Civil War Medicine

At the beginning……..

• At the beginning of the Civil War, the U.S. Army had a medical corps consisting of all of 98 surgeons and assistant surgeons

Equipment:

• The Corps had about 20 clinical thermometers, and didn't have a "modern" microscope until 1863. 

What really killed them?

• Gangrene, blood poison, was the number one killer during the Civil War

• A soldier’s chance of survival was only one in four

What killed people?

• Of the 618,000 fatalities of the Civil War, some 2/3 (approximately 414,000) were the result of disease. Typhoid, dysentery or diarrhea, malaria, measles, sexually-transmitted diseases, pnuemonia, scurvy and other ailments killed more soldiers, North and South, then musket, cannon or saber.

• Everyone was called a surgeon, nobody was consider to be a physician

Great Idea!

• Medical personnel could not be taken prisoner, fired upon, and were considered neutrals during the war

This scares me…….

• Doctors only attended 3 semesters or 13 weeks of medical school. Medical schools were all over during the Civil War period.

The Mini Ball

• Bacteria was usually carried into the wound, making it worse. After an operation, they thought it good if pus formed. They called it "laudable pus," when really the pus was a sign of massive bacterial infection.

Minnie Ball and Muskets

Embalming

• Embalming became a science during the Civil War, as many families wanted their dead relatives' body brought back from the war.

Amputations

• Most common surgery, 3 of 4 surgeries were amputations

• Amputations, cutting off a limb

• Only option if injured on a limb

The process…

• Performed on an old door

• Rag with chloroform to sedate the patient

• Myth that most surgeries were performed without anesthesia

Steps:

• Blood supply cut off with a tourniquet• Hacksaw like took called a capital saw,

bonesaw “Sawbones”• Curved needles and silk sutures in the

North• Cotton sutures in the South

15 minutes…..

• Limbs were piled up and emptied at the end of the day

• Entire process took no more than 15 minutes

• Term “Bite the Bullet” coined during the Civil War

                                                 

Pain Killers

• Morphine was the most widely used pain killer

• Very addictive, many soldiers returned home addicted to opium

Three categories of wounds…

• Mortally wounded

• Slightly wounded

• Surgical cases

Different Bullet Wounds accompanied by Flies and Maggots

Everyone wasn’t treated….

• Soldiers wounded through the head, belly, or chest were left to one side because they would most likely die.

Ambulance

• Patients were transported to nearby hospitals if possible

Jonathan Letterman

• Developer of the ambulance that was primarily a covered wagon

Medical Facilities

• Usually in a barn or tent

• Close to the fighting

                                                                                              

             

Red Cross

• Founder was Clara Barton

• Concerned about the welfare of all soldiers

Elizabeth Blackwell

• First woman doctor in this country

                                   

       

Medical Kit

• Very basic, Only had a few instruments and tools