The Importance of Regular Recertification in Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC)

In a high-risk, urban environment like Brussels, Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. TECC forms the backbone of medical response in tactical operations and critical incidents, where speed, efficiency, and skill quite literally make the difference between life and death.

That’s why organizing regular recertification sessions is not an optional extra, but an essential part of every operator’s preparation and readiness.

These sessions aren’t just about refreshing knowledge they are about reinforcing fundamental skills: stopping major bleeding, managing airways, and recognizing respiratory threats. By consistently practicing these interventions, we condition not only ourselves but our teammates. Under stress, we don’t rise to the level of our expectations we fall to the level of our training.

In TECC training, we place particular emphasis on the first three components of the MARCH protocol:
M – Massive hemorrhage
A – Airway
R – Respirations

These are responsible for the vast majority of preventable deaths. Failure to act quickly in these phases often results in lost seconds and lost lives. In an urban setting, where proximity to hospitals does not guarantee rapid care, the first minutes are critical.

Recertification reinforces the mindset of the tactical first responder: rapid assessment, correct intervention, and staying mentally engaged under pressure.
Because TECC is not just medical training it’s tactical survival.

Keep training. Keep repeating. Stay ready.