Medical Advancements During the Civil War

Medicine in Civil War “And I will use regiments for the benefit of the ill in accordance with my ability and my judgment, but from (what is) to their harm or injustice I will keep (them)” The Hippocratic oath is an ancient greek document that is simply entitled “Oath.” Its age is debated; 400 BC is a reasonable estimate for when it was written. We do not know its stature in its own time; how widely or how long it was used. The oath is neither a sacred scripture nor a legal code. Through the years, although the words have changed, the meaning remains the same. Change is inevitable in all aspects of life, especially medicine. The question at hand is why does it take catastrophic events, such as the Civil War, to inspire change? At the start of the civil war most physicians were male and there were no specialties. Many chose to treat only eye or leg patients, receiving no more education that of a chosen surgeon. Not only did the physicians receive no specialty training there were few knowledgeable personnel to instruct medical recruits to the military code of behavior. Difficulties soon arose due to a fundamental failure to grasp the different between civilian practice and the military way of life. From the wretched state of the wounded to the disorganized scattering of surgeons over the rolling battlefield, bull run became a tragic lesson in military medical hubris. With few available surgical supplies and no plans in place to evacuate the casualties the injured lay for days on the ground where the fell; suffocating in their own vomit and delirious from infection. Many received neither medical treatment nor so much as a mouthful of water. As for the injured whom did make it to the hospitals conditions were not much better. That is until the “cyclone in calico” arrived. Sunday May 26, 1861 began as any other Sunday for Sister Mary Ann Bickerdyke. Sitting in the church after prayer the minister read a letter from Dr. Benjamin Woodward. The letter

Cited: Notes on Nursing, Florence Nightingale, Fall River Press, New York, NY 2009 Civil War Medicine, C. Wilbur, Trade Paper, October 1993 Gangrene And Glory: Medical Care During the American Civil War, Frank Freemon, Trade Paper, June 2001