Desperate Surgery in the Pacific War: Doctors and Damage Control for American Wounded, 1941-1945

by Thomas Helling , M.D.

Overview

Caring for the wounded in the World War II Pacific Theater posed serious challenges to doctors and surgeons. The thick jungles, remote atolls and heavily defended Japanese islands of the Pacific presented dangers to medical personnel never before encountered in modern warfare, as did the devastating new kamikaze attacks.

Sophisticated treatments, including complex surgery, were by necessity far removed from the fighting, requiring front line doctors to do the minimum--often under fire--to stabilize patients until they could be evacuated: "damage control," it would later be called. Navy doctors responsible for thousands of sailors aboard fleets in battle found caring for the wounded daunting or nearly impossible. Yet to save lives, medical resources had to be kept as close as possible to the action. This book systematically details the efforts and innovations of the doctors and surgeons who worked to preserve life under extreme peril.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476625676
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	01/25/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	476
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas Helling, M.D., is a professor of surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He has spent his career in clinical surgery and surgical education, with a special interest in trauma surgery and trauma system development. He was a member of the United States Army Medical Corps, serving nine years in the Army Reserves and receiving an honorable discharge in 2000 as a lieutenant colonel.
Thomas Helling, M.D., is a professor of surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He has spent his career in clinical surgery and surgical education, with a special interest in trauma surgery and trauma system development. He was a member of the United States Army Medical Corps, serving nine years in the Army Reserves and receiving an honorable discharge in 2000 as a lieutenant colonel.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Prelude
I. Homeland
 1. The Dawn of Damage Control
 2. Interlude
II. The South Pacific
 3. The Solomon Islands
III. The Southwest Pacific
 4. Portable Surgical Hospitals, Burma and the Buna Campaign
 5. The Seventh Amphibious Force
 6. The Surgical Consultants
IV. The Central Pacific
 7. Betio, Tarawa Atoll
 8. Saipan, Marianas Islands
 9. Shock
10. Abdominal Injuries
11. Peleliu
12. Arterial Injuries
13. Chest Injuries
14. Iwo Jima
15. Head Injuries
16. Extremity Injuries
17. Okinawa
V. The War at
18. Savo Island and the Naval Battles Off Guadalcanal
19. The Fate of the Princeton and the Birmingham
20. Taffy 3
21. The ­Ill-Fated USS Franklin
22. Kamikaze
23. Burns
VI. In Search of Heroes
24. The Ships
25. The Men
Epilogue
Chapter Notes
References
Index