Medicine on the western front

The Context of the Western front
1. The Ypres Salient
  1. This was a key battle ground because the Germans wanted to take control of the ports in order to strain the supplies to the British army and Ypes was a key place in order to take control of the french ports. There were three battles of Ypres, the first was in October and November of 1914, the second was April to May 1915 and was the first use of Chlorine gass by the Germans. The third battle took place from July to November 1917 where the British won.
2. The Battle of the Somme (July- November 1916)
  1. This Battle is known for its high casulity rate. This is becasue during the shelling of the German lines, the German army took cover in their well built bunkers. This meant that the British went across believeing the majority of the German army were now dead, they later found out that most of their amry had survived and this lead to many casulaties. The British suffered 60,000 casulaties and 20,000 dead. This put a huge strain on the medical services.
3. Cambrai (October 1917)
  1. 450 tanks were used in this battle by the allies but they lost the ground they made becasue of the lack of infantry
4. Arras April 1917
  1. Before the Battle, the Allies dug tunnels underground and connected water. They also made a hosptial which meant it was safe and close to the front line.
5. The Trench System
  1. The front line -the trench nearest to the enemy were the soldiers would shoot fron.
    1. The command Trench- 10 to 20 metres behind the front line
      1. The support trench- 200 to 500 metres behind the front line
        The Reserve trench- At least 100 metres behind the front line. it had troops ready to launch a couter attack if the front line was attacked
    2. The Communication trench- linked to all other trenches
  2. The impact of the terrain on helping the wounded
    1. The trenches were filled with men, equiptment, mud and disease. The set up of the zig zag trench also meant it was hard to navigate the trenches. this meant it was hard to keep a patient comfortable and safe.
Conditions requiring treatments
1. Ill Health
  1. Trench Fever
    1. Trench Fever was transmitted by body lice and gave flu like symptoms which affected around half a million men. Drugs were tested but without success but they did pass an electric current over the ffected area. it was only in 1918 when they found out the cause and therefore started to disinfecting cloths.
  2. Shell Shock
    1. Shell Shock was a huge problem during the war as it was misunderstood and people were killed for being a coward. it is caused by the horrible experiences of war and caused mental breakdown.
  3. Trench foot
    1. Trench foot was due to the conditions in the trenches and the tightly straped boots which stopped blood flow and could lead to gangrene. Soldiers were advised to keep their feet dry and replace their sock regually but in the worse cases, they were amputated.
  4. The impact of weapons on medicine
    1. Due to the new injuries from the new weapons of war, it meant that new techniques were used in surgery. in addition, the equiptment had to be chnaged in order to reduce injuries.
Helping the Wounded
1. The evacuation route
  1. Step1- Strecher bearers. They were used to carry the dead or wounded away from the front line. Each Batallion had 4 groups of four strecher bearers
    1. Step 2 Regimental Aid post. This was just behind the front line and is were soldiers were assessed of either lightly wounded or go onto the next st stage
      1. Step 3- Field ambulence and dressing station. This is where the more and less injured were seperated and was were emergency treatment was given
        Step4- Casulaty clearing stations. This is where the main equiptment was such as x-ray machines and beds but were located in tents or huts.
        Step 5- Base Hospitals. The wounded were taken here by train, motor ambulences or by canal. They were equpt with all the latest equiptment and included specific areas for gas and theartres. Base Hospitals were based in survilian hospitals or huts. This was the last place to recieve treatment beofre going back to Britian
2. RAMC
  1. Royal Army Medical Corps looked aftter every rank in the medical area. Its numbers increased from 9,000 at the start of the war to 113,000 at the end of the war. The doctors had to learn how to treat injuries they had never seen before
3. FANY
  1. First Aid Nursing Yeomentry was founded in 1907 by a soldier. They were not used very much at the start of the war but as the number of casualties increased, they were needed to help the doctors and sergeons in any way possible. They helped look after patients, drive ambulences and clean the area
The impact of the Western Front on Medicine
1. Treating Wounds and infection
  1. By 1900, Aseptic surgery was widely used in surgery but this was impossible in war and therefore other methods were needed in ordered to stop infection but these were not very successful and therefore led to 240,000 amputations
  2. The Thomas Splint was a splint to keep two bones rigid and stopped the exessive bleeding. it incresed the survival rate from a 20% chnace of survival in 1915 to an 80% per cent survival rate in this type of wound
  3. x-rays were used to great success because they could find shrapnel and wounds for doctors to remove and stopped infection. However, they were very big and werent easily moverable. They were also very slow at taking pictures and couldnt find clothing
The impact of the Western front on Medicine and surgery 2
1. Blood Transfusion
  1. Blood transfusions were used on the Western front because of the blood loss but they werent kept in the correct conditions and therfore the blood clotted or the hospitals didnt have a good enough supply. This meant that the blood transfusions had a great impact but could also bring a problem. transportable kits were introduced towards the end of the war
2. Blood bank at Cambrai
  1. In 1915, doctors discovered that by adding citrate glucose solution, it meant thatblood could be stored for up to four weeks. This meant that the donor no longer needed to be close to the battlefireld in order to donate blood and therefore led to a huge chnage in medicine. the bllood bank was used at the Battle of Cambrai
3. Brain and Plastic surgery advanced massively in war. Brain surgery allowed fragements to be taken out by magnets and plastic surgery allowed wounded soldiers to have their faces and body to be reformed

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Medicine on the western front

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