Excerpt taken from George W. Crile\u2019s diary, January 16, 1915<\/p>\n
The method of handling the wounded in the French army is as follows.\u00a0 Every soldier carries in a small canvas bag an emergency pack.\u00a0 This consists of a rolled bandage, a small piece of gause (sic), some cotton and a small vial of iodin.<\/p>\n
If a soldier in the first or second line of trenches is wounded he or his comrade applies the first dressing for it is impossible to remove the wounded until night.\u00a0 Then under cover of darkness they are carried to the first station \u2013 the Pose de Secour.\u00a0 This is usually about a kilometer and a half from the trenches and is attached to a regiment.\u00a0 It is stationed in a secluded house or barn but is still within the firing line.\u00a0 Here only first aid treatment is given.\u00a0 The next station is called l\u2019Ambulance and is six to eight kilometers behind the Poste de Secour.\u00a0 This is larger than the first and received patients from a number of the first aid stations.\u00a0 Her cases are sorted and those that are so seriously wounded that they cannot be moved, remain.\u00a0 The others are sent on to the Evacuation Station which is a railroad center \u2013 the station itself usually being used as the hospital.\u00a0 Each Evacuation Center is fed by a number of \u201cAmbulances\u201d.<\/p>\n
Following this there is often the second or even the third Evacuation Station.\u00a0 These also are railroad centers and are fed by a larger territory than the first.\u00a0 Finally comes the \u201cCentre\u201d, such as Paris where there are a number of what may be called Base Hospitals.\u00a0 From these hospitals the men, when no further dressings are required, are sent to Convalescent Hospitals where they remain until they are cured or are discharged.\u00a0 If a man is discharged from a hospital, such as the American Ambulance, \u201ccured\u201d he is immediately sent to his barracks and not to a convalescent hospitals \u2013 but if he is discharged \u201cimproved\u201d he is sent to a convalescent hospital.<\/p>\n
The patients come into the Ambulance tagged \u2013 the tag stating whether or not they have had anti-tetanic serum, their name, type of wound, etc.<\/p>\n
These patients are covered with mud and grime \u2013 they are unshaven and exhausted and wear an assortment of clothes.\u00a0 Sometimes their wounds are swathed in bandages.\u00a0 I have seen bandages several yards in length encircling an arm.\u00a0 They arrive at the hospital with the most ingenious casts \u2013 made of steel, tin, wood, plaster, etc.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t