Members of the Morris County Office of Emergency Management’s Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Dr. Matthew Steenberg of the Morristown Medical Center Emergency Room, attended the intense 56-hour CONTOMS (Counter Narcotics and Terrorism Operational Medical Support) training this week. This grueling week-long training course focuses on Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) and trains individuals with prior emergency medical training and certifications to serve as tactical medics for front line providers. The CONTOMS program offers a nationally standardized curriculum, certification process, and quality improvement procedures to meet the needs of EMT’s, Paramedics, and Physicians who operate as part of a specialized response team.
Many of our SOG team members completed the training in April 2017, and we are proud to announce that all Morris County SOG members have now officially been trained and certified in the CONTOMS program. Morris County OEM serves as the lead agency for Morris County SOG which is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of members of Morris County OEM, Morris County Sheriff’s Office, Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, and SOG Medical Director Dr. William Gluckman. The team supports the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team (SERT/SWAT), Morris County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad, and the Morris County Hazardous Materials Response Team. Morris County SOG also provides support for other Morris County municipal based law enforcement specialized units.
Congratulations to Class 127 and all of our members who passed the testing and completed all aspects of the CONTOMS training program! Deputy Coordinator/EMS Coordinator Karl Klingener (MICP) of the Morris County Office of Emergency Management, Lieutenant Mark Chiarolanza and Lieutenant Moire Reilly of the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, and Dr. Matthew Steenberg of the Morristown Medical Center graduated the program today, June 23, 2017.
Training was limited to the agencies that had a SERT/SWAT team with a dedicated medical component or individuals who were providing medical support to a specialized unit.
