The Evacuation Chain

Cards (16)

  • Evacuation chain

    The process of evacuating and treating wounded soldiers during World War I
  • Evacuation chain

    • Priorities were: 1) Save lives, 2) Return soldiers to duty as soon as possible, 3) Heal them as well as possible and discharge them from the Army
  • Evacuation chain

    1. Fighting at the front
    2. Stretcher bearers rescue wounded
    3. Regimental Aid Post (RAP) provides initial treatment
    4. Dressing station and field ambulance stabilize patients
    5. Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) provides more complex treatment
    6. Base hospital provides advanced care and long-term accommodation
  • Soldiers were strictly forbidden to stop and help the wounded during attacks, and were told to wait for the stretcher bearers
  • Stretcher bearers

    • They would rarely be deliberately targeted by either side, but faced dangers from long-range bullets, machine guns, and artillery
    • They often had to cross rough and muddy terrain and travel through crowded trenches
  • Many wounded men bled to death on the way to the dressing station
  • Thomas splint

    A crucial invention that helped stabilize patients with broken legs
  • Regimental Aid Post (RAP)
    Usually within 200 meters of the front line, could only deal with minor wounds, tried to return as many men as possible back to the front line
  • Dressing station and field ambulance

    Intended to stabilize the condition of patients so they could be transferred to better medical facilities
  • Casualty Clearing Station (CCS)
    Located at a sufficient distance from the front line to provide some safety, tried to help the most critically wounded
  • Powerful evidence of the failure of some Casualty Clearing Stations to save every man, due to the severity of many of the wounds
  • Triage system at hospitals

    Divided wounded into 3 groups: walking wounded, those in need of hospital treatment, and those with no chance of recovery
  • At the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, 24 Casualty Clearing Stations were staffed by 379 doctors and 502 nurses, treated over 200,000 casualties, with 30% requiring surgery and 3.7% dying
  • Base hospitals

    Located many miles from the front lines, close to the French and Belgian coast, developed new and improved treatments for wound types
  • Soldier's treatment completion

    1. Passed fit for duty and returned to unit
    2. Sent to British hospitals for further treatment, potentially discharged from Army
  • The evacuation chain was surprisingly effective at saving lives and returning soldiers to duty, or helping them recover if this was not possible