On January 22, 2022, a member of the Magruder High School security team identified a student suffering from a gunshot injury in a school bathroom. The school nurse deployed compressed gauze from the nearby Public Access Trauma Care (PATC) kit to provide life-saving treatment to the injured student prior to the arrival of first responders on-scene.

The PATC kits, found in all Montgomery County public high schools, are one component of the larger PATC program administered by the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS). The PATC program aims to empower community members throughout Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties to respond to life-threatening blood loss, or other common forms of trauma, through the deployment of medical equipment, training, and other educational resources. Currently, MDERS and its stakeholders are focused on the continued proliferation of PATC kits throughout government buildings and other public facilities across the Maryland-National Capital Region.

Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS), school officials, and other county leaders placed Magruder High School on lockdown upon identification of the gunshot injury. MCPD began conducting witness interviews and searching the school grounds while MCFRS transported the injured student to a nearby trauma center. MCPD ultimately located and apprehended a suspect with a firearm in one of the school’s classrooms.

In addition to PATC, Montgomery County applied numerous capabilities developed or enhanced through MDERS, including Tactical Equipment for Law Enforcement, Intelligence and Information Sharing, and Incident Command System components.

For more information on the Public Access Trauma Care program, or other emergency response capabilities, please email mders@maryland.gov.

The Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) is proud to announce the continued expansion of its Public Access Trauma Care (PATC) program through the publication of the Maryland Public Access Trauma Care mobile application. This application builds upon the deployment of trauma kits, resources, and training opportunities throughout the region by providing a supplemental, on-demand educational resource to citizen responders.

The Maryland Public Access Trauma Care application is organized into three sections: In an Emergency, PATC Training, and Resources. Each section consists of a variety of interactive tools, references, and videos to provide users with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to save an individual suffering from life-threatening trauma. These sections are further detailed below.

In an Emergency

The In an Emergency section of the application outlines easily navigable, step-by-step instructions for users to follow when confronted with a bleeding victim. This section is further organized into three subsections: Initial Actions, Injury Patterns, and After Applying Aid. Through these subsections, the application outlines primary actions that a citizen responder should take when responding to any victim, high-level medical instructions for responding to four major injury patterns, and a list of actions to be taken after delivering immediate medical aid.
Each medical procedure contains a link to the corresponding training video to ensure that user can quickly review, listen to, and/or visualize the appropriate actions to be taken.

 

PATC Training

The PATC Training section of the application educates individuals on the various medical procedures that may be involved when responding to a major bleeding injury. These trainings encompass numerous aspects of responding to a medical emergency including assessing the scene for safety risks, alerting 9-1-1, identification of common injury patterns and locations, application of appropriate medical procedures, common medical equipment used to treat bleeding victims, and more.

 

Resources

The Resources section provides users the ability to expand upon, strengthen, and evaluate their mastery of the concepts taught in the PATC Training section of the app. This section includes detailed training videos for identified medical procedures, an interactive quiz to test the user’s knowledge, a map of National Capital Region hospital locations, and information on creating a trauma kit. Additionally, users can identify ongoing training opportunities or even request an in-person training event.

 

The Maryland Public Access Trauma Care app can be downloaded in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store today.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) Steering Committee identified the need to increase the ability of law enforcement officers across the region to respond to and provide life-saving medical interventions during high-threat or hot-zone response operations. To meet this need, the MDERS Steering Committee established Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) as a priority capability for enhancement and increased investment.

TECC is a civilian-oriented adaptation of the military’s Tactical Casualty Combat Care (TCCC) which establishes a framework to balance the risks and benefits of medical response and provides guidance on medical intervention for preventable deaths during warm/hot zone operations. The development of this capability rapidly expanded across multiple fiscal years and disciplines, supporting significant life-saving care throughout the region.

The Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System’s TECC program initially provided training and medical supplies for 4,850 law enforcement officers across 44 county, municipal, state, and regional law enforcement agencies. The TECC training taught officers how to identify severe bleeding injuries and determine which medical supplies to deploy. After successfully completing the required training, every officer was outfitted with a Police Officer Trauma Kit that contains two tourniquets, hemostatic gauze, a chest seal, an H-style bandage, additional accessories, and basic personal protective equipment. Through this combination of training and equipment, law enforcement officers across the Maryland-National Capital Region are able to administer initial, life-saving medical care to injured persons.

The early success of the TECC capability prompted its expansion to local fire departments in FY 2016. Through the TECC program, fire personnel received supplemental training on the identification of injury patterns and rendering of proper care. Additionally, over 600 TECC kits were distributed to each fire apparatus and ambulance within the Maryland-National Capital Region. This allocation of training and medical equipment elevated the capabilities of fire personnel to render medical care before transport to definitive care.

In tandem with the expansion to local fire departments, healthcare facilities within the Maryland-National Capital Region were also allocated TECC equipment to increase their medical caches. Each hospital received 100 tourniquets, 100 rolls of hemostatic gauze, and 100 pressure dressings to ensure their ability to provide life-saving hemorrhage control during a surge or no-notice trauma event.

Since the inception of the program, law enforcement officers have deployed their TECC training and equipment numerous times to provide immediate medical interventions to victims. In the first three years of the program, officers from the Prince George’s County Police Department deployed their trauma kits 70 times. More recently, a Montgomery County Police Department officer deployed TECC supplies to a multiple gunshot victim in the Germantown area, providing on-scene, life-saving intervention.

Yesterday, Montgomery County Police Officer K. Berry responded to a shooting in Germantown. The Officer located a male who had been shot multiple times. Officer Berry, along with an off-duty MCP Officer, provided life saving aide to the victim before Fire Rescue arrived.#mcpnews pic.twitter.com/P4uKu3g7pB

— Montgomery County Department of Police (@mcpnews) February 7, 2022

The training and supplies that have built the TECC capability have enabled first responders to administer invaluable initial medical care to victims. As the capability continues to expand, law enforcement officers and fire and rescue personnel from across the Maryland-National Capital Region continue to deploy TECC skills supplies on a near-daily basis.