Thank a Corpsman
By
We hope that you’ll forgive us for being late, but we got pretty busy around here with the twins. Another event that made national news got our head back in the game.
Justin Timberlake was in Richmond.
In case you missed it, Justin was propositioned by Corporal Kelsey DeSantis in a YouTube video. The 23 year-old combat instructor challenged Timberlake to be her date to the annual Marine Corps Ball. He took the challenge!
The event was November 12th, which coincided with the official birthday of the Marine Corp, November 10th, and Veterans Day, the 11th. While we’re late, we wanted to give thanks for the men and women in uniform and what they mean to us.
The Marine Corp was started in 1775 in Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. In 1834 they became part of the Navy and the Corp has been “First to Fight” since its founding. They have been the leading force in every conflict that America has entered. The Leathernecks have been Semper Fidelis for over 200 years.
The Armed Forces have also done a great deal for medicine. The hazards and perils of combat have always forced the Corpsman or Medic to be both creative and practical in reacting to treatment and care.
The idea of “triage” is the result of the work of Dominique Jean Larrey, chief surgeon of Napoleon. He saved countless lives by sorting wounded troops according to the severity of their injury as opposed to rank. He also created mobile forces that could quickly transport wounded troops to a safer place for treatment, a horse-drawn MedFlight.
Surgeons during the Civil War began to better prepare for battle, carrying bandages, chloroform, and morphine to quickly treat troops. Realizing the dangers of infection, they began using amputation and saved many more lives.
In World War II, combat medics began to actually travel with the troops, cutting down on the time from injury to treatment. Individual doses of morphine were created that allowed troops to treat each other and ward off shock.
Viet Nam saw the introduction of the helicopter for rapid evacuation. While it often took as long as 2 days for a World War I soldier to get to a proper hospital, in Viet Nam it was often within 2 hours. This got the soldier much closer to the “Golden Hour”, the first hour after injury. They began to experiment with induced coma and “suspended animation” during this time, to extend the time that an injured soldier could go without treatment.
The Armed Forces continues to expand the impact of battlefield medicine.
Corpsmen now carry bandages coated in antibiotics and clotting agents, staving off infection and reducing blood loss. Technology connects doctors in the field with specialists around the world so that the very best in a certain area can treat any soldier, anywhere. And they continue to create.
Using new 3D printing technology they are spraying cells instead of ink to repair tissues damaged by burns or shrapnel. The same technology sees them building actual organs, with a simple kidney being the first to be tested.
They have been in the forefront of limb replacement too. Modern biodynamics connects prosthetics directly to the brain for limb control. Full limb transplants are becoming more common, reconnecting tissue, muscle, nerve, and bone.
A veteran who had lost his sight was given a special pair of glasses that connected to an electrode that was placed on his tongue. The glasses collected light and images, and saliva is an excellent conductor of electricity. They used a device to reroute the impulses from his eyes to his brain to instead go from his tongue to his brain. He basically “tastes” his way around. He is now able to see light and dark, black and white, and can maneuver around his home.
Much like civilian discovery, advances are sometimes accidental. The iWalk being used right now at Sheltering Arms for people recovering from spinal injury is an extension of the military’s experiments in an “exoskeleton” which would allow an average soldier to carry huge loads. The suture “glue” that is being used more often today is a polymer originally designed to affix sights to rifles. A much better use, don’t you think?
Yes, we’re late with our shout-out to our troops. No, we can’t dance or sing like Justin Timberlake. We can, however, take off our hats and put our hands over our hearts for our men and women of the Armed Forces. Thank You Troops! And Semper Fi!
