How teams are judged
Fair, transparent scoring is what makes the competition worth entering. Here is exactly how your team is assessed.
Built so judges watch, not write
The scoring platform was developed by a medic who competed in NMC25 himself.
The starting point was a problem experienced from the competing side: judges spending more time writing on a notepad than watching the team. NMC26 introduced a digital assessment form, built on the MARCH algorithm, that runs on phones and tablets - so judges can keep their eyes on the patient care while they score.
The system awards points for interventions, applies penalties for missed critical interventions, and gives bonus points for exceptional performance.
Guideline-neutral by design
Not all teams use TCCC or TECC - and they should not have to.
Many teams provide care according to their own organization's clinical guidelines. Teams are therefore assessed on good patient care and sound tactics in crisis and war, rather than on adherence to one specific protocol. That is what allows a military unit, a civilian ambulance crew and a police medic team to be measured on the same scale.
Quality control
- At least two judges score every team independently at every scenario, then agree on a consensus score.
- All judges attend a joint consensus meeting to clarify details and resolve inconsistencies before results are locked.
- In 2026 this produced 153 consensus scorecards in a single day - one for every team at every scenario.
- Judges add written comments where they matter, and every score and comment is shared with the team after the competition.
Feedback that reaches the team
In first aid, feedback while the experience is still fresh is worth a great deal. Nobody knows when the next casualty lands in front of them.
After the competition, every team receives all their scores, judge comments and a written after-action report through the NMC website.
The scoring itself is done entirely by human judges. AI is used only to compile the judges' scores and comments into a structured, readable after-action report for each team.