Free Essay on the Life and Experiences of Medical Personnel during World War 1

World War 1 was the greatest war that had ever been experienced before. Injuries and deaths of both the military personnel and civilians whereas were at a high peak. Medical practitioners had a big challenge to reduce the rate of deaths experienced and injuries incurred. Therefore, medics al practitioners (practitioners is overused) had to innovate new techniques to curb the high rate of injuries and deaths. Complex and dangerous weapons had been invented then, and thus casualties were so many that medical practitioners had a tough time trying to tacklereduce the cumbersome task (Allard, 12005). They had to be oin the battlefield to rescue the casualties. Some medical practitioners were also involved in the battles as casualties. They risked their lives to take care of the wounded soldiers and civilians. Some of them gave their experiences during the war. It was estimated that 37 million or rather 57 percent of the soldiers were counted to be severely injured, dead, or missing (Kreiserand, 12005).

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Thus, taking care of those casualties was a difficult challenge. Stretcher bearers would carry the wounded soldiers from the battle field and transport them to a dressing station that was situated quite far from the reach of the enemies small fire arms (Kreiserand, 1). The wounded soldiers would be offered basic medical care in the dressing stations. Quality medical care was needed for the soldiers to be healthy and equip them with a high standard medical professionals and systems (Adie, 12016). There were working zones that were established for the medical practitioners. These were the collecting zone, evacuating zone, and distributing zone (Kreiserand, 12005). The collecting zone was the nearest to the battle field where the injured were attended . Ffirst, the evacuating zone was connected to the communication systems with vehicles where the injured would be transported to the rear, and the distributing zone was the area where more permanent buildings such as hospitals were located.

Regimental Mmedical Oofficers were the vital connection in this chain. Their aid posts were located a few meters from the major fighting trenches. If the injury or the fighting was intense such that a military personnel could not be transported, then the medical officer had to treat the soldiers in the trenches themselves. The bottom of the trenches wasere almost 2 feet wide, the top of the trenches wasere 4 feet wide, and they were 6 feet deep (Kreiserand, 2005). The stretchers were placed in the fire-steps that were dug into trench walls. The medical officers could carry the injured during the battle, and maneuvering could be so difficult while with the stretchers. Sometimes, they had to carry the wounded soldiers in an open ground. The medical officers would get caught up in the middle of fire exchange. The transfer was preferred to be undertaken at night not unless the status of the wound was so intense. Paragraphs should be 6-8 sentences, not 3 or 4At the aid post of the regimental medical officer, the most prioritized task was to prevent shock and retain the injured soldier warm. The medical officer would clean the injury and apply bandages around it. If the limbs were broken, they would be splinted. To avoid a risk of infection, the medical officer would give a tetanus shot to the soldier. The medical officer would be very careful while removing pieces of clothes from the soldiers wounds to avoid turning the wound septic.

Dr. John Hayward explained that he was overwhelmed by the great number of soldiers and the challenge at work (Kreiserand, 12005). He stated that resuscitation tent was a dreadful area. The dying and collapsed soldiers were taken to this tent. He would carry out a thirty- six hours operation and becoame extremely exhausted with fatigue and anxiety. He claimed that at some point he felt that he would not continue doing the work since he was not ready for the task but then giving in would be terrible.

Leslie Buswell recalls that she missed an explosion while on her way to transport extremely wounded soldiers (Kreiserand, 12005). She was supposed to delay for a while but she could not since the soldiers would die in the process. She prioritized the task of saving the lives of the soldiers more than her own life. However, she continued with her journey, and a shell hit a truck that was ten yards ahead of her. Luckily enough, she was not hit . Tthus she had to increase her pace and got to Dieulouard hospital which was her destiny. Medical personnel had to face more deadliery and more effective (overused word) weapons.

There were medical innovations during the World War 1. The most vital ones were the development of blood banks and that improved blood transfusion and the x-ray diagnoses (Kreiserand, 12005). The military focused on the psychological effects affecting the soldiers due to shell shock (Pols, 2133007). The advances were major in the psychological field. Reconstructive surgery, physical rehabilitation, and orthopedic surgery wereas utilized oin a massive scale to prepare the soldiers foafter the war such that it marked a turning point in those fields.

References

Works CitedAdie, Kate. World War One: the many battles faced by WW1s nurses. BBC Magazine. 2014.

Allard, Genevieve. Caregiving on the front: the experience of Canadian military nurses during World War 1. 2005. Print.

Kreiserand, Christine. Battlefield medics: saving lives under fire. Military History Magazine. 2005. Print.

Pols, K. War & military mental health. Journal of Public Health. 97(12). 2132-2142. 2007. Print.

Adie, K. (2016). World War One: the many battles faced by WW1s nurses.

Allard, G. (2005). Caregiving on the front: the experience of Canadian military nurses during World War 1.

Kreiserand, C. (2005). Battlefield medics: saving lives under fire. Military History Magazine

Pols, K. (2007). War & military mental health.The sources must be in alphabetical order always!!! Check the citations whether they are in MLA format at citethisforme.com

Kreiserand, C. (2005). Battlefield medics: saving lives under fire. Military History Magazine

Adie, K. (2016). World War One: the many battles faced by WW1s nurses.Pols, K. (2007). War & military mental health.

Allard, G. (2005). Caregiving on the front: the experience of Canadian military nurses during World War 1.