MED-TAC Loadout Card · MTC-LC-003
Fire Apparatus — Rescue Task Force and Active Threat
RTF element loadout, apparatus cache, and the five prerequisites that decide whether the Rescue Task Force is a capability or a paragraph in a plan. One page.
Download the card. One page, print it, put it in a binder. No form, no email address, no follow-up.
Download the loadout card (PDF)Scope. This card defines RTF carriage and quantity. It does not define authorization. RTF is a policy decision before it is an equipment decision: no signed MOU and no joint SOG means no RTF, regardless of what is on the apparatus. Warm-zone entry authority comes from your medical director and your department SOG, in writing.
Framework. Civilian active-threat response is governed by TECC. TCCC is the military framework. They are separate and they do not mirror each other. The Hartford Consensus THREAT sequence — threat suppression, hemorrhage control, rapid extrication, assessment, transport — is the integration model most joint SOGs are written against. Name the framework your policy actually cites, and cite only that one.
RTF element loadout — per two-provider element, carried into the warm zone
| MARCH | Capability | Min. qty | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| M | Windlass limb tourniquets, CoTCCC-recommended | 8 | High turnover — this is the item that runs out first |
| Hemostatic or plain packing gauze | 8 | Element bag | |
| Pressure / trauma dressings | 8 | Element bag | |
| A | Nasopharyngeal airways, assorted | 4 | Positioning first. Airway is minutes; bleeding is seconds |
| R | Vented chest seals | 12 | Two per casualty, front and back |
| H | Casualty wraps | 4 | Element bag |
| + | Soft litter or drag device | 2 | Carried by the element, not staged at the rig |
| + | Triage ribbon | 25 | Faster than tags with gloves on, under load |
| + | Ballistic helmet and vest, per provider | 1 ea | Agency-issued and individually fitted. Never shared at the scene |
| + | Cross-band radio or law enforcement portable | 1 | The element must be able to talk to its protection detail |
| + | Headlamp, shears, marker | 1 set ea | Hands-free light. The power will be off |
Apparatus and cache — staged behind the element
| MARCH | Capability | Min. qty | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | RTF element bags, pre-built and sealed | 2 | Ready to move. Never assembled at the scene |
| M | MCI cache, 25 casualty, in individual pull packs | 1 | Never a bulk bin — nobody uses a bin |
| + | Additional casualty movement devices | 4 | CCP to ambulance exchange point |
| + | Ambulance exchange point marking kit | 1 | Cones, tape, chem-lights |
| + | Accountability board | 1 | Casualty count and transport destination |
RTF composition and movement
- The element is fire / EMS providers plus a law enforcement force protection detail. Composition is fixed in the joint SOG, not decided at the curb. Two officers per element is commonly cited — verify against your policy.
- The element moves as one. If the protection detail stops, the medics stop. Nobody advances alone toward a casualty they can see.
- The protection detail secures. It does not carry, treat, or clear.
- Entry only after a linkup brief: route in, CCP, route out, abort criteria. Ninety seconds, every time.
Warm zone care priorities
- Warm zone care is life threats and movement. Stop the hemorrhage, position the airway, seal the chest, move. Nothing else.
- Tourniquet goes high and tight on the proximal third of the limb. Never across a joint. Do not spend time converting in the warm zone.
- Two seals per casualty. Check the back before you seal the front.
- Definitive assessment happens at the CCP or the ambulance exchange point. Treating in place is how elements get pinned.
Prerequisites — all five, no exceptions
- Signed MOU with the law enforcement agency you will actually deploy with.
- Written joint SOG naming zones, element composition, entry authority, and abort criteria.
- Radio interoperability tested at the console, before the incident.
- Ballistic PPE issued and fitted to the individual provider. Shared PPE is unfitted PPE.
- Documented joint training inside the last twelve months. Miss any one of these and the RTF exists on paper only — grant reviewers and risk managers both check.
Joint training floor
- Annual full-scale joint exercise with the law enforcement agency: real linkup brief, real casualty movement, real distance.
- Quarterly drill or tabletop on zone declaration and CCP designation. Those two decisions are what fail.
- Every member: hemorrhage control, hands-on, initial and annual, with a timed re-demonstration.
- Train with the element bag as it is packed. Providers who have never opened the sealed bag will open it for the first time in a stairwell.
The five failures we find on audit
- RTF equipment purchased with no signed MOU and no joint SOG.
- Joint training never scheduled — the two agencies meet for the first time at the incident.
- Element bags assembled at the scene out of apparatus stock.
- No radio path between the element and its force protection detail.
- MCI cache stored in bulk and never opened between purchase date and incident.
Vendor-neutral by design. No product names, model numbers, or prices appear on this card. It is an operational standard you can hand to a purchasing officer, attach to a policy, or drop into a grant application without endorsing a supplier — including us.
Download the one-page PDF · EMS version · Patrol supervisor version · Tactical team version