History of Military Medicine
- By Lexi Krock
- Posted 02.01.04
- NOVA
Over the last 150 years, new surgical techniques, powerful painkillers, antibiotic drugs, and speedy triage and evacuation procedures have revolutionized military medicine. In this quiz, archival photos capture soldiers and doctors on and off the battlefield as well as the tools they used to practice combat medicine.
Launch Interactive
Take a look at historical photos tracing milestones in military medicine, and test your knowledge of what they are.
Credits
Photos
- (amputation kit)
- Courtesy of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Frederick, Maryland
- (latrine; Korean War helicopter, chemical suits)
- © Corbis Images
- (X-ray machine, shell shock, antibiotic, morphine, blood bank, artificial kidney)
- Courtesy of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Otis Archive
- (triage)
- Courtesy of the National Archives
- (reconstructive surgery)
- Courtesy of The National Archives of Plastic Surgery in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
- (smoke flare)
- © Bettmann Archive/Corbis Images
- (bandage)
- Courtesy of HemCon, Hemorrhage Control Technologies
Related Links
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Dilemmas of Wartime Medicine
With their allegiance to both the Hippocratic Oath and military guidelines, how do combat doctors decide whom to treat?
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Killer Microbe
A relatively benign bug becomes a highly lethal pathogen, known to U.S. soldiers as Iraqibacter.
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