SF Featuring a Combat Medic?

[Joshua Jones]

In my SF WiP, I'm considering replacing an arc I find somewhat boring with an arc focused on a combat medic in a futuristic warzone. Any suggestions for stories with similar roles?

 

[hitmouse]

Just watch the Altman movie of MASH and adapt from there.

 

[Joshua Jones]

Just watch the Altman movie of MASH and adapt from there.

True. I grew up watching the series. I was honestly thinking more of the front lines type that tries to stabilize the wounded soldier before transport back than the field hospital type, but I think there is enough material there to work with. I'm just curious what else is out there, especially in the SF genre.

 

[Vince W]

Take a look at the Star Corpsman books by Ian Douglas. There are two books and are probably similar to what you're trying to do.

 

[hitmouse]

Are you
Looking for front line/ retrieval paramedic stories? Not quite the same as doctor stories and a bit more difficult to source.

Recommended:

The Sector General stories by James White. SF, lots of interesting aliens, stories built around diagnostics and ethics.

The House of God by Samuel Shem. Non-SF. Junior doctor life in a busy acute unit , New York ( I think) Lots of interesting psychology. A bit 1970s. Almost required reading for junior doctors.

The Diary of a Surgeon. Knyveton. Narrative of a surgeon aboard Napoleonic era naval ships. Should be available for free if you look.

The Aubrey//Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian.

Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures): true stories from a war zone. By Andrew Thomson. This is a core reference for anyone going to work for a ngo in a war zone ( I know a lot) and I think it would translate well to sf.

The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies. Non SF but entirely relevant and fascinating.

 

[Joshua Jones]

Take a look at the Star Corpsman books by Ian Douglas. There are two books and are probably similar to what you're trying to do.

Thanks for the suggestion; I'll take a look!

Are you
Looking for front line/ retrieval paramedic stories? Not quite the same as doctor stories and a bit more difficult to source.

Recommended:

The Sector General stories by James White. SF, lots of interesting aliens, stories built around diagnostics and ethics.

The House of God by Samuel Shem. Non-SF. Junior doctor life in a busy acute unit , New York ( I think) Lots of interesting psychology. A bit 1970s. Almost required reading for junior doctors.

The Diary of a Surgeon. Knyveton. Narrative of a surgeon aboard Napoleonic era naval ships. Should be available for free if you look.

The Aubrey//Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian.

Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures): true stories from a war zone. By Andrew Thomson. This is a core reference for anyone going to work for a ngo in a war zone ( I know a lot) and I think it would translate well to sf.

The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies. Non SF but entirely relevant and fascinating.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm more looking for the front line type (retrieval is relevant too, but more in that this character works with the retrieval personnel than directly), but clinical can be useful too. That said, my wife is an ER nurse, so I have a pretty solid source for present day clinical information.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I was going to mention James White too

 

[BigBadBob141]

REF: hitmouse.
Thanks to Nelson navy surgeon would warm their instruments before amputating .
He said the one thing he could remember about losing his arm was how cold the knife was!

 

[hitmouse]

REF: hitmouse.
Thanks to Nelson navy surgeon would warm their instruments before amputating .
He said the one thing he could remember about losing his arm was how cold the knife was!

Sounds like bluff and bravado doesn’t it?
A bit like the mosquito bite in Monty Pythons Meaning of Life.

I knew an old soldier who was hit by Japanese machine gun fire at Imphal. When his CO asked what had happened, he said, “Oh, I was kicked by a mule.”

 

[Joshua Jones]

Sounds like bluff and bravado doesn’t it?
A bit like the mosquito bite in Monty Pythons Meaning of Life.

I knew an old soldier who was hit by Japanese machine gun fire at Imphal. When his CO asked what had happened, he said, “Oh, I was kicked by a mule.”

Soldiers bragging about their endurance and pain tolerance? Surely not...

 

[BigBadBob141]

The strange thing about a lot of serious wounds is that at the time you don't know how serious they are.
Time and again people who were badly stabbed thought they were just punched, soldiers badly wounded by gunfire carry on fighting, not realizing just how bad their wounds are.
It's only later when the adrenaline and shock wears off that the pain really kicks in, the power of the human mind is truly amazing, some people have undergone surgery completely conscious with no anesthetics, just under a very light hypnosis, suffering no pain at all!