CCEMS Special Ops Director Wren Nealy teaching Tactical Medic Class

Cypress Creek EMS Special Operations Director Wren Nealy has been elected Vice Chair of the Emergency Services Sector Coordinating Council (ESSCC) which advises the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on important issues concerning emergency readiness. He was chosen by the council’s executive committee which includes representatives from the following organizations.

National Sheriff’s Association

International Association of Fire Chiefs

International Association of Chiefs of Police

International Association of Emergency Managers

National Association of State EMS Officials

National Emergency Management Association

Nealy was already an active member of the ESSCC representing the International Public Safety Association for which he serves as a board member.

The International Public Safety Association was founded in 2014 as a 501(c) 3 non-profit Public Safety Membership organization.  IPSA’s vision is for a stronger, more integrated public safety community capable of an effective joint response to all incidents.  It represents the entire public safety community from the boots on the ground to executive leadership.

The mission of IPSA and the ESSCC includes the cross training of first responders so that, for instance, any first responder can begin treating injured people in any situation that arises be it a terrorist attack, an active shooter, a combined coordinated attack or a natural disaster.

Key to this mission is that all police, firefighters and medics carry combat application tourniquets at all times and know how to use them effectively. These very portable tourniquets, developed for military use, can make the difference between life and death. If an artery is compromised, a patient can lose consciousness in as little as 20 seconds and bleed out and die in 3 to 4 minutes.

For that reason it’s also important that the first responders know how to quickly self-apply a tourniquet if they are alone and injured.

Under Nealy’s leadership as Special Ops Director at Cypress Creek EMS, he oversaw the formation of one of the country’s first Tactical EMS Teams in 1994. The CCEMS team backs up local, state and federal law enforcement in case front line emergency medical care is needed at the point of wounding in high risk situations including active shooters and felony warrant arrests.

The Tactical EMS training program founded at CCEMS in 2000 draws medics from all over the world, some of whom are also firefighters and police officers. It’s the only such training program outside of Canada that is officially approved by the Canadian government.

Nealy serves as lead instructor and program director of the Tactical Medic Training Program and is an internationally recognized expert in the field.

As an outgrowth of this program, CCEMS now teaches every Police Cadet Class at the University of Houston Criminal Justice Academy advanced first aid, including CPR and the proper use of tourniquets. The course, which is taught to about 400 cadets every year, is known at Law Enforcement First Response – Tactical Casualty Care (LEFR-TCC) and focuses on hemorrhage control.

Cypress Creek also teaches these skills to officers and firefighters in departments all across the Greater Houston area and is working toward making it standard practice for first responders at the state and national level. That, along with civilian training known as B-Con or Bleeding Control is being advocated by a relatively new group called the Stop the Bleed Coalition.

In 2015, Nealy was chosen by the National Tactical Officers Association as its Tactical EMS Officer of the Year.

Lenny Reed Nominated Wren Nealy for the Award

2015 NTOA Award