Post on 27-Dec-2015
Civil War Medicine
At the beginning……..
• At the beginning of the Civil War, the U.S. Army had a medical corps consisting of all of 98 surgeons and assistant surgeons
Equipment:
• The Corps had about 20 clinical thermometers, and didn't have a "modern" microscope until 1863.
What really killed them?
• Gangrene, blood poison, was the number one killer during the Civil War
• A soldier’s chance of survival was only one in four
What killed people?
• Of the 618,000 fatalities of the Civil War, some 2/3 (approximately 414,000) were the result of disease. Typhoid, dysentery or diarrhea, malaria, measles, sexually-transmitted diseases, pnuemonia, scurvy and other ailments killed more soldiers, North and South, then musket, cannon or saber.
• Everyone was called a surgeon, nobody was consider to be a physician
Great Idea!
• Medical personnel could not be taken prisoner, fired upon, and were considered neutrals during the war
This scares me…….
• Doctors only attended 3 semesters or 13 weeks of medical school. Medical schools were all over during the Civil War period.
The Mini Ball
• Bacteria was usually carried into the wound, making it worse. After an operation, they thought it good if pus formed. They called it "laudable pus," when really the pus was a sign of massive bacterial infection.
Minnie Ball and Muskets
Embalming
• Embalming became a science during the Civil War, as many families wanted their dead relatives' body brought back from the war.
Amputations
• Most common surgery, 3 of 4 surgeries were amputations
• Amputations, cutting off a limb
• Only option if injured on a limb
The process…
• Performed on an old door
• Rag with chloroform to sedate the patient
• Myth that most surgeries were performed without anesthesia
Steps:
• Blood supply cut off with a tourniquet• Hacksaw like took called a capital saw,
bonesaw “Sawbones”• Curved needles and silk sutures in the
North• Cotton sutures in the South
15 minutes…..
• Limbs were piled up and emptied at the end of the day
• Entire process took no more than 15 minutes
• Term “Bite the Bullet” coined during the Civil War
Pain Killers
• Morphine was the most widely used pain killer
• Very addictive, many soldiers returned home addicted to opium
Three categories of wounds…
• Mortally wounded
• Slightly wounded
• Surgical cases
Different Bullet Wounds accompanied by Flies and Maggots
Everyone wasn’t treated….
• Soldiers wounded through the head, belly, or chest were left to one side because they would most likely die.
Ambulance
• Patients were transported to nearby hospitals if possible
Jonathan Letterman
• Developer of the ambulance that was primarily a covered wagon
Medical Facilities
• Usually in a barn or tent
• Close to the fighting
Red Cross
• Founder was Clara Barton
• Concerned about the welfare of all soldiers
Elizabeth Blackwell
• First woman doctor in this country
Medical Kit
• Very basic, Only had a few instruments and tools