Medic! Medic!" the wounded soldier calls. Chaos, darkness and smoke add confusion to the battlefield scene. There is only one medically trained individual present to render emergency care: the soldier-medic. How do you prepare a 20-year-old combat medic for the intensity and chaos of war? The U.S. Army has a soldier-medic training program that works to do just that, with the ultimate goal of saving the lives of American soldiers in combat.

     Since many medics in the National Guard and Army Reserve don't work as medics in their civilian jobs, the Army developed a program to provide necessary medical training prior to these medics' deployment for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. This course was designed to provide intensive medic training, refresh and update skills, and reorient the focus of soldier-medics from civilian prehospital care to lifesaving battlefield skills. This was a large undertaking. The Army and Army Medical Department Center and School developed a plan to mobilize Army Reserve nurses, medics and other medical personnel with teaching experience to take on the task of providing pre-deployment medic training.

     The Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) course is a concentrated 21-day program that begins with a 12-day EMT-Basic course and refresher. Army medics have previously completed medic training, and many hold certifications as NREMT-Bs. The Army now requires all medics to transition to a minimum of NREMT-Basic status. The PDT course provides an opportunity for the noncertified medic to sit for the National Registry exam and meet this transition requirement. This certification not only provides a basic knowledge of emergency medical care, but also leaves the soldier-medic with a marketable civilian skill once he or she leaves the Army.

     The next five days of the PDT course are dedicated to Combat Medic Advanced Skills Training (C-MAST). It is during this course that the soldier-medics alter their focus from civilian prehospital emergency medical training to combat medical skills that save lives on the battlefield. The final three days of the course consist of "lanes" training under simulated battlefield conditions that allow the medics to utilize skills learned in the classroom. This training combines all the assessment and treatment skills learned during the previous 18 days and requires the medic to make instant decisions regarding triage and treatment under increasingly difficult conditions.