WW1 Western Front

An illness that many soldiers suffered from in WW1 was shell shock (NYD.N).

- Shellshock was a type of posttraumatic stress disorder that soliders suffered.

- There were 80,000 recorded cases, so a lot less than other illnesses, but it was still an issue.

- the army attempted to tackle the problem by providing the soldiers affected with lots of rest and good food.

Trench foot was a medical condition:

- caused by standing in waterlogged trenches in tight boots for hours.

- could lead to gangrene which was treated with amputation.

- the army attempted to tackle it with extra socks for each man & put men into pairs to look after each others feet.

Trench fever was an infectious disease:

- caused by lice, which soldiers called 'grey backs'.

- symptoms included, shivering, severe headaches, and pain in bones & joints.

-the army attempted to tackle it by disinfecting men's uniforms.

Poison gas was used for the first time in April 1915 in the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

- The symptoms were blindness, coughing, loss of taste and smell - leading to death by suffocation.

- Doctors gave patients oxygen to help their breathing, and washed their skin to remove posion gas.

- people prevented poison gas attacks by holding handkercheifs soaked in urine over their  noses.

Shapnel weapons were hollow shells packed with steel balls.

- They were a problem because they caused maximum injuries  against large numbers.

- Shrapnel was designed to explode mid-air to affect troops advancing across open land.

- Shrapnel was likely to cause limb loss for soldiers.

- Death rates from infection were a lot higher in WW1 mainly due to the wet and muddy terrain which contained manure that caused infection.

- It was easy for men to get infected if they were spending long periods of time on no mans land.

- Shrapnel could easily get buried in the body and cause infection.

The work of the RAMC was significant in world war one.

- On the 23rd June 1898, Queen Victoria formally made them into the Royal Army Medical Corps.

- Their work ranged from surgery and being paramedical staff to dentistry and opticians. By the end of the war, there was 130,000 more staff than there was at the start.

- They also used over 1.5 million splints to treat men.

The FANY were significant in WW1

- they drove ambulances, and by 1916 they were working with mechanics to fix broken down motor vehicles.

- they took food and spare clothes down to the frontline

- the FANY were first aid specialists but they also helped with cavalry work, signalling and camping out.

- british trenches were in low lying ground

- first use of gas (2nd battle of Ypres)

- lots of men killed by collapsing mines.

- 1917

- the first use of tanks

- the first use of the blood bank, which was a method the govt used to store blood before an attack so that they were prepared.

- Network of tunnels behind trenches

- There was a hospital placed nearby with over 700 beds and an opperating theatre.

- Huge casualty rates

-Battle lasted over 5 months

-Lots of casualties meant that there was more opportunities for discovering new treatments

- Recovered the dead and wounded

- Carried basic medical supplies such as: morphine, bandages, etc.

- Very dangerous job

- Not many stretcher bearers vs. lots of soldiers.

- Each one had at least one medical officer.

- Soldiers were able to have light wounds bandaged, so they could then be sent out again to fight.

- Quite unhygenic 

• Could do operations including amputations

• Mobile x-ray machines

• Operating theatres

• Kitchens, toilets, etc

• Hygenic