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Medical ProceduresBy: Kathryn Carlson

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● 620,000 soldiers died in the Civil War

● ⅔ of the deaths were because of disease

● Dysentery, typhoid fever, pneumonia, mumps, and measles spread through the unsanitary camps

BackgroundLeft: wounded soldiers outside of a field hospital after the Battle of the Wilderness

Below: hospital near Washington, D.C.

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Innovations

● Life-saving amputation● The anesthesia inhaler -

chloroform-soaked cloth● Closing chest wounds -

using metal sutures and linen bandages

● Facial reconstruction● The ambulance to ER

system

Above: facial reconstruction of Carleton Burgan

Left: medical kit from the Civil War

Left: ambulance drill at the Army of Potomac Headquarters

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Legacy Today

● Hammond and Letterman encouraged triage organization where the wounded were separated into:o mortally woundedo slightly woundedo surgical cases

● Triage is still used today

Wounded soldiers outside of a field hospital

Fairfax Seminary in Alexandria served as a makeshift hospital

Newly designed, well-ventilated hospitals lowered the death rate

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Bibliography

● http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-medicine/civil-war-medicine.html

● http://mentalfloss.com/article/31326/5-medical-innovations-civil-war