Monday, November 14, 2011

Vaccines of 1914-1918 (World War I)?

During the first world war the men were given uppers and downers to calm them also a drug similar to ecstasy was given to those who suffered shell shock they also gave them drugs to calm down their drive . The men were treated to the best ability that the doctors knew . the soldiers who fought in the trenches had a terrible time they lived in the most atrocious conditions. when it rained the ground was churned into a sea of mud the horses got stuck the wheels of the cannons sank into the mud unable to get them out also men who fell injured also became victims and many drowned. The suffering did not stop there the men had poor rations they were cold and hungry also wet and dirty , they had no way of keeping their feet dry and clean this led to a condition called trench foot , their feet became infected and they rotted. They also had poor dental hygiene and they had mouth infections. Their uniforms became infested with lice and bed bugs . Then when the enemy shells pounded the trenches the men were covered in the human remains of their dead who were buried and then blown up , there were rats who fed on the dead flesh as it would have been impossible to bury and safely find the men who were cut down on no mans land . With all that to cope with it is understandable that many young men could not even think straight some ran away only to be arrested and shot as deserters many men went insane at seeing the atrocities and carnage of war. The Generals who were in charge sent the young men into battle only to be slaughtered as cannon fodder, the young men who went to war were never going to be the same they witnessed horrors that they did not deserve to die on foreign soil to leave all their families to mourn their loss, never to see them again or even have the chance to visit the grave . The cream of the men had gone the population was un balanced young women widowed fiancees never to love again with broken hearts , children never to be held up high in their fathers arms or play football with . The discovery of penicillin was far away and many lives could have been saved the men came home with limbs missing and back to harsh reality because there was no benefit system they suffered and their families in turn .The discovery of antiseptic helped but when the many injuries were caused by shrapnel bullets the wound almost every time became infected and many men bleed to death on the battle field although they had x-ray machines to find the fragments it was hit and miss the more badly injured with head and spine injuries very often died because surgery was not able to help.

No comments:

Post a Comment