During World War II combat medics are the soldier best buddies, their rescuers in times of trouble. In war you cannot expect when you will get hit or wounded or the worst get killed, as long the combat medics are there, it feels like you are backed by a hero. These guys are well-trained and focus their profession on helping those who are suffering from pain from bullet wounds, shrapnels or ordinary wounds, sometimes medics are also there to comfort those are suffering trauma from the battlefields. They really are heroes in fact most combat medics are killed because of their struggles to save those who are fallen, they defied what ever explosions and bullets crossing in their paths, what is important is to save a life of a soldier.

A combat medic is a trained soldier who is responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. Also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and non battle injury. Combat medics are normally co-located with the combat troops they serve in order to easily move with the troops and monitor ongoing health.

Combat medics are officially known by a variety of names. In the United States Army, medics have often been called 68Ws since December of 2005. In the United States Navy, they are known as Corpsmen and fill the combat medic role of the United States Marine Corps, which does not have its own medical personnel. Combat Medical Technicians (CMTs) in the British Army are members of the Royal Army Medical Corps.

In most armies, medics wear specific insignia, with a prominent Red Cross on a white background. Islamic countries use a red crescent instead while Israeli medics wear the Magen David Adom (a red star of David on a white background). These symbols signify to enemy soldiers that the medic is a noncombatant, providing medical care. For many years, most medics have carried at least a side arm like the handgun and knife (and now, frequently a rifle, carbine or submachine gun), to be used as a defensive weapon. Medical personnel may be armed, but may only use their weapons to protect themselves or the wounded and sick in their care. If they use their arms offensively (i.e. attacking or assaulting), or carry arms that qualify as offensive (such as a sniper rifle, machine gun or grenade launcher), they then sacrifice their protection under the Geneva Conventions. Generally, a medic holding his/her weapon is considered to be an armed, military threat. According to the Geneva Convention, knowingly firing at a medic wearing clear insignia is a war crime.

^{courtesy of wikipedia.com}

Duties of Combat Medics

^{courtesy of Alain Batens,website: http://home.att.net/~steinert/duties_of_a_wwii_combat_medic.htm}

Medical Corpsmen :

First-Aid Man, Hospital Orderly, Litter Bearer or Ambulance Driver have identical Classification or Military Occupational Specialty which is MOS 657 . (Classification is the awarding of a MOS number based on all pertinent data concerning ability, education, training, intelligence, aptitude, occupational history, military experience, interests, personal traits, and other demonstrated qualifications . Such information will be clearly recorded so that each individual’s skills will be evaluated and used to the end that the individual will be assigned to duties in which he is of the most value to the Armed Forces) .

Duties of a Medical Corpsman :

Administers first-aid treatment to sick, injured, or wounded .

Performs various duties to assist technicians in Medical Department activities .

Treats minor injuries and wounds, such as cuts, blisters, contusions, and lacerations, applying medicants and bandaging wounds . Makes and applies arm or leg splints, treats patients for shock, and stops bleeding by applying tourniquet at pressure points . Lifts patient onto litter, and carries to Aid Stations, Ambulance Loading Points, or Collecting Stations .

Performs routine duties in the care and treatment of patients, taking temperature and pulse readings, bathing and feeding patients, and preparing patients for operations . Makes beds, cleans and washes equipment and floors, and assists in sterilizing instruments . Performs related duties as directed .

Must have received medical basic training .

Other specialties & related MOS numbers

Enlisted Men

Dental Laboratory Technician (067) Instrument Repairman Non-Electrical (098) Laundry Technician (102) Laundry Maintenance Mechanic (104) Sanitary Technician (196) Radiology Technician (264) Optician (365) Orthopedic Mechanic (366) Medical Technician (409) Medical Administrative Specialist (673) Medical Supply Technician (825) Medical Laboratory Technician (858) Pharmacy Technician (859) Surgical Technician (861)

Officers

Medical Registrar (2431) Post Surgeon (3001) General Duty (3100) Gastro-Enterologist (3105) Opthalmologist & Otorhinolaryngologist (3106) Cardiologist (3107) Obstetrician & Gynecologist (3108) Urologist (3111) Dermatologist (3112) Allergist (3113) Anesthetist (3115) Communicable Disease (3116) Ophthalmologist (3125) Otorhinolaryngologist (3126) Neuropsychiatrist (3130) Neurosurgeon (3131) Internist (3139) General Surgery (3150) Thoracic Surgeon (3151) Plastic Surgeon (3152) Orthopedic Surgeon (3153) Venereal Disease Control (3155) Dental Officer (3170) Oral Dental Surgeon (3171) Exodontist (3172) Periodontist (3174) Prosthodontist (3175) Medical Inspector (3301) Medical Laboratory (3303) Radiologist (3306) Bacteriologist (3307) Biochemist (3309) Parasitologist (3310) Serologist (3311) Entomologist (3315) Pathologist (3325) Physical Therapy Aide (3418) Hospital Dietitian (3420) Administrative Nurse (3430) Operating Room Nurse (3443) Anesthetist Nurse (3445) General Duty Nurse (3449) Medical Supply Officer (4490) Laundry Officer (4830) Sanitary Engineer (7960)

The Function of a Field Hospital in the Chain of Evacuation During WWII

^{source: James K. Sunshine (One time T/3, 3rd Platoon, 42nd Field Hospital)}

A field hospital platoon supported an infantry division and was usually located at the level of the clearing station. Its function was to operate solely on casulties hit in the chest, abdomen, or large bone of the leg. Of course, other wounds were fixed at the same time, but the idea was to bring major surgery as close to the line as possible. All other casualties followed the route described by Winston, back to the evac hospitals. Each of the field hospital's three platoons consisted of about 60 enlisted men, six nurses, and about a half dozen surgeons.In the Korean Conflict field hospitals became MASH units. It would be good to have the work of the field hospitals accurately recalled on your site.

World War II and the Combat Medic

It wasn’t any different to be killed in World War II then it was during the Civil War or World War I. However, if the World War II GI was wounded by a bullet, shrapnel or fallen by a disease such as malaria, without killing him, his chances for survival were much greater then his ancestor in the Civil War. During the Civil War, 50 percent or more of the men admitted to hospitals died, during World War I, it was 8 percent, World War II, 4 percent.

During World War II drugs such as sulfa (Sulfanilamide) and penicillin were discovered and advanced surgical techniques were introduced to make these improvements possible, but the first reason for such successes in improving the mortality rate was the speed with which wounded men were treated. It began with the frontline combat medics. In the beginning of the war at training camps, medics had been mildly despised because many of them were conscientious objectors and often ridiculed. Sometimes called "Pill Pushers" or worse. But in combat they were loved, respected and admired. Medic Buddy Gianelloni recalls, ‘Overseas it becomes different. They called you medic and before you know it, it was Doc. I was 19 at the time."

The main objective of the medic was to get the wounded away from the front lines. Many times this involved the medic climbing out from the protection of his foxhole during shelling or into no-man’s-land to help a fallen comrade. Once with the wounded soldier, the medic would do a brief examination, evaluate the wound, apply a tourniquet if necessary, sometimes inject a vial of morphine, clean up the wound as best as possible and sprinkle sulfa powder on the wound followed by a bandage. Then he would drag or carry the patient out of harms way and to the rear. This was many times done under enemy fire or artillery shelling. In most cases, the Germans respected the Red Cross armband.

^{source: http://home.att.net/~steinert/}