The Mankato free press., 1918-06-21
|NARVELS IN SURGERY ]
| REPAIRING OF INJURED
Manned Soldiers Are Soon
Restored To Regiments
QUICK is TREATMENT
Men Whose Legs and Arms
Have Been Damaged Made
New Again

French Front, May 27.-[Corres-
'pondence of The Associated Press]-
Marvels are being performed by the
tsurgeons attached to the various
Entente armies. BY exercising their
skill they have restored to the fight
ing strength of the allied nations each
year since the beginning of the war,
!,whole divisions of men who in other
wars would have died of their wounds
or would have been crippled for life.
The recent gigantic battles, as the
result of which more wounded men
| than ever before have received surgi-
] cal treatment within a short space of
| time, have demonstrated the immense
! strides made not only in surgery but
in the methods of removing the
wounded from the battle fields and
transporting them to hospitals So
effective is the cooperation between
surgeons and physicians at the front
and those at the hospitals in the rear
that an immensely larger proportion
! of the wounded recover than was the
case at the beginning of the war.
Men Restored to Regiment
! Men whose legs or arms have been
fractured by shells now are restored
to their regiments in minimum of
time. This is due mostly to the fact
that they receive prompt antisceptic
treatment and surgical attention which
prevents blood poisoning and the
stiffening of articulation. Their re-
i1 ~ IN, H.
hind the lines where they can be
treated under comfortable conditions
J far from the nerve-racking sound of
the guns. Soldiers have been in
spired with confidence in the army
surgeons in the great battles around
Verdun and in the great German Of :
fensive which began in March,
Promptness in Treatment
| PrOmptness in the treatment of
wounded men has been obtained by
segregating them in classes according
to the nature of their wounds. This
was not generally done at the begin
ming of the war. The plan then in
vogue was to erect large hospitals
as near the fighting lines as possible,
isay ten or twelve miles from, the
| front, and to sent all cases there for
treatment. When big battles occurred
/ these hospitals were over crowded
and owing to the delay in operating
| there were many cases of gangrene
tetanus and other infections that re-
/ suited fatally The enemy did not
hesitate to lombard the hospitals
either with the artillery or from air
planes. Sometimes train-load ,oi
wounded men would arrive only to
find all the beds occupied and that
they must move on to another hos
pital
Difficulty is Overcome.
/ Most of this difficulty now has been
oercome. When wounded men reach
the first dressing station or fiel6
ambulance they are divided into cate
gories. Those slightly wounded are
rapidly dressed and sent to GONZALES
I cent hospitals. Those crippled are
sent to cripple depots. Men .whf
have been gassed go to special hos
pitals and those most dangerously
wounded are transferred to hospitals
nearby to remain until they recover
ior die.
! Those suffering from severe but no
4 dangerous wounds receive promp
treatment in the advanced ambulances
where operations are performed ant
wounds disinfected before the mer
i are sent to permanent hospitals. By
these divisions of the wounded int
I classes, it is asserted that great rapid
ity of surgical Intervention is achieved
4 as each specialist deals only will
cases needing his kind of skill. Ther
the patient is removed to the hospita
= at distance of not more than
tourney of ten or twelve hours, where
he receives attention from anothe
specialist working in close coopera
tion with his colleague in the ad
, vanced ambulance. This system O
segregation of wounded and cooper
{ alton of doctors is said to have pro
/ duced marvellous results.