With The Immortal Seventh DivisionKennedy, Edmund John
History
With The Immortal Seventh Division
Kennedy, Edmund John
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
(2) At this point the stricken one is taken in hand by the
Bearer Section of the Field Ambulance, under the command of
an R.A.M.C. officer, who, where necessary, quickly renders
First Aid by applying a tourniquet where there is arterial
bleeding, or bandaging up an ordinary wound. These men,
whether attached to the Field Ambulance or a regiment, are
worthy of the highest praise. No courage is of a higher
order than that which enables men, devoid of the excitement
of fighting, to pass within the deadly hail of lead.
(3) The wounded man is then conveyed to the Field Dressing
Station of the Field Ambulance. This may be located in a
deserted building: a barn, a farmhouse, or some such place.
It may be even placed behind a haystack, or in a wood, but
certainly in the most sheltered position that can be found.
Here the man's wound receives more careful attention, but
with a rush of such cases it is impossible to bestow all the
care that is desired. Very hurriedly the man's clothing is
cut open, the wound cleansed with iodine, or some such
disinfectant, bandaged up again, and the sufferer is ready
for evacuation to a Casualty Clearing Station.
(4) Some miles behind the firing line, a convent, schools, or
any suitable house, or group of buildings, has been set
apart as a hospital, and under the present system greater
assistance can now be rendered to the patient. Even
operations may be performed if the case is one of special
urgency. At this point I would call attention to the
remarkable revolution that has taken place in the transport
of the wounded, through the agency of Motor Ambulances, in
lieu of the pair horse Ambulance formerly in use, and which
rumbled along the uneven roads, thereby causing an
intolerable amount of suffering to the badly stricken men
therein. The sufferers are now conveyed swiftly, and with
far greater comfort, to their temporary destinations; and
hundreds of lives are being preserved by means of this
miracle of modern times.
(5) The hospital train at the 'rail head' which serves the
district is the next experience of the wounded man. Those
who have examined these wonderful accessories to modern
warfare will have been struck by the completeness of the
arrangements. Beds of the most comfortable description,
having regard to space, are provided, whilst sitting cases
are arranged for in ordinary carriages. Furnished with a
well-appointed kitchen, nothing is left to be desired as
regards the food, and this, I need hardly say, appeals very
strongly to a man who has been living upon Army rations for
weeks or months past. There is even a small operating
theatre in the best equipped hospital trains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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