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Chapter 1 - History of Military Field Hospitals
from Section 1 - History
- By Eran Dolev
Edited by Elhanan Bar-On, Kobi Peleg, Yitshak Kreiss
Book:

Field Hospitals

Published online:

09 January 2020

Print publication:

09 January 2020, pp 1-11
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Summary

The idea of the field hospital was conceived independently in several armies, during different times, as a response to the medical needs of troops serving in remote areas. At first, its goal was to care for sick soldiers. Then, parallel to various developments in medicine, especially surgery, its cardinal mission turned tosaving lives and preventing disabilities in battle casualties. The main virtues of the field hospital have always been its mobility and the ability of its team to resuscitate and operate on battle casualties, near the front line. On the other hand, its inherent vices are its vulnerability under enemy’s fire and its inability to hold operated patients for adequate periods of time. Yet, the field hospital is a keystone of the chain of medical responsibility on the battlefield. The history of the military field hospital is, to a large extent, the history of military medicine, reflecting the symbiosis between surgical treatment and medical evacuation.