PRACTICING MEDICINE IN TRYING TIMES (Mark)

What might you find in a Civil War medical kit?  Well, first you might need these to see.  (I know I certainly do now.)

Having the paper and writing implements for basic charting and instructions for care would be needed also. 

You might need to keep track of time.  Having a Bible nearby was also a good idea.

Then, if you were one of the approximately 10,000 doctors for the Union side, you would have the items listed here:

This medical chest contained the state-of-the-art medicines.  Yet to come were such things as sterile dressings, or sterile surgical techniques.

The Confederacy had about 4,000 doctors serving during the War.

The deadliest thing facing soldiers of either side was not the enemy; it was disease.  For every death in battle, two died from disease.

Some of the attempts to treat disease included:

Another quinine bottle:

Something you would definitely want for the crude surgical interventions being done in that time period:

Wagons such as this had a dual use:

Cartridges, gunpowder and other arms were hauled forward to the battle lines; wounded were hauled back.

Hopefully the hard lessons learned will never be repeated.