Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre — John Shaqi
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small CalibreMakins, George Henry
History
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre
Makins, George Henry
Gunshot wounds; South African War, 1899-1902; Surgery, Military
The amalgamation of the Field hospital and bearer company into one unit
is much to be desired in the Home service, both for economy of working
and the more equal distribution of duties to the medical officers
engaged. Again the divisibility of the hospital into four sections is
also an advantage. It allows of the advance or the leaving of sections,
in the case of either small expeditions or the presence of a number of
severely wounded men unfit to travel. As far as I could judge, it
necessitates very small addition to the present equipment, and is in
every way desirable.
As to the working of the Field hospitals in the present campaign, it
was universally acknowledged to possess a very high degree of
excellence. The equipment, with small exceptions, proved equal to the
demands made upon it. The mobility of the camps was proved again and
again, and the rules governing their administration evidenced by their
effectiveness the care and experience which have been bestowed on the
organisation of the hospitals.
It is difficult for any one who has not had an opportunity of observing
the actual amount of work performed in the Field hospitals either to
appreciate the storm and stress following an important engagement when
the wounded men are first brought in, or the demands that are made on
the powers of the medical officers in charge. To a civilian the first
feeling is one of impotence, followed by an attempt to see no further
than the case under immediate observation, and to nurture the conviction
that the work is to be got through if it is only stuck to. I gathered
that this first impression was absent in the minds of the officers in
charge of the Field hospitals, as work commenced at once, and was
carried on without intermission during the persistence of daylight, in
the winter often by the aid of lanterns, and eventually the huge task
was accomplished. In early days at Orange River work commenced at 4
A.M., and was steadily continued until 6 P.M. or later, and this state
of things persisted sometimes for many days together.
The officers of the Field hospitals, the bearer companies, and those
doing regimental duty carried out their duties with a calmness and
efficiency which not only impressed observers like myself, but also
excited the admiration of our German colleagues sent by their government
to observe the working of the British system.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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