The Trenches

• Medical name = pyrexia
• Symptoms were: severe headaches, shivering, pain in the joints, and this lasted for about 5 days but would keep returning
• Made men unfit for fighting and some were invalided out of the army
• Early diagnosis and effective nursing were crucial
• It was spread by lice, which lived in the seams of their clothing and in blankets. Almost everyone had lice. One medical officer inspected 560 men and found 422 with lice. 
• People tried to disinfect clothing. When men came to the front line, their clothing was fumigated, washed and ironed. 
• Bathhouses were built and men were issued with louse repellent. Some even washed their clothing in paraffin. Machines were sent to the front to sterilise their clothin. The best way was to pick the lice out by hand.
• These efforts helped to improve morale. But the cramped, dirty conditions meant that lice were still a problem 
• This illness significantly reduced the number of men that were available to fight. Statistics show that 15% of men were unfit for duty between July 1917 and July 1918.

• Caused by standing in waterlogged trenches for hours leaving men's feet numb, swollen and blistered. 
• Trench boots restricted the blood flow which added to the problem and while a soldier was on duty, he could not take his boots off. 
• If the situation deteriorated, it could cause gangrene and the only way to treat this was through amputation
• It would have been difficult to predict it as no one thought that the fighting would be dominated by trench warfare.
• In 1914-15, the number of cases increased and by 1915, the GB 27th Division had lost one sixth of its army to trench foot. To reduce this, every man had to have 3 pairs of socks, change them twice a day and rub whale onto their feet.
• Men split into pairs to look after each other's feet
• High waders were used in the worst conditions
• These measures helped but didn't stop trench foot altogether

• Means 'Not yet diagnosed - Nervous' which was first used in 1914 to describe psychological reactions to danger
• Officers became concerned that this would become an epidemic as the number of cases increased
• In 1916, there were 1600 cases in 6 months. They were worried that this fear of war could become cowardice
• Instead of evacutating men, they treated them as close to the front as possible. They were given rest, food, electric shock therapy and were allowed to see their friends. 
• If doctors thought that the illness was caused by an explosion they would be sent to a hospital for specialist treatment e.g. Seale Hayne in Newton Abbot
• Most men returned to fighting once they had had a period of rest. Overall there were 80000 cases. 
• In extreme cases, men who suffered from shellshock couldn't gith and deserted. Some of these were executed for cowardice.

• The floors of trenches in wet areas were lined with duckboards
• The parados was a mound of earth or sandbags that raised the height of the back of the trench to protect the soldiers from shell explosions behind the trench
• The parapet (the back) was built up similarly to the parados (the front). This was meant to be bulletproof and was lined with wooden planks, netting or sandbags
• Fire trenches (trenches closest to the enemy) had a firing step held back by wooden planks. Men could stand here behind the the bulletproof parapet and fire their rifles into no man's land
• Barbed wire was set in front of the trench to make it harder for enemy infantry to attack head on
• The ground between the front line trenches was called no man's land
• Most trenches were dug down into the ground and their upper level was fortified with sandbags. 

• The Royal Army Medical Corps were responsible for moving casualties away from the Front to be treated
• The RAMC Field Ambulances set up mobile medical stations. Stretcher bearers carried casualties through a series of relay posts until they reached a medical post or somewhere they could be moved by road, rail or river. 
• This route that they took became known as the chain of evacuation, which included the Regimental Aid Post, the Dressing Station, the Casualty Clearing Station and the Base Hospitals

• Provided frontline support for medical services by driving ambulances, carrying food and engaging in emergency first aid
• 45o FANYs in France and opened the way for other women to participate on frontline (VADS)
• They also drove supplies like food to frontline and set up cinemas to help morale of soldiers
• One FANY ran the Calais ambulance convoy for 2 years with 22 drivers and 12 ambulances
• One group even had a mobile bath vehicle which could give baths to 40 men an hour
• The first 6 FANYs arrived in France on 27th Octover 1914
• They were women who were trained in first aid, veterinary skills, signalling and driving. 
• Means First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

• Ran under the Red Cross
• Made up of men and women and they carried out a range of voluntary positions including nursing, transport duties, and the organisation of rest stations, working parties and auxiliary hospitals
• At the outbreak of war, people were inspired to train to help the sick and wounded
• Women needed to be taught in first aid, home nursing and hygiene by approved medical practitioners
• Men were trained in first aid 
• VADs had to pass exams to recieve their first aid and home nursing certificates
• Over 90000 people volunteered for the British Red Cross at home and overseas

• the 'regular' military nursing service was formed in 1902
• At the outbreak of war in 1914, there were 297 members of QAIMNS - matrons, sisters, staff nurses - employed in military hospitals at home and overseas in Malta, Gibraltar, Egypt, South Africa and China
• Also a QAIMNS Reserve
• By the end of 1914, more than 2200 women were enrolled in the service
• in total, more than 12000 servced with the Reserve at some time during the war

Regimental Aid Post (RAP):

• set up a few metres behind the front line in a shell hole or dugout
• gave first aid
• men who needed more treatment walked or were carried by stretcher bearers to an Advanced Dressing Station

Advanced Dressing Stations:

• set up around 350 metres from the RAP in tents, dugouts or large buildings
• Main Dressing stations set up about 1 mile behind advanced dressing stations
• collected injured men from the RAP using horse-drawn ambulances and stretcher bearers
• Seriously injured men were moved to casualty clearing stations

Casualty Clearing Stations:

• collected seriously injured men from Dressing Stations using motor ambulance convoys
• had surgical and medical wards in wooden huts, nursing staff, and were sometimes supported by mobile X-ray units
• men could be there for up to 4 weeks before being moved to Base Hospitals or sent back to the Front

Base Hospitals:

• designed to take up to 400 patients 
• often turned into specialist hospitals to treat common injuries and ailments
• set up in large buildings and were often close to transport networks
• also had X-ray departments 
• treated patients until they could be sent back to the Front or sent home to Britain