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Show Sulfa Drugs, Blood Plasma, New Techniques Have Doubled Soldiers' Chances of Survival Only 3 of Wounded. Die Now, as Against! 7 in World War I A man wounded in action now has a much better chance of recovering than ever before, be-fore, thanks to the advances of medical science, says Maj. Gen. Norman Kirk, surgeon general of the U. S. army. Chief reasons for the improvements improve-ments are the use of blood plasma to overcome shock and hemorrhage, sulfa drugs to hold down infections, and the greater mobility and superior su-perior organization of medical units. So far in this war, 3.18 per cent of those who were brought in wound- fied as to type of injury: head, chest, leg,' etc. A complete record is made of the injury and treatment received so far. Next the injured soldier goes to the clearing station, where a mobile surgical unit is on hand to take care of desperate cases. By the time the clearing station has been reached, men with minor wounds are ready to return to service. Men with serious wounds are sent on to evacuation hospitals, hundreds of miles away. Airplanes are frequently frequent-ly used to move casualty cases swiftly. swift-ly. After treatment at the evacuation evacua-tion hospital, man may be returned re-turned to service, or sent back to the States for prolonged treatment. If he is unfit for any service, he is given a medical discharge. Navy Much the Same. Naval medical care is similar to the army's. Small ships, such as submarines and destroyers, have little lit-tle more than first aid equipment, while battleships have a complete hospital aboard, known as the "sick bay." This Includes a ward room of 36 to 180 beds, a surgical dressing room, an operating room, dispensary, dispensa-ry, laboratory, aud doctors' and dentists' den-tists' offices. Wounded seamen from smaller ships are moved to these sick bays. First aid supplies are located in many parts of every ship, so that destruction of one section will not deprive men In other parts of aid. The marine field hospital system resembles the army's, with certain differences necessitated by the special spe-cial problems of that dashing corps. Base hospitals are much like those of the army, being large and completely com-pletely modern. Treatment of mental cases has received much attention in this war. First, every effort is made at induction in-duction stations to reject men who would be likely to break down under un-der stress of war dangers and hardships. hard-ships. Despite this caution, many men crack under the strain. In various overseas hospitals, admissions admis-sions for mental ills amount to 20 to 25 per cent of all cases. Soldiers who suffer neuropsychiatric collapses are sent to evacuation hospitals, where they are treated by sedatives, prolonged rest, food, and certain techniques that allow them to release re-lease their pent-up emotions. They are encouraged to talk about their frightful experiences. From 50 to 70 1 f X , v i A - - - . t O H. I, i T" " -fee, v 1 , 1,;,.: 4. Convalescent cases, still con fined to beds. Men in the first two classes are segregated from other patients, put back in uniform, and placed under un-der regular discipline. These soldiers sol-diers go on marches up to 15 miles, engage In training maneuvers, play body contact games, and work at such projects as victory gardens, poultry raising, and construction work. Generally these men are willing will-ing and eager to return to service. Soldiers in classes three and four receive every treatment possible to hasten recovery massage, sun bathing, bath-ing, supervised exercise. Those who can help the ward attendants in their duties, and engage in such games as their condition permits. A program of education in military and cultural sciences and entertainments entertain-ments helps to keep their minds occupied oc-cupied and at ease. The army maintains about 80 general gen-eral hospitals in the United States, each containing about a thousand beds. There are about 600 smaller institutions at various posts throughout through-out the world. Army personnel have about 350,000 beds available, and more hospitals are in construction. construc-tion. The navy operates 36 general hospitals and seven convalescent institutions in the United States, totaling to-taling 40,000 beds. Facilities at posts and stations amount to an additional ad-ditional 25,000 beds. Prevention. Another important service of the medical departments is prevention of diseases by antitoxins and sani- . tary measures. Inoculations in both ' army and navy include serums to prevent typhoid fever, smallpox, tetanus, yellow fever, typhus, cholera chol-era and plague. Some are given to every man in service, others only to those who will likely be exposed to a particular disease. Results have been most satisfactory. satisfac-tory. During 1942 there were no cases of yellow fever or cholera in the army, and only a few cases of smallpox and plague. About 50 men became sick with typhus, but only less than half a dozen died. Scarcely any man who had been inoculated for tetanus developed infection. in-fection. The navy reported similar-success similar-success in battling diseases. Last war the influenza epidemic swept through army camps, causing 80 per cent of the disease deaths in 1918. A mild epidemic threatened in December, 1941, and lasted until March, 1942, but it was easily controlled, con-trolled, and practically no deaths resulted. re-sulted. A form of pneumonia called "atypal" has been widespread, and has put many men in the hospital, but the mortality rate is low. Recovery Re-covery is slow, so loss of time from duty is serious. Servicemen in the tropics are exposed ex-posed to some bizarre diseases such as filariasis, a parasitic ailment transmitted by mosquitoes. The ailment ail-ment breaks forth in lesions and glandular swellings. Only about seven sev-en cases per 100,000 men have been reported. Fighters in the South seas have encountered malaria in the swampy islands. In 1942 the army's rate of malarial infection was about 30 men per thousand. It rose to 80 per thousand during 1943, because of increased in-creased activities in the steaming jungles. The marine landing forces report a rate of 155.5 per thousand, or nearly 16 per cent. This, despite mosquito repellents, screens, spraying spray-ing of mosquito larvae, and administration admin-istration of drugs, including quinine compounds, to servicemen. Malaria is called a serious health menace by the medical authorities. Widespread battlefronts have multiplied mul-tiplied the problems of the medical Pharmacist's mates on board a U. S. destroyer in the Mediterranean inject blood plasma into the arm of a captured enemy. He was a crewman crew-man on a submarine sunk by the destroyer. per cent will recover in from two to five days. Most of the others are eventually sent home. The navy has had similar experience, and employs em-ploys about the same procedure. Army Nurse Lieut. Dorothy Hoi-stein Hoi-stein neatly bandages Seaman Douglas Doug-las Strater's head. He was wounded by a fragment of a 37 mm. shell fired from a Nazi plane, while be was serving on a sub-chaser in the harbor of Palermo, Sicily. Dangling on his bare chest is the Purple Heart, awarded for his part in this action. (Army photo) ed have died, as compared with 7.35 per cent in the last war, or less than half. While these figures are not entirely comparable, since more men are killed outright by the more lethal modern weapons, nevertheless, neverthe-less, a very substantial improvement improve-ment has been made. The life-saving life-saving branches of the services have more than kept up with the deadli-ness deadli-ness of the latest bombs and shells. For instance, in one of the Egyptian Egyp-tian campaigns, head wounds resulted result-ed in a mortality rate of only 9 per cent. In World War I, from 50 to 60 per cent died. Head wounds are injuries to the scalp, skull or brain. I Losses of extremities will be much J smaller than last time, it is predict-: predict-: ed, on experience to date, largely because infections can be better controlled con-trolled now. Control of infection by use of the highly publicized sulfonamides and the mysterious and rare penicillin is popularly misunderstood, army doctors warn. The sulfa drugs hold the infection in check until the natural nat-ural defenses of the body are able to kill the bacteria. Penicillin pre-! pre-! vents the growth of new bacteria, j It has been found gratifyingly suc-! suc-! cessful in treatment of osteomyelitis and other stubborn types of infec-, infec-, tions that will not yield to sulfonamides. sulfona-mides. While these "miracle drugs" do not mean the end of infected wounds, surgeons say that this most serious danger is being conquered. Wounded Get Speedy Aid. Speedy treatment is probably the most important point in saving lives, after the new techniques. It is estimated that 80 to 90 per cent of wounded men receive first aid within an hour after being hurt. Every Ev-ery soldier carries a little kit with him, containing sulfa tablets and dressings. If he is hurt badly, and unable to apply these himself, a comrade will do it. Then, as soon as possible, stretcher-bearers come for him, and carry him to a first aid I tent, the battalion aid station, only a few hundred yards behind the firing fir-ing line. I Here a doctor examines the wound and checks the treatment administered adminis-tered by the medical aid soldier. The doctor treats the shock with injections injec-tions of blood plasma, and gives morphine to ease the pain. He puts on necessary splints or dressings. I As soon as the man's condition permits he is moved by ambulance, jeep, or litter to a collecting station, sta-tion, which is also a mobile unit, placed as close to the front as is at I all safe. Here the patient is classi- ?ArVV H Reconditioning. The army medical department is developing a program to put the wounded soldier in the best possible condition upon his dismissal from tb hospital. This is called reconditioning. recon-ditioning. One phase as designed to reorient the handicapped man the blind, deaf, and crippled. Blind men are taught Braille writing and reading read-ing and other skills that make life easier. The deaf learn lip reading. Men who have suffered amputations get artificial limbs and special training. train-ing. When possible, these unfortunate unfortu-nate men are helped to earn a living liv-ing in some new trade. Those men who can return to service serv-ice are encouraged to do so, as the army believes that a veteran who has been wounded in action is the most valuable kind of soldier. These men fully appreciate the wisdom and necessity of instructions for escaping injury in combat. The reconditioning patients are divided di-vided into four classes: 1. Those nearest the point of recovery, re-covery, who are capable of eight hours of physical training daily. 2. Those who can stand six hours of physical exercise daily. 3. "Walking" cases, still receiving receiv-ing treatments. Dental care is a constant need among the fighting men. Lieut. George Fry is one of the navy dentists den-tists who is keeping the marines' teeth in first class condition. (Marine Corps Photo) corps this time, but advances of science sci-ence and improved organization have combined to make the serviceman's service-man's chances of returning to civilian civil-ian life unimpaired much better than they have ever been in the long history his-tory of war. |
