Essay On Medical Care In The 20th Century

“War is the only proper school for a surgeon” - Hippocrates. This would be the case in the early 20th century. The early 20th century is commonly associated with war, blood shed and conflict. During this time is when lots of people died. People died due to many things; war or battle, lack of medical care, or even due to an epidemic. Medical care was rough back then, the shortage of doctors and the lack of medical facilites made the death toll high. Today, we see less people die due to epidemics, lack of medical care and even less due to battle. Thats all possible because medical care during the 20th century is very different form today, given that today we have better facilities, more doctors, and more advanced technology.

In the battlefield, people were getting hit with bullets, IED explosives, grenades,

Some died, but some lucky ones made their way out of the battlefield to get medical attention. They were moved by a combination of people , which were later collected by stretcher bearers and were brought far enough beyond the lines of battle. They were then transported by horse or cart, and sometimes by motorized ambulance, when available. These men would be moved until they reached a location where they could receive treatment for their injury. Just like today, there were hospitals available, but back then, they were mostly set up in abandoned buildings or any available unoccupied buildings. However, for more serious injuries requiring emergency care, Casualty Clearing Stations were set up in tents. Here surgeries were often performed. In the early 20th century, medical utensils were limited, resulting in the use of guilotines for the amputation of limbs. Today not every injury is an emergency, thus the emergency room. But back then almost every case was an emergency. While now we have a very structured emergency procedure, requiring triages, during the early 20th century, triages