First Aid for Fentanyl Overdoses & Massive Bleeds
Imagine: What if you, your partner or the person in your duty of care has a gunshot or stab wound? What if they were overdosing on opioids from an accidental exposure? Would you be able to recognize what was going on? Would you know what to do until medical professionals arrive?
Enforcement and security professionals are often grossly under prepared to handle these situations and are in a high likelihood of being exposed to them. Knowing a few critical skills could give the victim several extra minutes to save their life until EMS arrives.
Massive bleeds and opioid overdoses
are the two most likely and most deadly medical circumstances that a
security or enforcement professional will encounter on the job.
This is particularly the case if the staff member works alone, in high-risk areas, or in a hospital or medical environment. Stabbings happen daily in our cities and are increasing in frequency. There is also an opioid crisis in Canada and everyone is affected - not just those on the street (learn more here).
Tactical First Aid is a certificate course taught by the Canadian College of Emergency Medical Services (CCEMS) in partnership with Tip of Spear. This one-day program includes two half-day (3.5 hour) courses: Stop the Bleed and Narcan Administration. This program covers two main areas of both didactic and practical content. It is intended to increase awareness, prevention, mitigation, and primary first aid care when it may occur. It is not intended to replace professional medical care. The course includes student manuals, and a no-fail knowledge check, and a certificate which is valid for 2 years.
What our students say
Course Contents
Stop the Bleed Program
This course was created by the US Government and US Military as a way of reducing mortality and morbidity from severe blood loss (exsanguination) from Civilian acts of terror such as active shooter events. It is administered by the American College of Surgeons – Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT).
This course focuses on self-care and buddy-care techniques to control severe bleeding such as direct pressure, hemostatic (clotting) agents, and the use of tourniquets such as the widely available CAT device sold Canada-wide (under license with CTOMS based in Edmonton). We at CCEMS are authorized to teach this program with the ACS-COT, and provide course certificates from the ACS-COT.
Instructor doing a stop-the-bleed simulation with an artificial piece of flesh made from silicone.
Narcan Administration Provider - Opioid Recognition and Response
CCEMS created this course specifically for the City of Edmonton to provide awareness, risk mitigation in the light of opioids, and the necessary steps to self-care and buddy-care when confronted with, and potentially exposed to opioids (primarily synthetic opioids such as Fentanyl, which is currently responsible for 94% of opioid death in Alberta).
The course focuses on creating awareness of the risks of opioid exposure in arrests, and in the resuscitation of overdose victims. PPE is discussed in detail. Use of nasal Narcan is the primary focus when it comes to resuscitation, in combination with the recovery position, use of bag-valve-mask devices, and CPR. CCEMS will issue a certificate for successful completion of this course.
About Canadian College of EMS
This course is taught by a certified instructor with Canadian College of EMS. They both worked as a security guard for a number of years before transitioning into the EMS field and has now worked many years as an instructor for the College. Their background and experience makes them the perfect person to teach this course as they have used these skills themselves when they were on the job.
The Canadian College of Emergency Medical Services (CCEMS) has been providing training, education, consultation & medical personnel for local and international clients since 1988. They are an independent and private provider of First Aid & CPR training with approval from Alberta Occupational Health & Safety. They are also proud to provide numerous advanced training programs through their college.
Register for this Program
Duration:
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1 day (7 hours = 2, 3.5 hour segments) for Tactical First Aid
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2 days (12 hours) for Standard First Aid
Tuition:
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$175 + GST for Tactical First Aid
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$275 + GST for Standard First Aid with Healthcare Provider "C" CPR
Certification: Issued by Canadian College of EMS, valid for 2 years
Register for the "open" class below, or request an exclusive corporate class. Please contact us for more information.