What were the contents of a medical pack carried by a soldier during World War 2?

Answer 1

== == Generally, the contents of a medic or "aid man"s bag would have been as follows. Pressure dressings with long ties to be applied to wounds on the body, head , or limbs. Triangular bandages that were used to make slings, or to secure pressure dressings. Cotton wool to be used as absorbent to slow bleeding. Large abdominal pads that were about 18 inches square with three layers of absorbent material. Small styretts of injectable morphine for pain relief, but only if the man was conscious and talking to you. Rubber bands for limb compression, to control arterial bleeding. Small metal tweezers to take out metal splinters and wood bits. Steel scissors to cut clothing, and clamps for closing artery bleeding points. Cardboard casualty treatment tags that were attached to the wounded man's jacket that showed what treatment he has been given, and at what time he got any drugs. Small wooden splints for broken arms or legs, and a couple of water canteens. All of the above would be in the first aid bag, or a haversack on the mans back. Once the man was at the aid station he would get more advanced care from the unit's Medical Officer and his assistants, to stabilize his condition, and he would be assessed and " TRIAGED ". Triage is the process of deciding what he needs and how fast he should get it. Group one will die immediately without surgical intervention. Group two will die in 12 hours with out advanced care, and group three are those with minor injury or wounds, and can wait to be treated. Group four are those who are all ready dead, who are put aside to be picked up by the graves registration unit, and buried after being identified. Remember that in WW two nobody came home dead, they were buried where they died. After the aid station, the man goes by ambulance to the field hospital where he is again triaged, and sent to the appropriate part of the hospital, for further treatment, and surgery. Recovery may require that he goes further back to a group hospital where he gets help to recuperate. If he is blind or has had an amputation, he will go home by hospital ship, for further care and treatment. Those with minor wounds are sent back to their unit after they have healed.

Answer 2

It depends on what you mean by medical pack. There is the Individualized First Aid Kit (IFAK) that is carried by all soldiers. The IFAK is issued to the soldier containing medical gloves, one packet gauze, one emergency trauma bandage, one nasopharyngeal airway (NPA), one combat application tourniquet and one package of hemostatic gauze.

The other type of medical pack carried by US soldiers is a medic's medical aid bag. I could copy and paste the aid bag packing list but honestly there's not a medic alive that follows it to the letter. Each unit has different standard operating procedures and even then individual medics might 'adjust' the aid bag packing list to better suit the needs of the mission. I myself am not fond of the NPA where another medic might go through them like candy. Therefore the other medic might bring ten of them on a two mile hike and I might pack 1 and still have one left over when I return to the states.

If you'd like to rephrase the question to make it something more like 'what does an aid bag weigh' or 'how big is an aid bag' or even 'what is combat medic school like' I may be able to help you better. But the short answer to your question is that there is no specific cookie cutter answer.

Answer 3

blanket, spare pair socks, cotton singlet and underwear, hard rations - biscuits, etc., some soldiers carried packs of sweets, foot or lice preventive powder, knife, fork, spoon or a fork only as they could use their bayonet to open tins, boot laces, housewife containing needles, buttons, thread, safety pins; soap with toothbrush, etc