Medical Conditions

• Trench fever


  cause: body lice

  symptoms: flu-like

  solutions Delousing stations
• Trench foot


  cause: standing in water or mud for long periods of time

  symptoms: swelling of feet and gangrene

  solutions: whale oil, keeping feet dry, amputation if gangrene had set in
• PTSD


  cause: psychological damage from war environment

  symptoms: tiredness, nightmares, mental breakdowns, headaches and loss of speech

  solutions: Treated in Britain yet the condition was not understood so soldiers were often sent back to battle
• Gas gangrene


  cause: open wounds being infected by bacteria from the soil

  symptoms: dead tissue and a build-up of gas in the wound

  solutions: Amputation of the infected areas was the only way to stop the infection from spreading
• Gas injuries


  cause: chlorine, phosgene or mustard gas

  symptoms: Burning skin, internal and external blisters, daeth by suffocation and psychological impacts

  solutions: gas masks
• Shrapnel and bullet injuries


  cause: Being hit by bullets or shrapnel from rifles or explosions (58% of wounds were caused by shrapnel and 39% were caused by bullets)

  symptoms: metal would penetrate body taking along dirt and the soldier's uniform

  solutions: steel Brodie helmets introduced in 1915