chain of evacuation

• what were used to take x rays on the battlefield?

  mobile x ray units
• what are the disadvantages of the mobile x ray units?

  • needed to cool down so could only be used once an hour
  • couldn’t see metal and fabric only bone so infection was still likely
• What were the 5 stages of the chain of evacuation in order?

  • stretcher bearers
  • Regimental aid post (RAP)
  • Dressing station
  • Casualty clearing station
  • Base hospital
• What did stretcher bearers carry?

  basic first aid such as morphine and bandages
• how many members did stretcher bearers have in 1916?

  four
• how many members did stretcher bearers originally have?

  two
• where was the RAP?

  within 200m away from the frontline
• how did people get to the RAP?

  by walking (walking wounded) or carried by a stretcher bearer
• how far away was a dressing station from a RAP?

  400m
• where were dressing stations?

  in tents and dugouts
• why was the casualty clearing station far from the frontline?

  to prevent attack
• what was treated at a casualty clearing station?

  body and head injuries
• Where were base hospitals located?

  • in abandoned buildings
  • Near a railway station or dock to send people home
• how many spaces was there in a base hospital?

  400
• in what case was a soldier sent to a base hospital?

  extreme
• where did a field ambulance work?

  dressing stations
• how many could a field ambulance unit deal with?

  150 wounded
• how long could field ambulances deal with wounded for?

  a week
• where would men go to after being seen by a field ambulance?

  • back to their units if they were fit to fight
  • to a casualty clearing station
• what was the stretcher bearers job?

  rescue wounded soldiers from the frontline
• when were nurses available in dressing stations?

  1915
• what were the 3 groups men were split into at a casualty clearing station?

  • walking wounded
  • in need of hospital treatment
  • no chance of recovery
• what were base hospitals able to experiment with?

  new techniques
• what happened to men who were certain to die?

  made comfortable in a base hospital
• what surgeries were carried out in CCS?

  less severe such as removal of bullets and shrapnel
• how many medical officers staffed a dressing station?

  10
• how many mobile x ray units operated on the western front?

  6
• SFD for field ambulances

  • set up by RAMC
  • included support staff, nurses and medical officers
  • set up dressing stations
• what were mobile x ray units powered by?

  the vans engine