Prosthetics During The Great Civil War

Recognizing the alarming number of amputations resulting from combat, the U.S. government unveiled the "Great Civil War Benefaction," a commitment to provide prosthetics to all disabled veterans. When making prosthetics for amputees it was more common to make them out of wood and steel until the cosmetic rubber hand was introduced (MacRae). Prosthetics didn’t help with limping or handshakes, but we’re way more advanced today.
The next major change is the development of the ambulance system. It was known that when ambulance drivers first started out most, would be disorganized and flee the battlefield in fear before they ever picked a victim up. Jonathan Letterman was also involved in medicine and also created the first ambulance system in the
William Hammond put out a call to have medical field offices in the union army to send any specimens or morbid anatomy that might be valuable to military medicine and surgery. The medical system was still going through changes, and it was good to have some kind of evidence to refer back to. Hammond became the Surgeon General of the Union Army in 1862, and he had some requirements you had to meet. He required that you took a mandatory training in public health, hygiene, and surgery if you were a union medical officer (Thompson).
The way hospitals are built also grew. The hospitals were set up wherever it was considered safe at the time. When Hammond took over as a Surgeon General, he liked access to air in the hospital as it would help with airing out germs (even though the doctors didn't know about germs), and helped keep patients in good health. Like I stated earlier the ambulance system was very important, it would take a week or so to get a victim or soldier to the nearest hospital (Thompson). On of the most common locations was in Quincy located on the Mississippi River. Which made it an excellent port for the riverboats that brought sick and wounded soldiers from battles. In Quincy alone, there were 5 hospitals (Civil War Hospitals Grew to Five in
Doctors also weren’t used to being so busy and didn’t have time to do surgical repairs. So it led to medics having to amputate limbs. For those who survived people would ask for a fake limb so it wouldn’t be noticeable (Wegner).
Before the war, the doctors and nurses still had to work with patients but weren’t as rushed. During the Civil War, the doctors and nurses were on their feet trying to get critical victims/soldiers to the nearest treatment area as fast as they could. Those hospitals/wards were miles away. Compared to before the war the victim/patient would call in but doctors didn’t see a whole lot of problems like people being shot or killed unless it was a battle/fight/war. The doctors could take their time not like they wanted to but because what I was saying earlier they weren’t getting bombarded with people to treat.
Medical wise there were many changes compared to before and after the civil war. Most of the treatments doctors did before the war included: Cholera, tuberculosis, and various other illnesses which were common. Things such as farming and hunting accidents and injuries received in battles. Most treatments doctors gave (before the civil war) were not so effective. Most doctors utilized roots and herbs to treat ailments to their patients (Medicine Before the Civil