Army Combat Medic Specialist
Main Topic: Environment and Society
Secondary Topic: Human Geography
Overview: As a United States Army Combat Medic Specialist, you will administer emergency medical care in the field in both combat and humanitarian situations. You will serve as a first responder and triage illnesses and injuries to save lives. You will also train other soldiers in lifesaver/first responder courses. You will learn emergency medical and patient care, and the Army claims to have 57 nationally recognized certifications available through this position, giving skills and accreditations which are valuable in the civilian health care field.
Geography skills and awareness are important for any position in the Army, but particularly for combat medics. Combat medics are called to provide aid to soldiers (and sometimes civilians) and must be able to locate those soldiers using either global positioning system (GPS) devices (hand-held or in a vehicle) or using traditional land navigation techniques. Combat medics must have situational awareness at all times, with dangerous situations literally around every corner even as they work to save lives. They also provide aid to soldiers and civilians with different backgrounds, cultures, and languages, and being sensitive to those differences is helpful in fulfilling their mission.
Geographers at work: Medical geographer, human geographers
Recommended College Courses: Human geography, physical geography, medical geography
Skills: Map reading and interpretation; understanding and sensitivity to geographical variations in culture, topography, and climate; geographic information systems.
Occupation Group: Military
Learn more about Combat Medic Specialists from the U.S. Army: https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/science-medicine/intensive-care/68w-combat-medic-specialist.html
Written by Christopher Anderson