Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings
Dreading that next trip to the dentist? You’re not alone. Patients a century ago, equally dreaded the visit, but thankfully, dentistry had modernized considerably by the early 20th century. At least, you could reasonably expect pain medication and a speedy drill. Let’s take a look at early 20th century dentistry. Dental schools got their start…
The need to threat burns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was great. Women’s skirts would catch fire while cooking, or children’s clothing while playing too close to the fireplace or stove. An overturned kerosene or gas lamp would set a home or barn ablaze in minutes. During World War I, men also…
While a broken bone today can be a nuisance, in the early 20th century, it would be a serious, if not deadly, injury. People knew from ancient times to immobilize broken bones with a splint or a brace. Later, bone setters were used to move the bone into place before immobilization. The location of the…
During World War I, 19 million men were wounded, and an estimated 500,000 amputations were performed. As frightening as these numbers are, men who lived long enough to receive medical attention had a relatively high survival rate. This success was due in part to modern innovations such as antiseptics. Other medical tools included: Anesthesia Since…
If war does have a silver lining, it’s the medical advances which come as a result. One of these advances is the blood transfusion. Blood transfusion was nothing new in 1914. Doctors had experimented with it since the 1600s. These early transfusions were from person to person, and sometimes didn’t work. Doctors weren’t sure why…
Institutions to house the mentally ill began in the Middle Ages. The word “bedlam” is derived from the nearly 800-year-old Bethlem Royal Hospital, which is still in operation. In the 21st century, unfortunately, there is a stigma about mental illness. One hundred years ago, however, being mentally ill meant more than being judged and stereotyped. …
PBS’s excellent series American Experience has an episode entitled “Murder of a President” about the assassination of James Garfield in 1881. Garfield died of what today would be a survivable bullet wound. The bullet didn’t kill him; it was hemorrhage and massive infection. In fact, it is quite possible his medical care killed him. According…
When it came to pain relief during World War One, the medication of choice was morphine. It was reserved for the most severe injuries as its addictive properties were already well known. So much so that morphine addiction was referred to by the euphemism “soldier’s disease” as far back as the American Civil War. Morphine…
My fictional character Hettie Steward worked at her hometown hospital, Royal Victoria, in the year between finishing nursing school and joining the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Even though the hospital plays a very small role in Angel of Mercy, its history gives us an interesting glimpse into medical care during the first part of the…
It is said that every gray cloud has a silver lining. If the ugly behemoth that was the First World War has a silver lining, it’s the medical advances that came as a result. World War I, at the time, was the most brutal war in human history as well as the most technological. The…