Gunshot injuries, their history, characteristic features, complications, and general treatment : with statistics concerning them as they have been met with in warfare / by Sir T. Longmore.

Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gunshot injuries, their history, characteristic features, complications, and general treatment : with statistics concerning them as they have been met with in warfare / by Sir T. Longmore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    laying the stretcher down on the ground, when a third bearer is present. Before the bearers, whether two or three in number, attempt to remove a badly wounded man from the spot where he has fallen, the stretcher should be brought as close to him as practicable; the wounded man should not be carried by hand farther than can be avoided. In placing the stretcher for this purpose, it should not, as a general rule, be laid by the side of the patient, but at his head; and should not be placed crosswise, but the length of the stretcher should be in the same direction as that in which the wounded man happens to be lying. If placed by his side, it interferes with the movements of the bearers in lifting him up, necessitates their moving to the end of the stretcher, or stepping across it, and is liable to cause them to stumble when they are depositing the patient upon it. If placed crosswise at the patient’s feet, it leads to the necessity of the bearers turning round, and again causes the risk of one or other of them falling over the side- poles. These objections are avoided by the stretcher being placed longitudinally; the patient is readily carried head forward over the canvas on which he is to lie, and the bearers move with a clear view of the stretcher before and between them, until the patient’s head is directly over the pillow or other support on which it is to rest. The bearers told off for carrying stretchers in military ser- vice should be severally distinguished by some ready appellation. When two or more men have to act together in any concerted movement, one must take the lead; and so in the removal of wounded men on stretchers, one of the bearers, in the absence of a medical officer, must invariably take the direction of the duties connected with the transportation of the patient, if they are to be properly performed. The bearer who marches foremost may be designated the front, or No. 1, bearer; the one who is behind, the rear, or No. 2, bearer; and if a third bearer is told to assist in the transport, he will be the No. 3 bearer. The rear, or No. 2, bearer should assume the command, for his position enables him to see not only the patient on the stretcher, but the front bearer also ; while the front bearer cannot see either, but only the objects before him. He is thus, however, enabled to see any impediments there may be in the way, and to give notice of them to the bearer in rear. It does not really matter practically whether the front or rear bearer takes the command; but what is essential is that it should be fully understood beforehand on which of the two bearers the direction and regulation of the movements devolve, so that there may be no hesitation when the necessity for action occurs. There are certain parts of the process which should always be conducted by a few short wmrds of command; especially for lifting up a wounded man and lowering him on the stretcher, for raising the