Can police officers who are former military medics be surgeons?

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I am writing a novel about a cop-detective who is chasing a fugitive who is on the run for killing his father. The detective is a former Army medic who possibly used to treat soldiers during combat and is now a successful decorated police officer but at times could be considered a dirty cop without others knowing. However I wanted to write it so that the cop eventually bonds with the criminal as he learns during the course of the manhunt through tips and tangible evidence that the suspect's father seriously abused him when he was a child and so he was reacting in self-defense. Maybe the cop begins to relate to him because he had a similar experience. So I wanted to write it so that at some point the cop's target suffers a stab wound to maybe the abdomen but instead of turning him in he risks his job/reputation to perform emergency surgery on him by drawing on his former medical expertise and then after he recovers he releases him and helps him to fake his death after that or something. But I am not sure if this part makes sense or not. I do know there are different branches of medical personnel in the military but I just want to convey all this so as to not make it seem too far-fetched.

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@FearlessDiva,

A surgeon must first be an M.D. There follows additional training and a residency. In other words, no.

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@FearlessDiva,

I was entertaining the back story that he probably assisted a surgeon while in the military but suffers from ptsd which might be why it is later rumored that he was triggered into illegally performing medical procedures on people suffering from medical emergencies while gleaning from what he had learned in the Army. Although Good Samaritan laws don't protect him he might be declared insane due to trauma from his military experience which might be why he is let off easy. However this may lead to him being asked to resign from the police department. However like I said this particular precinct is crooked so they might keep him on out of bias.

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@FearlessDiva,

Is this taking place in the present time? Because if it is, then it's likely that anyone seeing an accident or the like (or a sidewalk camera) would make it very clear to 911 that someone was injured. Handwaving it away with precinct corruption won't explain 911 operators, citizen bystanders, dedicated medical personnel, investigative reporters, etc.

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@FearlessDiva,

I think a highly experienced medic/corpsman could do an emergency procedure, but I wouldn't call it surgery. When I was in the Navy, our corpsman was, on paper at least, able to do an appendectomy underway if required. If you wrote that a guy was stabbed and your medic protagonist whipped out some dental floss, sterilized a sewing needle and put in some emergency stitches to stop the bleeding, that would be believable IMO. If you wrote that he performed a major surgery that is normally done by a team of specialists in a hospital over several hours, I'd have trouble suspending disbelief.

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@jespah,

The story actually takes place during the late 70's, no later than the very early 80's. I figure that during pre-internet, pre-mobile phone times that the characters would not have easy access to 911 and other such assistance. If I am not mistaken even 911 did not yet exist.

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@engineer,

Thank you engineer, I think I'll try that.

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@FearlessDiva,

I can't talk about America, but I was born in the early 60s, and for as long as I can remember we(UK) had 999 as our emergency number.

I can't see America lagging behind.

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I think there's a huge difference between being a surgeon, and carrying out a surgical procedure.

Clearly your protagonist cannot be a legally qualified surgeon, but that does not preclude him from carrying out an emergency procedure, if say they are miles from civilisation and someone's life is threatened if immediate action is not taken, say something like a tracheotomy, something relatively simple than can be performed with limited equipment.

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@izzythepush,

I guess the US lagged by a bit. 1968 for the US.

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@engineer,

I wouldn't rely on my memory, but 911 was in use throughout the 70s which is what the OP wanted to know.

I don't know why the numbers are different, maybe it's because ours has terrible jokes.

What do you get if you dial 666?

Policemen standing on their heads

Or the Australian police force.

Both pretty bad.

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