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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
Hey lawyers!
I had a guy tell me today "Medics can only be defensively armed" and I think we touched this subject before. I was only ever a SOMED, so I don't know about regular medics. I was reading here:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-10/Ch4.htm#s3
Which I think is the applicable piece, but my take is it only applies to members of a medical unit, not line medics in an infantry outfit. Anythoughts? |
This is not my area, and I'd probably need at least a few hours in an adequate international law library to figure it out definitively. But here are some uneducated and possibly incorrect thoughts. I'm sure AL will be along shortly with the truth.
I don't see a definition of the term "medical unit," but one would think that it means a unit that is principally medical in purpose. You seem to be a soldier with medical training, not a medic who may happen to be carrying a sidearm, so it probably doesn't apply to you. Then again, I can think of some circumstances where it might. For example, if you are not attacking anyone and focusing entirely on treating wounded, it might apply. Or at least that seems to be the intention of the thing.