Medicine+5

=Medical Care for Soldiers=


 * Surgery on the Battlefield**


 * Most doctors and surgeons knew of the relationship between cleanliness and infection, but were unsure of how to sterilize their instruments
 * Surgeons sometimes went for days without washing their equipment, spreading bacteria and infections from patient to patient
 * Sanitation was almost non-existent
 * Doctors and surgeons had limited or no training
 * Their techniques were called barbaric and doctor were referred to as "butchers" by their patients and the media
 * After surgeries that were successful, there was still a high risk of infection for patients
 * 75% of patients survived amputations


 * The U.S. Sanitary Commission**


 * formed in June 1861
 * consisted of volunteers that inspected medical camps and hospitals and organized cleanups
 * Nurses**


 * Dorothea Dix organized and headed the nurses of the Union
 * Clara Barton quit her job as a government clerk to become a nurse for the Union
 * By the end of the Civil War, the Union had about 4,000 nurses


 * Diseases on the Battlefield**

Disease was the number 1 killer of soldiers during the Civil War. Some were caused by poor nutrition, contaminated food and water, insects, and smaller sicknesses (such as the cold).
 * typhoid fever
 * diarrhea
 * dysentery
 * pneumonia
 * tuberculosis
 * measles
 * chickenpox
 * mumps
 * whooping cough
 * malaria


 * Statistics**


 * A Union soldier was 3 times more likely to die in a medical camp or a hospital than in battle
 * 1 in 5 Union soldiers that were wounded in battle later died from their wounds
 * The average Union soldier had a 1 in 8 chance of dying of a disease and a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle
 * The average Confederate soldier had a 1 in 5 chance of dying of disease and a 1 in 8 chance of dying in battle


 * Works Cited**


 * America: Pathways to the Present by: Cayton, Perry, Reed, and Winkler
 * http://www.soldierstudies.org/index.php?action=webquest_1
 * http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarmedicine.htm