ww1 stages of treatment

Question 1

how far away were the regimental aid posts from the frontline?

Answer 1

within 200m

Question 2

where were regimental aid posts usually located?

Answer 2

in communication trenches or abandoned buildings

Question 3

what is the order of the train of evacuation?

Answer 3

regimental aid post, advanced dressing station, casualty clearing station and base hospital

Question 4

what was the RAPs main purpose?

Answer 4

to get as many men immediate first aid and get them back to the fighting as quickly as possible

Question 5

how would men arrive at the RAP?

Answer 5

on foot or be carried. this was for basic first aid and couldn’t deal with serious injuries. these would be passed to the next stage of the chain

Question 6

how far from the RAP were the Dressing Stations?

Answer 6

about 400m

Question 7

where were dressing stations located? why?

Answer 7

in abandoned buildings, dug outs or bunkers to offer protection from shelling. where this was not possible, tents.

Question 8

who would staff the dressing stations? what changed half way through the war?

Answer 8

10 medical officers, orderlies and stretcher bearers from the RAMC. nurses were available here by 1915

Question 9

where were casualty clearing stations located?

Answer 9

in abandoned factories or schools, often near a railway to allow quick movement to the next stage

Question 10

how far back were casualty clearing stations located?

Answer 10

a sufficient distance from the front line to provide some safety from attack, but close enough to be accessible by ambulance wagons

Question 11

what did the casualty clearing stations closest to the front line often specialise in?

Answer 11

critical injuries, such as those caused by shrapnel and wounds to the chest

Question 12

at the casualty clearing station, what three groups (the triage system) were the wounded sorted into?

Answer 12

the walking wounded, those in need of a hospital and those who had no chance of recovery

Question 13

who were the waking wounded?

Answer 13

men who could be patched up and returned to fighting on the front line

Question 14

who were those in need of hospitals?

Answer 14

men who had to be transported to a base hospital once they had been treated for anything life threatening

Question 15

who were those with no chance of recovery?

Answer 15

these were men who would be almost certain to die. they would be made comfortable, but medical resources would be used on those more likely to survive

Question 16

where were base hospitals on the western front located? why?

Answer 16

near the french and belgian coast, so that the wounded men treated there could be transported home

Question 17

from the base hospitals, where would men be sent?

Answer 17

either home to Britain or back to the fighting on the frontlines in Belgium and France

Question 18

why were casualty clearing stations often favoured over base hospitals?

Answer 18

because if wounds weren’t treated quickly, things like gangrene would set in. the risk of infection on the journey to the base hospitals meant many more men were dying on the way. this led to many operations that should have been done in base hospitals being done in casualty clearing stations.

Question 19

what did base hospitals therefore start doing instead of their intended job?

Answer 19

trialing new methods that, if successful, could then be used in casualty clearing stations