Dysentery
What is Dysentery?
Disease involving the inflammation of the lining of the large intestines
What was used as a purifier for wounds?
Salt
What were stretcher bearers used for?
To carry out the wounded from the trenches and battlefields.
What were the clearing stations for?
The clearing station is a place for wounded soldiers who need medical attention.
I see our first man hit. He is a boy of nineteen years of age. A bit of stray high-explosive shell gets him in the leg. It was almost an accident, for had he left me five seconds earlier he would have missed it.
Amputation
What were the symptoms of Dysentery?
Causes stomach pains and diarrhea, sometimes vomiting and fever
How many soldiers in the British Army need Amputations?
1.65 million men
True or False:
There were 3 groups of stretcher bearers (4 men per group) to help carry soldiers to clearing stations.
False
There are only 4 stretcher bearers per company, so it takes a long time until you get help, or you have to crawl back to the trench
What were the most common operations used in the clearing stations?
Amputations, Injections, and Various Surgeries.
We descended to primal man. No washing or shaving here, and the demands of nature answered as quickly as possible in the handiest and deepest shell-hole.
Dysentery
How was it spread, and where did the spreading often occur?
Spreads through contact with sick people, food, or water. Often occurred in the trenches because of no proper sanitation.
What happens before getting amputated?
Get wounded -> Get transported to hospitals -> Healing -> Waiting for an artificial limb
What conditions would stretcher bearers go through?
Muddy and rocky fields
What are some ways soldiers would slowly die?
Wounds, gas poisoning, and diseases
The worse case I saw - and it still haunts me - was of a man being carried past us...the whole lower half of his face had been completely blown off, and what had appeared to be a black cloth was a huge gaping hole.
Causalities/Clearing Stations
How did it first start spreading?
First started with contaminated water since there was no established water system early in the war; people depended on a limited supply and/or water from the ground.
How would doctors sort the soldiers when operating on them?
Doctors would sort people by how close they were to dying.
True or False:
Soldiers would drag themselves back to the trenches trying to save themselves but would often drown in mud.
True
About how many casualties on the Western Front were killed and wounded in the trenches?
1/3
There I found Harrop lying in the lip of a shallow shell-hole bleeding profusely from a bad bullet wound in his thigh and two riflemen trying to help him.
Stretcher Bearers
Why was dysentery so difficult to prevent among soldiers during World War I, even though armies knew it was caused by contaminated food and water?
Trenches were dirty and crowded, clean water was scarce, and fighting made it impossible for proper sanitation.
How many amputations were performed during WW1?
Approximately 300,000 to 500,000
Where would the stretcher bearer bring the wounded first?
Regimental aid post
Why is the death count for ww1 unreliable?
Counting trench casualties is difficult because most statistics include only soldiers who died in battle, not those who died later. Civilians were also occasionally counted.
At the beginning of the First World War, popular opinion was that it would not last more than four months, that the science of modern warfare would take such a ghastly toll of human life that mankind would demand cessation of such barbarism. But we were mistaken...mad destruction and brutal slaughter that went on for four years to the bewilderment of humanity.
Casualties/Trenches