The War With Great Britain For Their Independence

One of the first nurses to see battle injuries was Ms. Fannie Beers who described the arrival of the first 200 soldiers at a makeshift hospital “they came with some form of disease whether on foot or stretcher, barefoot or on swollen feet”. (12) The battlefront hospitals were only that of open area sites with conditions anything but sanitary, with blood, human waste and amputated limbs covering the ground. The first battle women encountered was with their selves. Only their strong religious faith steeled them against sickening sights of disease and infection. These nurses learned to rein in their feelings and believed patients redemption hallowed their work.

At the time, medicine in both countries (truthfully worldwide) was still very primitive. There were surgeons who were part of the military, and medics were very sought after. There was little they could do to help, however. According to the Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, “the great majority of wounds and of sickness should be treated by the regimental surgeon,” (Sherman 393). The treatment given back then to a wound from a gunshot wound was amputation without anesthesia- as it would not be invented yet for about a century- and after surgery, doctors did not wash their hands or instruments, exponentially increasing the likelihood of infection of a wound and lowering the likelihood of survival. The Union had an advantage in this, though not due to superior doctors or medicine. The Union had roughly four and a half times as many citizens as the

Some had barely seen an operating room, let alone worked in one" (Scannell-Desch, 4). Along with the lack of experience, to make things worse, the nurses would receive 20 to more than 100 patients within a few hours. An army nurse recalled, "The day I arrived in the O.R., we had a 'mass-cal', 185 casualties. They came in Chinooks (large helicopters). They were on the floor, all over. Every Chinook was overloaded…I just remember that every ward in Nam was full. We had body bags lying around the hospital and the morgue was full" (Scanell-Desch, 4).

At the start of the Civil War, the way hospitals were organized and took care of their patients was disastrous in every single aspect of its supposedly “well-thought out” system. To be fair, the shelling of Fort Sumter caught both parties involved quite unprepared for the catastrophic number of casualties to occur. No military leader or general surgeon had planned for such a large-scale conflict. Even in times when the war seemed to “lull” in its rhythmic pace, the Medical Department was greatly understaffed and overworked. Only 114 doctors served the 16,000 men serving in the U.S. Army in 1861, mostly in garrison hospitals. After battles, surgeons set up hospitals near the battlefield to care for patients until they had recovered sufficiently enough to

Soon after the start of the war, Mary began visiting nearby solider camps to deliver food and treat illness. At first both the officers and surgeons found Mary antithetical, but soon after they began respecting her. In June 1861, Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a well-known hospital matron, arrived in Cairo and gave Mary a basic nursing course. She then began working as a full-time nurse in both the hospitals, solider camps, and the neighborhoods surrounding them. In November 1861, Mary worked to nurse wounded soldiers at the Battle at Belmont, Missouri. As stated in the article “Mary Jane Safford” by Maggie Maclean, “During the battle, she courageously treated the wounded by walking the battlefield with a white handkerchief tied to a stick as her flag of truce amidst enemy fire.” She helped to transport more than 300 soldiers back to hospitals in Cairo. In February 1862, Safford worked with Bickerdyke to transport soldiers from Fort Donelson to Cairo. She worked in the hospitals for ten days with little sleep. This made Safford ill herself, and she was sent to nurse on the boat “City of Memphis”. She stayed on the boat as it made 5 trips transporting wounded troops, then made her way home to her brother’s house and to spend some time recovering. As stated by Mary Livermore in the article “Mary Jane Safford” by Maggie Maclean, “Miss Safford commenced her labors immediately, when Cairo was occupied. I think she was the very first women who went into the camps, and hospitals in the country; I know she was in the West. There was no system, no organization, nothing to do with. She systemized everything in Cairo, furnished necessaries with her own means, or rather with her brother’s, who is wealthy; went daily to the work, and though the surgeons and authorities everywhere were opposed to her efforts, she disarmed all opposition by her sweetness and grace

This allowed the wounded to receive a second shot at life by receiving faster care by being at the front of the line. Letterman’s plan was even more successful because of the help of a nationwide network of railroads, hospital ships, philanthropists, and hospitals that changed through the efforts of individual citizens and military surgeons. As the war raged on, medicine and healthcare was revolutionizing from a rag-tag group of barely-educated doctors into a system that included multiple and specialized healthcare providers (Hawk). By 1865, once Letterman’s plan was in full motion, military medicine practitioners everywhere recognized the benefits of having the wounded rest and recover in general hospitals located in cities rather than convalesce in tents that were supposedly called “hospitals” near the battlefield. Patients’ quality of life improved by allowing them to rest in city hospitals, where infection was not as present compared to the garrison hospitals

In 1776, rebellion brakes out against the new British regulations and Britannia declares war against the colonies. The Brits dominates the war until France, The Netherlands and Spain become involved in the war, and support the colonies. In 1883, The Great Britain has to give up the war in fear of losing more than just the American colonies. The war is officially over, and the thirteen states is

“War is the only proper school for a surgeon” - Hippocrates. That would be the case in the early 20th century. The early 20th century is commonly associated with war, blood shed and conflict. During this time is when lots of people died. People died due to many things; war or battle, lack of medical care, or even due to an epidemic. Medical care was rough back then, the shortage of doctors and the lack of medical facilities made the death toll higher. Today, we see less people die due to epidemics, lack of medical care and even less due to battle. Thats all possible because medical care during the 20th century is very different from today, given that today we have better facilities, more doctors, and more advanced technology.

Ambulances were further developed from the base model which already existed. The ambulance’s main purpose was to speedily take injured soldiers from the battlefield to the medicine and doctors in order to receive appropriate care. Jonathan Lettermen created the ambulance that was used for the Civil War; this ambulance could carry three injured people at a time along with all the supplies necessary. This ambulance was not the ideal ambulance, but worked for the occasion. The ride was extremely bumpy and unstable, but they accomplished their job of taking people from the battlefield to the hospital area. Incredibly, during the Civil War there was multiple “trains” of ambulances, each train consisted of forty ambulances, and there was always forty ambulances on call at a time (Frederick). They were stocked with supplies and stretchers for those unable to get in unaccompanied. The Ambulances were exceptionally helpful during the Civil War, the battle of Antietam was considered the bloodiest day of the Civil War. There were over twenty three thousand casualties during the Antietam War, and in twenty four hours the ambulance corps had all the dead men off the field. At the end of the war, the ambulance was widely recognized as a large lifesaver (Oshinsky

According to U.S. Army Medical Department (2015), the congress authorized the establishment of the Army Medical Service, which today is known as the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) on July 27, 1775. The establishment of the Medical Services paved the way for the United States Army to serve the people (Soldiers and civilians) by providing medical support. Moreover, trained medical personnel to effectively treat illnesses and prevent disease as they occur throughout time. This is important because the establishment of AMEDD sets forth the standards of care for the ever growing AMEDD personnel of today. These accumulated experiences obtained from significant milestone are responsible for creating the present medical services (i.e.., Medical Corps, Nurse Corps, and Dental Corps) that provides care to the wounded and sick. To me, AMEDD regiment serves as a backbone to my dedication to

During the early years of the Civil War, medical care for the troops was rudimentary, and thousands of soldiers died from infections and disease in army hospitals. In response, the world’s first professional nursing service was created by American hero Clara Barton. Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Barton was a humble clerk who transferred to the Army Quartermaster’s Department in 1862, grew dedicated to hospital work, and became a beloved and skilled nurse. Nicknamed “The Angel of the Battlefield”, Barton was the most famous women in the

Early battlefield medicine operated on a system of first come, first served, but this was replaced during the Civil War by the universal application of triage as part of the Letterman Plan. American surgeons did not invent triage, it was already being used in Europe and Russia, but the Union Army was the first to apply it formally on the field. This began in field hospitals where medical officers were assigned to act as “dressers,” who prepared patients for surgery and organized them in order of urgency. Those who were considered hopeless were made comfortable and treated last, but as the war progressed, this system of prioritizing the wounded was extended to forward “aid stations” and the order of evacuation from the

During the time of the great war many people were getting injured and even dying in great numbers. That being said, the room in the hospitals was rapidly decreasing. Generally there was anywhere from soldiers within one room. Each room reeked of human flesh decomposing or bile. The medical personnel of the time would take an initial look at patients and decided to save the ones who actually had a chance at going home to their families. When deceased soldiers were brought to the hospital people tried to identify the ones they could and when that was done the dead bodies were burned in a big hole. However, this changed when people such as Florence Nightingale came into the picture and began working for change in the hospitals. Because of her

Garrett Avery Professor Markus Jones English 101 19 November 2015 Research Paper: Nurses on the Battlefield War is ruthless and no one is spared its wrath. Soldiers meet their end on the battlefield and in hospitals where nurses must wage their own war. We all know about the nurses in hospitals and local clinics, but what about the nurses who went to war back then and go to battle now with soldiers. Today they may be called combat medics or relief personnel. Without medical staff in wars and battles, we would lose a lot more troops to injuries obtained in combat.

We waited outside and watched as men and women in blue scrubs walked around, laughing and drinking coffee before going back into the lobby of the hospital. My mother was one of them, still in her scrubs with a cup of coffee in hand. She set her purse down on the seat, but didn’t climb into