The Complete Field Doctrine

Most medics are trained to treat the patient. Rescue Specialists are trained to read the mission.

The Complete Field Doctrine is the full operator reference for anyone working helicopter hoist rescue, SAR, or high-risk EMS — built from 20+ years in flight medicine, hoist ops, and field training. This isn't theory. It's the doctrine that gets used on scene: scene size-up, downwash, cable discipline, load control, patient packaging, insertion and extraction points, crew coordination, and the decision-making that keeps the whole mission alive — not just the patient.

Illustrated edition — real operational photography throughout, not stock art.

What's inside:

Part One — The Mission Growing Into the Mission, Learning When to Speak, Building the Sight Picture.

Part Two — The Scenario A full walkthrough of a real-world callout — the dispatch, the read, the weather call, fuel and time, the decision, the insertion, and the work at the survivor.

Part Three — The Doctrine 15 chapters covering treating the patient vs. reading the mission, communication as a rescue tool, aircraft dynamics, connecting before you disconnect, self-preservation checks, appreciating the abort, training instead of checking boxes, building culture, developing new team members, gear and simplicity, and the Hub City Rescue philosophy.

Part Four — The Toolkit The Five Ps, after-action questions, a full field lexicon, and a standards quick-reference card you can actually use on scene.

Who this is for: Rescue specialists, flight medics, hoist operators, SAR team members, and EMS crews who want to think past the patient and into the mission.

Read the mission. Treat the patient. Self-preservation.