15 Ipswich Hospital nurses served in World War I. These are over 15,000 First World War service records for nurses in series WO 399who served in the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) and the Territorial Force Nursing Service during the First World War. At the start of the war, nursing was unregulated meaning that anybody could call themselves a nurse, and many women offered their services. On January 30, 1913, the United States Congress officially recognized the American Hospital of Paris, granting it federal status. From the start, Canadian nurses participated. A British soldier in the Royal Army Medical Corps described survivors of a poison gas attack: "Complexion here was an ashed blueish grey, the expression most anxious and distressed with the eye-balls staring, and the lids half closed. http://www.kumc.edu/news-listing-page/lworld-war-and-its-impact-on-the-nursing-profession.html, Gas Attack - Gas spotted across the battlefield. For the British, the declaration of war in 1914 meant that women took over the work of men wherever possible. Nurses managed infections with great success under these trying circumstances, especially considering there was no electrical power and bandages from wounds had to be washed by hand and re-used.” [i]. See more ideas about vintage nurse, nurse, world war one. They were also given one half day off per week if work-loads were not too heavy. …Talk of hard work! [ii]Three substances were responsible for most chemical-weapons injuries and deaths during World War I: chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas. At the same time, many employers had to swallow their feelings about hiring women, and fill vacancies where they could. [ii], “…in a blanket, no clothing his body burned black & literally raw, face black, eyes completely swollen shut & he was suffering agonies. We have mustard phosgene & chlorine gas cases. Britain didn’t collapse. This Friday on November 10, the Ipswich Hospital Museum will unveil a plaque in their honour. The regulated nursing groups like the Queen Alexandra’s were given the rank of officer in order to protect them and give them some standing when dealing with doctors, other ranks and high command. To start, there were only 403 nurses on duty when the U.S. entered World War 1 on April 6, 1917, and this included 170 reserve nurses. Back in time: Violet's diary reveals the true horrors of war (Image: Raymonds Press). [i] These female nurses challenged conceptions of how close women could be to battle and how they could face danger. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Share via Email Print. Trench foot is relatively unknown in the modern army, but was a frequent occurrence in the trenches of the Great War. Many women went into factories, and were very good at setting fuses in shells and bullets. Since there were only palliatives measures for the flu and the pneumonia, isolation practices, asepsis rules, and strict routines were the priority standards of care. Accessing records from after WW1; Diaries & Letters. Now, with 10, 20 or even 80 patients in their care at once, they made decisions they wouldn't have before.". For the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, training was mandatory. Base Hospital 18, in France was staffed mainly with Hopkins nurses and physicians. I always dreaded removing bandages for fear of hemorrhage. Nurses who went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in late 1939 and early 1940, returning at the time of the evacuation of Dunkirk. Among the dead were eight nurses. Read more. The nurses of World War I are truly inspirational heroes. According to a special report from the Smithsonian, “shrapnel from mortars, grenades and, above all, artillery projectile bombs, or shells, would account for an estimated 60 percent of the 9.7 million military fatalities of World War I… It was soon observed that many soldiers arriving at the casualty clearing stations who had been exposed to exploding shells, although clearly damaged, bore no visible wounds. Clara Barton. It was dangerous work, and the chemicals they dealt with made many ill. And, on the battlefield, the nurses stepped in. A nurse reported, “Our chief duties were to give medicines to the patients, fix ice packs, feed them at [meal] time, rub their back or chest with camphorated sweet oil, [and] make egg-nogs.”. Gains in knowledge: Raymonds Press ) unit ’ when War was a Great need for and. 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