saved from a fire after this class

This class is top notch. I am a full time firefighter/paramedic, while on shift, I was dispatched to a residential structure fire. On our arrival we found a single story residential structure that was well involved with the human occupants outside. During my crews interior fire attack, my LT pulled 2 dogs from the home. Local law enforcement attempted to start treatment of the k9's. While functioning as engineer and bringing tools to the front door I noticed that the officers had no idea what they were doing. I was able to quickly assist them in the proper positioning of the K9's and give verbal commands that led to the successful resuscitation of one of the dogs. I am confident that prior to this class I wouldn't have had the knowledge base or the confidence to perform as I did with this patient type. I absolutely recommend this class to anyone working in EMS, Law Enforcement with K9's, or anyone that is a dog owner.

Five-Star, factual information

As a FF/AEMT, I have been exposed to several gunshots in the field. I have had large calibers cause very minimal damage, and small calibers cause death and large amounts of damage. I am an avid hunter and have grown up using firearms and reloading ammunition and had a fairly healthy knowledge of how bullets impacted, and what would cause these differences. All in all, I took this course as a way to confirm or debunk things I had come to believe based on field experience and to use something with a larger pool to gather factual information.

Relevant, in-depth, highly recommended

This is an outstanding opportunity for anyone who is looking for a higher level of education on casualty care/emergency medicine. Dr. Shertz provides substantive evidence for his curriculum. His material is relevant and more in-depth than I have been able to find elsewhere. After completing the course I know I am better educated on the philosophy and principles of wounds, ballistics, and evidence-based wound care. He dispels the hype around what is traditionally taught as "Emergencies" and brings front and center the true emergencies, so that precious triage and 'golden hour' time can be spent saving lives. He's serious but doesn't take himself too seriously. I highly recommend the course and appreciate what I have learned, thank you.

It is by far one of the best, if not the best medical classes I have ever taken

This class is top notch. It is by far one of the best, if not the best medical classes I have ever taken. Owner/ Instructor Dr. Mike Shertz is not only extremely knowledgeable and experienced in this field but can also effectively explain things in a way that makes sense for real world applications. This isn't one of those Paramedic / medical classes where you verbalize what you want done and move on. This is a class where you learn to work your problem in a very well orchestrated, real-world scenario, with real role players, and keep working the problem until it's solved.

Crisis Medicine overall sets the standard for real world medical training. I have done the 5 day Complete TC2 in-person class twice and each time learned new skills, techniques and other little nuggets of information.

Truly top of the line continuing education

The Tactical-CBRN course offered here is truly top of the line continuing education for EMS and medical professionals. Dr. Shertz clearly demonstrates a mastery of the materials and he delivers them in a manner that shows he cares about the learner as both a student and a practitioner. He goes above and beyond almost all other CBRN classes aimed at prehospital providers, yet every bit of the course is directly applicable to their practice. The material is clear enough for personnel lacking any significant background in the subject matter, while simultaneously remaining intriguing for those of us who have spent a long time diving into this realm. That balance is very hard to strike when covering CBRN.

If you have not taken this course, you are missing out and you should remedy that immediately. Great customer service. Crisis-Medicine can count on me to be a repeat customer and a champion for this class and their other courses.

Fantastic training

This was a fantastic training. Lots of great information. I enjoyed how in-depth Dr. Shertz went into the studies which gave the information context. His real-world opinion was valuable as well

These presentations almost make it feel like you are there.

No matter if the injury is caused by accident, nature, or violent perpetrator. I believe it is important that one is capable of being your own first responder. We can make a difference during the time before more highly trained and equipped help arrives. This course adds a lot of important information, skills, and mindset that may not be typically provided in a more traditional first aid/CPR course.

The lectures, slides, videos, and demonstrations are well balanced and provide a comprehensive understanding of each topic and skill set. I know it is most ideal to work through these skills in person but these presentations almost make it feel like you are there. I also appreciate Dr. Shertz's candor, humor, and unbiased discussion and evaluation of the many products and techniques that are presented.