Medical technologies have improved incredibly in the last several decades. Since the War in Vietnam, the use of these medical technologies in overseas warfare environments has allowed a larger percentage of soldiers to survive critical and life-threatening wounds incurred in the heat of battle.
In the past, infection was a large part of the low survival rate of wounded soldiers. Newly released drugs include scientifically tested and researched chemical components that reduce the risk of infection and the later complications that arise from infected wounds. Now, these drugs reduce external and internal infections and allow soldiers to maintain a higher level of optimism when it comes to persevering through even the most painful injuries.
The fewer infections incurred, the lower the cause for general amputation. Historically, many soldiers lost limbs or other physical extremities as a direct result of combat. Although many injuries did not require amputation in and of themselves, the resulting infections were often catalysts for gangrene and poor medical treatment increased the likelihood that doctors would have to amputate.
In the event that a soldier contracted an infection and required an amputation, past military surgeons did not have the ample resources that we have today. More advanced technologies that facilitate sterilization and highly evolved medical tools have allowed fewer complications in surgery, resulting in a higher degree of survival for soldiers.
Today doctors worldwide have much more extensive training in their respective fields, reducing the likelihood of misdiagnosis or the inception of unnecessary procedures in patients that may end up gambling with their lives. Educational resources and information technology has allowed doctors in the global community to join forces and improve their methodologies and strategies as a whole.
Overall, it seems as though our improved medical knowledge and expertise has allowed today’s societies, especially western societies with available funding, to provide first-rate medical treatment to soldiers wounded in the line of fire. Hopefully, research will continue in the medical and scientific fields in order to supply doctors with more knowledge and better training which will also inevitably increase soldier survival rate.
