Nowadays, everyone should know what a field hospital is. WWII - a mournful page in the history of our country. Along with those who heroically stood on the defense of the frontiers, won a precious victory, and also with those who worked in the rear, there are also medical service workers. After all, their merits are no less. Often, being in close proximity to the places of hostilities, these people had to remain calm and, as far as possible, provide assistance to the wounded, fight epidemics, take care of the younger generation, monitor the health of workers in defense enterprises, and medical assistance was also needed for simple population. At the same time, the working conditions were very difficult.
The main function of field hospitals
It is hard to imagine, but statistics show that it was the medical unit that saved and put back into operation more than 90 percent of those who achieved the victory. And more precisely, it is as many as 17 million people. Of the 100 wounded, only 15 returned to duty thanks to employees of the rear hospitals, while the rest came in uniform at a military hospital.
It is worth knowing that during the Great Patriotic War there were no major epidemics and infections. The front simply did not know about them over the years, an amazing situation, because epidemiological and infectious diseases, as a rule, are eternal companions of war. Military hospitals worked day and night to stoke the foci of such diseases immediately in the bud, it also saved thousands of human lives.
Creation of military hospitals
The People's Commissariat of Health of the USSR immediately outlined the main task in wartime - the salvation of the wounded, as well as their restoration, so that a person, having overcome an injury, could again return to duty and continue to fight. That is why, back in the forty-first year, many evacuation hospitals begin to emerge. This was indicated by the government directive adopted immediately after the outbreak of war. The plan to create these institutions was even overfulfilled, because everyone in the country understood the importance of the functions they performed and the danger faced by the meeting with the enemy.
1,600 hospitals were created to treat approximately 700,000 wounded soldiers. It was decided to use the buildings of sanatoriums and rest houses in order to place military hospitals there, since there it was possible to create the necessary conditions for caring for the sick.
Evacuation hospitals
It was difficult for doctors to work, but in the forty-second year, 57 percent of the wounded returned to service from hospitals, in the forty-third year - 61 percent, and in the forty-fourth - 47. These indicators indicate the productive work of doctors. Those people who, due to their injuries, could not continue to fight, were demobilized or sent on vacation. Only 2 percent of those who went to hospitals died.
There were also rear hospitals in which civilian doctors worked, because the rear officers also needed medical care. All such institutions, as well as other types of hospitals, were administered by the People's Commissariat of Health of the USSR.
But all these are the so-called evacuation hospitals. It is more interesting to study how it was necessary for those who saved the patients literally on the front lines, that is, to learn about field military hospitals.
Field hospital
In no case should you underestimate the work of those who worked with them! Thanks to these people, who, by the way, themselves risked their lives, the losses of the wounded soldiers of the Soviet troops after the battles were minimal. What is a WWII field hospital? Photos in historical chronicles perfectly show how thousands and thousands of lives were saved, and not only the military, but also those who were close to field operations. This is a huge experience in the treatment of shell-shock, shrapnel wounds, blindness, deafness, amputation of limbs. The place is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Difficulty of work
Of course, doctors often fell under shells, the staff died. And many memories remained of how a very young nurse, dragging a wounded soldier from a battlefield, fell from enemy bullets, or as a talented surgeon, medical staff and the wounded died from a blast wave and shell fragments. But until the last, each of them performed his difficult task. Even training for the medical staff often went on fire, but personnel were urgently needed, the work of Pirogov and Daria Sevastopol had to be continued. What is a field hospital? This place concentrated in itself real humanism and self-sacrifice.
Few descriptions of how the field hospital was equipped, how this place looks, can be traced only from rare photographs and video clips of wartime.
Description of the military hospital
What did the field hospital look like? Although the name of this institution sounds quite solid, in essence, it was most often just a few large tents that were easy to fold out or assembled so that the hospital could follow the fighters. Field hospitals had their own vehicles and tents, which endowed them with maneuverability and the ability to accommodate themselves outside settlements and be part of army bases. There were other cases. For example, when the hospital was based at a school or a large residential building in a settlement near which fights took place. It all depended on the circumstances.
There were no separate operating rooms for obvious reasons, the doctors performed all the necessary surgical manipulations right there, nurses assisted them. The atmosphere was extremely simple and mobile. Often, screams of pain came from the hospital, but there was nothing to be done, people were saved here as best they could. So the 1943 field hospital functioned. The photo below, for example, presents the necessary medical tools for a nurse.
Contribution to Victory
It is hard to imagine how great the contribution of Soviet medical workers was to the fact that in May every citizen of the USSR rejoiced with tears in his eyes, because it’s hard to believe, but they won. It was everyday work, but it is comparable with true heroism: to return to life, to give health to those who no longer hoped. It was thanks to the wartime hospitals that the number of troops remained at the proper level during this mournful time. Field Hospital - a place where real heroes worked. The Great Patriotic War was a difficult test for the whole country.
Memoirs of Eyewitnesses
History stores a lot of post-war memoirs, many of which were written by workers in field military hospitals. In many of them, in addition to descriptions of the hell that was going on around and the story of a difficult life and a difficult emotional state, there are appeals to the younger generation asking them not to repeat wars, to remember what happened in the middle of the 20th century in our country, and appreciate what each of them worked for.
In order to show the humane attitude of all those who worked in military hospitals, I would like to recall that in many cases, assistance was provided not only to Soviet citizens or representatives of the allied forces, but also to wounded soldiers of the enemy army. There were a lot of prisoners, and often they fell into the camp in a deplorable state, and they had to help, because they are people too. In addition, surrendering, the Germans did not show resistance, and the work of the doctors was respected. One woman recalls a 1943 field hospital. She was a twenty-year-old nurse at the time of the war, and she had to single-handedly provide assistance to more than a hundred former enemies. And nothing, they all sat quietly and suffered pain.
Humanism and dedication are important not only in wartime, but also in our everyday life. And an example of these wonderful spiritual qualities are those who fought for human life and health in field hospitals during the Great Patriotic War.