The herald., 1898-04-24
MODERN WAR SURGERY
HOW THE WOUNDED ARE CARED
FOR AT THE 'FRONT.'
BAYONETS USED AS SPLINTS
Duties Of the Men Who Follow the
Fighters to Bind Wounds and
Mend Broken Bones

knnwn the world over for his splendid sys-
tematizin and bringing to hlgn sia .1r',s y.
perfection the service OF the hosp,tMat M I9i e pc
on the field of battle, and whose IDEAS nave
been adopted in all armies, mas prepale9
the following description of the latest ana
most advanced methods, which Will, IN view
OF the war with Spaln' Do rSS reau w. the
methods are the same in all clvlllzeo couu-
tries, and the reader can readily apply the
following facts to the American army
How much depends on the employment
of efficient means for affording assistance
to the wounded in campaigns, can only
be thoroughly understood and appreciated
by those who have had practical expert
ence of the horrors of war upon the field of
battle. Not only the future condition OF
the victims of war as regards suffering
and the usefulness of limbs, but even the
preservation of life ITSELF is involved in the
methods which are made use of for the
collecting and succoring of the wounded.
The German medical officers reported, af-
ter the war of 1901, that large numbers
of men died in the field hospitals three or
four days after their admission, not so
much from the immediate effects of their
wounds, as in consequence of the general
exhaustion of vitality following on long
sions had been unavoidable. For the
prevention too, of the aggravation of the
conditions of the wounds themselves, as
well as to insure the possibility of treat
ment on the lines of modern surgery, it is
all-important that wounded men be rapid
ly picked up and carried out of danger of
further injury to where nourishment can
be supplied to them, and their wounds at
tended to.
But, besides this, every feeling of hu-
manity prompts us to aid the wounded SOL
dier at the earliest moment, and to the ut
most of our power, and to place him where
he will feel that iscomfort and his urgent
requirements are certain to receive that
care and attention SO necessary to his re-
covery, and so we'll deserved for SO strict
an adherence to such duty as his, car
ried, as he has carried it, to the extent Of
risking life itself.
In the armies of every civilized nation in
the world the methods to be employed for
these purposes are, in modern times. laid
down by regulation, and in all they are
based on the same general principles with
some slight and unimportant variations
necessitated by the circumstances OF par
ticular cases.
III lOlluSA tiiiOS ilO ~ ySlcihdliS AhSeAOAo
for the performance of these important du-
ties had been decided on for the English
army. Until the year 1877 there was no
unit in the British army whose special
business was to collect and to attend to the
wants of wounded men where they tell
upon the field. Even at as late period
as the time of the Crimean war, the only
men available for the purpose of helping
l1I 1ff Gal1 fl,a acrs
mental bandsmen, or his comrades in the
corps to which he belonged, and no means
could have been more inefficient than they.
They had never been taught, and knew
nothing of how to move and carry wound
ed men, nor, of course, had they any appre-
citation of the risk wounded men are eA.
posed to when moved by inexperienced
hands. Moreover, their comrades in the
regiment had other work on hand, and
were there for other purposes. In the
year 1877 committee, with the late Sir
Thomas Longmore, Colonel Brackenbu-y
and Major Kemmis, R. A, as members,
was assembled in London by the COM
mander-in-chief. A scheme for bearer
company was drawn up by this commit
tee, and this was the model on which the
bearer company was first tried in actual
warfare III tIle ZIulu NdT VI 1913, ana tdS we
learn from Longmore, "On Gunshot
Wounds') it's Operations We're then at
tended with such success-every man who
fell wounded being at once picked up and
carried to the rear for surgical aid-that
the secretary of state for war called the
attention of the house of commons to
them, especially to the courage of the
bearers, who kept close up to the attack
ing troops. and to the rapidity with which
all the wounded were placed under hos
pital treatment"
For purposes of description, the means
for medical assistance of sick and wound
ed in a campaign, as laid down by regu-
lation, may be divided into three lines.
The first line of assistance is composed
of the regimental aid, and the bearer COM
panies.
The second line comprises the field hos
pitals and the stationary hospitals on the
lines of communication, and
The third line the general hospitals at
the base of operations, and if the base be
on a seaboard, hospital ships.
The first line: The regimental aid-When
on active service every corps or regiment
has a medical officer attached to it during
the campaign; four men per squadron, or
two men per company. are trained, during
peace time, in stretcher-bearer-w work-how
to lift and carry wounded men on stretch
ers-and in rendering first aid' to wound :
ed on the field. The medical officer and
these trained stretcher- bearers form part
of the first line of medical assistance, viz
the "regimental aid;" the bearer company
forms the other part.
A bearer company is body of men COM
posed of the medical staff corps and its re-
serves Gncludng the militia reserves) es-
pecially trained and practiced in affording
first aid to wounded men, placing them on
stretchers, carrying them to where sur
gical treatment can be given to them, and
In packing them into ambulance wagon
for conveyance to the field hospitals 1t is
commanded and administered by officers
of the army medical staff.
The personnel of a bearer company con-
sists of three officers of the army medical
staff, one warrant officer, six sergeants
one bugler, and fifty-three rank and file
of the medical staff corps. OF the latter
stretchers at four men each, and the re-
mainder are corporals, privates, cooks, SER
wants, etc, etc.
The transport of bearer company NAV
be either "wheel' or pack" In the former
case all the stores, baggage, tents, surgica
appliances etc, are carried in service wag-
ons of different patterns, and in the lattel
on pack mules. Wheeled transport is uset
where the nature of the country permit.
of its emplOvment and mack mule trans