WW1 Battlefield Medicine: A Royal Army Medical Corps Orderly and His Lifesaving Equipment

Explore the role of the Royal Army Medical Corps in WW1 through a rare photograph showing a medical orderly with early battlefield dressings, sphagnum moss bandages and Great War medical practices. I came across this photograph on a stand in a flea market not far from where I live.

How the Royal Army Medical Corps treated wounds in WW1

This world war one photograph shows a stoic Royal Army Medical Corp with medicinal gear in readiness for what the Great War had in store. The absorbency of the field dressings became paramount, as heavy blood loss was common on the battlefield.

A medial orderly in front of bell tents

Medical Practices in the Great War

Here, this RAMC serviceman carries a kit, likely comprising antiseptic wound dressings of muslin and wool, which would be used as an immediate application to a wound until the stretcher bearers arrived. For very heavy blood loss, bog moss from Scotland was used for high absorbency and antiseptic properties. Sphagnum, as it was called, was collected by children in Scottish bogs.

Early antiseptic techniques in the Great War

The practice spread throughout Ireland, Europe and Canada before the end of the war. The dressings were kept in an airtight waterproof pouch to keep the dressings clean and dry. Soldiers on the field were eventually required to keep a dressing pouch in his pocket, should a RAMC cannot be located.

Basic applications were used, such as hydrochloric acid to clean wounds and ether to subdue the patient. With such little resources at hand on the field, little wonder the risk of infections and complications were high. WW1 battlefield medicine was incredibly basic and medicinal care needed development. The bell tents in the background reflect the standards of care and conditions behind the lines