Rescue Task Force – luka do wypełnienia w polskich warunkach – część I

Rescue Task Force – a gap to fill in Polish conditions – part I

The challenge of the 21^st century terrorism obligates to predict possible hazards and be ready to face them. „The best way to predict future is to create it” – said Peter Ferdinand Drucker, American management expert, considered the founding father of modern management methods. The Polish Emergency Medical Services system should be prepared for CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, explosive defense) hazards, including acts of terrorism, which seem surreal for today’s Polish community. It is widely assumed that Poland is a state isolated from a sense of direct danger. Until not long ago it was presupposed that the global coronavirus pandemic will not affect highly developed countries. In many places of the world RTF (Rescue Task Forces) teams are already training to provide medical help at the scene of a terrorist incident. The authors of this article present the outline of a concept of creating RTF teams in Poland, their international foundation and a cross-border approach of tactical medicine experts toward the need of their existence in the current reality.

Keywords

Rescue Task Forces, terrorism, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC), emergency medical service

Work on procedures and standards for emergency medical rescue and healthcare systems has never been as advanced as it is today. Certificates, effectiveness and monitoring of quality are what counts. This induces acting according to strict guidelines. Increasing demands of restitutionary society and the whole new spectrum of 21^st Century challenges made it necessary to create new algorithms and unify them on international level. COVID-19 pandemic, which stroke worldwide healthcare out of balance, have shown how large are the gaps in our knowledge, skills and work standards. It gave a strong base to consider what are we ready for, and what may turn out a failed test for national healthcare systems. It made us aware that we need to be a step ahead, predict certain hazards and prepare for them, not only in the field of knowledge and prognoses, but above all – practical skills (1). „To develop science, one has identify the gap in current knowledge at first” (1).