MEDICAL CORPS SETUP
And How it Affects Emergency Situations Today
This page addresses how the Medical Corps is set up, specifically looking at the development of the Mobile Army Service Hospital (MASH). It then goes onto address how this has affected modern medical services, modern Army Medical Department methods and how these are used in emergency situations.
MASH
The origins of the concept for a mobile hospital can be traced back to World War I, where the American Expeditionary Force in France created their first mobile hospital named 'Mobile Hospital No. 1.' They first saw service in Coulommiers treating the wounded Marines who fought at Belleau Wood. They then moved to the Vosges, followed by La Morlette (near the Meuse), La Claire Chene, Fromerville and finally Esnes.
The US Army and Marine Corps relied on mobile hospitals until just after WWII. This meant that travelling to a hospital could be as little as 100 metres or as far as another sector of the front. The men were at the mercy of the high command, and specifically where the commanders chose to locate hospitals. To counter this and for the stabilisation of men with extreme wounds the US Medical Department (USMD) developed and began the use of aid stations, small tents set up right on the front lines to stabilise wounded soldiers before being transported. They also served to triage the men in one of four categories. There was green (non-disabling wounds), yellow (non-serious wounds but in need of medical attention), red (wounds that need immediate attention) and black (deceased or so badly wounded that there is no hope of survival).
An operation going on in the 8076th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
But even the establishment of aid-stations wasn't enough; too many men were dying on their way to the hospital or even in hospital (the mobile hospitals generally had a lack of necessary equipment). So once more the USMD tried to fix this. After World War II the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH as it would soon be called, came into existence. MASH was designed to get trained medical personnel and all the right equipment closer to the front lines. The new system worked better than hoped for. A wounded man would first be treated by buddies, transferred to a battalion aid-station for stabilisation, then taken to the nearest MASH. Once there a wounded soldier had a 97% chance of living, much better than the odds in WWI.
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO TODAY'S WORLD?
At every event they are there, we just don't see them. After every tsunami or earthquake they are the first to set up, the first to do their jobs, the first to begin saving lives. These are modern-day aid stations. They are always marked by the red cross, always set up in a tent with only a few people inside. Yet they are responsible for the safety of 100's of people at one time, sometimes more in a disaster situation. But mostly they go unnoticed and unneeded by the masses, with only a few people paying a visit each day. The aid-station, as much as it is overshadowed by the MASH and its modern-day equivalent the CSH (pronounced cash), is still the one to provide the primary and quickest source of first aid. The MD will also rush its people and equipment into any crisis, whether it be an earthquake or a terrorist attack. They are always in the thick of the action, helping those most in need and risking their lives enormously to do so. Transferring the wounded, whether on the battlefield or in an emergency has also become safer, with civilian organisations using bigger, better-equipped ambulances and the MD using mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles that aren't going to be stopped unless by a tank. Not to mention the use of helicopters, but we'll talk about that soon.