The annual TREXPO West conference and trade show starts Monday at the Long Beach (Calif.) Convention Center.

This year’s event includes new conference tracks for tactical medicine and campus safety. The all-day tactical medicine program is not just for SWAT operators who want to learn how to be SWAT medics. Any SWAT officer or patrol officer can benefit from the program.

Topics covered at the tactical medicine conference include: the liability issues that may arise from the work of tactical medics, tactical medical training issues, the role of the SWAT medic in monitoring and maintaining the health of the SWAT team, how to equip the tactical medic, and how to care for combat casualties. One class in the tactical medical track that is sure to be of interest to all police officers is “Wound Ballistics: What Bullets Do To Bodies.” Presented by Sydney Vail, M.D., the “Wound Ballistics” class will explain what happens to the human body when it’s shot, and it will dispel myths widely held by the law enforcement community.

Another new seminar track at this year’s conference will focus on security and response issues at educational and medical facilities. Sponsored by Campus Safety Magazine, a sister publication of Police, the Campus Safety Conference will be held Tuesday March 20, and it will include two seminars: “Gangs in Schools” and “Bridging the Cultural Gap Between Schools and Traditional Law Enforcement.”

In addition to these two new conference tracks, the TREXPO West conference program will include hands-on and classroom training with a wide variety of tactical, patrol, and anti-terror applications. Instructors include such noted police trainers as counter-terror expert John Holschen from Triple Canopy, use-of-force researcher and psychologist Dr. Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D., force-on-force training pioneer Ken Murray from Armiger Police Training Institute, less-lethal force visionary Commander Sid Heal from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, gang expert Richard Valdemar from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, SWAT pioneer Ron McCarthy, and close-quarter-combat experts.

Keynote speakers for TREXPO West are Lt. Col Dave Grossman, U.S. Army Ranger Ret., who will present “The Bulletproof Mind,” on Tuesday from 8 to 11 a.m., and Bruce Siddle police trainer and researcher who will discuss “Use of Force Human Factors” on Wednesday 10 a.m. to noon.

The conference and keynotes are just one part of the TREXPO experience. TREXPO West also features an exposition of the latest police products and a shooting day that allows attendees to shoot the latest police weapons and ammunition.

For more information, please visit www.trexpo.com.