People's Reactions
People's reactions to the medical field were poor at first, yet improved as the medical field improved.
- During the Civil War, new weapons were made. These weapons, such as minie
balls and soft lead bullets, caused terrible wounds that could often be treated only
by amputation.
People's reactions to the medical field were poor at first, yet improved as the medical field improved.
- During the Civil War, new weapons were made. These weapons, such as minie
balls and soft lead bullets, caused terrible wounds that could often be treated only
by amputation.
Above is a picture of a Civil War Minie Ball.
- In the beginning of the war, the effects of bacteria were not yet known.
- Surgeons did not sterilize their instruments, causing infections to spread.
- This killed many soldiers during the Civil War.
- In the beginning of the war, the medical field had not been established. Many
soldiers were afraid of hospitals and treatement.
- Soon, the federal government set up the United States Sanitary Commission. It
improved hygienic conditions army camps, recruited and trained nurses, and was a
great success.
- It sent out agents to teach soldiers such things as how to avoid polluting
their water supply.
- It developed hospital trains and ships (to transport the wounded from the
battlefield).
- Surgeons did not sterilize their instruments, causing infections to spread.
- This killed many soldiers during the Civil War.
- In the beginning of the war, the medical field had not been established. Many
soldiers were afraid of hospitals and treatement.
- Soon, the federal government set up the United States Sanitary Commission. It
improved hygienic conditions army camps, recruited and trained nurses, and was a
great success.
- It sent out agents to teach soldiers such things as how to avoid polluting
their water supply.
- It developed hospital trains and ships (to transport the wounded from the
battlefield).
Above is a picture of the United States Sanitary Commission Seal. The commission was formed in 1861.
- As a result, the death rate among the wounded in the Union significantly
decreased. (The Confederacy did not have a Sanitary Commission, yet many
southern women volunteered as nurses.)
- Unfortunately, the improvements in hygiene and nursing did not reach the war
prisons, where conditions were even worse than in army camps.
Above is a photograph of Confederate prisoners, in 1864.
Nurses and nuns contributed to the improvement of sanitation in hospitals.
"At first some soldiers were suspicious of the nuns or frightened by their
unusual clothing...however, many doctors supported the nuns as soon as they
saw their work, and some women co-workers were anxious to learn their
skills...and many soldiers who survived credited the sisters, rather than the
doctors for their survival."
- The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine
"During the Civil War, a variety of mostly untrained people served as nurses
for the sick and wounded of both sides in the field and in hospitals. In this
period there were no professional nursing schools and people learned by the
experience of nursing."
- The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine
