After visiting the Antietam Battlefield with its huge number of killed and wounded, it caused us to wonder; how did they deal with all of this? Near Antietam was the Pry House, a residence turned into a field hospital. Unfortunately it wasn’t open while we are here, but the National Civil War Medical Musum in Fredrick was. So that’s our destination.
Prior to the Civil War, the state of medicine was pretty primative; no understanding of infection or sterlization of instruments. There also was no system in place for removing and treating the wounded from the battlefield. So if there is anything good that came of the Civil War, it was the formation of the ambulance service and the establishment of field hospitals. In fact we learned some interesting facts. Of the 4 year duration of the war, actual battle days numbered 60. This meant that many more days were spent in camp or marching.
Fact one: 60% of the soldiers died of diarrhea, dysentery, measles, small pox, pneumonia, and malaria due to the unsanitary conditions of the camps; not gunshot wounds. It was not uncommon for these camps to have 20,000 men.
Fact two: The devastating nature of the wounds were due to the new 57 caliber rifled musket, in combination with what they called a Minie’ ball, which is equivalent to today’s hollow point bullet. Combine that with the insane, Napoleonic fighting formations, which worked with smooth bore musket balls in previous wars it became suicide with the more accurate, powerful, and devastating nature of the Minie’.
Dr Johnathon Letterman developed battlefield medical procedures, including ambulance transport of the wounded and a triage system to determine treatment response based on the type of wound. For example, the mortally wounded would be seperated and made comfortable. More minor injuries were of lower priority than those requiring surgery. Which brings us to a couple of other facts.
Fact Three: Soldiers requiring surgery were given anesthesia, usually chloroform or ether. No, they were not given a bullet to bite down on nor a bottle of whiskey.
Fact Four: Amputation was not a given, but many were done if the Field Surgeon felt the damage to the bone could not be repaired. 60,000 amputations were done during the Civil War, so they got pretty good at it. Surgeons could complete one in about 10 minutes. Survival rates for amputation was 75%.
They began using iodine and bromine to prevent infection, although their understanding of germs was still limited. They recognized the benefits of at least washing surgical instruments between operations, including the use of alcohol.
The museum was very interesting, mostly with reading panels and dioramas that included period artifacts and photographs. Therefore there are no photos for us to share. We learned a lot and were glad we stopped.
A parting funny, Frederick is an old 1800s town. Parking is pretty much limited to decks/garages. And they ain’t very big. Driving into one today for parking, was a challenge for us and the truck. Most vehicles in it were compact cars. Felt like an elephant in a phone booth!
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