HECU Medic

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HECU Medic
General information
Faction	Hazardous Environment Combat Unit
Type	Combat medic
Individual information
Weapon(s)	9mm Pistol Desert Eagle
Equipment	Hypodermic Needle Glasses PCV
Game information
Entity	monster_human_medic_ally
Designer(s)	Stephen Bahl
Voiced by	Jon St. John

 

"Keeping you in one piece is proving to be quite a challenge."

― HECU Medic

The HECU Medic is an HECU class formally introduced as an ally in Half-Life: Opposing Force. He is trained in first aid and emergency surgery and has the ability to heal wounded soldiers in the field.

Overview

• Much like Black Mesa scientists, the player can use the Medic to be healed by standing in front of him and pressing the Use key. He will give 1 health point with his syringe when pressing the Use key once, and will recharge the player's health as long as the Use key is held or until the health is full, much like a Health Charger. While doing so, he will say sentences like "This might sting a bit" or "Keeping you in one piece is proving to be quite a challenge!". Medics can also heal other squad members.
• During combat, other soldiers may call for a Medic and one will run to their aid if he can hear them. However, he will only heal them if he is not already following the player.
• Medics carries limited healing supplies. If used repeatedly, a Medic will no longer be able to heal the player or the rest of the squad.
• Medics come equipped with either Desert Eagles or 9mm Pistols and are best kept safely behind the front lines.
• Medics are first introduced during the training chapter, Boot Camp, during the "Squad Training" exercise.

Behind the scenes

The Medic healing other soldiers who call him only if he has not been commanded to follow the player was added in case the player did not want the Medic using his valuable supplies on NPCs or to interrupt his alert combat mode. This feature was added after the manual had been written, and had to be addressed in the game's readme file instead.

The HECU marines sometimes call for a medic when injured in the original game, even though they are never seen in the game, or mentioned in the source code for the game. According to a blog post (from July 9, 1997) on Steve Bond and John Guthrie's personal website, the player could piss off the soldiers by killing their medic. It is unknown if they were implemented into the game. The medics are also mentioned in the instruction manual for the German version of the game.

Trivia

• The designation for medics in-game is incorrect, as the United States Marine Corps have corpsmen, not medics. A corpsman would usually be dispatched with a Marine unit since they fall under the US Department of the Navy.
• HECU Medics wear a red cross symbol on their helmet and gear, however most U.S Armed Forces would not sport the Red Cross symbol anymore. This is due to insurgents and opposing belligerents in modern day warfare, actively targeting medical personnel and neglecting the Geneva Convention standards of war. As a result, military units will not brandish the symbol in active combat zones.

Gallery

• 

  Early screenshot.

• 

  Unused head model.

• 

  High Definition version.

• 

  Unused head model.

• 

  Unnamed Medic on Goose 7.

• 

  A Medic heals a wounded Engineer.

List of appearances

Main games

• Half-Life (Mentioned only)
• Half-Life: Opposing Force (First appearance)
• Half-Life: Blue Shift (Mentioned only)
• Half-Life: Decay (Mentioned only)

Other

• Half-Life: Day One (First mentioned)