Why every medic should love Deployed Medicine

Deployed Medicine (www.deployedmedicine.com) is a platform used by the Defense Health Agency to trial new innovative learning models aimed at improving readiness and performance of deployed military medical personnel. That’s their official statement. But in a nutshell, it’s a incredible , free education website designed to bring the latest evidenced-based guidelines to military medics of all levels, with a special emphasis on learning and teaching Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC). For once, the military got something right. 

The only thing that frustrates me more than medics who have never heard of Deployed Medicine are medics who know what it is, but don’t use or appreciate it’s utility. So today, I’m going to explain why Deployed Medicine is probably one of the greatest resources for medics of all time.

1. It’s the beating heart of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC)

If you’re using anything besides Deployed Medicine for TCCC education, you’re missing out. Deployed Medicine bears great authority in this realm and provides incredible resources to help learn the material (videos, podcasts, pocket guides). The educational material (especially the videos) are clear, concise, and honestly…kind of entertaining!  But above all else, Deployed Medicine is the #1 source for accessing the latest TCCC guidelines when you’re settling a dispute with a buddy on a trauma lane.

2. It’s extremely accessible

No CAC needed! This is a huge one for me. Fighting military tech has always been a huge barrier for accessing educational resources. Especially for NG/Reserve medics. Deployed Medicine can be easily accessed at www.deployedmedicine.com or just by a simple google search. The site is seamless and you can even download the mobile app for convenient access. If you’re fighting bad internet connection out in the field, many of the videos and podcasts can be downloaded ahead of time for offline use. 

3.Includes a Combat LifeSaver (CLS) Curriculum

The era of teaching CLS with those yellow, torn-up, outdated books is over. Deployed Medicine has an entire step-by-step curriculum for the most recent CLS guidelines that includes didactic presentations, instructional videos, skill cards, assessment checklists, and more. The course basically teaches itself.  You can also find instructional material for ASM (All service Members) courses.

4. Introduces medics to research literature

One of the biggest issues that plagues the combat medic community is the lack of exposure to research literature. We rely too heavily on personal anecdotes to prove our points. Deployed Medicine offers a perfect introduction to evidence-based research by tagging literature abstracts to their guidelines and exploring the latest papers in their Journal Watch

5. Constantly adding new material

There’s more than just TCCC.  Deployed Medicine also includes Canine TCCC guidelines, Clinical Practice guidelines, Enroute Casualty Care guidelines, COVID-19 management recommendations, and official CoTCCC recommendations for tactical medicine devices and adjuncts (for those out there who insist on using knock-off brands). They consistently add new content throughout the year.

What are your thoughts?

 

 

 

Brandon Simpson, PA-C
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