How Did Civil War Contribute To Today's Medicine?

How did civil war medicine contribute to today's medicine? Medicine evolution is incredible, over the years people have discovered new medication, procedures, and technology, which has improved the way physicians save lives. For instance, during the civil war sanitation was poorly practiced or not practiced at all, also there was little knowledge about medicine which caused for intense painful surgeries. However, nowadays people understand the importance of hygiene and the medical advancements for surgeries have been very beneficial. Civil War hospitals were poorly sanitized. Physician did not comprehend what germs could cause. “They [doctors] would move from patient to patient without washing their hands or instruments. They would even wet

Medical workers now wear protective gear such as gloves, masks, and goggles. They wash their hands for several minutes, change their clothing and always sterilize their equipment. “While “advanced” or “hygienic” may not be terms attributed to medicine in the nineteenth century, modern hospital practices and treatment methods owe much to the legacy of Civil War medicine.” (“Civil War Medicine”). Keeping a clean station during the civil war was not as important as it is today. An improvement made toward hygiene were steam sterilizers. An article from Gibraltar Laboratories explains how “Sterilization is generally attained when heat, radiation, high pressure, filtration or chemicals are applied to the medical or surgical equipment.” There are two basic types of sterilization, dry and moist heat sterilization. Dry sterilization is least used in the medical field. This consists of hot air oven, burning or incineration, radiatio, flaming, or microwave. These methods contain heat which kills the germs. Moist sterilization is the opposite of dry. It consists of water bath, boiling, steam sterilizers, pasteurization, and autoclave. Autoclave is the most used in the medical profession. Autoclave is a strong, heated container used for chemical reactions and other processes using high pressures and temperatures. The reaction of steam and hot temperature sterilizes medical tools, making them germ free. People now know the

Today scientist found a way to create 3-D organ prints, physicians have a large variety of options to use as medication such as antibiotics. Also, many surgical procedures have been discovered throughout the years. An improvement toward surgery has bee anesthesia. “Modern surgery is possible because of the development of anesthesia” ("Anesthesia & Types of Anesthesia”). There has been developed three types of anesthesia: local, regional, and general. “The type of anesthesia used for a surgical procedure is determined by several factors: type and length of the surgery, patient health, and preference of the patient and physician.” (“Anesthesia & Types of Anesthesia”). Local anesthesia is used for minor surgeries in a very specific region, it can come as a spray or a cream. Regional anesthesia numbs a whole body region, usually done on the lower part of the body. This anesthesia is used for intensive surgeries. General anesthesia makes you completely unconscious. It is inhaled by a mask through the patient, but it is only used if regional or local anesthesia could not be utilized. The advancement of anaesthesia makes more surgical procedures possible. Today's surgery pain is not as cruel as it used to be during the civil war. If a person got wounded due to a bullet they most likely would not need amputation because of the medical advancements. Amputation is not as painful as before and