Squad – How to Medic Better

A step by step grunt proof guide to saving (and not becoming) a casualty.

Intro

Ok. You feel like you’ve mastered the basics of being a riflemen and fire team member, and you’re ready to help the squad survive by taking on the responsibilities of medic on top. This guide will hold your hand, and help you to be effective in your new role.

First, understand that being a medic does NOT mean you stop being a rifleman. You still have a rifle, correct grunt? This is especially true if your rifle is equipped with an optic device, although medic/riflemen with iron sights should still be able to deliver effective fire on targets.

That being said, your place within the squad is usually no longer directly on the front lines, or the flanks. The amount of time you spend shooting needs to be limited more than other riflemen, because you need to stay effective as a medic. DO NOT get yourself into a firefight unless you have a decisive advantage (ie surprise, more people, a superior position), and do not attempt to start firefights alone, or if your squad/fireteam is not already engaged.

That being said, you are not a surgeon operating out of some FOB, and your ability to heal yourself does not make you invincible. You are 1/4 of your fire teams ability to put lead down range, and that is how engagements are won.

No noob ever won a cap by dying for their team. They won it by making some other noob to die for their team!

Your Role in the Squad

Here is what other squad members are to you, and what you are to them.

Squad Leader:

A squad leader still carrying their rally point is a TOP PRIORITY casualty, and gets treated first. A rally point enables reinforcements, which can be highly effective at keeping soldiers in the fight. If you are finding yourself unable to deal with the number of casualties your squad receives, you should tell your squad leader, so that he knows your position is slipping.

Grenadier:

He has So Much Smoke. And he never uses it because he’s busying making things go BOOM. Ask him for help if you need concealment to reach a patient.

Automatic Riflemen:

The guy with the big gun. If you see a fire team get wiped, tell him and he can return fire, or at least suppress the enemy while you move.

Riflemen:

They also carry smoke. But why do they always look at you while you heal them?

Other Medics:

Do you really want to save this whole squad yourself? Wherever possible, do not stand too close to another medic, to prevent both of you from eating the same grenade.

Your Medic Bag

After your rifle, your medic bag (default key 5) is usually the most important piece of equipment you have as a medic. Nearly every squad member will carry bandages, but only a medic carries the medic bag. Note that the key 5 is used for bandages and the medic bag. if you have one out, you can switch to the other by pressing ‘5’ again.

Using your medic bag, you can fully heal your team members (and yourself), as long as they are still in the fight. Healing teammates and keeping them up is more effective than bandaging them once they’re down because:

1. It allows them to cover you with fire, or even smoke, which makes your job easier. Remind them to keep firing. People have this fascination with watching the medic work, so you say “I got you, keep firing”
2. They can come to you if you’re in a better position. (You can remind them too. You probably know what their health level is better than they do.)
3. The enemy is less likely to advance and overrun your whole Fire Team, because they haven’t scored a kill.

“I’m Down”

Headshots happen. Even a diligent medic will have teammates that go down. When they do, they’ll probably call for you with voice, or the in game button. You have A LOT more bandages than other soldiers, so as long as you are able to help, it’s on you. This begins a step by step medevac process.

First:

Communicate. Let the downed team member know that you are aware of them, and tell them you will help if you can. Find out whatever they can tell you about how they were killed. Make sure that your squad is aware of the downed member as well.

Second:

Decide: Can you actually save this patient, or is this one of those “get yourself killed trying” situations? If they were holding a corner you can probably just drag them back behind cover and bandage them up. It’s also possible that you won’t be able to help them until the enemies in your area are neutralised by you and your squad. If the patient can be saved, what do you need to accomplish that goal? Smoke? Suppressing fire? If you ask, your squad can probably help with that. If you need to drag the patient back before you patch them up, get up close, point directly at them and press the ‘ f ‘ key, then move back to cover.

Third:

Execute your plan, and get that soldier back in the fight.

Remember That Scene from Full Metal Jacket…

…where a sniper picks off one squad member in the open, and then like three more when they try to go and save him? Lets try REALLY HARD to avoid that.

This might mean making hard decisions, like leaving a player to watch a timer count down for 200 seconds, or even leaving a soldier to die. War is hell. It is not improved by you dying with them.

In some game modes, players bleeding out get 300 seconds before they go.

300 seconds is a LONG TIME, and firefights happen on the scale of seconds. A person who absolutely cannot be saved right now might not be a lost cause even one minute from now. Remember. A medic is also equipped with a rifle. It should go without saying that if you have an opportunity to shoot and kill, you should take it. If your rifle has iron sights, you are also equipped with binoculars and a fragmentation grenade, which you can also use to help your squad.

If you decide that a player cannot be saved, you will tell them theyll need to respawn. Waiting to be revived is boring but waiting to not be revived is much worse.