Rob Almgren earns EMT certification on path to ATF Special Response Team
Before becoming a special agent medic in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, better known as the ATF, Robert Almgren served as a medic and fireman with the Bountiful City Firearm Department for six years and then for two years as a tactical medic in the Salt Lake County Jail. Almgren, now 38, was also with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office (now known as the Salt Lake Unified Police Department) for six years as a deputy sheriff. He then served as a violent crimes/homicide detective at the Layton City Police Department, located about 20 miles north of Salt Lake City, Utah.
As an ATF special agent medic, Almgren is attached to an ATF Special Response Team based in Detroit, Mich. SRT agents investigate and apprehend some of the most violent criminals in the United States.
- ATF Special Response Teams Fact Sheet
“Our team serves high-risk warrants in the Midwest region,” Almgren said, referring to law enforcement operations related to arrest warrants, search warrants, home invasions, armed robberies, buy-and-busts, undercover work, protection details and dangerous vehicle stops and surveillance. “My job as a special agent medic focuses on delivering emergency medical treatment to ATF agents and suspects who are injured during the course of an activation.”
When he’s not deployed on an active SRT operation, Almgren is responsible for conducting criminal investigations as a special agent with the ATF St. Paul Field Division. He received EMT certification through the Emergency Medical Technician program at DCTC. The 6-credit program is approved by the Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board, or EMSRB, and involves 130 course hours, including eight hours of clinical experience and skills practice.
Deb Kaye, the EMT program’s instructor, remembers Almgren as an exceptionally bright student with a lot on the ball. “Rob had years of on-the-job experience coming into our program,” said Kaye, who noted that EMT recertification is required every two years, involving 24 course hours that cost less than $250 at DCTC. “He really understands the application of advanced medical support in high-pressure situations.”
“Medics (ATF’s Operational Medic Program or OMP consists of 70 tactical medics located in all 25 field divisions and headquarters. The OMP is made up of special agents who are specially trained to provide basic and advanced medical support during enforcement and training operations for the SRT and field divisions. The OMP also prepares a Medical Threat Assessment in advance of enforcement and training operations; and upon request the OMP provides basic CPR/first aid/trauma training to agents in the field.)”
—from the ATF Special Response Teams Fact Sheet
Almgren works in one of the most dangerous jobs found in U.S. law enforcement. SRT agents take part in multi-agency operations targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs, terrorist groups and organized crime enterprises. With teams located in Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C., the SRT averages almost 150 activations annually.
For more information about the DCTC EMT program, contact:
- Deb Kaye
Emergency Services Curriculum Director
651-423-8421 or 651-423-8235
EMT students after Jaws of Life training (30Nov10) with Apple Valley Fire Department Fire Station No. 3 (Instructor Deb Kaye center front in blue jacket)
