Medical advancements trialled on the Western Front

• World War One presented new medical challenges for the British army
• Fighting in the trenches and developments in weapons led to new illnesses and wounds that needed to be treated
• Medical advancements trialled on the Western Front

  • The new challenges of difficult terrain and mechanised weapons needed to be solved
  • The government dedicated resources to improving medical and surgical equipment
  • High numbers of casualties led to more operations and therefore greater knowledge of how to perform them well
  • Doctors were under pressure to treat and heal soldiers so that the soldiers could return to the fighting
• Carrel–Dakin method


  Doctors Alexis Carrel and Henry Dakin developed a system of tubes to keep a chemical solution flowing through the wound to fight infection
• Thomas splint


  Developed in the late 19th century by Hugh Owen Thomas, it was designed to help heal fractured bones, particularly in the leg
• At the beginning of World War One, 80 per cent of soldiers with a broken thigh bone died
• The Thomas splint was used on the Western Front from 1916


  It prevented high amounts of blood loss, and as a result it reduced the death rate from 80 per cent to 20 per cent
• By 1915, the British army had two mobile X-ray vehicles in operation on the Western Front
• By 1916, X-ray units were being used in casualty clearing stations and base hospitals
• Blood bank for the Battle of Cambrai


  1. Scientists discovered that blood could be refrigerated and adding citrate glucose solution lengthened its refrigeration time for several days

  2. Geoffrey Keynes, a British surgeon, developed a portable machine for storing blood, enabling blood to be taken to the front line to treat injured soldiers

  3. Stocks of blood were prepared before the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 and used to treat soldiers on the battlefield
• This was important as by this time tanks and machine guns were commonly being used, which raised the likelihood of severe injuries