SANITARY TACTICS.
_Personnel and materiel with combatant troops._ The sanitary personnel
and equipment normally assigned to various units is given in F. S. R.
A regiment acting alone might, in addition to its regular personnel
and equipment, be accompanied by 3 ambulances and an infirmary of 12
beds detached from the sanitary units; a brigade acting alone may be
accompanied by one ambulance company. This is not to be assumed unless
so stated in the problem. An ambulance company may be assigned to a
brigade acting as advance guard to a larger force.
_Duty._ The duty of the sanitary organization is to transfer or
evacuate all wounded from the battlefield to the sanitary stations
in rear with the least possible delay and the minimum of treatment.
Each successive station is emptied as soon as possible in order to be
prepared to receive fresh cases. The wounded are given at each station
only such attention as necessary before they can be transferred.
The wounded are collected as rapidly as possible and receive at each
station the necessary attention. They should never be left on the field
of battle nor allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy if this
can be avoided, as it has a demoralizing effect on the troops. In an
advance little difficulty will be encountered, but in retreat after a
defeat, especially if the losses have been severe, it may be necessary
in avoiding delay and the loss of sanitary personnel and materiel,
to abandon some of the more seriously wounded either on the field of
battle or at some of the stations in rear. They fall into the hands of
the enemy, but are protected by the Geneva Convention. The wounded in
such cases become prisoners of war and are available for exchange. The
necessary sanitary personnel and medical supplies should be left behind
unless the wounded can be placed in care of competent civilians, as may
often be done in friendly country.
_Capacity._ An ambulance company has 12 ambulances each of which will
accommodate 9 patients sitting or 4 recumbent and 1 sitting.
A field hospital can set up 216 beds.
_Sanitary stations in combat._ The stations and duties of the sanitary
troops during combat, are as set forth below. (See Figs. XIII and XIV.)
_Bn. collecting stations._ These stations are established by the
assigned personnel as close as practicable to the firing line. The
wounded are collected by litter. Each battalion and squadron has
7 litters (on combat wagons); each machine gun company 1 litter;
regimental sanitary personnel 8 litters; total with a regiment, 30.
_Regimental aid stations._ These are established by the regimental
sanitary troops in a convenient central location as close to the firing
line as the necessity for shelter from the enemy’s fire permits. The
wounded from the bn. collecting stations are assembled and first aid
rendered. Slightly wounded men are directed to the rear. The regimental
bands may be placed at the disposal of regimental surgeons to assist in
collecting the wounded, etc.
_Dressing stations._ Dressing stations are established by Ambulance
Companies, each company can establish one station. In order to avoid
unnecessary loading and unloading of wounded and immobilization of
the ambulance companies, dressing stations should not be established
prematurely, nor too far to the rear. If the course of the action
permits, the ambulance companies advance and take over the wounded
directly from the regimental aid stations. If however, the action is
protracted, or likely to take an unfavorable turn, the evacuation of
wounded from the regimental aid stations must often commence prior to
the close of the engagement, in which case dressing stations must be
established in rear. The location of a dressing station should fulfill
the following conditions:
(a) It should be out of range, or otherwise secure from hostile
artillery fire.
(b) It should be close to and conveniently located with reference
to the battle district it serves, the roads leading thereto, and
the general line of communication to the rear.
(c) It should be near but not on a good road.
(d) It should not be near a (friendly) arty. position.
(e) Fuel (fire-wood), water and shelter are necessary.
It is desirable that the stations be near a building or group of
buildings. These afford shelter in inclement weather and provide a
refuge for the wounded pending their transfer to the Field Hospital in
case the Ambulance Co. has to move forward.
The location of dressing station (or stations) is designated at the
proper time by the Supreme Commander after consultation with the Chief
Surgeon. Serious operations are not ordinarily attempted at dressing
stations.
_Slightly wounded station._ The object of a slightly wounded station
is to relieve the dressing station of the care of slightly wounded
men who are able to walk and require little attention. A slightly
wounded station is not ordinarily established for a command less than
a division. It is usually established by a field hospital, if one is
present, near the station of the latter, or by an ambulance company
and later taken over by a field hospital. It should be in rear of
dressing stations, on the natural line of retreat, near the important
roads and conspicuously marked so that it may be readily found. Here
the slightly wounded receive attention and are returned to duty at the
front, or sent to the rear. Slightly wounded going to the rear should
be collected in small bodies under the command of (slightly wounded)
officers and non-commissioned officers.
_Field hospitals._ The field hospitals receive the wounded from
the dressing stations. They should in any case be so located as to
facilitate the rapid transfer of the wounded to the rear, without
unnecessary man-handling of patients. If practicable the hospitals are
located in towns and near to rail head. During a forward movement when
it is desirable to release the ambulance companies as soon as possible
in order that they may go forward with the combatant troops, the field
hospitals may move forward and take over the wounded directly from
the dressing stations of the ambulance companies. The evacuation of
dressing stations is not the first duty of the ambulance companies
when they are needed with the advancing troops.
_Police of the battlefield._ After an action the police of the field
is completed as promptly as possible, under direction of the Chief
Surgeon, by details from the combatant troops. The police of the
battlefield includes:
(a) Collection and removal of the wounded (friendly or hostile.)
(b) Collection and disposal of all corpses and carcasses, (burial
and cremation.)
(c) Identification and record of all dead and wounded with
diagnoses.
[Illustration: Fig. XIII
REGIMENTAL SANITARY TROOPS IN BATTLE.]
_Transportation of wounded._ All wounded who are able to walk are
required to do so. The seriously wounded are transported to the rear in
stretchers, ambulances, and by any other means available. Empty wagons
of combat and other trains may be utilized for this purpose.
When the tactical situation permits, the ambulance companies will
transport the wounded to the field hospitals. When, however, the
combatant troops are moving forward the ambulance companies should
follow them as soon as possible. In such cases the field hospitals
may be pushed up to the front, and use made of all hired or impressed
transportation available.
Civilian help, both in the transportation and care of the wounded,
should be utilized to the fullest possible extent, to relieve the
congestion in the sanitary stations. The evacuation system of the
Medical Dept, is illustrated by diagrams herewith. (Fig. XIV.)
Transportation by rail should be utilized to the greatest possible
extent.
[Illustration: FIG. XIV.]