Ex-SEAL: Battlefield medical techniques needed for civilian shootings

“Butler, who served in the early 1970s in both the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) and the SEAL teams, went on to become a medical doctor in the Navy’s Medical Corps, and was one of the pioneers of what later came to be known as TCCC. The system of procedures, battlefield interventions, treatments, and protocols that make up TCCC are credited with saving thousands of lives in the past 15-plus years of American combat.”—Excerpt from Frumentarius’s article about Dr.Butler 

PENSACOLA, Fla. — An eye surgeon and former Navy SEAL who helped transform battlefield medicine is on the front line of a national push to save the lives of civilians targeted in mass shootings and terror attacks.

Frank Butler, 67, of Pensacola was the command surgeon for U.S. special operations when American forces entered Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Because of his work, all American soldiers deployed in war zones today carry tourniquets as part of their standard-issue equipment — a move credited with saving hundreds of lives.

Read more at USA Today.

Photo courtesy of Frank K. Butler