Main Medical Problems on the Western Front Flashcards
What were the symptoms of trench foot and how people try to solve it?
Feet swelling - standing in cold mud and water
Gangrene - decomposition of body tissue - loss of blood supply
Rubbing whale oil on feet
Keep feet dry
Changing socks regularly
Amputation to stop spreading- gangrene
What was trench fever and how did people try to solve it?
Flu-like symptoms with high temperature, headaches and aching muscles
Caused by contact with lice - delousing stations set up - led to a decrease in cases
What was Shellshock and how did people try to solve it?
Tiredness Headaches Nightmares Loss of speech Uncontrollable shaking Complete mental breakdowns
not understood - no cure
Why did the soil in the region of the fighting contribute to gangrene?
Full of fertilisers that carried a bad bacteria
What headwear did people have at the start of the war?
A flat cap
After the Brodie helmet was introduced in 1915, how much did it reduce fatal head wounds by?
80%
What was the difference between Chlorine, Phosgene and Mustard Gas?
Chlorine -
death by suffocation
Phosgene -
similar to chlorine but faster - two days
Mustard -
odourless
worked in 12 hours
internal and external blisters - burn the skin
What were gas masks like at the start of the war?
A cloth over their mouths
What happened to gas masks as the war went on?
They improved massively -
space poison free air
ways of trapping the gas
audible speech
