Trenches Medicine

Trenches Medicine

This is a condensed overview of the knowledge required for the historic environment section of the MEDICINE test paper.

The Western Front: The Key Battles.

First Battle of Ypres (Oct-Nov 1914)

Battle on Hill 60 (April 1915)

Second Battle of Ypres (April-May 1915)

The Somme (July-Nov 1916)

Arras (April - May 1916)

Third Battle of Ypres; aka, Battle of Passchendaele (July -Nov 1917)

Cambrai (Nov-Dec 1917)

Multiple Choice

What battle was notable for being the first use of tank warfare by the British?

• The Somme

• The Third Battle of Ypres

Multiple Choice

Which Battle was also known as "The Battle of Mud"?

• The Somme

• The First Battle of Ypres

• The Third Battle of Ypres

• Cambrai

Multiple Select

Select all of the following that were parts of trenches.

• Parapet

• Medic Station

• Duck board

• Firestep

Some injuries had never been seen before.

Wound infection was the BIGGEST problem.

RAMC and FANY

Royal Army Medical Corps and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

Medical Workers

• Initially only from RAMC

• Let volunteers, including FANY to assist later.

• Volunteers mostly drove ambulances, cooked and cleaned.

Underground Hospital at Arras

• aka Thompson's Cave

• Very close to the front line

• tunneled underneath the French town of Arras

• included 700 beds, operating theatre, mortuary, running water and electricity

Transport Problems

• difficult terrain, some areas only stretcher bearers and horse wagons could be used

• many roads and rail lines had been destroyed

• constant shelling and artillery fire whilst attempting rescues

• initially no motor ambulances were sent and not enough horses to cope

• Public appeal in Britain raised money for 512 motor ambulances

Multiple Choice

Which organisation was responsible for driving ambulances, cooking and cleaning?

• RAMC

• FANY

Open Ended

Describe TWO features of the chain of evacuation.

What was happening in Medicine in the early 20th Century?

This gives us some CONTEXT to innovations and where medicine was at the start of WW1.

X-rays.

1895 Roentgen discovers x-rays can pass through objects inc9eg shrapnel human flesh, but not bone.

he used photographic paper to create the first x-ray image.

Radiology department were used to diagnose embedded objects including shrapnel and bone problems, like breaks.

Multiple Choice

What key discovery in 1902 meant blood transfusions were more successful?

• Storage solutions

• Blood Groups

Medical Advances

Watch this clip for more details. https://youtu.be/x8OazQml0gw

Review

You should now ensure you know details of this area to be able to provide detailed examples in your assessment.