USNSC reserves the right to modify the National TacMed Championship Competition and Eligibility Rules as necessary for management of the competition and safety.

Objective and Philosophy
The purpose of the National TacMed Championships (NTC) is to provide a professionally managed competitive experience for Tactical Medical personnel. The intent of the experience is to give tactical medics an opportunity to demonstrate their professional skills in a high-stress, competitive, team environment that simulates real world rescue situations and requires performance of job related tasks. The NTC is a game, no one misunderstands that, but we believe the NTC, when viewed as an evaluation of training, is the perfect tool to gauge tactical readiness and an excellent platform to observe and learn from others in the tactical medical field.

Medics and Weapons
The NTC recognizes that by policy of some jurisdictions some medical personal will be unarmed. The NTC respects this decision and does not require medical competitors to carry/have/bring an assigned weapon(s). However, the NTC philosophy is that medics should be capable of defending themselves and their patients in live fire rescue operations. In such cases medics should be capable of utilizing firearms basic to the tactical teams they support, when faced with such situations, and effectively employing them defensively.

The NTC will incorporate the use of weapons in its competitive scenarios and provide any weapons to be used.

Eligibility Rules

The National TacMed Championship requires two-person teams. Competitors must be assigned to the same law enforcement tactical unit. Teams (competitors) may be from any level of law enforcement: local, state or federal. At least one team member must be a certified medic (any level: EMT, EMT-P, Nurse, MD) and assigned to/in support of a defined tactical unit. Teams with one medic and one SWAT officer and/or two medics are permitted. For two-medic teams both medics must be assigned to support the same tactical unit. Two non-medical officers are not permitted. Teams that violate the eligibility requirements will be disqualified and not permitted to compete. Teams from military units that are not Military Police units, i.e., Infantry, Special Forces, Seal Teams, etc. are not eligible for the competition.
Teams violating eligibility rules will be disqualified. The NTC has the final decision on all questions of eligibility.

All teams registering for the competition will be eligible to win the overall championship and each of the individual stages.

Competition Rules

Individual Equipment
Generally, all stages will be run in full tactical gear: ballistic helmet (non-ballistic helmets are not permitted), Level-III soft-armored vest (plates not required) worn outside the uniform, web-gear, eye and ear protection, tactical BDU style uniform (BDU shirts may be short sleeve, no T-shirts of any type may be worn as an outer garment) and tactical boots. Specific individual gear will be identified for each stage to include the requirement for medic bags.

Team and Special Equipment
NTC will provide any special team equipment required for a stage (gas masks, litters, splints, bandages, IVs, tourniquets, shields, ladders, medical devices, etc.). Unless specifically authorized for a stage individuals/teams may not use non-provided NTC equipment. Teams planning on using special equipment not specified or provided by NTC for a stage must check with NTC Competition Marshall for permission prior to use. Teams using unauthorized equipment/gear (including weapons/ammunition) will be disqualified.
A mandatory equipment familiarization training period for provided gear/equipment will be held the day prior to the competition and a schedule will provided teams at on-site registration.

Weapons
The NTC will provide any weapons required for the competition. The competition will/may require use of the following weapons: pistol, shotgun, carbine (this may be a subgun). Weapons to be used in the competition will be identified to teams following their registration.

Ammunition
Teams must provide their own ammunition, including frangible where designated. Teams assume the risks associated with that ammunition and alibis for misfires and/or malfunctions will not be accepted.

No tracer, incendiary, armor piercing or steel core ammunition is allowed. If your ammo sticks to a magnet, don't bring it. Teams using unauthorized ammunition will be disqualified and billed for any damaged equipment/targets.

NTC will notify teams of ammunition requirements before the competition by providing the type and number of rounds required per stage. In some cases, NTC may provide optional ammunition for stages. In such cases these stages will be identified to teams in advance with the manufacturer, type, caliber and grain of the ammunition to be used. All questions regarding ammunition should be addressed to the NTC Competition Marshal before the competition to insure compliance.

Glossary of Terms

Appeal - An appeal is a request for a review of a team/individual performance to determine if the run was fair and/or scored properly.

Bonus - time subtracted from a Course Time awarded for hitting an optional target

Chief Range Officer (CRO) - The Officer in Charge of a NTC Stage and Range

Competition Marshal - Top NTC competition official

Course Time - elapsed time from the event start command until the last team member crosses the finish line with all individual and team gear in the finish box.

Did Not Finish (DNF) - failure of an individual to complete a stage he/she starts for any reason (injury, quit, etc.). DNF penalty is +60 seconds and loss of all assigned targets. Teams may carry incapacitated officers through the course if they so desire so that they finish, but cannot shoot his/her assigned targets. In such a case the team would not incur a DNF penalty (+60 seconds), but still lose the officer's targets not engaged by that officer.

Event/Stage - Scored Course of fire that is part of the competition

Gross Safety Violation (GSV) - inexcusable unsafe act of three types:

• Negligent Discharge (ND) - The discharge/firing of a weapon in an unsafe manner or unintentionally in which a projectile (bullet) leaves the firearm or the discharge of a weapon when not participating in an event.
• The willfully disobeying of safety rules and/or instructions from range/safety personnel. 
• Dropping a loaded weapon during a stage
  

Individuals who commit a GSV are disqualified from both the event/stage where the infraction occurs and the remainder of the competition. Individual disqualification is accompanied by a 2-minute team penalty and loss of all committing individual's targets (penalized 15 seconds per assigned target). However, another team member can replace a team member disqualified for a GSV for any remaining stages in the competition. However, if there is not another member from the team's unit on hand the team is disqualified from the NTC.

Hit - knocking down, exploding, marking, spinning a target with a fired round

Hold Box - A box location in which team members must stay until course officials determine it is safe to advance. Team members who are not in, do not stay in, or leave the Hold Box early/before released may incur a plus (+) 30-second penalty. Hold Boxes are usually associated with events that have multiple firing line/tasks with interlocking fields of fire. They are used to ensure safety during a course of fire.

Medical No Go - A penalty assessed when a required medical task is deemed not performed/improperly performed/performed substandard. Examples would be: tourniquet too lose, tourniquet comes off in transport, splints improperly applied, triage misses serious injury/wound, bandages not/improperly applied or come off. Medical task standards will be stated to the competitor prior to the start of a stage.

Minor Safety Violation (MSV) - Serious violation of safety procedures such as:

• Moving with a loaded weapon in an unauthorized area
• Loading a weapon before reaching a designated firing point
• The dropping of an unloaded firearm during the course of an event
  

Individuals who commit a MSV are disqualified from only the event where the infraction occurs and not the remainder of the competition. Officers disqualified for a MSV may participate in other events. Individual disqualification is accompanied by a 2-minute team penalty and loss of all targets (penalized 15 seconds per assigned target).

Penalty - assignment of time due to missed target or rules violation

Scoring - will be based on a Team Time and Place for each stage. Points will be awarded teams based on the order of finish with the fastest Team Time, first place, receiving one (1) point, second places two (2) points, etc., with the last place team for the event receiving the most points. At the end of the competition the team with the lowest point total will be declared the Champion. The lowest point total possible would be eight (8) points for a team that finished first in every event.
Start/Finish Box/Line - Box or Line behind/in which all-competing team members and their equipment must be to start a stage and cross to stop the clock to end a stage.

Team Place - The finish order of a team in a stage based on final Team Time. The team (stage) place is converted into points. Total Points are the sum of a team's stage points at the end of the competition and determine the overall order of finish for the championship.

Team Time - Applies to stage performance:

• Team Time = Course Time + Penalty Time - Bonus Time

Tie Breaker - Identified competition stage where team order of finish will determine overall USNSC winner when two or more teams are tied in points at the completion of all competitive stages. The tie-breaker stage for 2011 will be the Officer Rescue.

Bonus and Penalty Assessments

• Carbine/Pistol Bonus - -30 seconds per hit target
• Downed officer providing help to rescuing officer(s) - +30 seconds
• DNF Penalty - loss of targets and a +60-second time penalty
• Dummy Violation - abusing, throwing (even at the end of the event), or not carrying the dummy off the ground during movement - +60 seconds
• Dummy/Punching Bag Touching Ground (during Relay Event) - +15 seconds each occurrence
• Entering the Shoot House before the flash bang detonates/permitted - +30 seconds
• Failure to exit the Shoot House as a team (together) - +10 seconds
• Failure to negotiate an obstacle (HZ ladder, wall or culvert pipe, etc.) - +30 seconds per team member
• Gas Mask Violation - removing mask or cracking the gas mask seal before finishing the stage +30 seconds
• GSV and MSV disqualification from that competition/stage and the loss of the individual's targets for that stage and +two-minute penalty
• Handcuffs come off before Finish Box - +15 seconds
• Hold Box Penalty (leaving hold box early) - +30 seconds
• Leaving equipment - +10 seconds for each piece of equipment left behind after clock stops, teams will be directed to retrieve dropped/lost items before clock is stopped
• Medical No Go - +1 minute each penalty
• Pistol/Carbine/Shotgun miss - +15 seconds per missed target
• Procedural Penalties - +10 seconds may be assessed for failing to follow stage instructions/procedures as published or RO verbal directions
• Punching Bag Abuse Violation - bag dropped, abused, thrown (even at the end of the event) - +60 seconds
• Shooting No Shoot/Wrong Target - +30 seconds each hit
• Shooting a Hostage Target +two minutes each hit
• Shotgun Bonus Targets - -10 seconds per clay target hit in the air
• Sniper Miss - +60 seconds
• Tourniquets/medical devices improperly applied or coming off - +15 seconds

Appeal Procedure
All events are designed to be safe, fair and objective tests of a team's ability. Unfair or unequal situations will be addressed through the Appeal Procedure. Team Captain will verify target misses, penalties, bonuses and calculations of the Team Time following their run. Team Captains will verify the correctness of Team Time by initialing the scorecard before they leave the range.

The NTC will attempt to correct all unfair situations that apply to the entire competitive field. This may include throwing out scoring aspects of stages that are deemed unfair. One example would be dropping targets for scoring purposes due to a critical equipment failure during the competition that results in some teams not having an opportunity to engage the target as intended. NTC judgments in these unusual matters are final.

All appeals will be reviewed on their own merits on a case-by-case basis and judged accordingly. To appeal, the Team Captain must take his concern directly to the Chief Range Officer (CRO) along with the Team Scorer before the team leaves the course. If the appeal cannot be satisfied by the CRO the ruling can be appealed to the Competition Marshall. His decision is final. There are only four resolutions to an appeal:

• Appeal is denied - with no action taken
• Target miss count or timing error corrected
• Mistakes of addition/subtraction or assigning bonuses/penalties corrected
• An unfair run ruling with a team stage re-run awarded

A re-run of the course is the only remedy for an unfair run ruling. Teams may chose to keep their first run Team Time or may re-run the course a second time after a reasonable rest. The re-run may be conducted without a side-by-side opposing team. Teams that elect a re-run will be assigned the re-run Team Time or out come regardless of the outcome.

Situations that cannot be appealed:
Team mistakes, failures/malfunction of weapons or individual gear/equipment, ammunition misfires and weather.

Situations that may be appealed:
Course or prop malfunctions, supplied and required equipment malfunctions, which effect team performance, improper scoring by officials or math errors, interference or incident that directly affects the fairness or performance of an individual/team run, not the fault of the team or its supporters.