Terrorism as a disaster: The development of the first response capabilities of the Hungarian and European counter-terrorism units from the field care point of view

Abstract

There is a strong parallelism between global security challenges and disasters in many cases, those are occasionally overlapping each other. Managing disasters, especially in the first shock phase, belongs to Disaster Management Services. Like the whole management cycle the first response means complex activity and depending on the threat it requires special skills. The acute emergency medical care is one of those special skills. In case of a terrorist attack counter-terrorism units (CTU) are designated for the first response. Providing medical care for citizens who have been injured in a terrorist event is a new expectation of our community. Those CTUs who have taken this responsibility have to re-interpret their military based field care systems. That led to a new approach of tactical medicine (TM). The Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre played an important role in reconsidering the system of tactical medicine and has built up a unique TM system. In the name of European counterterrorism cooperation TEK leads the ATLAS Medic Forum. In association with ATLAS network TEK has launched the Tactical Medicine Education/Training Program. On these courses 258 operators graduated from 29 CTUs of 28 European countries.