WESTERN FRONT

• What percentage of soldiers time was spent on the front lines?

  15%
• Percentage of time in support trench?

  10%
• Percentage away from trenches?

  45%
• Percentage in reserve?


  30%
• Trench fever- symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?

  - headache

  - shivering

  - bone and joint pain

  - months away from frontline

  Cause: lice and the packed conditions prevented any stop of the spread

  Prevention: bathhouses, lice repellent gel, steamers
• Trench foot- symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?

  - numb, swollen, blue and blistering feet

  - could rapidly cause gangrene which needs amputation

  Cause: standing for too long, tight boots, waterlogged trenches

  Treatment and prevention: senior officers ordered men to have 3 pairs of socks changing them 2 times a day

  Men should rub whale oil for protection

  Men paired up to check each others feet

  Pumps sent to reduce waterlogging
• Shell shock- symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?

  - psychological reactions to danger

  - 800000 recorded cases

  Cause: trauma, most likely from an explosion

  Treatment: patients sent to hospitals in France and Britain to recover
• Artillery wounds - symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?

  - removed limbs

  - major internal damage

  - rapid blood loss

  - caused half of all casualties

  Cause: artillery shells, long bombardments lasting for weeks

  Treatments/prevention: steel helmets, amputation
• Bullet wounds - symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?


  - 20% survival rate

  - Blast impact damaged vital organs after impact

  Cause: machine guns, rifles

  Treatment/prevention: steel helmets, amputation
• Infected wounds - symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?


  • Infections killed most

  • Gas gangrene was common (wounds swollen with gas)

  Cause: Soil infecting wounds, Long periods wounds being untreated, limited surgeons

  Treatment: antiseptics and amputations
• Gas injuries- symptoms, problems, cause, prevention and treatment?


  • Suffocation

  • Blindness

  • Coughing

  • Loss of taste and smell

  
  

  Cause: gas e.g tear, chlorine

  Treatment: oxygen to reduce breathing problems

  Prevention: handkerchief with urine over mouth and nose
• What were the RAMC and FANY?


  Organisations that provided medical care and support during the war. (Royal Army Medical Corps and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry)
• What transport issues were there during the chain of evacuation?

  - difficult terrain e.g waterlogging meant that only stretcher bearers and horse wagons could be used

  - many railway lines had been destroyed

  - constant shelling and firing made it hard for soldiers to recover

  - initially there weren't enough ambulances but public appeal raised money for 512

  - crowded conditions and tight trenches made it hard for stretcher bearers to manoeuvre the injured
• What was the chain of evacuation?

  Regimental Aid post -> Dressing Stations -> Casualty Clearing Stations -> Base Hospitals

  
  

  - RAP -medical officer helped by stretcher bearers to give first aid, more serious injuries sent onto next stage

  - field ambulance bases set up dressing stations where men could be looked after for a week, and if needed, they were moved on to the next

  - casualty clearing stations were larger and better equipped and prioritised life threatening injuries.

  - base hospitals were situated near the coast with lots of staff who specialised in certain treatments. Patients could stay for some time before being sent home by ship for further treatment or returning to the war.
• How did knowledge of blood transfusions change in early 20th c?


  - james blundell performed first human to human transfusion

  - Problems with early blood transfusions: blood had to be transferred directly from the donor to the recipient as it couldn't be stored, and about only half the recipients survived.

  - In 1901, Karl Landsteiner discovered the three blood groups and in 1902, his colleagues found a fourth group. They discovered that transfusions would only work between people of the same blood group.
• How did x-rays develop in early 20th c?


  -1895 Wilhelm Roentgen covered a test tube in black paper and was surprised to find that rays from the tube lit up a screen.

  - He found the rays could pass through flesh and paper but not bone. He put photographic paper between the tube and his hand to create the first x-ray image.

  
  

  -Problems with early X-rays: photography was at an early stage and X-rays required keeping still for a long time, high doses of radiation released so patients were burned and lost hair, and large machines were too heavy to be moved easily.
• How was aseptic surgery developed in early 20th c?


  • Operating theatres were thoroughly cleaned.

  • Surgeons and nurses wore sterilised clothing.

  • Sterilised cloths covered surfaces and equipment.

  • Surgeons and nurses worse masks to prevent breathing infection into a wound.

  • 1878 Koch developed a steam steriliser for surgical instruments.

  • In 1890, anyone touching the patient wore rubber gloves to stop germs from passing from their hands onto the wound etc.
• What was the Carrel-Dakin method?

  Using a sterilised salt solution in the wound to flush out infection, lasting 6 hours
• How was blood transfusions improved during the war?

  • Richard Lewisohn in 1915 found that adding sodium citrate to the blood stopped it from clotting, so could be stored for longer.

  • In 1917, the first blood depot was used to store blood for transfusions in the trenches
• What was the Thomas Splint?


  - a splint in the leg that kept broken bones rigid, preventing blood loss

  - death from broken bones went from 80% to 20%
• How did mobile X-rays help during the war?


  Made it easier to identify bullets and shrapnel inside the body before surgery
• Give 2 features of the underground tunnels at Arras

  • well equipped
  • close tp the front line