Metrostar TEMS

METROSTAR TEMS

The Metro-STAR Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) unit is a select group of ten paramedics who regularly train and deploy with the Metro-STAR regional police tactical team on special operations. Metro-STAR operates within a geographical zone comprised of forty communities, covering six hundred square miles with a corresponding population of 850,000 people in the south metropolitan Boston area. The primary mission of TEMS is the physical wellbeing of the officers involved in these operations. Missions range in scope and intensity from missing person searches to the resolution of critical incidents involving armed barricaded individuals, and everything in between. Many of these paramedics are past or present Navy Corpsmen or Army combat medics. All have undergone nationally recognized training programs to help prepare for their role of providing advanced life support in the extremely challenging and often chaotic environment associated with tactical law enforcement.

Although unarmed and usually positioned on the edge of the inner perimeter, each TEMS medic is totally familiar with police weaponry and tactics and, to that end, is quite capable of rendering safe any weapon they may come in contact with, should the necessity occur. TEMS paramedics are unobtrusive and blend into the tactical landscape like a hand in a glove. The police officers and paramedics assigned to this unit enjoy a special relationship, partly forged from acknowledgement that each is dependent upon the other for their safety, and the recognition that both are willing to move into harm’s way to protect and often save lives. SWAT officers are very protective of the medics assigned to their charge, and the medics take a heightened interest in caring for these special officers.

The TEMS paramedics often depend on the IRG and their specialized resources for on-scene support. TEMS paramedics subscribe to the motto “We bring good medicine to bad places!” Metro-STAR is believed to be the only tactical unit in New England that has a fully-integrated TEMS unit comprised solely of paramedics from a private ambulance provider. According to Sergeant Paul Dowd, Metro-STAR Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) coordinator, “This arrangement exceeded everyone’s preconceived high expectations. The TEMS medics are so proficient that it is not uncommon for other EMS and law enforcement agencies to send representatives to our training and deployments to observe them in action, with the intent of emulating our successful partnership.” Fallon TEMS supervisors have been invited by police tactical teams throughout New England to share with them their professional experiences and observations on how to properly design and manage a successful TEMS program.

The abundance and scope of medical resources made available to Metro-STAR by Fallon is without equal. Mass-casualty and rehab vehicles; IRG personnel; non-dedicated paramedic units; statewide medical control and communications capability; accessibility to medevac helicopters and state-of-the art equipment represent a mere fraction of the specialized resources available to Metro-STAR. Lastly, all TEMS paramedics have been trained to provide emergency care to injured police dogs if required. They predetermine the location of the most appropriate animal care facility and always contact the team’s veterinary doctor (DVM) when notified of an operation.

- Check out this article about the Metrostar tactical team. It was in the Summer 2004 issue of "The Tactical Edge", the magazine published by the National Tactical Officers Association and was authored by Braintree PD Sgt. Paul Dowd. The article is in .pdf form so you need Adobe Acrobat to open it. If you don't have it, click here to download a free copy of the program.

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