Analytical Essay: The Role Of Medicine And Health In World War One

World War I was a war of innovation with new artillery and tactics, but also a deadly war in which approximately ten million soldiers died in or injuries sustained from battle. As injuries increased throughout the war, the need for medical assistance was constantly growing. Surgery is considered an art and like art, it evolved and new techniques were developed, making an injury that could kill someone survivable. For instance, in the Civil War most surgeons would immediately amputate and in World War I surgeons began trying much harder to save limbs. Blood transfusion allowed surgeons to reduce patient death from blood loss because of the ample supply of blood from fellow soldiers. Sanitation improvements led to fewer deaths from infection

In the article, “Unprecedented injuries from First World War spawned medical advances still used today", the first main breakthrough medically was blood transfusions. Blood transfusion was the process of transferring the blood of a person into the veins of another. However, this was a risky practice because it was difficult to get a compatible combatant to perform the procedure. Although it did help reduce the number of deaths in many wars to follow. The benefits of the medical developments that occurred during the war continued to save hundreds of lives each day.

Surgical procedures were as simple as having two assistants pinning the patient down while the surgeon cut off the soldier's wounded limb. These surgical procedures were usually done by a butcher. Wounds were caused by muskets or the bayonet. In order for the wounds to be treated, in a surgical procedure, the surgeon would use his amputation knife to cut down to the bone of the damaged limb. Only thirty-five percent of the patients who went through this procedure survived and the rest died due to shock, loss of

During the Civil War, medicine was not at all advanced and many soldiers died due to this. Whether the soldiers were fighting for the Union or the Confederacy, they faced many difficulties on the battlefield that affected their health greatly. The conditions were rough and there were never enough medical personnel to properly treat the injured or ill soldiers. Even though there were many flaws in this system, it is from these flaws that current medical practices were established by a few important people at this time.

Most hospitals took place in warehouses, churches, and barns. “They were divided into three sections, surgery, injury, and diseases”. (Battlefield Medicine) Common hospitals were located near the battlefield, so it would be convenient for the people that were injured. If it was a serious injury then they would be taken to a larger general hospital in bigger cities. The hallways in the hospitals were very narrow units with multiple windows. They included supplemental ventilation, specific heat sources, bed placement, and a location for the support team in the hospital. As the war went on the hospital and their technology became more advanced and less

They carry three lightweight, Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (“drash”) tents that can be attached to one another to form a 900-ft2 facility. Supplies to immediately resuscitate and operate on the wounded arrive in five backpacks: an ICU pack, a surgical-technician pack, an anesthesia pack, a general-surgery pack, and an orthopedic pack.” They have come up with new ways to check for certain problems without big, expensive, and heavy equipment. Instead of using radiography or angiography equipment, surgeons feel for fractures and if necessary use braces in an attempt to fixate the bones.

The American Civil War was a horrible time of pain and suffering, especially to those who fought in the war. The Civil War caused hundreds and thousands of deaths, yet many of these were not the result of battle wounds. About two thirds of deaths from the Civil War were attributed to disease. Of course, even though the majority of soldiers that did not die during the war left without limbs, and left with trauma and disabilities, the results could have been much worse without the medical advancements we gained during the war. Technical advances in hygiene, surgery, and medical efficiency all became substantial outcomes that furthered medical practices and helped shape medicine in the modern age.

Imagine going through all the pain in surgery and infections. Medicine during the Civil War can be compared to today’s medicine. For instance the surgical instruments, infections, where surgeries took place and where they take place now, sanitized and unsanitized tools and equipment. Today’s infections have changed greatly over time due to the change in sanitary conditions and the equipments surgeons use today.

For centuries, war has consumed millions of souls. It has caused heartache and has torn families apart. Today, properly educated doctors and nurses can treat wounds and injuries with proper care, but this taken for granted assistance wasn’t always readily available. In the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, nearly 30,000 American soldiers died. However, rather than being killed on the battlefield, the majority of soldiers died while being treated in medical tents. More often then not, the work of doctors and surgeons resulted in worsening the state of their patients, frequently causing their death. Medical practitioners did more damage than deed to soldiers during the American Revolution to the War of 1812 because of their little attention to individual patients, housing for patients, poor work ethics and habits, lack of knowledge and because major medical advancements weren’t achieved for another half-century.

The Civil War was fought with much carnage, and was one of America’s most ‘uncivilized’, wars with a soldier’s chance of survival about twenty-five per cent. While many were killed by other soldiers, usually through bullets, a large portion died as a result of disease such as: dysentery, mumps, pneumonia, typhoid fever, measles, and tuberculosis, diseases that are curable today. These diseases were spread through the horribly sanitized camps found on both sides of the war: Confederate and Union. And while many died from disease, some died from other soldiers’ bullets; these deaths may have been prevented if the technology, or overall techniques used by surgeons, during this time period were more up-to-date, as amputations were the main procedure

The old battlefield technique of trying to save limbs with doses of TLC and wound-cleaning rats and maggots quickly fell out of favor during the Civil War. There were too many soldiers getting wounded, and war surgeons quickly discovered that the most efficient way to stop deadly infections was amputate them. Amputation saved more lives than any other wartime medical procedure. War surgeons lost only about 25 percent of their patients—compared to a 75 percent mortality rate among similarly injured civilians at the time.

The second wound you can get on the battlefield is a gunshot wound from a pistol or a rifle. One way to treat any gunshot wound, more specifically in the arm or leg, is to apply direct pressure on the wound and to lift it above the heart to stop the bleeding. Gunshot wounds were one of the most common injuries on the battlefield and they had to be prepared to treat them and make sure their patient or soldier

There was more to World War II then just soldiers battling in the front lines.Soldiers were also battling for their lives due to infections and diseases. Although when most people think about World War 2 they think about the Nazis, the Holocaust, or Pearl harbor, behind the scenes medicine was part of what kept us running. Soldiers relied on medicine heavily during World War two and the need for treatments were great causing a rush on medical advances. A lot of the medical advances made during World War 2 would benefit us even after the war ended.

The medical practices used during the civil war were unsanitary and rushed. Surgeons re-used tools without cleaning, and lack of soap meant that they did not wash their hands frequently. Surgeons moved from patient to patient with bloodstained hands and clothes, and no thought that they might be harming their patient. In Document B, a surgeon is described as moving from patient to patient ; “As fast as possible he attended to their hurts, and in a short time had been compelled to perform a number of capital operations.” (Doc B). The many wounded men coming in from the battlefield made it difficult for surgeons to take their time, so they moved at

World War Two, a harsh period of time in the 1930s-1940s, filled with controversial arguments, political battles, fights to the death, but most importantly, medical advancements. Did you know that without the research and discoveries made during World War Two, our medical programs would probably be lacking the information we have today? It’s very true, and in my opinion, the war strengthened our medical abilities, and it really put our world to the test. New medicine had been discovered, while old medicine had been improved; horrible medical experiments performed by the Nazis occurred during this time; but most importantly, World War Two has affected our medical programs that we have presently. These