Spokane Valley Fire Department
SVFD Rescue Task Force Team
All last week, members of the Spokane Valley Fire Department’s new Rescue Task Force (RTF), Spokane County SWAT, Washington Army National Guard, and Cheney Fire Department learned “Tactical Emergency Casualty Care” from a select group of Special Forces Medics from the Westside.
Recent experiences during mass shootings has taught the nation’s police and fire services that savable lives are being lost because of the time it takes to get to a patient during the emergency. A majority of the fatalities during shootings are due to extreme blood loss and sometimes the simple application of a tourniquet can prevent death. Recognizing this, SVFD and other area fire departments have ramped up teams that will work step for step with the police during shooter incidents. Running scenarios inside the darkened former Crescent building at U-City elevated the level of realism, and punctuated the value of seconds saved.
The volunteer program consists of 12 EMT’s and Paramedics from the Spokane Valley Fire Department. Equipped with special gear purchased by the Department of Emergency Management and in cooperation with other Spokane County agencies, SVFD’s Rescue Task Force will be in place sometime in the first half of 2015.
SVFD Rescue Task Force Team
All last week, members of the Spokane Valley Fire Department’s new Rescue Task Force (RTF), Spokane County SWAT, Washington Army National Guard, and Cheney Fire Department learned “Tactical Emergency Casualty Care” from a select group of Special Forces Medics from the Westside.
Recent experiences during mass shootings has taught the nation’s police and fire services that savable lives are being lost because of the time it takes to get to a patient during the emergency. A majority of the fatalities during shootings are due to extreme blood loss and sometimes the simple application of a tourniquet can prevent death. Recognizing this, SVFD and other area fire departments have ramped up teams that will work step for step with the police during shooter incidents. Running scenarios inside the darkened former Crescent building at U-City elevated the level of realism, and punctuated the value of seconds saved.
The volunteer program consists of 12 EMT’s and Paramedics from the Spokane Valley Fire Department. Equipped with special gear purchased by the Department of Emergency Management and in cooperation with other Spokane County agencies, SVFD’s Rescue Task Force will be in place sometime in the first half of 2015.