Military medicine of imperial Russia in the World War I (1914–1917)

Relevance. Due to the military and political circumstances in Russia after 1917, the sanitary and statistical report on the First World War (1914-1918) was not compiled. Intention. To present the most important events and information, much less known to readers, concerning the professional activity of the medical service of the Russian army during the First World War. Methods. Archival documents and publications of leading experts in the organization and tactics of the army medical service were analyzed. Results and Discussion. Information is presented on the mobilization deployment of medical forces and equipment, their condition during the war, the size and structure of the sanitary losses of the troops (approximately 9 million 366,6 thousand people, including 3 million 730,3 thousand wounded and gas-poisoned and 5 million 571,1 thousand patients, of which 264,2 thousand were infectious patients), the working conditions of military medical units and institutions, medical units of the Russian Red Cross Society, other public organizations both in the army and on the home front. Particular attention is paid to improving the methods of rendering surgical care on the basis of their stage treatment proposed by Prof. V.A. Oppel in October 1915, as well as the Institution of front and army consultants created by Prof. ON. Velyaminov. There are sections on the organization of individual protection of personnel from the combat chemical agents, including the first insulating gas mask designed by N.D. Zelinsky, the protection of troops from the spread of infectious diseases, in particular typhoid and cholera, their specific prevention and mass vaccination. Problems of military medical supply are summarized. Some 40–50 % of all wounded and 62% of all patients were returned to the ranks via selfless efforts of physicians, i.e. about 42.4 % of the total number of wounded, sick and gas-poisoned. The total losses of medical personnel of the Russian army in the First World War amounted to 6,218 people, including 898 injured and poisoned, 4,472 patients with various diseases, and 848 dead. Conclusion. The information provided reveals the nature of the mobilization deployment, the medical forces and means of the active army, the stages of medical and medical evacuation of the wounded and sick, and sanitary losses.

emergency, World War I, military medicine, mobilization deployment, sanitary losses, stages of treatment of the wounded, chemical weapons

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