A field hospital is a small mobile medical facility that takes care of casualties close to the battlefield, or in case of disasters, the scene of the natural or man-made catastrophe. The World Health Organization gives the definition of a field hospital as: "a mobile, self-contained, self-sufficient health care facility capable of rapid deployment and expansion or contraction to meet immediate emergency requirements for a specified period of time". The treatment of wounds received in war is an ancient art. The term "field hospital" is most often used as a military term.
History
Ancient warriors
It has been the custom of removing wounded soldiers from the battlefield and caring for them since ancient times. They were taken to temporary shelters and given what care was customary for that time period.
In Homer's Iliad, it makes brief mention of Machaon and Podalirius. These are the earliest mention in literature of field surgeons who helped fallen soldiers. The Greeks and Romans were known to use nearby houses, stables and temples as field hospitals to care for wounded soldiers. Even then, Romans understood drainage and sewage systems helped keep field hospitals clean and get injured soldiers back to health again.
Middle Ages
Among the men returning from the Crusades were many lame, blind and sick who needed care. The Church set up Religious orders to care for the sick and injured. One group who provided this care was called the Knights Hospitallers. They had set up field hospitals at Jerusalem and Acre from 1120 to 1291.
Medieval Spain was fairly advanced in field medicine. When Spanish armies went on campaigns, medics and surgeons went with them. During the 13th century, hospitals followed the Arabic pattern of orgainzing patients into different areas based on sex, type of disease or injuries. During the Conquest of Granada, when Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile expelled the Moors from Northern Spain, Queen Isabella had established ambulances and field hospitals for her soldiers.
Early modern period
Near the end of the 18th century, France began paying closer attention to the poor condition of its hospitals. In Paris, the Hôtel Dieu was full of disease and vermin. It had about 1,220 beds and up to six patients shared a bed. Others lay in halls on piles of straw in extremely dirty conditions. When doctors came to visit in the morning, they had to hold sponges dipped in vinegar over their faces because of the bad smell. The Hôtel-Dieu was not a military hospital, but was typical of most hospitals at the time. In 1788, the French Academy of Sciences made several recommendations to make hospitals cleaner and have better ventilation. It laid out the size the rooms should be, that they should contain 34 to 36 beds and have floor to ceiling windows. The committee borrowed several ideas from visiting England and seeing hospitals there.
Field hospitals during the Napoleonic era were crude by modern standards. There was still no knowledge of hygiene, antibiotics had not yet been discovered and amputation was the most common treatment for battlefield wounds. Soldiers sometimes waited for days to be removed from the battlefield. The wounded had no water or food, and flies would plague them as they lay there bleeding. Many died from infection before getting medical help. If they were removed, they were sent to makeshift surgical facilities where overworked surgeons did the best they could. In a "field hospital" they had to endure amputations with no anesthetic. Officers were sometimes offered rum or brandy while regular soldiers were given a piece of wood to bite down on. The prospects for surviving their wounds were dim.
American Civil War
By 1861, medical knowledge and equipment still had far to go. Treating wounds, infections and diseases often did more harm than good. Doctors did not understand what caused infections and could do very little to treat them. Estimates are that twice as many soldiers died from disease as died from gunshot wounds. Camp hygiene was extremely poor. Sanitation facilities, the lack of shelter, clothing, shoes and food all contributed to high death rates in the camps. Prisoners of war lived under the most miserable conditions. Dysentery was extremely common in most camps because of poor sanitation and contaminated water. Doctors did not wash instruments or their hands as they moved from patient to patient. Nurses who tended the sick risked catching the diseases themselves. With the crude state of medicine at the time, most diseases could be fatal. While medical knowledge and conditions gradually improved during the war, it still wasn't enough to save thousands of lost lives.