History, medicine on the Western Front
- Created by: Whitechoc10001
- Created on: 23-02-20 13:10
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- medicine on the western front
- injuries/ illnesses
- gas attacks- caused temporary blindness, coughing and burns but usually no death
- head injuries- very common, usually caused by shrapnel, in 1915, soldiers were give Brodie helmets to protect heads
- shell shock- a psychological illness, caused lots of things including mental breakdowns
- trench fever- had flu-like symptoms that lasted months, caused by lice
- trench foot- caused by prolonged exposure to waterlogged trenches, treated with amputation or fresh socks
- bullets- they destroyed stuff
- shells and shrapnel caused most deaths and unplanned amputations
- chain of evacuation
- ran by the royal army medical corps (RAMC) and the first aid nursing yeomanry (FANY)
- regimental aid post- regimental medical officer helped stretcher bearers do first aid and sent people to next base
- the field ambulance took people to dressing stations, people were looked after for a week or moved on.
- ran by the RAMC
- Casualty Clearing stations- did life saving stuff, were located far away in buildings
- base hospitals- located near ports, people stayed there long or were shipped home.
- the field ambulance took people to dressing stations, people were looked after for a week or moved on.
- developments in medicine
- blood transfusions
- 1818-1829- James Blundell did first blood transfusions with low survival rates
- 1901- Karl Landsteiner discovered 3 blood groups, 1902, they discovered a 4th group and that transfusions would only work with the same blood group.
- 1915- Richard Lewisohn discovered that sodium citrate could be used to prevent clotting so blood could be stored
- 1915- Richard Weil used refridgerators to keep it even longer
- 1916- Francis Rous and James Turner discovered citrate glucose which kept blood even longer
- 1818-1829- James Blundell did first blood transfusions with low survival rates
- x-rays
- 1895- Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-rays but they weren't safe yet
- in war, mobile x-rays were found at CCS to locate shrapnel and bullets
- in war, they still weren't great but they saved lives
- infections
- antiseptic/ aseptic surgery wasn't possible on the western front so they used chemicals
- by 1917, the Carrel-Datkin method (using sterilised salt solutions in tubes through wounds) was found to be more effective.
- this wasn't good for deep wounds so they just removed infected tissues or did amputation.
- 1915- the thomas splint was developed, it reduced death from broken limbs from 80% to less than 20% in soldiers
- face injuries led to increase in plastic surgery led by Harold Gillies
- blood transfusions
- injuries/ illnesses
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