First World War

Question 1

Name three medical problems cause by First World War?

Answer 1

• New styles of weapons (e.g machine guns) means most injuries were caused by bullets, which would often became infected
• Gangrene was a particular problem - usually fatal
• First time poison gas was used e.g chlorine and phosgene gas
• Trench warfare - leading to infections of lice, shell shock, dysentery and trench foot

Question 2

What kind of conditions would you find in the trenches?

Answer 2

• Extremely unhealthy and disease prone
• Rats which would attack dead bodies
• Body lice that was extremely difficult to get rid of
• Muddy and rainy conditions leading to trench foot

Question 3

Name three medical problems caused by the trenches?

Answer 3

Trench foot - painful swelling of foot, with the second stage resulting in gangrene infection
Trench fever - Flu- like symptoms , extremely widespread effecting half a mil men
Shell shock - a mental affliction varying in intensity, from headaches to metal breakdowns
Dysentery - disease causing stomach pains , vomiting and diarrhoea

Question 4

What new opportunities opened up for women in the First World War?

Answer 4

• Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) - where main group of nurse were
• First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) - gave first aid services on the battlefield
• The Woman’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) - founded 1917, provided ambulance drivers and other medical services
• The Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) - allowed mostly untrained middle-class women to acts as nurses and help with basic tasks
• During the war 12 London medical schools trained female doctors

Question 5

Which hospital still accepted female medical student after WW1?

Answer 5

Only the Royal Free Hospital in London still accepted female medical students

Question 6

What do Richard Lewiston and Richard Weil discover? An when?

Answer 6

1915 - Lewiston’s discovered sodium nitrate made it possible to keep blood for longer
Same year Weil discovered refrigeration did the same

Question 7

What does glucose citrate do? When and who discovered it?

Answer 7

1916 - Francis Ross and James Turner discovered glucose citrate made it possible to keep blood up to four weeks

Question 9

Name two differences in blood transfusion from beginning compared to the end of WW1?

Answer 9

• initially donor&patient had to be present, but by the end of WW1 indirect blood transfusion was possible
• At the beginning of WW1 storing usable blood was not possible, but with the discovery of glucose citrate blood depots were created as it made it possible to keep blood for up to 4 weeks

Question 10

What the “petite Curies” and how do they aid in WW1?

Answer 10

Made removing shrapnel from wounds easier using the x-ray technology, BUT machine overheated, and overexposed caused injury and death

Question 11

What method was developed in WW1 to Treat Gangrene?

Answer 11

The Charles-Dakin Method would irrigate the would with a sterilized salt solution through a tube

Question 12

What was the Thomas Splint?

Answer 12

A leg brace which was used in transporting injured soldiers, keeping their broken bones still and straight
Improved survival rate with this type of wound from 20% to 82% (/80%)

Question 13

What is the significance of Harvey Crushing?

Answer 13

Pioneered the use of magnets to draw out piece of metal