biomedicalephemera reblogged
From Illustrated Lectures of Ambulance Work. By R. Lawton Roberts, 1888. Commissioned by England’s War Department.
Winter Ambulance from WWII
Tires just ain’t enough in those deep Russian snows...
Image from US Navy BUMED and Archives, via National Museum of Health and Medicine Flickr. 1940s.
Ambulances Through History
Ambulances post-date mobile medical units by several hundred years - the first evidence of "mobile hospitals" dates back to the units set up by the Knights Hospitallier during the first Crusades in the 11th century - but they are much more ancient than our current high-tech, specially-equipped vehicles may suggest.
The first consistent military ambulances emerged in the 15th century to transport Spanish troops away from the action, and the first wide-spread civilian ambulance services were developed during the cholera epidemics in 1830s London.
Many of our current ambulance services were developed during the U.S. Civil War, World War I, and World War II.
In recent decades, many ambulance services have expanded into specialty care (cardiovascular, obesity, stroke, and athletic), and in the United States and United Kingdom, almost all municipal fire departments are directly affiliated with a public or private ambulance service.
Images:
WWI Veterinary Ambulance
The use of animals in WWI for both transport and combat was so integral to both sides, that in the end, over 8 million horses died on both sides. Maintaining the animal forces was crucial, and over two and a half million horses were treated in veterinary hospitals before being able to return to active duty.
Image from Otis Archives, from the Army Medical Museum
Source: Flickr / medicalmuseum
WWI. Indian motorcycle modified for use as an inexpensive but effective ambulance during the warmer months.
1943. Ambulance vehicle with snow treads, for use in the icy north and in winter conditions.
Splinting broken limbs on the battlefield.
From Illustrated Lectures on Ambulance Work. R. Lawton Roberts, 1888. Commissioned by England's War Department.
Though battlefield medicine has been documented and practiced since before Upper and Lower Egypt were united, the United States Civil War was the first time that the concept of treating wounds during a battle (and not killing medics!) was really pervasive. That was the first time that there were multiple dedicated medics (even if not well-trained) per unit, and at least one ambulance cart per regiment. Union military physicians Joseph Barnes and Jonathan Letterman worked to ensure this, as well as worked to design an effective prehospital care system.
Casualties were still huge, and the dangers of infection were there both on the field and if one had surgery performed. Something that most people don't realize about Civil War medicine is that when available (basically anywhere besides the quagmires of the Deep South and when there were in insurmountable number of injured who needed surgery), around 90% of surgeries done on Union soldiers were done using a general anesthetic- chloroform. Since most of the surgeries were relatively quick (amputations and bullet removals), there were actually relatively few deaths caused by anesthesia problems.
Source: Flickr / usnationalarchives
Photograph of an emergency lung ambulance from 1937. From the Burns Archive.