Tactical Medical Skill Requirements for Law Enforcement Officers: A 10-Year Analysis of Line-of-Duty Deaths

Abstract

In the absence of other data, military Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) precepts are increasingly being adapted to law enforcement needs. The purpose of this study is to better describe the nature of potentially preventable law enforcement Line-of-Duty Deaths (LODDs) occurring as a result of felonious assaults. A retrospective analysis was performed of open source data available through the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) program for the years 1998-2007 inclusive. After applying exclusion criteria, 341 victim officers were included in the study. The most common cause of death was head trauma (n=198), followed by chest trauma (n=90). There were 123 victim officers that suffered potentially preventable deaths; the majority of these injuries involved the chest. Over the 10-year study period, only two officers (0.6%) died from isolated extremity hemorrhage. The current emphasis of TCCC on control of exsanguinating extremity hemorrhage may not meet the needs of law enforcement personnel in an environment with expedited access to well-developed trauma systems. Further study is needed to better examine the causes of preventable deaths in law enforcement officers, as well as the most appropriate law enforcement tactical medical skill set and treatment priorities.