Tactical Combat Casualty Care

UNITED STATES

02.25.2023

Story by Seaman Zachary Elmore 

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)   

It is a necessity for Sailors aboard the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) to be Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) qualified in order to increase survivability of life-threatening injuries and protect the ship’s most precious asset, the crew, according to IKE’s medical department.
“It’s imperative that everyone is trained in TCCC,” said Hospital Corpsman Second Class Ryan Fritz, IKE’s Command TCCC Tier 1 coordinator. “Things can go wrong and at the end of the day, a corpsman may not be there to save you within three minutes of a life-threatening injury, it will be your shipmates standing beside you.”
Special forces have been using TCCC for more than two decades to treat life-threating injuries, but just last year it was made the official treatment process across all branches of the United States military.
“The most interesting thing that comes out of war is new ways of saving lives,” said Hospital Corpsman First Class Spencer Southerland, IKE’s Command TCCC Tier 2 coordinator. “When TCCC was first established, we started seeing a significant increase in the survivability in a lot of wounds and injuries. TCCC is a way to treat a patient, looking at wounds and figuring out what are most likely to kill a person. It teaches an algorithm for us to treat those wounds first, to then increase the potential of saving lives.”
Sailors can become TCCC Tier 1 and Tier 2 qualified aboard IKE. Tier 1 is a three-hour long course that teaches Sailors how to correctly assess injuries and the steps to treat those injuries. TCCC Tier 2 is a week-long course that builds on the foundations and techniques learned in TCCC Tier 1.
“The ship is currently at 52% TCCC Tier 1 qualified,” said Fritz. “The goal right now is above 85%, and my personal goal is above 95%. Depending on certain plans and schedules, the ship could be above 85% in the next few months.”
Fritz recounts a specific medical emergency where a Sailor had used what they had learned from the TCCC tier 1 course.
“A Sailor had hit their head and fallen onto the ground,” said Fritz. “They were not breathing, unconscious, and barely had a pulse. Utilizing the MARCH algorithm learned in TCCC Tier 1, the Sailor who responded was able to determine there was a problem with the Sailors airway and transport them to medical. The Sailor’s interventions kept them alive.”
Sailor’s aboard IKE are counting on one another to save each other’s lives in the event of an emergency. Sailors becoming TCCC qualified will drastically reduce the risk of a life threating injury becoming a life ending injury.
Contact HM2 Fritz at [e-mail] for more information on TCCC Tier 1 and HM1 Southerland at [e-mail] for more information on TCCC Tier 2.

• Date Taken: 02.25.2023
• Date Posted: 03.23.2023 17:46
• Story ID: 440760
• Location: US