EVACUATING THE WOUNDED

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 30, 4 August 1917, Page 3

EVACUATING THE WOUNDED

ON THE MODERN BATTLEFIELD.

A highly instructive lecture on "The Evacuation of the Wounded from the Modern Battlefield" was given by Surgeon-General Henderson, X.11.P., Director-General of Medical Services, at the Garrison Officers' Club, Bucklestreet, last evening.

The lecturer, referring to field conditions, said that in. the days when sanitation was unknown in Great Britain and cholera broke out, the people of Peebles sent a petition to Lord Palmerston, who was then Prime Minister, asking him whether it would not bo advisable to have a special form of prayer in order to bring about a cessation of the disease. Lord Palmerston wrote back, "There will be no form of special prayer. Empty your cesspits." A map showing the distribution of medical aid on the battlefield was displayed. When a battalion evacuated a trench it was necessary that it should be thoroughly cleaned up, and all jam tins, broken food, and such like refuse should be placed in' the sandbags found at intervals. He spoke of "trench feet" and the measures taken to guard the men against this trouble. He explained how the men in the trenches were supplied with pure drinking water, which was so essential to their health, and.also how the men were served with hot meals in the trenches. During a battle the stretcher-bearers brought the wounded mi to the aid posts as soon as possible. They might have to wait until darkness set in before they could get to the men. The lecturer said the less a wound was messed with the better. It was important that officers should know how to stop hemorrhage, so that they could help. Every man passing through the aid post had to be checked, and this was done by the sergeant who helped the doctor. The men then passed on to the main collecting post From there they passed to the advanced dressing station, which was a field ambulance with eight doctors and a full complement of men as stretcher-bearers and as details. No serious operation was attempted at the advanced dressing station. The wounded man was given hot soup or coffee and made comfortable, and was then taken by motor or horse ambulance, or by trolley, to the main dressing station, where urgent operations were performed. If, however, the man required an urgent operation as well as considerable rest, he was run down to the clearing hospital, which was now much nearer the firing-line than earlier in the war. These clearing hospitals were really hospitals, and were staffed by the most expert surgeons. Within three or four hours severely wounded men were made comfortable in bed at these clearing casualty hospitals. Then the invalids passed on to the base hospitals, which were located near the sea.

The motor service, said General Henderson, had revolutionised the medical service, for it enabled the wounded to be cleared very quickly from the battlefield, and also saved wounded men from being taken prisoner. The ambulance, trains, he added, were extremely comfortable. They were fitted with beds, and dressingrooms where operations could be performed.