3 Commando Brigade

(Topic of the Week) The Role of the Medic

I wholeheartedly agree with Guy's eloquent statement. AGM has improved the processing of med-ing people and definitely seems to cause less problems than XMed. The only one flaw is the whole "one-shot-kill" thing the AI seem to be pulling regularly since we started using it, but Im sure it's something we can deal with until theres a fix or a workaround.

As for procedure and what the medic role means, it's definitely a discussion worth having. There's definitely something taken away from the medic experience when everyone has the ability to heal the worst of wounds. A system that gave the medic the unique ability to heal certain, more serious injuries would make the role a lot more meaningful, and encourage SLs to think more carefully about where they deploy their medic. A lot of these are things that will more than likely be resolved when ACE comes around. It will give the medic more importance in healing, and also the weight limitations will stop everyone carrying 12 tonnes of medical supplies on top of all their other equipment.

yeah theres no doubt one hit kills are a thing, and should be in game. but lately it's been happening to a ridiculous degree. I'm not sure if that'#s down to a problem with the AI being overly accurate or if it's AGM, but it's not something I've noticed before and AGM is the only thing recent enough that I can associate with it. That said, I have been away for a while! It's not so much a matter of realism as it is a matter of keeping the game fun for people, rather than frustrating.

In regards of the one shot kill thing. I have not encountered it in a ammount where I think that it is unrealistic. It seems to happen especially in situations where it is realistic. Somebody is peeking out a window and is only exposing his head. When he gets hit he is getting hit in pretty much the worst spot. Xmed had nearly no instant deaths at all and you pretty much where on godmode once you were down. So that alone is one reason why I like AGM much more than xmed. Also keep in mind AGM is relatively new, SO i guess we can see some further improvement on all aspects of the medic system.


What should define the Medic?
The medic should be the person who is making sure the squad is being able to fight effectively by keeping its members alive and safe wounded members becoming a casuality.


What equipment should the Medic carry?
Keeping this related to AGM how it is at the moment. The medic should have a reasonable ammounts of medical supplies depending on the scenario. Different scenarios require different ammounts of medical supplies. However I think the priority should be like this:
1. Bandages - a lot of them. Depending how badly wounded a player is, It can take up to 8 bandages to fix someone up. My personal experience so far is that about 40 bandages work for 1.5 - 2 hours of gameplay when you are around two sections.
2. Morphine - it works pretty well so far in AGM and so far I made good experience with having about 15 - 20 morphine on me for 1.5 -2 hours of gameplay.
3. Epinephrine - so far you dont need this very often in AGM. So 10 Epipens works well so far.
4. Bloodbags - seems to be a weak spot of AGM so far. I never had to use them at all. However I usually carry 4 bloobags with me.


How exactly should the Medic "treat" the wounded?
Of course it depends a bit on the scenario, but I think the credo I have learned in the basic training goes along with my personal opinion. Win the firefight first / get the situation under control. One of the first things you learn as a real paramedic or in a simple first aid course is that your own safety comes first. As a medic you are in a very important role and a medic sprinting over a open field, bullets flying around him to save one guy is in general not a good thing. In order to actually help people you need to check that you dont put yourself in a situation where you need help. If that happens you have created problem that could have been avoided.

When it comes to the actualy treatment of wounded people, make sure you do it in a enviroment as safe as possible.
If possible find out if the guy has been usin morphine etc. already, so you prevent a overdose.
Say out loud what you are going to do (bandaging you). People around you are more aware that they might actually have to cover you and It is good to know for the player who is downed to know whats actually going on.

Guess I already answered some of the community views before the initial thread got updated. However here is the rest:

How to be an effective Medic.
Pretty much depends on the scenario you are playing as a medic. I think the key to be a effective medic is that you are in a position where you are able to suport your team, while keeping yourself out of danger as good as possible. This is a double edged sword while you sometimes have to go in the offensive to get to wounded players to simply make the area safe to treat people. Another important point is communication with the rest of your section, squad and team. If a player needs treatment from a medic it is important that the medic gets the call and proper info of the location of the wounded player and how the situation in general is.

Types of Medic.
In Arma I have only seen three typed of medics.

One is the normal combat medic was we know it, who moves actively with a section or squad.

The next one is a medic on platoon level who is pretty much a medic in standby who goes where he is needed at the time being,

The last type of medic I have seen was used when players who were really wounded had to be evacuated back to base, a field hospital or some kind of first aid vehicle. There you had 1-2 guys who were actually acting more as a doctor and not as a medic.