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See also:AMBULANCE (from the Fr. ambulance, formerly hopital ambulant, derived from the See also:Lat. amlrulare, to move about) , a See also:term generally applied in See also:England and See also:America to the See also:wagon or other vehicle in which the wounded in See also:battle, or those who have sustained injuries in See also:civil See also:life, are conveyed to See also:hospital. More strictly, in military parlance, the term imports a hospital See also:establishment moving with an See also:army in the See also: About the same time another distinguished surgeon in the French army, Baron See also:Pierre See also:Francois See also:Percy (1754-1825), organized a See also:corps of brancardiers, or stretcher-bearers. These were soldiers trained and equipped for the See also:duty of See also:collecting the wounded while a battle was in progress, and carrying them to a place of safety, where their wounds _ and injuries could be attended to. An important step towards the amelioration of the See also:condition of the wounded of armies in the field was the See also:European See also:Convention signed at See also:Geneva in 1864, by the terms Qenven Conven- of which, subject to certain regulations, not only the sloe. wounded themselves but also the See also:official See also:staff of ambu- lances and their equipment were rendered neutral, the forme3 therefore, not being liable to be retained as prisoners of war, not the latter to be taken as See also:prize of war. This convention has greatly favoured' the development of ambulance establishments, but as all combatants have not the same knowledge of the conditions of this convention, or do not interpret them in the same way, charges of treachery and abuse of the Red See also:Cross See also:flag are but too See also:common in See also:modern warfare. The See also:American Civil War marked the beginning of the modern ambulance system. The See also:main feature, however, of the hospital organization throughout that war was the railway hospital service, which provided for the rapid See also:conveyance of the sick and wounded to the rear of the contending armies. Hospital carriages,. equipped with medical stores and appliances, for the transport of cases from the front to the See also:base, were rapidly introduced into other armies, and played a See also:great See also:part in the ambulance service of the Franco-See also:German War. The German hospital service as existing at the time of the Franco-German War of 1870-71 was modified and extended by the Kriegs Sanildts Ordnung of 1878 and the Kriegs Etappen Ordnung of 1887, which completed the See also:organ- Q syse tem See also:stem. . ization by the addition in time of war of numerous subordinate offices and departments. The main divisions of the ambulance organization of the German army in the field fall into: (1) sanitary detachments, (2) field hospitals, (3) flying hospitals, (4) hospital reserve depots, (5) " committees for the transport of the sick," and (6) railway hospital trains. The whole administras tion of the ambulance service of the See also:grand army in the field ' is in the hands of the See also:chief of the ambulance sanitary staff, who is attached to headquarters. Next in command come surgeons-See also:general of armies in the field, surgeons-general of army corps, and under them again surgeons-in-chief of divisions and regiments: Civil consulting surgeons of See also:eminence, and professors from the See also:universities, are also attached to the various armies and divisions to co-operate with and See also:act as advisers to the surgeons of the See also:standing military surgical staff. The hospital transport service on the lines of communication is highly organized and the hospital railway carriages are elaborately equipped. French The French ambulance system, finally settled. by the ' system. reglement of 1884, is organized on almost identical lines with the German; one of the See also:principal peculiarities of the former being the ambulances volantes already referred to. The See also:peace II organization of the German and French systems does not materially differ from that of the British service. In the See also:Japanese army a See also:special feature is the sanitary corps, whose duty is the prevention of disease among the troops; it has been brought to a great See also:pitch of perfection, with Japanese system. the result that in the Russo-Japanese War (19o4-1905) system. the See also:immunity of the troops from all forms of prevent-able disease surpassed all previous experience. Not only was the army accompanied by sanitary experts who advised on all questions of camping grounds, See also:water See also:supply, &c., but before the war began the Intelligence See also:Department collected See also:information as to the diseases of the See also:country likely to be the See also:scene of operations, unhealthy places to be avoided, and precautions to be taken. Coming now to the ambulance system of the British army, in which are comprised the arrangements and organization of the medical department for the care and treatment of 9r/tlsh the sick and wounded from the time they are injured army system, or taken See also:ill, till they are able to return to duty or are invalided See also:home, we will trace the progress of a wounded See also:man from the field of battle to his home; remembering that, as British troops are usually engaged overseas, hospital See also:ships as well as See also:land transport are necessary. When a soldier falls wounded in See also:action he is attended by the regimental surgeon and stretcher-bearers, who apply some First field extemporized method of stopping bleeding and See also:dress dressing, the wounds with the " first field dressing "—a packet of antiseptic material which every officer and man on active service carries stitched to some part of his clothing, and which contains everything necessary for dressing an See also:ordinary gunshot See also:wound. Recent See also:wars have demonstrated that in all uncomplicated cases it is better to leave this dressing undisturbed, as the wounds made by modern projectiles heal up at once if left alone, if See also:air and dirt have been thus excluded. From the field he is carried on a stretcher by bearers (formerly of the " Bearer Companies ") of the Royal Army Medical Corps collecting to the collecting station, where he is placed on an station. ambulance wagon of the first See also:line of assistance and taken to the dressing station. Here his wound will be examined if considered necessary, but as on the field the first medical officer who examined him has already attached a " See also:specification See also:tally " to the patient, giving particulars of the wound, it will probably not be disturbed unless complicated by bleeding, splintering of See also:bone or some other condition requiring interference. Any operation, however, which is urgently called for will be here performed, nourishment, stimulants and opiates administered if required, and the patient moved to the field hospital in an ambulance wagon of the second line of assistance. From the field hospital he is transferred as soon as possible by the ambulance See also:train to the general hospital at the advanced base of operations, and from there in due time in another train to the base of operations at the See also:coast, from which he is ultimately either returned to duty or sent home in a hospital See also:ship. The organization by which these requirements are fulfilled is the following:—Every See also:regiment and fighting unit has posted to it, on proceeding on active service, a medical officer who looks after the See also:health of the men and advises the commanding officer on sanitary matters. Reg,- When the regiment goes into action he takes command See also:mental of the regimental stretcher-bearers who, to the number ' " of two per See also:company, have been in peace time instructed meats. in first aid and in the carrying of the wounded on stretchers. These men leave their arms behind and See also:wear the Red Cross armlets, to indicate their non-combatant functions, but in these days, when a battle is often fought at See also:long ranges, it is not to be wondered at, or attributed to disregard of the red cross flag by the enemy, if medical See also:officers and stretcher-bearers are See also:hit. The bearer company into whose See also:charge the wounded man next passes is composed of men of the Royal Army Medical Corps, with a detachment of the Army Service Corps for transport duties. In future, bearer sections of the Field Ambulances will perform the duties of the bearer company. Its See also:function is to collect and succour the wounded on the battlefield and to See also:hand them over to the field hospitals, with which these bearer See also:corn- panies are closely associated, though separately organized. In the See also:Indian army the bearer company is provided from the personnel of the field hospital when there is a battle, and reverts to the hospital again after it is over. The war in South See also:Africa of 1899-1902 clearly demonstrated the superiority of the Indian See also:plan; for after the action the bearer company staff should be available to give the much-needed help in the field hospital, and some amalgamation of the two organizations, or something after the plan of the ambulance volante of the French, is necessary. The bearers afford the wounded any treatment required, supply water and sedatives, and then carry them back on stretchers to the collecting station in the rear, whence they are conveyed to the dressing station in the wagons or other See also:form of transport. At the dressing station, which ought to be out of range of the firing, and should have a See also:good water supply, the patient is made as comfortable as possible, nourishment and stimulants are administered, and he is then taken to the field hospital. In times of great stress, when it is desirable to remove the wounded quickly from the field, and there are no roads or wheeled trans-See also:port is not available, large See also:numbers of bearers are employed to carry them on stretchers, &c. These men are engaged locally and are soon given the slight training necessary. This was done in See also:Natal after the battles on the See also:Tugela (1899), in which there were some thousands of wounded to be conveyed; also in See also:Egypt, where the See also:local troops not required for the fighting line were requisitioned; the Japanese in See also:Mongolia employed hundreds of See also:Chinese coolies for this purpose, the general use of See also:sedan-chairs in See also:China having accustomed the poorer class of natives to this See also:kind of labour. In See also:India, the See also:rank and See also:file of the Royal Army Medical Corps not being employed, the bearer Indian
See also:work is carried out by natives specially enlisted and bearers. organized into a corps. These men are bearers by
caste—a See also:reminiscence of the system which prevailed generally a See also:hundred years ago, and is still met with in out-of-the-way places, of conveyance of travellers in dhoolies, which are closed wooder carriages fixed on long poles and carried on men's shoulders. The bearers convey the wounded in dandies, similar to dhoolies, but made mostly of See also:canvas, so that they are much lighter. The courage of these bearers on the battlefield has often been praised. The old bearer See also:caste is, however, rapidly dying out owing to the general discontinuance of the use of dhoolies. Thus the ambulance organization in India is entirely different from that in other parts of the British See also:empire. The rank and file of the Royal Army Medical Corps are not employed there, although the medical officers are. The See also:warrant and non-commissioned ranks are re-placed by a most useful See also:body of men of Anglo-Indian or See also:Eurasian (See also:half caste) See also:birth, called the Subordinate Medical Department, the members of which, now called assistant surgeons (formerly apothecaries), receive a three years' training in medical work at the Indian medical See also:schools and are competent to perform the compounding of medicines and to See also:deal with all but the most serious cases of injury and illness. In the hospitals the men of the Royal Army Medical Corps are replaced by the Native Army Hospital Corps, subdivided into See also: The bearers of the wounded are a See also:separate and distinct class, partly attached to regiments, &c., as part of the regimental transport, and partly organized into bearer companies, attached to field hospitals. The dandies in which they carry the wounded are much more comfortable than stretchers, being fitted with See also:roofs and sides of canvas to keep off See also:sun and See also:rain, thus being collapsible so that the See also:dandy is quite See also:flat when not in use. Still they are heavy, clumsy, and cannot be folded up into a small See also:compass for trans-port like a stretcher; they also take up a good deal of See also:room in wagons and can scarcely be carried on the backs of animals owing to the length of the See also:pole. Hence See also:riding ponies and mules are much used in Indian warfare, especially in the mountains, for the See also:carriage of less seriously wounded men. In India separate hospitals are necessary for white and native troops, and the latter have See also:accommodation for the large numbers of non-combatant See also:camp-followers, See also:mule-drivers, cooks, officers' servants, &c., &c., which constitute one of the most remarkable features of the Indian army organization. Field hospitals, under the new See also:scheme furnished by See also:tent sections of the Field Ambulances, are each supposed to provide Field accommodation for roo patients, who live on their field hospitals. rations suitably cooked and supplemented by various medical comforts. The patients are not supplied with hospital clothing, nor do they have beds, but See also:lie on See also:straw, which is spread on the ground and covered with waterproof sheets and blankets; of these latter a considerable reserve is carried. These hospitals can and must at times accommodate more than the regulation number of patients, but in the South African War their resources were at times considerably overtaxed, with consequent discomfort and hardship to the patients, the medical equipment proving insufficient for unexpectedly heavy calls upon its resources. These hospitals are supposed to move with the army, and therefore it is imperative to pass the wounded quickly back from these to the stationary hospitals on the lines Hospitals of communication (which vary according to the length on the of these lines) and thence to the general hospitals at lines of the base. The See also:size of the lines of communication communi- hospitals varies according to circumstances, and they cation are as a See also:rule " dieted," that is to say, proper hospital diets and not field rations are issued to the patients, who also are supplied with beds and proper hospital clothing. In these hospitals also there may be See also:nursing sisters, who of course are unsuited for the rough work and life nearer the front. Sisters are also employed on the hospital trains, which were found most useful and brought to great perfection in the South African War, being fitted with beds, kitchens, dispensaries, &c., so that patients were moved long distances in comfort. Arrived at the base of operations the wounded are admitted to the general hospitals, of which the numbers and situation
vary with circumstances, but each is supposed to pieais. have an officers' ward. In the South African War,
owing to the inability of the comparatively small Royal Army Medical Corps to meet all the requirements of the enormous force which was ultimately employed, many of the doctors were See also:drawn from the civil profession, and the rank and file from the St See also: Whereas in Germany and See also:France such aid is officially recognized and placed under See also:direct military See also:control, the See also:English R 0C su Red Cross societies have acted See also:side by side with, but independently of, the military ambulance organization. In the South African War (1899-1902), however, the bonds of See also:union were drawn considerably closer, and cordial co-operation was brought about to prevent overlapping and See also:waste of money. In Germany the volunteer organization is presided over by an imperial See also:commission or inspector-general appointed in peace time, who in time of war is attached to the headquarters staff. His functions are to control the relations of the various Red Cross societies and secure harmonious co-operation. Delegates appointed by him are attached to the various corps and transport commissions. No volunteer assistance can be utilized which is not entirely sfibordinate to the military control, and has not already in peace time received official recognition and been organized on a See also:skeleton footing. Moreover, only persons of German See also:nationality can be employed under it with the armies in the field. In See also:case of base hospitals situated in Germany itself, the services of foreigners may be employed when specially authorized by the war See also:office. In France, in the main, the same rules obtain in the case of volunteer hospital service. Great See also:attention has been paid to civil ambulance organization in England. In 1878 the British ambulance association of St John of See also:Jerusalem was founded. Its See also:object was to st. John's render first aid to persons injured in accidents on the Ambulance road, railway, or in any of the occupations of civil life. Assocla- As the result of the initiative taken by this society, ti". ambulance corps have been formed in most large towns of the United Kingdom; and See also:police, railway servants and workmen have been instructed how to render first aid pending the arrival of a See also:doctor. This samaritan work has been further See also:developed and extended to most parts of the British empire, notably See also:Canada, See also:Australia and India, and there is no doubt that many lives are saved annually by the knowledge, diffused by this association, as to how to stop bleeding, resuscitate the apparently drowned, &c. Moreover, during the South African War this association provided a most valuable reserve for the Royal Army Medical Corps, and drafted out some hundreds of partially trained men whose assistance was most valuable to the Army Medical Service in dealing with the enormous numbers of sick and wounded who came upon their hands. In America each See also:city has its own system and organization of civil ambulance service. In some, as in See also:Boston, the service is worked by the police; in others, notably New See also:York, civil by the hospitals, while See also:Chicago has an admirable ambuservice under municipal control. In most of the See also:lance in capitals of See also:Europe similar systems prevail. America. British ambulance wagons are built very strongly to stand rough roads, and are of several patterns; those used in the war in South Africa were reported on as heavy, uncomfortable, and so unwieldy as to be incapable very often of lance Ambu- keeping up with the troops; but a new and more wagon& See also:mobile vehicle, to convey four patients lying down as well as six seated, or fourteen all seated (whereas the old See also:pattern wagons only accommodated two lying-down cases), has been introduced. All patterns of wagons weigh from 17 to 18z cwt., while the Boers and the British Colonial auxiliaries used much lighter carts, which were taken at a gallop over almost any country. The Indian ambulances are small two-wheeled carts, called tongas, drawn by two bullocks or mules; very strongly made, they are capable of holding two men lying down, or four sitting up, besides the native See also:driver. Various other forms of transport are found, such as mule litters in mountainous districts, where wheeled carriages cannot go, See also:camel litters in the See also:Sudan, dhoolies in India, hammocks on the See also:west coast of Africa, or sedan-chairs in China. In the Russo-Japanese War an ingenious formof mule See also:litter for serious cases
civil
general hospitals.
the 3rd of See also:November 1876. Not until the rrth of See also:September 1888 did Amedeo See also:contract his second See also:marriage, with his niece Princess Letitia See also:Bonaparte. Less than two years later (See also:Jan, uary 18,1890) he died at See also:Turin in the arms of his See also:elder See also:brother, See also: There are two bathing establishments, one of which preserves remains of See also:Roman baths, and a large military thermal hospital. The town, formerly called See also:Arles-les-Bains, is named after See also:Queen Amelia, wife of See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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