Haller J.S. Battlefield Medicine: A History of the Military Ambulance from the Napoleonic Wars Through World War I

Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2011. — 289p."Unfortunately for the earth's fragile ecosystem, war remains the policy
of choice among feuding nations and peoples, wreaking havoc not only
on fellow human beings but on all living species. One of the few positive
outcomes to emerge from this man-made trauma was the effort, begun
by Dominique-Jean Larrey during the Napoleonic Wars, to bring organized
medical support and transport to the soldier wounded on the field of
battle. Elements of Larrey's support system were later introduced into the
Crimean War, the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, various
fin de siecle wars and hotspots, the Philippine Insurrection, and finally the
trenches of World War I-all of which are traced in the pages of this book.
We know, of course, that the military ambulance continued to respond
to innovations in military tactics and technology. Examples were apparent
with the development of the Echelon II hospital units situated close
to unit-level aid stations in World War II, and later, with the U.S. Mobile
Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units located minutes from the battlefield
in Korea. The proximity of these mobile units to the battlefield continued
into Vietnam and the first Gulf War, providing an exceptionally
high survival rate for tlle seriously wounded soldier. The last of these units,
the 212th MASH, was established in Iraq in 2003 before being transferred
to Pakistan to serve earthquake victims. Along with these organizational
changes came improved ground and air transportation. While the first
medevac helicopter was employed in April 1944 in Burma, not until the
Korean War did the Bell 47, with its external basket stretchers, become the
mainstay of air medical evacuation. Following that were the Bell UH-1
(Huey) during the Vietnam War, which allowed for treatment during
flight, and the UH-60 Blackhawk in Iraq and Afghanistan."