Civil_War_Medicine

Civil War Medicine There were many medical advances made during the American Civil War. When the Civil War began in April 1861, medicine was approaching what Surgeon General William Hammond called "the end of the medical Middle Ages." American physicians had little knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease and infection. (Maher, pg. 1) The Army Medical Department, which was responsible for the care of the sick and wounded in the North, was unprepared. The staff of 90 doctors was experienced in dealing with the health problems of small military outposts, but had no idea of how to deal with large scale medical and logistical problems. Unfortunately, the war occurred just a few years before Louis Pasteur discovered the role of germs in infection; doctors dug bullet fragments out with unwashed fingers and operated with bloody instruments for lack of clean water (Thomas, pg92). A surgeon recalled: "We operated in old blood-stained and often pus-stained coats, we used undisinfected instruments from undisinfected plush lined cases. If a sponge (if they had sponges) or instrument fell on the floor it was washed and squeezed in a basin of water and used as if it was clean." Civil War surgeons actually civil, war, medical, wounded, hospital, surgeons, surgeon, field, during, disease, army, soldiers, first, doctors, corps, bullet, battlefield, surgical, left, large, hospitals, commission, because, battle, amputation, american, 1861, yards, wounds, water, union, time, three, staffs, soldier, small, sanitary, problems, pg, over, operating, one, often, nursing, limb, infection, good, end, died, department