Western front

• Experiments in Surgery and Medicine


  Many new medical techniques were developed to meet the needs of the wounded in WW1
• Infection


  • One of the biggest problems facing medical treatment, because it was so easy for dirt, shrapnel and uniform to get into wounds
• Dealing with infection

  1. Debridement - removal of dead/infected tissue

  2. Carrel-Dakin method - killed infection using sterilised salt solution

  3. Amputation - removal of infected limbs
• Thomas splint

  Large splint designed to keep limbs and joints still during surgery
• Injured leg not kept still

  Led to blood loss and infection
• The Thomas splint improved the survival rate for leg injuries from 20% to 82%
• Early x-rays


  • Couldn't identify all objects in the body
  • Took several minutes for a wounded man to keep still
  • Machines could only be used for an hour before overheating
• Mobile x-ray units

  Vans loaded with x-ray equipment, set up in a tent at the back
• Blood transfusions

  Developed on the Western Front from 1915, using a syringe and tube to transfer blood from donor to patient
• Storing blood


  1. Adding sodium nitrate stopped clotting, could be stored for up to 2 days if refrigerated

  2. Adding citrate glucose solution allowed blood to be stored for up to 4 weeks
• At the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, a doctor built a carrying case for bottles of donated blood, allowing badly injured soldiers to be treated on the frontline
• Brain surgery

  • About 20% of British wounds were to the head, face and neck
  • Few doctors had experience of brain surgery
  • Hard to move unconscious or confused patients
• Harvey Cushing

  American surgeon who developed new brain surgery techniques
• Plastic surgery

  Developed by Harold Gillies to restore and rebuild destroyed facial features
• The key hospital for plastic surgery was the Queen's Hospital in Kent, which Gillies helped design in 1917
• Common medical conditions experienced by soldiers on the Western Front

  • Trench fever
  • Trench foot
  • Shellshock
  • Gas gangrene
  • Gas injuries
  • Shrapnel and bullet injuries
• Trench fever


  Caused by body lice, with flu-like symptoms
• Trench foot

  Caused by standing in cold water or mud, leading to gangrene
• Shellshock


  Psychological damage from the war environment, with symptoms like tiredness, nightmares, and mental breakdown
• Gas gangrene


  Caused by open wounds infected by bacteria from soil, leading to dead tissue and gas build-up
• Gas injuries

  Caused by chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas, with symptoms like burning skin, blisters, and death by suffocation
• Shrapnel and bullet injuries

  Caused by being hit by bullets or shrapnel, with pieces of metal penetrating the body
• RAMC

  Royal Army Medical Corps, the branch of the army responsible for medical care
• FANY

  First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, an organisation that sent women volunteers to help on the Western Front
• Underground Hospital at Arras

  Fully working hospital created in the tunnels and caves under Arras, with features like waiting rooms, operating theatre, and electricity/water
• Front line trench


  • Closest to the enemy
  • Soldiers would fire across No Man's Land from the front line trenches
• Communication trench


  • Connected the other lines of trenches
  • Soldiers would use them to move between the other trenches
• Support trench


  • Dug behind the front line trenches
  • Soldiers would retreat to them during an attack
• Reserve trench


  • Dug behind the support trenches
  • Soldiers would use these to prepare for a counter-attack
• No Man's Land


  The stretch of land between the Allied and German trenches
• Dugout


  • Dug into the sides of trenches
  • Men would use these when they needed protection and rest