Tactical Medical Endorsement

[troglodyte]

I got a letter today from the RSD that said since I was a First Responder Instructor that I now am going to have a Tactical Medical endorsement added to my profile. A Power Point presentation is forthcoming to my email.

I never heard anything about this and this forum is pretty good about getting the heads up. Anyone know anything about this?

[Mike S]

Here's what little I know about it, & I am also waiting for the email with additional info. Once we're able to see the slides & materials we'll know if the below 'assumptions' are on- or off-base.
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BLUF: My gut feeling is it will be the same exact curriculum as the On-Duty 1st Responder Course, but with a different target audience.
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The Texas Legislature passed HB 4995 last session, which amended the same law that established the On-Duty 1st Responder Course. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/b ... navpanes=0

After taking the course & receiving their certificate from the DPS, if during the course of their duties a Tac Med Professional enters an otherwise prohibited location while armed with a handgun, they would have:
- a Defense to Prosecution for 30.06 / 30.07 locations; &
- exemption from TPC 46.02 & TPC 46.03 )("does not apply..." is the language used)). The 46.03 statutorily prohibited locations like hospitals; schools; racetracks; courts; 51%; etc don't apply, BUT only if actually responding to an event there.
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So, in my estimation, at least according to what's in the legislation, nothing looks different from the 1st Responder Course.
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"Tactical medical professional" defined as:

(1) is a physician licensed under Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code, or emergency medical services personnel, as defined by Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code;  and

(2) is employed or otherwise appointed by the head of a law enforcement agency to provide direct support to a tactical unit of the agency responding to a high-risk incident by providing medical services to victims, officers, and other persons at the incident.

Reference: Section 411.1884, Government Code https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/government ... -411-1884/

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To further drill down on the "who's included" from subparagraph (1) above;

physician licensed under Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code
Subtitle B, Title 3 is lengthy & convoluted, but the gist is "The Texas Occupations Code (TOC) defines a physician as a person licensed by the Texas Medical Board (TMB) to practice medicine in this state, the terms "physician" and "surgeon" being synonymous"

Reference: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?link=OC
((simplified version found here: https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=4829 ))

- and -

"emergency medical services personnel" defined by Sect 773.003, Health & Safety Code

(10) “Emergency medical services personnel” means:

(A) emergency care attendant;

(B) emergency medical technicians;

(C) advanced emergency medical technicians;

(D) emergency medical technicians--paramedic;  or

(E) licensed paramedic.

Reference: https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/health-and ... t-773-003/ );

[Paladin]

So it is the same curriculum as First Responder. In Feb 2026 DPS indicated they are the same course. They indicated RSD considers them separate courses, requiring separate paperwork sent in for each class. The curriculum authors indicated in Feb they are working with RSD to consolidate things so we could teach TacMed and First Responder students together and submit on the same paperwork, but they don't know when or if that will happen.

The great thing about TacMed is that it is NOT limited to rural counties.