Warfare Injuries: History, Triage, Transport and Field Hospital Setup in the Armed Forces

The treatment of war wounds has been an ancient art, constantly refined and adapted to reflect improvements in warfare strategies, weapons technology, transportation and damage control surgical practices. Throughout history, more soldiers died from disease than combat wounds, and misconceptions regarding the best timing and mode of treatment for injuries often resulted in more harm than good. Since the 19th century, mortality from war wounds steadily decreased as surgeons developed systems for rapidly moving the wounded from the battlefield to frontline hospitals. This article reviews the trends in military trauma management including triage, evacuation and field hospital setup in the Armed Forces.