ABSTRACT
The ideal candidate should be physically fit and possess a high degree of mental maturity. To ensure clinical competency, the candidate should have a minimum of five years of high volume Emergency Medical Services experience. Regardless of who is selected to provide medical support, continuous hands-on clinical experience and realistic training is essential to maintain competency in emergency medical skills. The mark of a first-class medical support team is that they have been particularly diligent about maintaining arduous medical sustainment training, in addition to maintaining currency in tactical skills. Important components in minimising this risk are comprehensive pre-planning and the provision of competent medical support. Regardless of the choice of physician or non-physician, optimally, the Tactical Medical Specialist must be integrated into the team, understand its mission and area of operations, and be given time to plan the details of medical support in advance of deployment.
