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Medical Improvements Saved Many Lives During World War II
by Dave Vergun, DOD News
March 19, 2020
From the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to the day
Japan's emperor signed the surrender, more than 400,000 U.S. service
members were killed during World War II. About 70% of those were
combat-related, and the rest were accidents or illnesses. More than
670,000 were wounded.
Only the Civil War resulted in more
total deaths: 750,000 for both North and South.
Providing
first aid to sailors and marines on the front line were Navy
corpsmen. Medics did the same for soldiers. Army and Navy doctors
and nurses were also forward stationed as well as at U.S.
installations worldwide.
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Corpsmen rest at a Navy aid station on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, June 9, 1944. (U.S.
Navy photo)
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Battlefield medicine improved
throughout the course of the war.
At the beginning, only
plasma was available as a substitute for the loss of blood. By 1945,
serum albumin had been developed, which is whole blood that is rich
in the red blood cells that carry oxygen and is considerably more
effective than plasma alone.
Also, this was the first major
war in which air evacuation of the wounded became available.
During the war, surgery techniques such as removing dead tissue
resulted in fewer amputations than at any time. To treat bacterial
infections, penicillin or streptomycin were administered for the
first time in large-scale combat.
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A Navy corpsman tends to a wounded Marine on Okinawa, Japan, in May 1945. The corpsman is using the rifle as a plasma holder. (U.S.
Marine Corps photo)
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Service members with
combat fatigue, which later became known as post-traumatic stress
disorder, were given a safe place to stay away from battle zones
with plenty of food and rest. This resulted in about 90% of patients
recovering enough to return to the fight.
In the tropical
islands of the Pacific, malaria was a serious threat. Service
members received atabrine — a group of medications used to protect
against malaria — before going into affected areas.
Service
members were also inoculated with vaccinations for smallpox,
typhoid, tetanus, cholera, typhus, yellow fever and bubonic plague,
depending where they were sent.
Other improvements during
World War II included improved crash helmets, safety belts, flak
jackets and other preventive measures.
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Combat medics help an injured soldier in France after the June 6, 1944, Allied landings at Normandy, France. (National Archives photo)
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Because of improvements like these and others, the
survival rate for the wounded and ill climbed to 50% during World
War II from only 4% during World War I, according to Dr. Daniel P.
Murphy, who published a paper on "Battlefield Injuries and
Medicine."
Battlefield medical advances continued after the
war. By 2016, a service member wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan had
about a 92% chance of making it home alive, according to retired
Army Lt. Gen. Nadja Y. West, former Army surgeon general and
commanding general of the Army Medical Command. Some of the reasons
West cited for the improvement are better lifesaving techniques and
training and rapid response and care.
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