Caring for Soldiers

Medical Advances During the Korean Conflict

“There are five basic constraints which deployment medicine must overcome. Resources are always scarce. The environment is always adverse. Populations are usually hostile, if not deadly. Disease is always present, lurking in the corner. And finally, change itself is constant.”

Colonel Charles W. Van Way, III, MD in War and Trauma: A History of Military Medicine

Caring for soldiers during conflicts has always been an uphill battle; how do you get care to casualties in a timely manner? During the Korean conflict there were major advances in the way soldiers were cared for changing not only the way we deliver care in the field but also spilling over into civilian life.

The chain of evacuation during the First and Second world wars was long and soldiers could wait hours for treatment. The medical corps began to make changes to shorten the chain such as introducing a transfusion station during the second world war so wounded could have fast availability to blood. They also introduced the mobile hospital in Africa and Italy but these were very limited; it would take until the Korean conflict for innovations to really improve care for soldiers.

The terrain in Korea proved to be very challenging with much of the fighting taking place on hills and valleys causing soldiers to have to dig in with trenches and holes. This made evacuation of the wounded very difficult.

The first innovation was the expansion of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units. Canada did not send any of its own medical infrastructure but instead our medical professionals paired with allies: Americans, British, and Australian; this way Canadian soldiers would still have a Canadian for comfort when they arrived for care. MASH units expanded from being a small triage or minor surgical care tent attached to the back of a truck into fully outfitted compounds that could easily be adapted to the terrain and treat soldiers quickly near the front lines. These hospitals could care for up to 200 patients.

The Canadian chain of evacuation in Korea was:

Initial treatment by the 25^th Canadian field Ambulance and medical professionals attached to regiments would consist of first-aid and evacuation to nearby hospitals
Field surgical and transfusion teams were deployed alongside 1^st British Commonwealth Division
Field dressing station established in the far east to be the Divisional hospital after being cared for at a MASH
Serving at the British Commonwealth General Hospital in Kure, Japan were medical officers (3), nursing sisters (7), and non-commissioned officers and men from the RCAMC (medical corps) (21) where the most extreme cases would be evacuated to after being cared for at the Divisional Hospital

Soldiers that did not need further care could be reunited with their units at any stage of the chain.

The next innovation in the care for soldiers was the introduction of the use of helicopters to evacuate men directly from the front lines. This cut down on the time it took for severely wounded soldiers to get care at a nearby MASH hospital increasing their chances of a complete recovery. The American H-13 Sioux helicopter was deployed early in the conflict and used by the American Army.

Korea also saw th introduction of psychiatry at aid stations and MASH units. This meant that soldiers would not have to go home to be treated for mental health issues. With treatment some soldiers could rejoin their units.

Control of disease was also a priority during the conflict as many soldiers were sent home for treatments but in Korea soldiers were treated and sent back with their units, including for the most common diseases: STIs.

Because of these innovations during the conflict soldiers had a much higher level of care and a much better chance of completely healing from wounds.

Caring for Soldiers

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