Impact of the two World Wars

WWI
1. Blood storage
  1. 1914
  2. Albert Hustin
  3. Found way to stop blood clotting
  4. Could be stored and stockpiled
2. Skin Grafts
  1. Harold Gillies
    1. Army doctor
  2. Invented and improved techniques to fix severe facial wounds of soldiers
  3. Catalyst for today's plastic surgery
  4. 1917
    1. Queen's Hospital Kent opened, provided over 1000 beds by 1921
3. Prosthetic limbs
  1. Between 1914 and 1921, 40,000 British men lost limbs
  2. Use of light metal alloys
  3. Long waiting lists
  4. Training to use
4. Broken Bones
  1. 'Army Leg Splint' developed
  2. Still in use today
5. Wound infections (e.g. gangrene)
  1. Infected flesh cut away and wound soaked in saline solution
  2. As short-term solution in battle situation, saved many lives
    1. Not ideal
6. Mental Strain
  1. Start - Army refused to believe shell shock existed and treated men as cowards
  2. Shell shock was officially recognised by the end (now known as PTSD)
    1. Big step forward in mental illness awareness
7. X-rays
  1. 1895 but hadn't reached full potential
    1. Afterwards, they were frequently used in hospitals
  2. Used to locate shrapnel without having to cut open
WWII
1. Poverty
  1. Evacuation from cities to the country highlighted the unhealthy city lifestyle
  2. Showed the government that they had to improve after the war
2. Drug Development
  1. Penicillin, the first antibiotic
  2. Speeded up by the necessity for wounded soldiers
  3. Government funded the mass production
3. NHS
  1. 1942 it was proposed as a way to organise healthcare
  2. Began in 1946
  3. Based on equality between male and female doctors
4. Hygiene and Disease
  1. Government wanted to keep the nation 'fighting fit'
  2. Posters were produced to raise awareness and encourage people to be cautious
  3. National immunisation against diphtheria was implemented
5. Heart Surgery
  1. Very early surgery
  2. Helped to learn more about the heart
  3. The findings helped heart surgery greatly after the war
  4. American Army Surgeon, Dwight Harken
6. Diet
  1. Shortages meant people were encouraged to grow their own
  2. Improved diet because they ate more fresh fruit and veg
7. Plastic Surgery
  1. Use of new drugs such as penicillin to prevent infection with skin grafts
  2. Archibald McIndoe
  3. Building on WWI advancement
8. Blood Transfusions
  1. Advancement from WWI meant blood could be kept fresh and usable longer
  2. Led to British National Transfusion Service (1938) where civilians could donate blood to a blood bank

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Impact of the two World Wars

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	Created by Niamh MacElvogue almost 10 years ago