Behind the scenes with FBI Operational Medics

Reporter: Rich Kolko
Published: Updated:
The FBI’s Operational Medicine Program trains and equips special agent medics to provide care in high-stress tactical situations. During a training exercise, medics prepare a wounded agent for helicopter transport to a hospital. Photo Credit: FBI

Most people are familiar with the FBI’s high profile investigations, but what about their work in medicine?

A select group of special agents are trained in field medicine for both trauma and normal medicine like a heart attack or broken bones.

When an FBI SWAT team heads to a raid, one of the agents will be wearing a vest with “Medic” on it.

This person is part of the FBI’s Operational Medic Program, or OpMed, and it takes a lot of time, training and dedication to earn that title.

Special Agent Doug Mohl with the Washington Field Office says, “We wanted to take them into real life situations. So, someone in the office is having chest pain, or a dive mission, where someone comes up from a dive mission and they’re a little light headed and they’re not answering questions appropriately.”

LINK: A Look Inside the Washington Field Office’s OpMed Program

The highly trained emergency medical technicians, or EMT’s are part of every SWAT team in the FBI.

They are part of the hostage rescue team too.

They have deployed globally, including to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and many other deployments around the the U.S. and around the world.

This training is not just for tactical purposes. They are ready to help their co-workers in the office, whether they take a fall or have a heart attack.

All this and they are special agents too. They have a regular case load conducting all types of investigations.

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