TCCC Training for International Police Officers
Many soldiers suffer from trauma as a result of their experiences in combat. The worst part is seeing a fellow soldier succumb to death because of an injury that could have been prevented. It is the responsibility of communities, governments, and any other social institution to make sure that our soldiers come back from war and are free from trauma. Therefore, in my initiative to achieve this, I started a Go Fund Me account to raise money to teach Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) to law enforcement officers in Mexico. TCCC provides an outline for developing casualty care in combat cases. It is a pre-hospital-based care for soldiers who may get injured in combat. Many of the deaths that occur during combat are caused by a slow response to the injured or lack of a medical facility in the vicinity. Many soldiers have been recorded to die before they even reach a medical treatment center; it is important to create pre-hospital services to reduce these deaths (Eastridge et al., 2012). TCCC offers guidelines on a variety of recommendations on the care to provide before reaching a medical facility. Through the Go Fund Me account, TCCC can be taught to the many enforcement officers in Mexico who are dying from trauma caused by the cartels. I believe that through the donations from well-wishers and institutions, this initiative can be achieved.
The impact of cartels in Mexico has been felt over the years. The occurrence of violence causes many of the trauma deaths occurring in Mexico due to illegal drug trafficking. The country has been characterized by injuries, suffering, and deaths related to drug trafficking. Since the 19th and early 20th century, the country was predominantly known for illegal trafficking of drugs internally (within the country). However, as time progressed, drug trafficking commenced from Mexico into the United States (US). Accordingly, the US government put in place policies signifying war on drugs from Mexico. The strategy was successful, but it created drug violence, which continues to cause the death of many people, especially law enforcement officers. Drug-related violence and injuries in Mexico continue to skyrocket despite the government’s effort to stop drug trafficking. It is estimated that drug-related violence in Mexico leads to approximately 28,000 killings (Puyana et al., 2017). In one government study, it was found that 6,000 people died as a result of drug violence and nine out of ten of the deaths involved law enforcement officers or those involved with drug trade (Puyana et al., 2017). Other crimes have resulted from drug trafficking, putting the lives of police officers not equipped well enough in danger. For instance, human trafficking has been on the rise in Mexico, and the cartels controlling them are very powerful. It means that the police officer has a less advantage over these cartels and more prone to injuries. According to Puyana et al. (2017), the reduction in trauma deaths in Mexico can only be achieved by using a health care alternative. Hence, TCCC can be very effective when used as an alternative medical approach to reducing the number of deaths that many officers face when dealing with drug traffickers in Mexico.
The Go Fund Me account is not meant to exploit people of their money by false promises. It is realistic because there is a pressing need in Mexico to teach officers TCCC to reduce the number of deaths being witnessed by the increased drug violence wars. Majority of the officers die from bullet wounds, hemorrhaging, hypothermia, and breathing problems. According to the Latin American Herald Tribune (2018), more than a hundred police officers were killed in the year 2010 on the Mexican border. Among the total number of deaths, sixty-seven were municipal police officers while the rest were federal police. Many of these police officers had been deployed in Juarez, Mexico, by former President Felipe Calderon to crack down on illegal drug cartels in the area. Unfortunately, the number of casualties was more than the expected outcome of the strategy. Most of these cops died as a result of injuries that could have been prevented had there been immediate emergency care before they could get to the hospital. Hence, there is a need to teach police officers in Mexico TCCC tactics to prevent the death of more officers. The advantage with TCCC is that it helps officers to be acquainted with situational awareness skills to treat causalities using the MARCH algorithm (Kotwal et al., 2011). When the program is incorporated in the police force in Mexico, many deaths caused by hemorrhaging or other injuries can be averted.
The funds collected through the Go Fund Me account will go towards travel, lodging, training supplies, and classroom rental. For the project to start, space for training will be needed. Renting a classroom will be effective because it will require fewer costs and offer better privacy and security. Hence, money will be needed to rent a classroom to train the police officers who will participate in the initiative. Since the TCCC training will incorporate police officers from various locations, travel and lodging costs will be incurred. The main aim of the initiative is to reach out to as many fortunate police officers fighting drug traffickers, human traffickers, and community terrorizers as possible. Therefore, the police officers will be drawn from different locations in Mexico, and the training they acquire will be taught to their other colleagues once they get back to their respective areas. Travel costs will be necessary to transport the police officers to the main training center. Additionally, their accommodation will be necessary because most of them cannot afford to pay for lodgings during the duration of the training. Finances are also needed to purchase training supplies such as First Aid kits that will be provided to every student.
Hence, donations can help to ensure that our diligent and less fortunate officers return to their families after a mission. One of the factors hindering the end of cartels in Mexico is the low number of police officers that becomes worse each year as many die in crackdown missions. Hence, the TCCC program will also ensure that the crackdown on the cartels in Mexico are combated because the number of police officers will not reduce due to deaths that can be avoided. All these can be made possible through donations to the Go Fund Me account that will initiate the TCCC teaching to law enforcement officers from various parts of Mexico. The only way people can make a change in the communities and countries is by joining hands and collaborating in a good cause.
References
Eastridge, B. J., Mabry, R. L., Seguin, P., Cantrell, J., Tops, T., Uribe, P., … & Butler, F. K. (2012). Death on the battlefield (2001–2011): implications for the future of combat casualty care. Journal of trauma and acute care surgery, 73(6), S431-S437.
Kotwal, R. S., Montgomery, H. R., Kotwal, B. M., Champion, H. R., Butler, F. K., Mabry, R. L., … & Holcomb, J. B. (2011). Eliminating preventable death on the battlefield. Archives of surgery, 146(12), 1350-1358.
Latin American Herald Tribune. (2018). More than 100 Police Killed Last Year in Mexican Border City. Retrieved from http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=382788&CategoryId=14091
Puyana, J. C., Puyana, J. C. J., Rubiano, A. M., Montenegro, J. H., Estebanez, G. O., Sanchez, A. I., … & Vega-Rivera, F. (2017). Drugs, Violence, and Trauma in Mexico and the USA. Medical principles and practice, 26(4), 309-315.
