The Importance Of Hospitals In The Civil War

Field hospitals were usually very, very crowded. There were never enough beds for everybody and people that couldn’t get a bed were laid outside of the hospital on the ground. Doctors were always overworked and went to the soldiers who needed the most help first. So, if you had a broken bone, chances are you would be stuck waiting for hours and maybe even days. Open latrines, decomposing food, and unclean water were often present in the field hospitals since doctors and surgeons didn’t understand the concept of germs, yet.

The Civil War opened up the field of nursing to women, breaking down yet another barrier of the strict gender roles placed on women during the nineteenth century. Women from both the North and the South joined the Civil War as both nurses and “matrons”. The comparison of the way Faust presents Northern and Southern women in the book Mothers of Inventions, lends insight on the similarities and differences between Union and Confederate nurses.

Women were an important aspect to the Civil War. One of those woman was Clara Barton. She took on many roles during the Civil War that were focusing on helping others.

    When you think of the Civil War, who do you think of? Old Honest Abe! There are so many other important historical figure who were an important part to the Civil War. One of them is the pioneering nurse, Clara Barton.

Owning the complete collection of Grey’s Anatomy may make someone feel like an expert of the medical field, but when it comes down to knowing the diseases that were common during other periods of time, that understanding seems to be very limited. While diseases like the common cold have been around for a long time, there are many staple diseases that have shaped the medical field and the foundation for medicine today that need to be known. To fully understand diseases during the Elizabethan era, it is vital to understand the cause, type, and treatment of the illnesses that were common during that time period.

Imagine seeing a friend get shot but not being able to do anything to help because if one would help they’d be the next to go. This is what was happening in the American Civil War from 1861-1865. Many soldiers came back and very different, some in good ways but many in bad ways. During the Civil War, soldiers experienced horrific and terrifying things often causing severe psychological trauma; as a result of this trauma, men often suffered mistreatment and went wrongly diagnosed until Jacob DaCosta discovered and researched what we now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Due to the industrial revolution production of weaponry lead to the making of machine guns and artillery, this brought new and more devastating injuries. Casualties during World War One were immeasurable, a grand new idea was to bring the causality clearing stations closer to the frontline. Study today say that this was an excellent idea as getting to trauma quickly gave an advantage in saving ones life. Alicia Mary Kelly a war nurse in France. Stationed at No. 3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Brandhoek. During the War Casualty clearing stations was most vulnerable to attack. This particular Casualty Clearing Station in which nurse kelly served was 7kms from the frontline, german artillery could hurl shells up to twice that distance.

It all ended on May 9, 1865. Over 620,000 soldiers, combined from both sides, died during the Civil War ever since the Confederates had bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. It is a common misconception that most of those soldiers died during the bloody battles in action. In fact, twice as many of Civil War soldiers died from infection and disease than the various battle wounds one could receive, from getting shot clean through from a Minié ball to being blown to smithereens by a cannon. The point of this paper, however, is not to give you calculations of the deceased, but to give you some information about the medical treatments that were used at the time for the wounded.

During the beginning of the of the Civil War, there were many medical advancements, like the quinine a drug that helped fight Malaria. The doctors had just recently discovered bacteria and antisepsis. With this new knowledge, they began to change the way they treated patients and organized areas for treating the wounded. They started to think about things like cleanliness and how to set up a hospital. As the Civil War went on, it was less of a battle to see who was winning the fights and more to see who could keep their men healthy. When the North appointed Hammond, Letterman and allowed women to play larger roles in the hospitals, they were able to tip the balance in their favor and help them win the war.

The Civil War: “the central event in America's historical consciousness” (A Brief Overview of the American Civil War). This was a period of time full of blood, violence, and severe tension between a “united” nation to solve the abiding dispute over slavery. During the Civil War, thousands of soldiers were wounded and killed. Because of the constant trauma, nurses played a huge role during the Civil War. Having nurses on the battlefield to respond to wounded soldiers was crucial in saving lives, so soldiers could eventually continue to fight. Clara Barton was one well-known nurse for the Union. Her medical care lead her to continue research in the medical field in order to help people all around the country in a more efficient way. As founder of the American Red Cross and advocate for improved medical care during the Civil War, Clara Barton is one of the most influential women in the medical field.

Although, not all of these fatalities were from seized from enemy fire; nearly two-thirds of the total deaths were caused by diseases that struck those who were fighting. The idea that caused so many deaths was due to the spreading of germs. Surgeons would operate on open wounds and though many were to be treated, infections were persistent during the war and would slowly kill the soldiers whom it affected. Because of the death toll from the spreading of germs and infections, the Union states in the North began transporting wounded soldiers to nearby hospitals for medical care. Soon after officials realized the medical system needed to be revamped, the ambulance corps was put in place. The Ambulance corps was established to sort soldiers in regards to the severity of their injuries, and from there, the wounded soldiers would be transported to hospitals or remain where they were based on their injuries. This corporation played a major role in deciding which soldiers were likely to recover, and for the soldiers who were unlikely to make it, the corporation would make them as comfortable as possible and keep them in field stations away from the

Although the American Civil War is normally seen as something that threatened to tear our great country apart, their are many great inventions and innovations that resulted from this time. Some of these advancements include railroads, the telegraph, long-range weapons, and the ancestor of all machine guns, the gatling gun. Many of these inventions went on to play a huge role in how the civil war played out. While others, such as the cotton gin, had minimal effect on the war, but a direct effect on both the men in service, and the people back home.

In 2005, a family friend by the name of Randy Birdsong was a patient at Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital located in San Antonio, Texas. The Veteran Affairs (VA) medical staff was performing surgery on his abdomen. After the surgery, he was notified that there was insufficient space to accommodate his continued care. The V.A. advised him to keep his wound clean with a fresh roll of gauze, and sent him on his merry way. A few days later, Randy was back at the V.A. hospital with a noticeable infection taken place in his abdominal region. This prompted an additional surgery to clean the infected tissue. The V.A release Randy from the hospital once again for insufficient space and advised him to do his best to keep the sizeable hole in his abdomen

In the 1840s, operations had turned out to be more regular. But, numerous patients kicked the bucket from contamination taking after surgery. Irritation and suppuration happened in every single inadvertent injury after surgery, and all the more so when patients were dealt with at the healing facility instead of at home by a meeting specialist. The reason was obscure, yet it was accepted to be something noticeable all around. Accordingly, wounds were vigorously dressed or washed with water to keep the let some circulation into; operations were a final resort. The head, mid-section, and stomach were never opened, and harmed appendages were normally cut off.

Women have always played an important role in the history of the United States. Throughout different time periods, their roles in society and in government have changed in many ways. Whether women were helping the war manufacturing effort, striving for suffrage, helping soldiers during the war, or just raising their children; their roles have been influential to the social structure of the United States today. Their desire for equal rights, their willingness to help American soldiers, and the absence of men in the workplace are responsible for the changing role of women.