Patient Prioritization During World War One

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Infection was not only an issue due to a lack of sanitation. There was little knowledge about how the speed of the treatment of a patient could alter their survival rate. The discovery of patient prioritization during World War One greatly reduced the number of fatalities in the field hospitals. World War One saw the rise of two main concepts related to patient prioritization: Triage, and The Golden Hour. Both of these ideas have continued to be important concepts in modern medicine. The process of triage was introduced before the war, but only gained popularity during war. Triage became standard practice in WWI and “nurses became much more systematic in their approach” (“Nursing and Medicine During World War I” ceufast.com). The reason this …show more content…

M., et al). The first category was generally soldiers who had minor injuries requiring minimal care before quickly returning to the battlefield. The more seriously injured were placed in the second category where they would be transferred to a hospital for further medical attention. The last group was soldiers who were deemed to be beyond help and they were not expected to live despite medical treatment. When resources were limited, the last group would receive the least attention. William Keen states that in this book Treatment of War Wounds, “It is often physically impossible to give speedy and thorough treatment to all. (Keen, 13) this meant that triage was necessary in order to save as many lives as possible. The second concept of patient prioritization on World War One was The Golden Hour. This concept stated that a patient must be treated within sixty minutes of their trauma. This data was gathered by the French during the First World War and was quickly adopted by many …show more content…

New technologies such as x-rays, splints, and prothesitc limbs led to less lives being lost and more people being able to go back into society. Those new technologies went hand in hand with procedures like plastic surgery, blood transfusions, and sanitation of which were just starting to be developed. The concepts of Triage and The Golden Hour strengthened the concept of patient prioritization, and in all saved many lives. All of these concepts are seen in modern medical technology, so we can thank World War One for providing the testing ground for these new medical discoveries. Without the rapid acceleration of medical concepts during WWI, it is believed that medicine today would be lacking in knowledge that we consider crucial today. For all of the solutions yet to be found in the world of medicine- like the cure for cancer- maybe all that is needed is the acceleration of medicine caused by a massive outbreak of patients. Although a war in our horizon would be a devastation to the human race, from underneath it would emerge new ideas and technologies and right now we are searching so hopelessly

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