Medicine and treatment had to develop very quickly during the war to deal with different types of injuries and casualties. In this essay I will tell you about how doctors during the First World War helped me and the wounded we will talk about how well they did their job, but also about their negative points. After reading about the topic online, I will talk about injuries, medical advances in treatment and what key developments are still in use on the front lines today. The main sources for this essay will be “How World War I Changed the Way We Treat War Wounds Today.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, soldiers were injured in many different ways, leg wounds were the most commonly recorded area of injury, and amputation was often required. Arm injuries were often caused by high-explosive artillery shells. Only 12% of recorded wounds were to the torso, this is because many soldiers hit in the torso usually died, then never made it to the hospital in time, so their wounds were not recorded. Living conditions in the trenches were very dirty, mostly due to the mud, so much so that one surgeon said "every gunshot wound is... more or less infected at the time of infliction". Additionally, being in water for long periods of time in trenches caused trench foot where the infection causes the flesh of the foot to rot and die. Furthermore, the number of head injuries early in the war led the government to introduce the Brodie helmet as standard kit for soldiers in 1915. Poison gas was also used as a weapon for the first time in the First World War. It had some serious effects. Some gases were intended to only cause a runny nose and watery eyes. Others were much more dangerous. When the gas was first used, doctors and nurses didn't even know how to treat even the simplest symptoms. The gas could affect someone's vision and breathing within minutes, so all soldiers were given protective masks. Some fumes remained on clothes causing blisters and sores. Bathing and washing would have solved the problem but in the trenches this was impossible. Many soldiers suffered the effects of the gas attacks for the rest of their lives. Working in a World War I hospital was not for the faint of heart. By January 1915, British medical authorities had realized that too many wounded soldiers were dying before they could receive adequate care. Casualty clearing stations had seen emergency improvements since the start of the war. Within a few months they would become more like field hospitals. Military surgeons and nurses now operated in tented trauma centers, usually within earshot of the fighting. Sir Henry Souttar, a well-known surgeon, described the situation he found himself in while establishing his hospital in a Belgian city. “We had no knives, no artery clamps, no gut stitch. Some Belgian doctors who worked there lent us a briefcase of basic instruments, and that was absolutely all we had.” “In four days we admitted three hundred and fifty patients, all with injuries of the most terrible nature. Arms and legs were torn off or hung in shreds, horrific head wounds left the brain exposed. For four days and four nights the operating room was in continuous operation, until one felt sick at the sight of blood." Although surgeons in military hospitals could expect to work in better conditions than those in volunteer hospitals.
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