Emergency Medical Services Care for Active Violence Incidents – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing essential terms and concepts from the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS General Order on Emergency Medical Services Care for Active Violence Incidents (GO 05-32).

Active Violence Incident (AVI)

An event where one or more individuals are actively attempting to kill people in a confined and/or populated area; dynamic and not yet contained.

Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)

Vehicle designed to transport and protect personnel from gunfire or explosives during high-threat responses.

Ballistic Protection

Garments or devices (e.g., vest, helmet, shield) that reduce injury from bullets or shrapnel; rated Type I–IV by NIJ Standard 0101.06.

Casualty Collection Point (CCP)

Forward, usually Warm-Zone location where victims are gathered for movement to triage/treatment; not accessible by vehicles.

Clear (Law-Enforcement Term)

Quick determination that a space no longer holds an immediate threat; equivalent to a fire department primary search—NOT a full, methodical search.

Cold Zone

Area outside the Warm Zone where responders can operate without immediate threat to safety.

Concealment

A position that hides a person from view but offers no ballistic protection.

Cover

A position that provides protection from gunfire or blast; effectiveness depends on the weapon involved.

Doomed Captive

Person held to prolong an incident and likely to be killed by the suspect or die from prior injuries; effectively located in a Hot Zone with high risk of death.

Dirty/Clean Transition Point

Checkpoint between CCP/Warm Zone and Cold-Zone treatment where law enforcement screens people before entry to Cold Zone areas.

Evacuation (Warm) Corridor

Law-enforcement-secured pathway within the Warm Zone that allows safer movement of victims from CCP to Cold-Zone care.

Extraction Team

Group (Fire/EMS, LE, or combined) that transports victims from CCP through the Warm Corridor to Cold-Zone triage/treatment.

Hot Zone

Area of immediate threat (e.g., near attacker); only tactical medics and police operate here—no routine Fire/EMS personnel.

Immediate Action Team

Initial law-enforcement group (often patrol officers) that pushes into the Hot Zone to stop the active killer.

Law Enforcement Rescue

Scenario where police extract and provide TECC care to victims, delivering them to staged EMS assets in the Cold Zone.

MARCHE Algorithm

TECC mnemonic for Warm-Zone care: Massive bleeding, Airway, Respiratory, Circulation, Head/Hypothermia, Everything else.

Mitigated Risk

Process of identifying, assessing, and applying resources to reduce the likelihood or impact of hazards during an operation.

Patrol Officer

Standard uniformed police officer assigned to routine patrol duties.

Perimeter

Law-enforcement term defining event boundaries—inner and outer—to control movement and secure zones.

Priority of Life

Guiding order for police actions: 1) Victims/hostages, 2) Innocents, 3) Public-safety personnel, 4) Suspects.

Protected Corridor

Law-enforcement-secured path inside the Warm Zone that lets medical providers move more freely to patients.

Protected Island

Tactically hardened Warm-Zone location used as a temporary CCP when LE resources are stretched; medics operate only inside this protected spot.

Rescue Task Force (RTF)

Multi-disciplinary team (ideal: 4 LE + 2–3 EMS) providing indirect-threat care in Warm Zone at point of wounding.

Safe (Scene Term)

Area confirmed free of danger after thorough primary and secondary searches; differs from merely being “secure.”

Secure (Law-Enforcement Term)

Indicates control or possession of an area/person/object; does NOT guarantee the scene is safe.

Sift and Sort

Rapid Warm-Zone process: determine who can self-evacuate, who needs extraction (orange/white tape), and who is expectant (black/white tape); then quickly assess injuries.

Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC)

Medical management principles for casualties under hostile conditions with limited resources.

Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS)

Deployment of specially trained EMS personnel to support law-enforcement tactical operations.

Tactical Medic

Certified EMS provider trained and authorized to operate with law enforcement in Hot/Warm Zones.

Tactical Team

Specialized, highly trained law-enforcement unit (SWAT/EST/ERT, etc.) that handles high-risk operations beyond standard officers’ capabilities.

Triage (START)

Cold-Zone process of prioritizing patients based on condition severity; distinct from Warm-Zone Sift and Sort.

Unified Command

Co-located command structure where Fire/EMS and law-enforcement leaders jointly set incident priorities and action plans; prerequisite for Warm-Zone EMS operations.

Victim (Policy Definition)

Any person with physical or psychological trauma needing medical evaluation; remains a ‘victim’ until EMS establishes patient/provider relationship in Cold Zone.

Warm Zone

Operational area with potential but mitigated threat; lies between Hot and Cold Zones and supports RTF, Extraction Teams, and CCPs.