The National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) is proud to announce the appointment of Kevin Gerold, D.O., J.D. as Chairman of the NTOA Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) Section. NTOA Section Chairs act as a point of contact for association members seeking advice or information related to the discipline. Chairs also provide the NTOA Board of Directors with recommendations and information on subject matter for disposition.
Previous to his appointment, Dr. Gerold has been heavily involved in the NTOA’s TEMS Section for several years. Besides editing TEM-related articles for The Tactical Edge, he has provided medical lectures at NTOA STORM® courses and consulted on policy and curriculum development.
Dr. Gerold is a Senior Medical Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Law Enforcement Medicine and a Special Deputy United States Marshall. He was instrumental in establishing the Tactical Medical Unit within the Maryland State Police’s Special Operations Command in 1996 and continues to serve as the program medical director/tactical physician.
Tactical medicine (TEMS) is defined as the preventative care and medical treatment provided during a mission driven, high-risk, large-scale and extended law enforcement operation.
“It [TEMS] adapts and incorporates sound medical practices for use in operations characterized by competing mission objectives, diagnostic uncertainty, limited resources, and performance decrement under stress for the delivery of medical care in an unfolding law enforcement mission,” Dr. Gerold explained in his article in the 2013 Summer edition of The Tactical Edge. “The benefit to law enforcement is sufficiently established to where TEMS is now a standard of care for law enforcement operations. I encourage NTOA members to engage the TEMS Section as a resource for training, consultation and collaboration on medical matters. I look forward to serving as the TEMS Chairman as we work and learn together to promote public safety and security.”
To read the complete article by Dr. Gerold and what he plans to bring to his new position, join NTOA and receive The Tactical Edge magazine as part of your membership.