APD's tactical EMS officers can save lives in more ways than one

The Albuquerque Police Department says its Tactical Emergency Medical Services, or TEMS, officers play an important role in emergencies, particularly during dangerous occurrences.

TEMS officers provide medical care during emergency situations as well as in SWAT callouts and bomb threats, APD spokeswoman Rebecca Atkins said.

On Thursday morning, APD hosted a TEMS training demonstration in which two officers treated a “victim” — in this case a mannequin — lying down with a gunshot wound in the chest. The lifelike dummy at times appeared as if it was breathing and squirted blood. Officer Michael Radosevich applied a chest seal to treat the wound, while Officer William Jackson addressed the patient’s hemorrhage.

The mannequin is invaluable as it allows the police department to prepare for various scenarios that involve treating people amid an emergency, APD Medical Director Justin Hazen said.

During an emergency, there are three types of zones, officer Sean Callinan said.

The “hot zone” is where an incident is taking place; the “warm zone” is where the incident happened but a threat no longer exists; and the “cold zone” is where nothing has happened. The emergency medical technicians stay in the cold zone.

“The difference between us and regular EMTs is that we go into the hot zone and take care of things,” Hazen said. “Traditional EMS requires a safe scene before they go in. Our TEMS are actually armed police officers. They go in when the scene is not safe.”

The officers go in and administer whatever aid they can to the injured person before taking them to another first responder, who will then transport the person to the hospital.

“We provide the life-saving medical treatment and get them to traditional EMS,” Hazen said.

TEMS officers have an EMT license, which they must renew every two years. During that time, they get trained in areas such as human and K-9 trauma, Callinan said, where officers practice assessing a dog’s vital signs and performing CPR.

The TEMS program has been beneficial to the K-9 unit, recognizing whether the dog is having a medical issue or is behaving lethargically, Sgt. Christopher Keeling said.

An additional K-9 training was set to take place on Thursday, but it was canceled due to APD being dispatched to a call.