Dr. Heiskell passed away on October 1st, tomorrow family and friends will gather together to remember him.

Dr. Tang, an emergency physician, worked aside Dr. Heiskell during his countless years serving the Desert Regional SWAT.

“Lawrence and I met 30 years ago and at the time he had just moved down from Kern County, he had been sort of drafted to help out their SWAT team there and then he moved down to Coachella Valley.” Tang says about Dr. Heiskell’s journey to the Coachella Valley.

In 1995, Dr. Heiskell founded the International School of Tactical Medicine, this allowed Heiskell to create training courses for medics, doctors, and nurses.

“Lawrence probably has done more for law enforcement survival in the state of California than anybody else.” Tang states.

He was able to help educate police officers and first responders in tactical medicine for over 30 years.

Tang says that Dr. Heiskell certainly had an influence on people all over the world through his training and teaching people who became trainers.

Dr. Heiskell was not only a recognized medic, but a published author writing on tactical emergency medicine, however it was his love for serving his city that made him ever so special.

“He was a great guy. He was still a reserve officer with Palm Springs Police Department, and he was still on the SWAT team… and you know, I retired from that a year ago. But he was still doing it and involved a lot of time, commitment, and training.”

Dr. Heiskell published about sixty other articles and journals on tactical emergency medicine during his 30 plus year career.

He was a hero in the Coachella Valley and will be remembered for his diversity of work with tactical emergency medicine.

Remembering Local Hero Dr. Lawrence Heiskell