Askov American., 1943-06-17

oOila POWOSI IIiIO Ills WOuIluS. he
uses the first-aid packet In all prob
ability, however, hospital corps
man has reached him before he has
a chance to do this. The corpsman
has larger kit of supplies with him
| and administers quickly to the SOL
dier, giving him an injection of a
drug which stops pain almost instant
ly He does not remain with the fall
len soldier, as he has to move for
ward with the attack. After treat
ment, he ties tag to the soldiers
belt telling what type of treatment
was administered, fixes bit of gauze
to bayonet or a stick to mark the
place where the soldier is and goes
ahead.
! Litter-bearers carry the soldier to
battalion aid station from 400 to
| 1000 yards back. This station, min
iature hospital on wheels, is stated
by two physicians and assistants. 1t
has operating instruments, anesthe-
! tics, sulfanilamide, opiates to relieve
pain, hot drinks and most important,
blood plasma to combat shock and
loss of blood. The battalion aid
station may be compared to the emer-
gency room in an ordinary hospital.
Here the soldier receives treatment
until he can be removed still far
ther back. In the usual case the SOL
dier remains here a day or less, and
! then is evacuated by ambulance
jeep or other conveyance back to the
collecting station, as he would be
taken from the emergency room of
hospital to a ward for further
treatment. The collecting station also
is mobile and can be brought up as
close to the front line as necessary.
Here the various cases are classified
so that each man is assured of the
exact type of treatment required for
his particular injury. At these COL
lecting stations there are a number
of ambulances and other convey
ances for getting the injured to them
quickly.
From the collecting stations the
more seriously wounded are evac-
uated to field hospitals or evacuation
hospitals which are usually some five
to seven miles back of the battle line.
These field hospitals travel on six
wheels, four of them with double
tires to permit rapid movement over
rough or soft ground and they can
be brought right up to the battle line
when necessary They are ready for
instant use, and a major operation
can be performed in one of them a
few minutes after man is wounded.
These units are equipped with the
most modern medical and surgical
supplies, and are staffed by expert
surgeons with specialists available
for all kinds of injuries. Farthest
back are the great general, or base,
hospitals. These are not mobile
They are far removed from the battle
area, sometimes several hundred
miles away. The general hospitals
have 1000 beds or more, and are the
equal of the most elaborate city hos
pitals. The men may remain there
until they are entirely cured and re-
turned to duty, or they may be sent
to general and convalescent hospitals
in the United States.
Often the trip to the home hospital
is made by ambulance plane. There
have been cases of men wounded on
some distant battlefield several thou
sand miles away reaching this coun-
try faster than the report of their
wounding One soldier with a severe
abdominal wound was brought by
ambulance plane from Egypt in 72
hours, and is now recovering rapid
ly in an army hospital. Others have
been flown from the Far East, Eu-
rope, India and Africa The fact
that man knows he can be home
in a couple of days from almost any
part of the world is a tremendous
morale-builder.
One of the mobile units to which
many soldier owes his life is the
mobile X-ray machine. In the last
war these machines, although tech
nically portable, were huge, clumsy
affairs; several men were required
to haul them from one room to an
other The present battlefield X-ray
unit can literally 60 into action with
the men.
Hits Selfishness.
Racial and religious intolerance,
individual and group selfshness and
widespread indifference to the prin-
ciples of democracy have brought
America into so perilous a position
that unless education and good lead
ership intervene the Republic will
be destroyed by its own people, Sem
ator Burton K. Wheeler CD of Mon
tana, warned in an interview in Chi
cago some days ago.
He cited the hatred which exists
between some groups in this country
and, while admitting that a part of
this is reflection of events in
Europe, he charged both major polit-
ical parties with contributing to it.
politicians too often appeal to
special groups rather than to Amer