conditions in the trenches

• what were medical problems caused by trench conditions?

  trench foot, trench fever, shell shock
• what were medical conditions caused by warfare?

  bullet wounds, shrapnel wounds, gas attacks , infection
• what was trench foot?

  a painful swelling of the feet caused by standing in cold mud or water that could lead to gangrene
• what was gangrene?

  the decomposition of tissue as a result of loss of blood supply
• what were attempted solutions used to prevent trench foot?

  prevention was key. rubbing whale oil into the feet to protect them and keeping the feet dry as well as regularly changing socks. if gangrene set in the foot would be amputated.
• what was trench fever caused by and what was it?

  it was caused by lice and it was estimated to have affected half a million men. it caused flu-like symptoms with headaches and a high temperature.
• what were attempted solutions to prevent trench fever?

  after 1918 it was discovered that lice caused it and delousing stations were set up which led to a decline in cases.
• what were the symptoms of shell shock?

  tiredness, headaches, nightmares and complete mental breakdown
• how many British troops did shell shock affect?

  an estimated 80,000
• what were attempted solutions to treat shell shock?

  the conditions were not well understood. in some cases there was treatment at home however some soldiers were accused of cowardice and shot.
• machine guns could fire 450 rounds a minute and caused 39% of wounds on the Western Front. this caused injuries such as gun shot wounds, fractured bones, organ damage and head injures. solutions to injuries caused by bullets include the Brodie helmet 1915 which were steel helmets with a strap that prevented it from being thrown off in an explosion. the Brodie helmet was estimated to have reduced fatal head wounds by 80%.
• shell explosions caused burning hot metal to fly out at high speed which was called shrapnel. shrapnel accounted for 58% of wounds, some being shrapnel embedded in the brain, skull fractures, brain damage, concussion and facial injuries. solutions to prevent injury caused by shrapnel included the Brodie helmet 1915, Harold Gillies developed a plastic surgery technique which made skin grafting and facial reconstruction more effective. also Dr Harvey Cushing used x-rays to find shrapnel in the brain and drew it out using magnets.
• some gas attacks included chlorine 1915, phosgene 1915, mustard gas 1917. gas attacks accounted for 6,000 British soldiers death. chlorine and phosgene gas caused suffocation, while mustard gas caused internal and external blisters as well as burned skin. gas masks were used from 1915 and became more sophisticated over time, however before the use of gas masks soldiers soaked cotton pads with urine and pressed them to their faces to prevent the gas from entering their lungs.
• infections were caused by uniform fabric, dirty water from fertilisers and decomposing bodies. some infections included tetanus, gas gangrene and sepsis. solutions to this included anti-tetanus injections, wounds washed in antiseptic solution (carbolic lotion) and wounds were wrapped in bandages soaked in carbolic acid.