WAR’S REPAIR SHOP: CARING FOR THE WOUNDED
EFFICIENCY OF THE RED CROSS SERVICE -- THE BANDAGING CAMP -- THE
SANITATION COMPANY -- THE HOSPITAL BARGE.
Amid the dreadful welter of carnage and its attendant agony which spells
modern warfare one ray of brightness appears in the universal gloom in
the shape of the highly organized efficiency of the Red Cross Service,
which waits upon battle. Die Umschau, of Berlin, printed an admirable
description of its activities from the pen of Professor Rupprecht, one
of the chief organizers of the German Military Hospital Service, of
which we give an abstract:
“The stretcher-bearers of the infantry--four to each company--who bear
the Red Cross symbol on the arm, when a battle is on hand, gather at the
end of the battalion (sixteen men with four stretchers) and then proceed
to the Infantry Sanitation Car. As soon as the ‘bandaging camp’ is made
ready . . . they go to the front with stretchers and knapsacks in order
to be ready to give aid to the wounded as soon as possible. Musicians
and others are employed as assistant stretcher-bearers. These wear a red
band on the sleeve but do not come under the provisions of the Geneva
Treaty.”
THE BANDAGING CAMP
Similar arrangements are made for the cavalry. The so-called “bandaging
camp” is for the purpose of gathering the wounded and examining and
classifying them. It should be both protected and accessible, and if
possible near a water supply. At the end of a battle it is the duty of
the troops to search trenches, woods, houses, etc., for the wounded,
protect them against plunderers and carry them to the bandaging camp, as
also to bury the dead.
[Illustration: QUICKER AND EASIER THAN BANDAGES: THE “TABLOID”
ADJUSTABLE HEAD-DRESSING.
This dressing for head-wounds in the form of a cap, can be applied in a
few seconds, and remains comfortably in position. It can be washed,
sterilized, and used repeatedly. The diagrams show the method of
adjusting and the dressing in position.]
“At the bandaging camp the surgeons and their assistants must revive and
examine the men and make them ready for transport. Operations are seldom
practicable or necessary here. The chief concern is to bandage wounds of
bones, joints, and arteries carefully. . . . Severe hemorrhages usually
stop of themselves, on which account it is seldom desirable to bind the
limb tightly above the wound. The wound itself must never be touched,
washed, or probed. After the clothing is removed or cut away it must
merely be covered with the contents of the bandage package.”
Every soldier carries two of these packages in a pocket on the lower
front corner of his left coat-tail. Each package contains a gauze
bandage enclosed in a waterproof cover. There is sewed to this bandage a
gauze compress saturated with sublimate and of a red color. It is so
arranged that the bandage can be taken hold of with both hands without
touching the red compress.
It is strongly impressed upon the stretcher-bearers and all assistants
that cases having wounds in the abdomen are not transportable and must
on no account be given food or drink; also that bleeding usually stops
of itself. They are taught, too, that touching, washing, or probing the
wound is injurious, and that only _dry_ bandages must be placed on the
wound--never those that are damp or impervious.
“The wounded who are capable of marching leave their ammunition, except
for a few cartridges, at the bandaging camp, are provided if need be
with a simple protective bandage, and march first to the nearest ‘camp
for the slightly wounded,’ or to the nearest ‘resting-camp.’ The rest of
the wounded are removed as soon as possible directly to the field
hospitals or lazarets. If obliged to remain for a while before removal
they are protected by portable tents, wind-screens, etc. . . . If it is
impossible to carry the wounded along in a retreat they are left in care
of the hospital staff under the protection of the Red Cross.”
THE SANITATION COMPANY
In case of a big battle a sanitation company remains near the bandaging
camp. Every army corps has three of these companies, which, together
with the twelve field lazarets of the corps, form a sanitation
battalion.
As soon as it is apparent that the troops will remain in one locality
for some length of time the smaller bandaging camps or stations are
supplemented by a chief bandaging station some distance in the rear, and
if possible, near a highway and near houses. At this spot there are
arranged places for the entry and exit of the wagons carrying the
wounded, for the unloading of the wounded, for the dying and the dead,
for cooking, and a “park” for wagons and horses.
Each field lazaret is capable of caring for two hundred men, but this
capacity may be extended by making use of local aid. The supplies
carried are very comprehensive, including tents, straw mattresses and
woolen blankets, lighting materials, clothing and linen, tools, cooking
utensils, soap, writing materials, drugs and medical appliances,
sterilization ovens, bandages, instruments, and an operating-table. As
fast as possible the patients treated are sent home on furlough or
removed to permanent military hospitals. The very perfection of this
system but deepens the tragic irony that occasions it.
THE HOSPITAL BARGE
One very important development in the care for the wounded is the
introduction of the hospital barge. The rivers and canals of France
offer splendid opportunities for conveying wounded from point to point.
This new method of transport was foreshadowed in an article in the
London Times, in which the writer, in describing the hospital barges,
said:
“The north of France, as is well known, is exceedingly rich in
waterways--rivers and canals. The four great rivers, the Oise, the
Somme, the Sambre, and the Escaut (Scheldt), are connected by a network
of canals--quiet and comfortable waterways at present almost free of
traffic. So far as the reaching of any particular spot is concerned
these waterways may be said to be ubiquitous. They extend, too, right
into Belgium, and have connection with the coast at various points--for
example, Ostend. Here, then, is a system of ‘roads’ for the removal of
the wounded, a system which, if properly used, can be made to relieve
greatly the stress of work imposed upon the ambulance motor cars and
trains. Here also is the ideal method of removal.
“The Ile de France is lying at present at the Quai de Grenelle, near the
Eiffel Tower. This is a Seine barge of the usual size and type,
blunt-nosed, heavily and roomily built. You enter the hold by a
step-ladder, which is part of the hospital equipment. This is a large
chamber not much less high from floor to ceiling than an ordinary room,
well lighted, and ventilated by means of skylights. The walls of the
hold have been painted white; the floor has been thoroughly scrubbed out
for the reception of beds, of which some forty to fifty will be
accommodated.
“The forward portion of the barge can accommodate more beds, and there
is no reason why a portion of it should not be walled in and used as an
operating room, more especially since in the bow a useful washing
apparatus is fitted. The barge is heated by stoves, and a small electric
plant could easily be installed. The barges are used in groups of four,
and a small tug supplies the motive power. In favorable circumstances
about fifty kilometers a day can be traveled.”
The barges employed are big, roomy barges one hundred and twenty feet
long, sixteen feet broad, and ten feet high. Care is taken to use only
fairly new and clean barges which have been used in the conveyance of
timber or stone or other clean and harmless cargoes.