What Role Does Medicine Play In The Civil War
Civil War Medicine
By: Julia Ljubicich 8-1
Medicine played a very important role in the civil war. Though, some people believe the field hospitals were able to keep themselves clean, this was not always the case. In reality, the hospitals could have been as dangerous to the soldiers as the front lines.
For a Civil War soldier, the field hospital could have been worse, to them, than the battle itself. The temporary hospitals were quickly set up near battlefields and doctors usually had few supplies and barely any clean water. The bare, bloody ground was the only bed for most of the wounded soldiers. 1 Hospitals were designed as a series of pavilions connected by covered or enclosed walkways. Soldiers were separated based on their particular wounds or afflictions.2 Each regiment was assigned a surgeon, to provide medical care after battles. A yellow flag marked field hospitals. …show more content…
The doctors and nurses treating the wounded did not know about germs and bacteria so as they kept treating patients after patients, most likely never washing their hands, they didn’t know the deadly germs they were spreading. Bloody sponges and bandages were washed in buckets of dirty water and reused. More soldiers died from diseases then the battle fields.4 In general, for about every man who died from the battle fields, two died from disease. In their camps the soldiers were suffering to overcrowding, inadequate waste disposal, starvation and parasitic infestation. All these things could cause diseases like influenza and cholera to spread almost unchecked. Since there was no sort of antibiotic back then, even a minor wound could cause a major infection leaving the soldier dead within
By: Julia Ljubicich 8-1
Medicine played a very important role in the civil war. Though, some people believe the field hospitals were able to keep themselves clean, this was not always the case. In reality, the hospitals could have been as dangerous to the soldiers as the front lines.
For a Civil War soldier, the field hospital could have been worse, to them, than the battle itself. The temporary hospitals were quickly set up near battlefields and doctors usually had few supplies and barely any clean water. The bare, bloody ground was the only bed for most of the wounded soldiers. 1 Hospitals were designed as a series of pavilions connected by covered or enclosed walkways. Soldiers were separated based on their particular wounds or afflictions.2 Each regiment was assigned a surgeon, to provide medical care after battles. A yellow flag marked field hospitals. …show more content…
The doctors and nurses treating the wounded did not know about germs and bacteria so as they kept treating patients after patients, most likely never washing their hands, they didn’t know the deadly germs they were spreading. Bloody sponges and bandages were washed in buckets of dirty water and reused. More soldiers died from diseases then the battle fields.4 In general, for about every man who died from the battle fields, two died from disease. In their camps the soldiers were suffering to overcrowding, inadequate waste disposal, starvation and parasitic infestation. All these things could cause diseases like influenza and cholera to spread almost unchecked. Since there was no sort of antibiotic back then, even a minor wound could cause a major infection leaving the soldier dead within