The US Army in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) faced a tragic epidemic in the fall and winter of 1944/1945. Casualty numbers in this epidemic range from 46,000 – 71,000 soldiers (depending on whether only “pure” cold injury casualties are counted or casualties with other medical problems AND cold injury are counted). If we […]
Trench foot and Frostbite epidemic in the ETO Read More »
The medical concepts of shock and its main cause at the beginning of WW2 led the US Armed Forces to rely on the transfusion of blood plasma as the main therapy. For more information on this and the successful blood plasma program during the War, I invite you to read part 1 of this series.
SHOCK TREATMENT IN THE US ARMY DURING WW2. PART 2: WHOLE BLOOD. Read More »
Shock is a life-threatening condition caused by failure of blood circulation, causing inadequate oxygen delivery to the tissues and cells of the body. The effects of shock are initially reversible, but can rapidly become irreversible, resulting in multiorgan failure and death. There are several possible causes and we now recognize different types of shock: septic
Shock treatment in the US Army during WW2. Part 1: Shock and plasma. Read More »
In 1992, Frederick B. Lea recorded his experiences of April 1945, when he witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand during the liberation of two concentration camps: Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Lea was a Captain during the War. He served as company commander of the Headquarters Company, 46th AMB; as Battalion Supply Officer (S-4), and as
Recollections of a Liberator, part 3: Prisoner 21082, Paul Sand Read More »
In 1992, Frederick B. Lea recorded his experiences of April 1945. During this month, men of the 4th Armored Division witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand when they overran two concentration camps: Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Lea was a Captain during the War. He served as company commander of the Headquarters Company, 46th AMB; as
In 1992, Frederick B. Lea recorded his experiences of April 1945. During this month, men of the 4th Armored Division witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand when they overran two concentration camps: Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Lea was a Captain during the War. He served as company commander of the Headquarters Company, 46th AMB; as
Recollections of a Liberator: the liberation of Ohrdruf and Buchenwald. Part 1: Ohrdruf. Read More »
This Morning Report describes one soldier suffering from “battle fatigue” and the efforts of the aid men to help him. But what is “battle fatigue” exactly? What were the symptoms and signs? And how was it treated? In this article, I will explore these questions and answer them first for the US Army in general
When a casualty’s injury warranted evacuation from the battalion aid station/casualty collecting point, and the treatment he had received had stabilized his situation enough for him to be transportable, he would enter the second echelon of the Chain of Evacuation. The second echelon was the responsibility of the medical battalion. Just as all the medical
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part 5: Medical Battalion. Read More »
This July I visited the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial at St. Avold, France. I drove there, from my family’s vacation house in the Belgian Ardennes, to visit the graves of the 17 members of the 4th Armored Division’s medical units buried there. I had planned to write about my visit to the cemetery soon
First echelon evacuation meant getting the casualties away from the front line, as quickly as the tactical situation allowed, to a battalion aid station. Here, they would be seen by a doctor for the first time after being wounded. “Soon after dawn, we began to receive casualties, many of whom were severely wounded. The aid
Medical Evacuation and Treatment Series. Part 4: Battalion Aid Station. Read More »