Nearly 1,000 IDF medical professionals faced realistic battlefield emergencies in the military’s first medical championship in three years, testing how lessons from the war have reshaped the way the army treats its wounded.
By Hezy Laing
A mannequin spraying artificial blood, soldiers acting out serious injuries and medical teams racing to treat multiple casualties were among the scenes at the IDF’s 10th Military Medical Championship.
Held at Training Base 10, the event brought together approximately 1,000 medical professionals from across the military, including doctors, paramedics, combat medics, nurses, dental professionals and mental health officers.
It was the first championship in three years, a period in which IDF medical teams gained extensive operational experience treating wounded soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon.
That experience became the foundation for this year’s competition, with organizers adapting the exercises to reflect updated medical procedures, new equipment and lessons learned during the fighting.
Three months of preparation
Preparing the championship took more than three months of professional and logistical planning, including the development of dozens of competition stations and detailed rules for judging each team.
A central control room received scores from the different stations every hour, allowing organizers to track performances and determine the winners in each category.
The exercises covered a wide range of medical responsibilities, from emergency treatment in combat to dentistry, mental health care, physical therapy and advanced medical services.
At the multidisciplinary stations, entire teams had to work together to treat casualties, moving from initial lifesaving care to more advanced procedures.
Testing decisions under pressure
To make the scenarios as realistic as possible, organizers used soldiers and other participants to portray casualties, alongside advanced simulation mannequins capable of spraying artificial blood.
Some stations recreated mass-casualty incidents at night or in mountainous terrain, forcing teams to assess injuries, prioritize treatment and coordinate their response under pressure.
The judges were not simply checking whether participants knew how to perform medical procedures; they wanted to see how they identified injuries, made decisions under uncertainty and managed a complicated emergency as a team.
Nurses and mental health professionals faced practical exercises of their own, using actors to simulate real-life situations, including a medical emergency involving a patient experiencing trauma during treatment.
“We look at whether they can correctly identify the casualty, prioritize actions properly, manage the incident, and maintain professionalism under pressure, uncertainty, and numerous external factors they might face on the battlefield,” said Major G., the head instructor of the Military Medical School.
Lessons from Gaza and Lebanon
Some of the competition scenarios were based directly on real incidents and lessons from the war, while others tested updated treatment protocols and medical equipment introduced during the fighting.
One particularly important challenge involved treating wounded soldiers when evacuation to a hospital could take considerable time.
Major G. explained that the organizers adapted evacuation times and included the possibility of helicopter evacuation to reflect actual battlefield conditions.
In southern Lebanon, a scenario involving a force operating 18 to 20 kilometers from the border required medical teams to consider how to keep wounded soldiers stable until they could reach a hospital.
“We’ve taken real incidents and lessons from the field and incorporated them into the competition scenarios,” she said.
Recognizing excellence across the military
The championship recognized winners across numerous categories, reflecting the wide range of medical roles and units represented.
Among the combat-unit winners, Maglan took first place among the special units, Battalion 202 won in the maneuvering forces category, Battalion 450 led the training-base category, and Battalion 49 won among artillery, rescue and border-defense units.
Other categories recognized medical personnel and teams working in areas including clinics, rehabilitation, physical therapy and emergency care.
Preparing for the next challenge
For the Medical Corps, the championship offered an opportunity to examine what its personnel had learned during the war and identify where training and procedures could improve further.
“Over the past three years, the medical teams have faced an enormous number of operational challenges and accumulated unprecedented experience,” Major G. said.
“That’s why it’s important to take a step back and assess what we’ve learned, how we’re improving, and how we’re incorporating those lessons into our training.”
The competition may have produced winners and trophies, but its larger purpose is to ensure that the experience gained in the field becomes practical knowledge that medical teams can rely on when the next soldier is wounded.
