Combat medic in the context of United States Navy Hospital Corpsman

In the law of war and international humanitarian law, a non-combatant is a person who is not taking a direct part in hostilities. This includes civilians; people such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent armed forces but are protected because of their specific duties; combatants who are hors de combat; and neutral persons, such as peacekeepers, who are not involved in fighting for one of the belligerents involved in a war. This particular status was first recognized under the First Geneva Convention of 1864.

Under international humanitarian law, certain non-combatants are classified as protected persons, who are to be protected under laws applicable to international armed conflict at all times.

Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, executed, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor their grave have been positively identified. Becoming MIA has been an occupational risk for as long as there has been warfare.

A medic is a person trained to provide medical care, encompassing a wide range of individuals involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. The term can refer to fully qualified medical practitioners, such as physicians, as well as individuals in training, such as medical students. It also includes emergency medical responders, such as paramedics and combat medics, who provide urgent care in pre-hospital or battlefield settings.

A mercy dog (also known as an ambulance dog, Red Cross dog, or casualty dog) was a dog that served in a paramedical role in the military, most notably during World War I. They were often sent out after large battles, where they would seek out wounded soldiers, and they were well-suited to the conditions of trench warfare. They carried first-aid supplies that could then be used by wounded soldiers, and comforted dying soldiers who were mortally wounded. They were also trained to guide combat medics to soldiers who required extensive care. Many mercy dogs were trained by national Red Cross societies to serve the country in which the specific society operated. The German army called such dogs medical dogs. As many as 20,000 dogs are estimated to have served as mercy dogs in World War I and World War II, and they have been credited with saving thousands of lives. Such dogs were also used by the United States in the Korean War.

Battlefield medicine, also known as field surgery and later combat casualty care, is the treatment of wounded combatants and non-combatants in or near an area of combat. Civilian medicine has been greatly advanced by procedures that were first developed to treat the wounds inflicted during combat. With the advent of advanced procedures and medical technology, even polytrauma can be survivable in modern wars. Battlefield medicine is a category of military medicine.