Civil War Medicine :: essays research papers

Civil struggle MedicineIn the Civil War era medical advances were few and so were surgeons. This time period is cognize in medical history as the Medical Middle-Ages. This was the initiation of the engineering science of today.In this time doctors or physicians were known as surgeons. At the beginning of the war the United States Medical Corp. consisted of less than one hundred throng on staff. This included the United States Surgeon General, thirty-six surgeons, and galore(postnominal) benefactor surgeons. Soon after the war started twelve of the thirty-six surgeons left for the Confederacy. though the Confederacy had few surgeons they kept up the pace actually well.It was because the surgeons knew very little about diseases that two out of every three soldiers that died in the war died from disease. Most soldiers died from diseases such as measles, mumps, and whooping cough. There were also many deaths from the lack of cleanliness in the hospitals. In some cases they would reuse wound training and put some straw over used bedding and annoying floor. When the top degree got dirty they would put a new layer on.Most of this changed when women were allowed to function in care for the men. It was Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton who were first to offer their help followed by many womens organizations. Most of the women who offered their help and support had to do so by voluntary acts. Dix was appointed Superintendent of Women Nurses. One of the standards that Dix schematic for her nurses was that they be plain looking and middle-aged. Recruits nicknamed her Dragon Dix.Contrary to popular picture surgeons did use anesthesia in most surgeries. It is stated by Geocities that A patient only having a bullet to bite was basically a myth.