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A
Brief History of Military Medics
During Ancient times if a soldier
was wounded, he laid in the field
where he had fallen.
There was no one to come to his
aid. Napoleon's Army was the first
to assign people to help the
wounded. They were called the
litter-bearers, made up mostly of
inept and expendable soldiers. The
American Colonial Army lead by
George Washington, also had
litter-bearers during the
Revolutionary War. In 1862, due to
the unexpected size of casualty
lists during the battle of
Manassas where it took one week to
remove the wounded from the
battlefield, Dr. Jonathan
Letterman, Head of Medical
Services of the Army of the
Potomac, revamped the Army Medical
Corps. His contribution included
staffing and training men to
operate horse teams and wagons to
pick up wounded soldiers from the
field and to bring them back to
field dressing stations for
initial treatment. This was our
Nation's first Ambulance Corps.
Dr. Letterman also developed the 3
tiered evacuation system which is
still used today. Field Dressing
(Aid) Station - located next to
the battlefield. Dressings and
tourniquets Field Hospital - Close
to the battlefield (during the
Civil War it would be Barns or
Houses, today they are known as
MASH units). Emergency surgery and
treatment, Large Hospital - Away
from the battlefield.
For patients' prolonged treatment,
Dr. Letterman's transportation
system proved successful. In the
battle of Antietam, which was a 12
hour engagement and the bloodiest
one day battle in the entire Civil
War, the ambulance system was able
to remove all the wounded from the
field in 24 hours. Dr. Jonathan
Letterman is known today as the
Father of Modern Battlefield
Medicine. Unfortunately,
amputation was the primary method
of treatment for wounds to
extremities during the Civil War
with over 50,000 resulting
amputees. During the Spanish
American War in the 1890's
Nicholas Sin stated, "Fate of the
wounded soldier is determined by
the hand which applies the
dressing. Field dressings are now
applied by litter-bearers in the
field." World War I required
millions of casualties to be
treated at the front. Unlike
previous wars, battles did not
stop to retrieve the wounded or
the dead.
World War I saw for the first time
medics rushing forward with the
troops, finding the wounded,
stopping their bleeding and
bringing the wounded soldier to
the aid station. In World War I
medics were no longer expendable
and were well trained. After World
War I, military medicine advanced.
Training became a priority both in
fighting and medical care. Medics
were trained with infantry
soldiers, learning how to use the
lay of the land for their
protection and that of their
patients. Medics were also trained
in the use of pressure dressings,
plasma IV's, tracheotomies,
splints, and administering drugs.
During World War II a wounded
soldier had an 85% chance of
surviving if he was treated by a
medic within the first hour. This
figure was three times higher than
World War I survival statistics.
The red cross worn by medics on
their helmet and arm bands became
visible targets for enemy snipers
during World War II and Korea.
Korea saw the advent of the
helicopter being used to bring men
from the front lines to M*A*S*H
units (Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital). In Vietnam, the medic's
job was to treat and evacuate.
Medevac helicopters now could
bring medics on board to continue
treating the wounded while
transporting them back to the
Field Hospitals. There was a 98%
survival rate for soldiers who
were evacuated within the first
hour. Vietnam was the first time
medics were armed and carried
firearms and grenades into combat.
Red crosses on helmets and arm
bands were no longer worn.
   
  
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G.O.A. Vern=VHB=
Head of
Medic Team
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Lieutenant
Colonel
Dead=VHB=
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Chief
Warrant Officer 4
SkateGIRL=VHB=
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Staff
Sergeant Flame=VHB=
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