From First Aid to Threat Care: The Case for TECC as an Australian Trauma Baseline
Tracks
Gold Coast Ballroom
Coolangatta Room
Southport Room 1
Southport Room 2
Southport Room 3
| Tuesday, July 28, 2026 |
| 8:45 AM - 9:15 AM |
| Gold Coast Room |
Overview
Tim Webb, Soter International & Brigadier David Ward, Specialist Emergency Physician and Senior Australian Army Reserve Medical Officer
Details
Three Key Learnings
1. Changing pattern of injuries – Traditional first aid no longer aligns with
contemporary realities volumes, of high-risk environment, multi-casualty, and delayed-care traumatic incidents.
2. Lesson from the Military – The success of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) within a combined joint coalition construct proves integration of scaled life-saving clinical care of TECC easily translates across jurisdictions both domestically and internationally.
3. Standardisation saves lives and protects communities– Adopting TECC as a national standard across jurisdictions will improve interoperability, capability, and survivability across all responder groups. From internal agency trauma risks through to exogenous trauma from violence, large scale terrorism, industrial or natural disasters requiring consolidated multi-agency and/or jurisdictional responses.
Speaker
David Ward
Senior Australian Army Reserve Medical Officer
Specialist Emergency Physician
From First Aid to Threat Care: The Case for TECC as an Australian Trauma Baseline
Abstract
Traditional first aid models in Australia were designed for common everyday low-threat, single-casualty incidents. However, the contemporary risk environment—characterised by
active violence, multi-casualties, complex traumas, remote operations, and delayed access to definitive care—demands a fundamental shift in how we prepare responders. “From First Aid to Threat Care” argues that Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) should become Australia’s baseline trauma framework across all emergency services, high risk industries and community first responders.
TECC provides a structured, evidence-based approach to trauma management in dynamic and potentially unsafe environments. It integrates threat awareness, haemorrhage control,
airway management, and rapid extraction principles, aligned with contemporary international best practice. Unlike traditional first aid, TECC recognises that first responders with a duty of care must balance clinical decisions with ongoing threat mitigation, often
operating with limited resources and extended evacuation timelines.
This brief outline will highlight the operational gap between current first aid paradigms and the realities faced by Australian responders, drawing on lessons from international incidents and domestic case studies. It highlights how early control of catastrophic haemorrhage,
prioritisation of life-saving interventions, and an appreciation of clinical care aligned to operational phases defined from military and law enforcement care continuums,significantly increase mortality and morbidity especially in high-risk incidents.
Adopting TECC as a national baseline would standardise trauma response across agencies, enhancing interoperability, and ensure personnel—from frontline officers to remote community responders, are equipped with the skills and mindset required to act decisively
when posed under threat. It also provides a scalable framework allowing advancing scopes of practice, from community-level responders through to advanced clinical practitioners.
Ultimately, this is not about replacing first aid but evolving it. Embedding TECC as Australia’s trauma standard represents a critical step toward a more resilient, capable, and survivable response system—one aligned with the risks of today, not the assumptions of the past.
active violence, multi-casualties, complex traumas, remote operations, and delayed access to definitive care—demands a fundamental shift in how we prepare responders. “From First Aid to Threat Care” argues that Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) should become Australia’s baseline trauma framework across all emergency services, high risk industries and community first responders.
TECC provides a structured, evidence-based approach to trauma management in dynamic and potentially unsafe environments. It integrates threat awareness, haemorrhage control,
airway management, and rapid extraction principles, aligned with contemporary international best practice. Unlike traditional first aid, TECC recognises that first responders with a duty of care must balance clinical decisions with ongoing threat mitigation, often
operating with limited resources and extended evacuation timelines.
This brief outline will highlight the operational gap between current first aid paradigms and the realities faced by Australian responders, drawing on lessons from international incidents and domestic case studies. It highlights how early control of catastrophic haemorrhage,
prioritisation of life-saving interventions, and an appreciation of clinical care aligned to operational phases defined from military and law enforcement care continuums,significantly increase mortality and morbidity especially in high-risk incidents.
Adopting TECC as a national baseline would standardise trauma response across agencies, enhancing interoperability, and ensure personnel—from frontline officers to remote community responders, are equipped with the skills and mindset required to act decisively
when posed under threat. It also provides a scalable framework allowing advancing scopes of practice, from community-level responders through to advanced clinical practitioners.
Ultimately, this is not about replacing first aid but evolving it. Embedding TECC as Australia’s trauma standard represents a critical step toward a more resilient, capable, and survivable response system—one aligned with the risks of today, not the assumptions of the past.
Biography
Brigadier David Ward is a Specialist Emergency Physician and senior Australian Army Reserve medical officer with extensive operational experience across military and civilian emergency medicine. A graduate of the University of Queensland, he is a Fellow of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, and holds a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He has deployed on multiple international operations including East Timor, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, and humanitarian missions in Pakistan and Sumatra. He currently practices clinically at Brisbane Northside Private Emergency Centre and is an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology.
Mr Tim Webb
Founder and Managing Director
SOTER International
From First Aid to Threat Care: The Case for TECC as an Australian Trauma Baseline
Abstract
Traditional first aid models in Australia were designed for common everyday low-threat, single-casualty incidents. However, the contemporary risk environment—characterised by
active violence, multi-casualties, complex traumas, remote operations, and delayed access to definitive care—demands a fundamental shift in how we prepare responders. “From First Aid to Threat Care” argues that Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) should become Australia’s baseline trauma framework across all emergency services, high risk industries and community first responders.
TECC provides a structured, evidence-based approach to trauma management in dynamic and potentially unsafe environments. It integrates threat awareness, haemorrhage control,
airway management, and rapid extraction principles, aligned with contemporary international best practice. Unlike traditional first aid, TECC recognises that first responders with a duty of care must balance clinical decisions with ongoing threat mitigation, often
operating with limited resources and extended evacuation timelines.
This brief outline will highlight the operational gap between current first aid paradigms and the realities faced by Australian responders, drawing on lessons from international incidents and domestic case studies. It highlights how early control of catastrophic haemorrhage,
prioritisation of life-saving interventions, and an appreciation of clinical care aligned to operational phases defined from military and law enforcement care continuums,significantly increase mortality and morbidity especially in high-risk incidents.
Adopting TECC as a national baseline would standardise trauma response across agencies, enhancing interoperability, and ensure personnel—from frontline officers to remote community responders, are equipped with the skills and mindset required to act decisively
when posed under threat. It also provides a scalable framework allowing advancing scopes of practice, from community-level responders through to advanced clinical practitioners.
Ultimately, this is not about replacing first aid but evolving it. Embedding TECC as Australia’s trauma standard represents a critical step toward a more resilient, capable, and survivable response system—one aligned with the risks of today, not the assumptions of the past.
active violence, multi-casualties, complex traumas, remote operations, and delayed access to definitive care—demands a fundamental shift in how we prepare responders. “From First Aid to Threat Care” argues that Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) should become Australia’s baseline trauma framework across all emergency services, high risk industries and community first responders.
TECC provides a structured, evidence-based approach to trauma management in dynamic and potentially unsafe environments. It integrates threat awareness, haemorrhage control,
airway management, and rapid extraction principles, aligned with contemporary international best practice. Unlike traditional first aid, TECC recognises that first responders with a duty of care must balance clinical decisions with ongoing threat mitigation, often
operating with limited resources and extended evacuation timelines.
This brief outline will highlight the operational gap between current first aid paradigms and the realities faced by Australian responders, drawing on lessons from international incidents and domestic case studies. It highlights how early control of catastrophic haemorrhage,
prioritisation of life-saving interventions, and an appreciation of clinical care aligned to operational phases defined from military and law enforcement care continuums,significantly increase mortality and morbidity especially in high-risk incidents.
Adopting TECC as a national baseline would standardise trauma response across agencies, enhancing interoperability, and ensure personnel—from frontline officers to remote community responders, are equipped with the skills and mindset required to act decisively
when posed under threat. It also provides a scalable framework allowing advancing scopes of practice, from community-level responders through to advanced clinical practitioners.
Ultimately, this is not about replacing first aid but evolving it. Embedding TECC as Australia’s trauma standard represents a critical step toward a more resilient, capable, and survivable response system—one aligned with the risks of today, not the assumptions of the past.
Biography
Founder and Managing Director of SOTER International, a Queensland-based specialist provider of tactical, remote, and expeditionary medical capability. A former Special Forces member with 15 years’ service and now registered paramedic, Tim brings more than 25 years’ experience delivering medical and emergency response across hostile, austere, remote, maritime, and complex industry environments. He is responsible for introducing the only internationally accredited tactical trauma care program to Australia, offering global best practices and improving preparedness and interoperability for all Australian emergency services, law enforcement, military and high-risk industry.
