Training developed in-house said to be the first on its scale in the Palmetto State

COLUMBIA, SC, UNITED STATES, February 7, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Richland County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) held its first-ever graduation of 22 deputy sheriffs enrolled in the department’s new TACTICAL MEDICAL PROGRAM, which prepares deputies for the full-spectrum of challenges experienced during any critical incident or emergency operation in central South Carolina. The graduating class included deputies, hand-picked by Sheriff Leon Lott and his command staff, from all divisions and sub-departments within RCSD, and was held Thursday, January 30, at RCSD’s Denny Terrace substation in Columbia.

“The idea behind this program is to save as many lives as possible during large-scale events, critical incidents or disasters, either manmade and or natural,” said Major Dominick Pagano, an RSCD Operations Division officer and the program’s director. “This program enhances the already existing skillset of the department by providing critical training and equipment needed for our deputies during events like active shooter response, other hostile events and natural disasters. What this training does is provide our deputies with the cognitive tools to provide lifesaving BLS [basic life support] care on scene.”

Pagano adds: “These deputies now have the capability of recognizing and stopping life-threatening exsanguination [essentially bleeding out] and providing rapid triage, and transport to an area hospital.”

According to RCSD officials, the department is the first agency in the state to provide such training in a single program on this scale.

Initially all of the select-deputies begin by successfully completing going the 224-hour Basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course at Midlands Technical College. That, or they were previously certified as either an EMT or a paramedic in South Carolina. Fourteen of the below-listed 22 graduates attended the Midlands Tech course of instruction.

The program-deputies then followed-up by taking their National Registry Test (required of all EMTs). Once certified, the deputies attended a 40-hour Tactical Medical Course that prepared them for the following: Tactical emergency casualty care, forcible entry, fire as a weapon (an emerging terrorist-tactic trend aimed at creating mass casualties or creating diversions ), hasty or expedient rescues (For instance, how to rapidly up-armor vehicles in order to conduct rapid rescues under fire), and emerging trends in terrorism.

“As the world continues to change we must adapt and be prepared to respond accordingly,” said Pagano. “This training coincides with our departmental Emergency Management Unit, which takes a holistic approach during critical events by providing many crucial services needed in times of crises.”

RCSD Deputy Chief Maria Yturria agrees.

“We need to be flexible, instinctively responsive, and fully capable during a critical incident involving limited or mass casualties,” said Yturria. “That is precisively what this training produces both within the individual deputy and in the broader tactical response culture here at RCSD.”

The 22 graduates include Michael Dooley, Ethyn Perkins, Sloan Simpson, William McComb, Benjamin Dumont, Timothy Pysell, Frederick Boyce, Margaret Laughlin, Richard Stern, Christopher Moore, Caroline Martin, Avery Arrington, Nathan Rowley, Michael Pittas, Alessandro Senatore, Shannon Tolman, Jason Roach, George Keith, Jason Mclees, William Hunter, Noad Tekeste, and Gerry McKay.

“What Maj. Pagano and Chief Yturria have created and facilitated through the implementation of this program might well-serve as a model for other law enforcement agencies statewide even nationally,” said Sheriff Leon Lott. “We are always looking for new, visionary, outside-of-the-box methods, programs, and ways of better preparing our men and women for the increasingly dangerous tactical environments peace officers are facing today and will face going forward.”

Lott adds: “We have always seen ourselves as standard-bearers in terms of tactical innovations, and this new tactical medical program is emblematic of this culture within our department.”

Partners with RCSD in the Tactical Medical Program include Midlands Technical College, Apprenticeship Carolina, the U.S. Department of Labor, Prisma Health, Richland County EMS, Columbia-Richland Fire Department, and Threat Suppression Incorporated.

Special Deputy W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Richland County Sheriff's Department
email us here

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.