PHILIPPINE TACTICAL COMBAT CASUALTY CARE COURSE: ADVANCING MILITARY-CIVILIAN INTEROPERABILITY IN TRAUMA RESPONSE bhemvillamor@yahoo.com

 

PHILIPPINE TACTICAL COMBAT CASUALTY CARE COURSE: ADVANCING MILITARY-CIVILIAN INTEROPERABILITY IN TRAUMA RESPONSE

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Philippines

Oral or Poster

Combat casualty care in contemporary conflict zones demands more than clinical proficiency; it requires tactical agility, decisive action under fire, and the capability to render life-saving interventions in austere, high-threat environments. To meet this operational imperative, the Philippine Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) course was inaugurated in 2021 to sharpen the combat medical readiness of uniformed personnel in the Philippines for deployment to active combat zones.

Philippine TCCC manual was used as reference in the conduct of didactics, simulations, trauma skills stations, and animal laboratory hands on training. This was facilitated by faculty of PSST to 37 elite forces of AFP, PNP, and Philippine Coast Guard. The cadre, composed of both medical personnel and non-medical point-of-injury responders, completed the training to execute critical casualty interventions under austere conditions in the field. Participants were evaluated using standardized assessment tools designed to measure both cognitive knowledge and psychomotor skills.

A distinctive element of the training was the inclusion of real-time tactical simulation exercises conducted at the PNP Aviation Security Group–Special Operations Unit Firing Range. These high-fidelity simulations provided the trainees with the opportunity to apply TCCC protocols under physically demanding and psychologically stressful conditions, closely mimicking the combat-intensities and operational environments they are likely to encounter. The graduate replicate said training in their respective military unit.

Philippine TCCC program serves as a scalable and adaptable model for building the trauma resilience, enhancing mission readiness, and fostering genuine interoperability across diverse operational contexts, including both armed conflict and disaster response.