Medicine in the First World War

           In the fifty years since the end of the Civil War the field of medicine had seen very few advancements, however, during the First World War medicine took a giant leap forward. Numerous advancements led to the increased survival rates of the war from the Civil War. These advancements include things such as better transportation, improved methods of disinfection, advanced detection systems, and the introduction of new surgical methods.
                                              
           Prior to and at the beginning of the First World War, amputation was the primary method for solving medical problems. As a result, countless unnecessary amputations of soldiers' limbs occurred. Thankfully, in the war the system of ambulances that became established helped to significantly decrease this number. The ambulances allowed for soldiers to be taken from the battlefield and to nearby hospitals with enough time for the doctors to disinfect the wound and repair it without having to amputate. Before the ambulances, transporting patients to the hospital was a long task that often would do more harm than good, and thanks to the increased amount of attention that medical units got during the First World War they had enough resources and ambulances in order to provide the necessary care to the injured soldiers. Not only were these medical units more prevalent in the fields, but they were strategically placed on the battlefront in order to ensure the survival of more soldiers. In fact, in 1917 when the United States entered the war there was no established medical unit, so to have such incredible medical care for the time by the end of the war shows how fast medicine advanced during this period. An example of how technological improvements allowed for more survivors can be found in the use of the X-ray machine. Beginning in France during the war, mobile X-ray units were developed which allowed doctors to detect bullets and shrapnel in wounds. This method of detection allowed for these foreign objects to be more efficiently removed, thereby decreasing the invasiveness of surgeries and allowing more soldiers to live.
                                           
           In addition to the presence of medicine in war having been greatly increased, the methods of treating injuries also significantly improved. One improvement that allowed for a greater survival rate was the Carrel-Dakin Method. The Carrel-Dakin Method was a method of disinfection that not only stopped the spread of infection but was one of the factors that allowed doctors to branch out from amputation as the primary method of stopping infections. Doctors also began to increase their knowledge of diseases and how they spread, especially in the medical settings in which they worked. In order to prevent the spread of disease, which had been what actually killed a lot of people during the Civil War as opposed to their wounds, they began to increase the rate at which they administered vaccinations. Vaccinations are still used as a method of disease control today, demonstrating how effective they are in preventing both civilians and soldiers from falling ill. Also, the Thomas Splint increased the rate of survival for soldiers with broken femurs (thigh bones) to skyrocket from twenty percent to eighty percent. This simple splint allowed for a sixty percent increase in survivors, not only creating a more positive view of the field doctors but creating a whole new job within the medical professionals, bonesetters. In terms of surgery during the First World War, there were multiple advancements that made it more effective. The most significant of these advancements was the introduction of a new method of general anesthesia. Nitrous Oxide-Oxygen mixture was introduced as one of the first general anesthetics that put the patient to sleep without putting them into shock, allowing for surgeries to be performed with less pain for the patient. Finally, the First World War sparked an evolution in facial reconstructive surgery. For soldiers having been marred by the battlefield, they could now elect to have surgeries performed to decrease the physical and emotional effects of these wounds. This allowed these soldiers to function more normally, if their wounds hindered normal facial function, or to feel better about themselves simply because they looked better. The First World War was a time of major STEM advancement, especially in the field of medicine, introducing methods and concepts still utilized today.

                                               
Sources
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/02/world-war-i-medicine/517656/
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-28678392
https://www.ncpedia.org/wwi-medicine-battlefield