Battlefield Health Care: Civil War Times

Jamie McNeil
Period 5 US History
9-27-13                      

    As one might expect, the United States medical field during the civil war was close to disastrous. Bloody, gruesome, and horrid effects were dawned on the soldiers and even more gruesome were the treatments that the wounded received. Compared to the medical services that were offered in Europe, medics were poorly trained, used inadequate materials, and often would operate just to get the job done, not really thinking about the effects their actions would cause on the wounded.  Plus, there was always the chance that the patients could catch disease from he operations, which probably resulted in almost as many deaths as those who had died on the battlefield. Although the amount of doctors was in much less quantities in the Confederate than the Union states, there was still very little doctor influence. What might have been a more positive involvement during the Civil War was the involvement of women. Before the war began, women had typical roles in American society that included managing the household and taking care of the family, but once it began, women served as nurses and aided the to battlefield healthcare tremendously.

     More rare diseases, such as bacteria outbreaks, to less rare ones, like pneumonia and chicken pox occurred among all this action. Because of poor nutrition (caused by many people all in one place and filthy conditions), bacteria started to spread on the food, and was one of the causes of very negative effects on the soldiers at the battleground camp. Today, in hospitals, we can appreciate all the medical gadgets, supplies, and care we are given that now in today's standards, we take for granted.

Sources:
Medical Care During the Civil War

Medical Care, Battle Wounds, and Disease