Medics in Florida will now be allowed to carry firearms to some of the most dangerous incidents

Medics in Florida will now be allowed to carry firearms to some of the most dangerous incidents including shootings, hostage situations and drug raids

  • The law allows trained medics to carry a gun to active shooter situations
  • It includes hostage incidents, narcotics raids, hazardous surveillance, sniper incidents, armed suicidal persons and high risk felony warrants
  • Paramedics and physicians will be allowed to carry guns but must undergo training and carry a concealed weapons license
  • Day-to-day medical call outs will not see armed medics present – only when they are working alongside police SWAT teams 

A new Florida law has come into effect which now allows medics to carry guns when they are responding to high-risk operations such as gunman incidents, hostage situations and narcotics raids.

The bill was signed into law last month and allows ‘tactical medical professionals’ to carry firearms when accompanying police SWAT or special-response units.

The ‘tactical medical professionals’ can include paramedics, physicians or osteopathic physicians however they must also have concealed-weapons licenses and firearms safety and tactical training with a law-enforcement agency.  

Florida law will now allow trained medics to carry a gun to active shooter situations and other dangerous incidents (file photo)

Paramedics and physicians will be allowed to carry guns but must undergo training and carry a concealed weapons license (file photo)

Paramedics and physicians will be allowed to carry guns but must undergo training and carry a concealed weapons license (file photo)

Medics responding to routine medical emergency calls and traffic stops will not be permitted to carry weapons under the new law but in some of the most dangerous conditions, medics responding to SWAT calls are still tasked with saving lives.

‘Our policy is very clear, ‘ said Chris Kammel, the EMS bureau chief of rescue for Martin County Fire Rescue. ‘You will not see any Martin County Fire Rescue employees getting out of an ambulance or a fire engine with a firearm on their side.

‘The overall view is we’re Fire Rescue,’ Kammel continued. ‘We have nothing to do with law enforcement. We treat people. We help make the day better versus being armed. That’s why the cops are there. We have plenty of officers here and sheriff’s officers and they do a great job, and they’re the ones that are trained for that.’ 

Republic Senator Ed Hooper made the case for the law and cited last year’s tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and an incident in Fort Lauderdale. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, pictured, signed the bill into law last month and allows 'tactical medical professionals' to carry firearms when accompanying police SWAT or special-response units

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, pictured, signed the bill into law last month and allows ‘tactical medical professionals’ to carry firearms when accompanying police SWAT or special-response units

‘This bill comes from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a bank in Sebring, the Fort Lauderdale airport, where mass tragedies have occurred and those medics are usually standing right behind the officer that they are assigned to and they are there with every drug that could keep you alive, if they survive without having anything to defend themselves with,’ Hooper said. 

‘They are there with every drug that can keep you alive if they survive, without having anything to defend themselves,’ he said. 

Some local fire agencies already use specially trained SWAT medics who are permitted to carry firearms, while other agencies are creating SWAT medic programs in an effort to keep the team of armed ‘high-risk’ medics separate from those who respond to day-to-day calls, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The medics will also not be armed when working under the direction of Fire Rescue. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk