NZ Army takes out top medic title at Medic Match 22

The tri-service competition is designed to find the best all round medic and includes physical endurance activity, shooting, advanced medical skills, cognitive problem-solving and public speaking.

 NZ Army Staff Sergeant Andrew Kennedy won first place.

"The Medic Match competition has been a great physical and mental challenge. The event really pushed the body and mind to its limits. It was truly an honour to compete alongside such an awesome calibre of tri-service medics, in our unrelenting pursuit of excellence," he said.

All of the medics were competing for the first time. They ranged from recent graduates of Defence Health School, who will have just met the full medic competency requirements, through to medics who have spent more than 15 years in the field.

“The competition is designed to find the best all-round medic and there’s something to challenge everyone from any service,” Medic Match 22 co-ordinator, Lieutenant Aidan Bilbe, Assistant Training Officer Deployable Health Organisation said.

“Whether it’s a physical endurance activity, shooting, advanced medical skills, cognitive problems, public speaking or just turning up with the right kit, competitors need resilience, trade skills, and technical excellence to win.”

On day one the medics were tested for resilience at the shooting range at Auckland’s Tamaki Leadership Centre, followed by a ‘Rescue Randy’ scenario; dragging an 80kg casualty over 75 metres and applying a tourniquet and pressure bandage.

Core skills were focused on in day two, with competitors completing a swim rescue and resuscitation at Devonport Naval Base.

Four medics made it through to the third and final day, with clinical and technical excellence the ultimate test, contested at RNZAF Base Auckland. 

“The participants were very impressive this year and the top spots were hotly contested. It’s the first time the biennial challenge has been spread across more than one day, and the challenges were carefully designed so that they don’t favour one service or another,” Lieutenant Bilbe said.

Traditionally held in the Manawatū, this year’s competition was based in Auckland, at Tamaki Leadership Centre, Devonport Naval Base and RNZAF Base Auckland, Whenuapai.

Staff Sergeant Kennedy earned first place, followed by NZ Army medic Lance Corporal William Wallace in second and RNZAF medic Leading Aircraftman Scott Endres in third.