medicine on the western front Flashcards
What did the regimental Aid post provide??
First aid
Name the steps in order of the Chain Of Evacuation
Regimental Aid post, Advanced dressing station, Casualty Clearing station and Base hospital.
Where was the RAP set up?
A few meters behind the front line in a dug out or shell hole.
What were used to carry wounded soldiers from the RAP to the ADS.
Stretcher bearers
Where were Advanced dressing stations set up?
In tents ideal 350 meters away from the RAP.
How were severely injured men transported from ADS to CCS??
Motor ambulance converts
What kind of wards did CCS have??
Surgical and medical wards in wooden huts
Which station had nursing staff and mobile x- ray units???
Casualty Clearing Station
Men could be tread for up to _____ weeks before being set back to the Front or to a base hospital.
Four
How many people were base hospital made to hold??
400 patients
What did Base hospitals treat??
The soldiers injuries and alignments ( e.g effects of gas )
What were BH close to??
Transport networks
Name 4 causes of Machine guns and rifles??
Gunshot wounds, bruises, fractured bones and organ damage.
Describe 2 ways shell explosions impacted soldiers.
- Poisoned by carbon monoxide blasts which collected in air pockets
- Buried under collapsed buildings and trenches.
When was Tear gas first used??
1914
What was the aim of Tear gas??
To disable the soldiers, not to kill them.
What medical problems did tear gas cause??
Inflammation of the nose, throat and lungs. Also blindness.
The first ‘deadly’ gas used on the western front was ……
Chlorine
When was Chlorine first used??
April 1915
How did Chlorine work?
It slowly suffocated its victims, killing them.
When was Phosgene gas first used?
December 1915
What were the features of Phosgene??
Mild scent and colourless
Phosgene caused suffocation but it could take up to ___ ________ for the symptoms to kick in.
24 hours
When was Mustard gas first used??
July 1917
What was mustard gas also knows as?
A blistering agent
Medical condition related to Mustard gas:
Blindness and Lung infections
It ate away at the body from the inside and a death could take up to ……..
Five weeks
What made Mustard gas so risky??
It could cling to clothes for hours, putting medical staff in danger too!
How did doctors avoid germs getting into wounds?
Wearing surgical gloves, sterilizing their operating theaters and instruments, disinfecting their hands before surgery.
Give an example of a Antiseptic?
Carbolic acid
Antiseptics were used to kill germs and prevent _______ ___________.
Wound infection
When did Wilhelm Roentgen discover X- rays??
1895
How did X- ray machines make aseptic surgery more effective ???
It meant the surgeon no longer had to touch the wound, decreasing the risk of infection.
What was the Thomas Split??
A splint that was strapped around the broken leg before the casualty was moved.
Why was the Thomas splint such an important invention?
It’s decreased the percentage of soldiers who suffered and died from a fractured femur.
Who created the Thomas splint?
Robert Jones
At the start of the war, 80% of men who suffered from this kind of injury died. Thanks to Robert Jones by 1918 how many soldiers suffered ?
20%
What was the syringe – cannula technique?
This technique involved doctors taking blood from a doughnut, using a needle and syringe and transfusing it into their patient quickly.
Why was the syringe – canal technique difficult to carry out?
Blood could clot in the syringe
In what year was it discovered that adding sodium citrate to blood stop clotting so it could be stored?
1914
In 1916 blood was added to a citrate glucose solution so it could be stored on ice for about ………..
10 to 14 days
In ______ a US Army doctor called Captain Oswald Robertson argued that it would be better to _______ _____ ______ __ ___ ________.
1917, collect blood before it was needed.
What did Robertson’s argument lead to?
The first blood bank was set up in preparation for the battle of Cambrai.
When was the battle of Cambrai ???
1917
