Tie Wounded British empire soldiers wore a red convalescent tie during the first and second World Wars while recovering. During the Great War (1WW) and earlier, wounded, convalescing soldiers wore a blue uniform with a white shirt and a red tie while in hospital. This practice continued up to and after the Second World War. …
Tag archives: Medical
Bandage, Triangular
There are two main types of first aid bandages: (1) a roller bandage, typically used to hold a dressing in place, (2) a triangular bandage. While triangular bandages are most often used for making slings, they are versatile. Most first aid kits today include a triangular bandage as a standard inventory item. A field dressing or battle dressing is …
Tube, Airway
Intubation is a procedure used when a patient cannot breathe on their own. The doctor inserts a tube down the throat and into the windpipe to make it easier to get air into and out of the lungs. A machine called a ventilator pumps in air with extra oxygen which helps patients breathe out air full of …
Kit, Medical
Medical kits made their way onto the battlefield during the First World War. Hypodermic needles such as those shown are thin, hollow and beveled tubes attached to a syringe and used to inject medicine or extract fluids from the body. History: In the Second World War, these needles were used to administer morphine, penicillin (anti-biotic), …
Detector, Pyrotannic
This medical device enables a convenient and accurate method for the determination and detection of carbon monoxide in the blood. A carbon monoxide (CO) blood test was used to detect carbon monoxide poisoning. Poisoning can happen if one breathes air that contains too much carbon monoxide. This gas has no colour, odour, or taste, so …
Convoy, No. 1 Motor Ambulance, R.C.A.M.C. Second World War
Motor Ambulance Convoy (M.A.C.) – The function of this unit was to transport wounded from main dressing stations to casualty clearing stations. It worked in close co-operation with field ambulances; to keep them clear of congestion was its first concern. Always an important branch of the medical service, the M.A.C. was indispensable in battle. Transport …
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Measures and Tools, Medication
This Henry Troemner scale was used to measure (weigh) material accurately using a milligram scale. It is nearly impossible to eyeball an amount of something miniscule such as a dose of medication. Depending on the drug and condition of the patient, some prescriptions required just a partial dose. In that case, it was crucial to …
Hemocytometer
The hemocytometer is a medical counting-chamber device originally designed and usually used for counting blood cells. The hemocytometer was invented by Louis-Charles Malassez in 1874 and consists of a thick glass microscope slide with a rectangular indentation that creates a precision volume chamber. This chamber is engraved with a laser-etched, glass slide grid of perpendicular lines. This grid is further divided into smaller …
Cuff, Blood Pressure, (Sphygmomanometer)
History: In 1881, the first sphygmomanometer (an instrument for measuring blood pressure,) was invented by Samuel Siegfried Karl Ritter von Basch. Scipione Riva-Rocci introduced a more easily used version in 1896 to measure systolic blood pressure. Blood pressure is measured using two numbers. The first number, systolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in blood vessels when one’s …
Arm, Prosthesis
In 1812, a prosthetic arm was developed that could be controlled by the opposite shoulder with connecting straps — somewhat similar to how brakes are controlled on a bike. Well-designed prosthetics deliver functionality and are cosmetically pleasing, but they also serve to complete an amputee’s sense of wholeness. A prosthesis provides mobility as well as emotional comfort. The …