Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareEXHIBIT 3-5SECRET FIELD ORDER NO. 41, ANNEX NO. 7, ISSUED BY THE FIFTH DIVISION,SEPTEMBER 9, 1918The triage will be located at Camp-de-Cirque, eight hundred (800) meters north of the cross roads at St. Jean. Messagesto the commander of the sanitary train and the director of ambulance companies will be sent to the triage byreturning ambulances.The following information will be sent:(1) The number and location of wounded and gassed to be evacuated.(i) Severe casualties will be evacuated by ambulance, preference being given as follows:(1) Severe hemorrhage.(2) Abdominal wounds, not in shock.(3) Severely gassed.(4) Wounds of thorax.(5) Fractures.*****************************************************************************(u) Hospital for nontransportable wounded and gassed and for slightly sick.(1) The hospital for nontransportable wounded and gassed and for slightly sick will be located south of Domevreen-Hayeon the western side of the Manonville—Tremblecourt road. At this place there will be located Field Hospital#17 and operating team #17 for treatment of nontransportable wounded.(2) Field Hospital #29 for treatment of gassed.(v) Evacuation service for army and corps artillery:Surgeons of artillery organizations operating in the 5th Division area exclusive of 5th Artillery Brigade will establishcollecting stations for wounded and gassed along this road. They will notify the director of field hospitalsat Domevre-en-Haye of the number of casualties and location of these collecting stations.(a-1) Evacuation hospitals.(2) At La Marche barracks, “The Caserne,” just south of Toul. Hospital for gassed.NOTE. Gassed and wounded patients will not be loaded in the same vehicle.Reproduced from: Lynch C, Ford J, Weed F. Field Operations. Vol 8. In: The Medical Department of the United States Army in the WorldWar. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; 1925. Chapter 18.ing evacuation) of chemical casualties on the battlefieldand in field hospitals was very different from thatobserved when troops were in the trenches becauseall medical assets had to be deployed forward. Casualtyevacuation required units to close in on thecombat zone, placing medical assets closer to chemicalweapons used by the enemy. In the beginningof the offensive against Soissons, one station withinthe 2nd Division was located within 50 yards of theenemy lines. 68The methods of the sanitary train in open warfarealso differed from those in trench warfare. Difficultieswere magnified by prolonged enemy fire, increasedroad congestion due to the movement of troops andsupporting medical units, limited fixed facilities forlogistics, increased numbers of wounded, a greaterneed for medical unit replacements, the inexperienceof medical replacements upon arrival, and physicalexhaustion caused by long-continued hard labor andexposure. Chemical agent casualties encounteredlonger evacuation times and were thus vulnerableto subsequent gas attacks.One of the most conspicuous differences betweentrench and open warfare was in the way the ambulancesand field hospitals conducted business. Inopen warfare, especially during the Meuse-Argonneoperation, animal-drawn ambulances were morevaluable than motorized ones and were much more100