Tactical Medicine Essentials

American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)

E. John Wipfler III, MD, FACEP-Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria, Illinois

Dr. John Wipfler is a residency-trained, board-certified attending emergency physician and a clinical associate professor of surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He has taught tactical medicine for over 17 years and teaches several week-long courses annually as an instructor with the International School of Tactical Medicine, the only tactical medicine training school certified by the United States Department of Homeland Security. He served in the military reserves for 14 years, attaining the rank of Major in the United States Army Medical Corps, serving in Panama and volunteering for Desert Storm. He has been involved with law enforcement since 1994, supporting tactical operations as a SWAT team physician and medical director for a TEMS element for three tactical teams in central Illinois. Since completing his internship in surgery and residency in emergency medicine, he teaches and practices medicine with the Department of Emergency Medicine at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center in Peoria, Illinois.

Dr. Wipfler cofounded the first tactical EMS unit in the state of Illinois, the Special Tactical Assistance Trauma Team (STATT). He is a sworn Sheriff’s Physician and Auxiliary Deputy Sheriff who has been involved in tactical operations during more than 110 SWAT callouts. The STATT Tactical EMS unit (three physicians, one nurse, two paramedics) supports three law enforcement tactical teams: Central Illinois Emergency Response Team (CIERT), Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm Services team (ILEAS region 6), and the Peoria City Police Department Special Response Team (SRT). He also supports callouts and/or training with the United States Secret Service for presidential motorcade escorts, United States Marshals Service, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). He has flown helicopter missions with the United States Marshals Service Special Operations Group during high-risk prisoner transport.

As a certified firearms instructor who is also qualified expert in pistol, small-bore, and high-power rifle marksmanship, Dr. Wipfler routinely teaches firearms safety classes integrated with tactical medicine principles. He has completed multiple military and civilian tactical/medical courses, including the Chapman Academy (Basic and Advanced Pistol, Tactical Rifle), Combat Casualty Care Course, Counter Narcotics & Terrorism Operational Medical Support (CONTOMS), Radiation Emergency Assistance Center /Training Site (REAC/TS) radioactive injury management course, Heckler & Koch Basic and Advanced Tactical EMS courses, United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) Chemical and Biological Warfare School, InSights Training, and Strike Tactical Solutions close quarters combat courses.

Dr. Wipfler was one of the original founders and medical director of the Region 2 RMERT disaster response team in central Illinois, and has deployed on multiple real-world disasters including several large tornado strikes with mass casualties. Dr. Wipfler served with 12 others on the founding executive council for the sole state-wide disaster response agency in Illinois, the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT). He served for 5 years as medical director of Life Flight.

He has coauthored textbooks on emergency medicine and firearms safety, written chapters for textbooks—including the tactical medicine chapter in the International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) text—as well as multiple tactical medicine and research papers. Dr. Wipfler lectures nationally and teaches tactical medicine, disaster preparedness, bioterrorism/WMD response, and advanced emergency ultrasound at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. In 1999, Dr. Wipfler developed one of the first emergency medicine residency program tactical medicine elective rotations in the United States.

As the co-chair of the Illinois Tactical Officers Association (ITOA) tactical EMS committee, he has been involved in instructing Tactical EMS with the ITOA and other law agencies, and has co-chaired the annual ITOA Tactical Medicine Conference for 6 years.

John E. Campbell, MD, FACEP

Dr. Campbell has been a practicing emergency physician for over 30 years. He currently serves as the State Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma for Alabama. Dr. Campbell is the founder, president, and editor of International Trauma Life Support (formerly BTLS—Basic Trauma Life Support), an organization of teachers of prehospital trauma care whose course is taught worldwide. He is recognized internationally as a teacher of prehospital trauma care. He is the author of the original Basic Trauma Life Support textbook and he and Chief Jim Smith co-authored, Homeland Security and EMS Response.

The son of a United States Deputy Marshal, he worked part-time as a guard for the Marshals Service while he was in college. He was once a member of the Opelika, Alabama, police pistol team and is currently the medical director for a tactical EMS squad.

He is an active member of the Alabama Terrorism and Tactical Operations Medical Support Course Advisory Committee and the Alabama State Trauma Advisory Committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians and in the past served as Councilor and President.

He served with the United States Army National Guard for over 20 years, attaining the rank of Captain. He has received numerous awards, including the EMS Award (first recipient) from the American College of Emergency Physicians, and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Surgeon General of the United States for services to the Medical Department Regiment. He is currently writing a history of the 2nd Marine Division in World War II.

Lawrence E. Heiskell, MD, FACEP, FAAFP

Dr. Lawrence Heiskell is the founder of and medical director for the International School of Tactical Medicine, the first and only state and federally approved tactical medicine school by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) and the United States Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Heiskell is residency trained and board certified in emergency medicine and family practice and has been a full-time practicing emergency physician for more than 23 years in California.

Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Heiskell spent 5 years with the United States Antarctic Research Program and served on three expeditions to Antarctica and the South Pole. He was awarded the Congressional Antarctic Service Medal in 1979. He has 19 years of experience as a reserve police officer and SWAT team physician beginning with the Kern County Sheriff’s Department in Bakersfield, California. Dr Heiskell is currently a reserve police officer and a tactical physician with the Palm Springs Police Department in Palm Springs, California.

Dr. Heiskell served on an 18-agency member tactical medicine coalition under the auspices of the California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training and California EMS Authority (EMSA) to create the State of California Tactical Medicine Operational Programs and Standardized Training Recommendations.

He is a graduate of California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training and Department of Justice (POST/DOJ) school, National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) school, Heckler & Koch school, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) SWAT school.

Dr. Heiskell has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad on tactical emergency medicine and has published over 60 articles and other publications on tactical medicine topics.

Jim Smith, BS, MS, NREMT-P

Chief Jim Smith’s background includes more than 30 years of public safety experience, which includes working in a variety of settings, including law enforcement with professional involvement as a fire fighter and paramedic, to operating a nuclear power facility where he was a former health physics technician. He has served as 9-1-1 district communications director for a center dispatching more than 30 agencies, as commander of an FBI-certified bomb squad and clandestine drug laboratory entry and assessment team, on a law enforcement rescue dive team, and on a police planning and research section. He continues to serve as police chief, EMT-Paramedic, and fire fighter in a rural town. Chief Smith also teaches criminal justice courses as an adjunct faculty member for Troy University Dothan and University of Phoenix.

Chief Smith’s academic background includes a master of science in safety from the University of Southern California, a bachelor of science in chemistry and biology, and an associate’s degree in emergency medical technology. Chief Smith is also a certified emergency manager, certified advanced law enforcement planner, and a certified police chief. He is a graduate of the United States Army Chemical School Domestic Countermeasures program. He is also a hazardous materials technician, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) technician, and clandestine drug laboratory safety certified.

Chief Smith has published three textbooks including a text on responding to bomb and WMD threats, a text on addressing law enforcement management and supervision, and a text on homeland security emergency response. Chief Smith’s publications include more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including articles on practical research in blast mitigation, pipe-bomb fragment propagation, and blast suppression. This research led to the issuance of a United States patent and the production of specialized blast mitigation equipment.