Even though diseases and death are inevitable to control over a war zone, the conditions for the soldiers of World War One was to blame because amended conditions would have lowered the casualties and some soldier’s diaries express the same interest. Medicine, disease, and death are a crucial aspect of World War One. Trench Warfare and ships seemed to be the most impacted. Trench warfare is a form of combat in which opposing sides fight a few hundred yards away in trenches that face each other. Soldier’s living conditions in the trench were insufferable. Ships involved in the Great War were overcrowded and meals become intolerable for the soldiers. Diseases and medicine were an everyday situation for soldiers. There were multiple diseases that
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[14] Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) is a rise in body temperature with no explanation as to why. Scabies was thought to be due to prolong and intimate contact, the opportunity to remove clothing during war fare did not happen often and blankets seemed to be the main source of transmission. [15] Mite bites or burrows in the skin caused the scabies which is a highly contagious skin irritation and rash. Scabies itches and when scratched it can break the skin down and let bacteria invade the body causing infections. In the conditions soldiers lived were in scratching could be dangerous or even fatal as it was an unsanitary environment. Lice was a major problem during the war. They would cover the whole body and when they would bite it cause the soldiers to itch. Lice was the cause of trench fever in WWI. Lice would suck the blood of someone who was infected with trench fever and then jump to bite another person, in which this spread trench fever across the soldiers. [16] Lice would breed constantly in the soldiers clothing, soldiers tried to wash them out but their eggs would stay in the seams of the clothing and when the soldiers would put their clothes back on their body heat would be used to hatch the eggs. [17] Mustard and chlorine gas was first seen used as a weapon in WWI. Exposure to this gas would burn the …show more content…
In late October 1914 Dr. Helm wrote: “Many fell in our frontline trenches, causing awful casualties. Men were buried alive whilst others were dug out in time and brought to, unable to stand, with their back half broken. [26] Having physicians and nurses on the front line helped to save many soldiers. They would be able to classify each soldier for example: shell shock, diseases, wounds, and gas injuries. Then they would be able to see what priority to care for these soldiers. Blood transfusions were done but at the time it was unsanitary and unsafe, and facial reconstructions were attempted but under the conditions and lack of knowledge, many soldiers needed several surgeries and still often remained disfigured. [27] Nurses used different medicines during WWI to care for the soldiers. A few common used ones were dakin solution, which was used as an antiseptic solution and to irrigate wounds before closure, cocaine hydrochloric was a local anesthetic, chloroform was a general anesthetic and a sedative, and painkillers were sodium salicylate, elixir of opium or opii tincture, camphorata and morphine sulphate. [28] Mercury was also used during WWI for the treatment of a sexually transmitted diseases. Medicine during this time was not as evolved as today, however, the physicians and nurses worked hard to save soldiers. Nurses were faces with poor conditions as well. Long hours, extreme cold and heat, and weather
[14] Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) is a rise in body temperature with no explanation as to why. Scabies was thought to be due to prolong and intimate contact, the opportunity to remove clothing during war fare did not happen often and blankets seemed to be the main source of transmission. [15] Mite bites or burrows in the skin caused the scabies which is a highly contagious skin irritation and rash. Scabies itches and when scratched it can break the skin down and let bacteria invade the body causing infections. In the conditions soldiers lived were in scratching could be dangerous or even fatal as it was an unsanitary environment. Lice was a major problem during the war. They would cover the whole body and when they would bite it cause the soldiers to itch. Lice was the cause of trench fever in WWI. Lice would suck the blood of someone who was infected with trench fever and then jump to bite another person, in which this spread trench fever across the soldiers. [16] Lice would breed constantly in the soldiers clothing, soldiers tried to wash them out but their eggs would stay in the seams of the clothing and when the soldiers would put their clothes back on their body heat would be used to hatch the eggs. [17] Mustard and chlorine gas was first seen used as a weapon in WWI. Exposure to this gas would burn the …show more content…
In late October 1914 Dr. Helm wrote: “Many fell in our frontline trenches, causing awful casualties. Men were buried alive whilst others were dug out in time and brought to, unable to stand, with their back half broken. [26] Having physicians and nurses on the front line helped to save many soldiers. They would be able to classify each soldier for example: shell shock, diseases, wounds, and gas injuries. Then they would be able to see what priority to care for these soldiers. Blood transfusions were done but at the time it was unsanitary and unsafe, and facial reconstructions were attempted but under the conditions and lack of knowledge, many soldiers needed several surgeries and still often remained disfigured. [27] Nurses used different medicines during WWI to care for the soldiers. A few common used ones were dakin solution, which was used as an antiseptic solution and to irrigate wounds before closure, cocaine hydrochloric was a local anesthetic, chloroform was a general anesthetic and a sedative, and painkillers were sodium salicylate, elixir of opium or opii tincture, camphorata and morphine sulphate. [28] Mercury was also used during WWI for the treatment of a sexually transmitted diseases. Medicine during this time was not as evolved as today, however, the physicians and nurses worked hard to save soldiers. Nurses were faces with poor conditions as well. Long hours, extreme cold and heat, and weather