Caring for the wounded on the Western Front

• Chain of evacuation

  1. Stretcher bearers

  2. Regimental aid post (RAP)

  3. Dressing station

  4. Casualty clearing station (CCS)

  5. Base hospitals
• Stretcher bearers


  Recovered the dead and wounded from No Man's Land, carried basic medical supplies
• Regimental aid post (RAP)


  Close to the front line, treated light wounds so soldiers could return to the front, sent more serious cases to dressing station
• Dressing station


  Set up in a tent behind the trenches, seriously injured moved to casualty clearing station
• Casualty clearing station (CCS)


  First medical facility to treat moderately seriously wounded, had doctors, nurses, surgeons, operating theatres, X-ray machines, hospital beds
• Base hospitals


  Treated civilians and serious injuries, in large converted buildings, had operating theatres, X-ray departments, specialist centres
• All medical officers and men who cared for the wounded on the Western Front belonged to the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC)
• Women who travelled to the Western Front to care for the wounded joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY)
• Nurses' work on the Western Front

  • Providing professional nursing care
  • Driving motor ambulances
  • Cleaning hospitals
  • Washing clothes
  • Bathing the wounded
• By 1915, there were 250 motor ambulances in France with more arriving, but horse-drawn ambulances continued to be used as they were more effective over mud and shell holes
• During the Battle of Arras in 1917, the wounded were treated in an underground hospital with 700 beds and several operating theatres, which was effective as it was close to the battle site