We improvised

Heroes Remember

We improvised

Transcript

Well, the medical situation was pretty good actually because, well we didn't have all the equipment you'd have in a modern hospital here. We had the majority of it and we improvised. For instance, you might be using an intravenous line and you'd hang that from one of the ropes inside the tent. And the sterilisation was accomplished. We had steam sterilizers but the conditions were extremely different. But mind you, we were dealing with young men, in relatively in good condition and they were well immunized. So we were able to keep down wound infections and this sort of thing pretty, pretty good. So we had abundance of equipment and supplies. We didn't lack for bandaging this, this sort of thing. The first place I went to was, I was posted to was the field dressing station, which was at a place called Uijongbu. Uijongbu was about 18 miles from Seoul, so it's relative. In fact, now it's a suburb of modern Seoul. Then the second place I was shipped to was the field ambulance. The field ambulance was just south of the front, just south of the Injin River, right, right at the front, you see. And the last place I served was I commanded a casualty collecting post, which was right at the front. And it was north of the Injin River with the regiments. It was just a series of small tents. And you know, conditions were a lot less convenient for instance, than the field ambulance or the field resting station which were larger units. A field dressing station, somewhat like a 125 bed hospital and not particularly mobile. Whereas the field ambulance would accommodate normally up to 100 patients, but that would be a mobile unit, they would be prepared to move on a minute's notice, if the front shifted. But still, it was a relatively sophisticated operation. Yeah, at the front, I had no relief, either of course. Well, I had my own jeep and I had one sergeant and a number of men, but I had no relief. So, I was just there 100 percent of the time.

Description

Dr. Vanner discusses field hospitals in general and differentiates the three levels of hospitalization.

Dr. George Vanner

Dr. Vanner was born in Toronto, June 14, 1927. After completing his public schooling in Belleville and Trenton, he entered the University of Ottawa Medical school. He had been a member of his local militia, and when war broke out in Korea, he joined the regular force as an army Lieutenant. Upon graduation in the summer of 1942, Dr. Vanner was sent to South Korea. He was a field surgeon until a truce was declared. After that, Dr. Vanner spent some time in the hospitals around Hiroshima. Once in Canada, Dr. Vanner established a solo medical practice which allowed him to utilise the diverse skills he had acquired in Korea. He is now retired and has recently joined the Korean Veterans Association.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:31
Person Interviewed:: Dr. George Vanner
War, Conflict or Mission:: Korean War
Location/Theatre:: Asia
Battle/Campaign:: Korea
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: British Commonwealth Division
Rank:: Captain
Occupation:: Surgeon

Language selection

We improvised

Heroes Remember

We improvised

Dr. George Vanner

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We improvised

Heroes Remember

We improvised

Dr. George Vanner

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