England before june 6th 1944. The United Nations soon to launch the greatest military expedition of its kind in history. Cross channel invasion of europe against the nazis. As preparations were being made, huge quantities of materials and surprise collected guns, airstrikes, bombs ambulances. Yes ambulances. In the midst of all this preparation and the straining, nor went on for preparations. For the business of saving lives. Preserving lynn easing pain. Through the endless english months of war games, the medical a grew tough they learned the prime importance of speed. As the day junior the grand strategy was mapped, the medical corps trapped its plans. The disposition of hospital facilities in england would be as follows. In the north scattered over a wide area, the General Hospitals, large institutions equipped for every type of medical services. A few miles inland from the south coast spotted near rail roads would be transit hospitals for which would pass all the casualties arriving in england. Here they would be classified and routed to the various General Hospitals in the north. Along the coast close to the beaches imports in the receiving area there would be a holding hospital fully equipped for emergency surgery here serious cases could receive attention immediately on their arrival in england. These were the plans and this was the reality. The General Hospital, the transit hospital, the holding hospital. Better equipped than most intuition institutions back home, tense stood empty, ready, waiting for the day. June 6th, the day. The great plan has been put to the test. The enemy lies and wait and determined to stop us as we are to land. First american soldiers hit the beach. The medics have moved in with them and their works begin. Aid stations established on the spot. And astounding record starts piling up later it reveals than a 80 to 90 of wounded receive medical care within ten minutes of being hit. Immediately the business of evacuation begins. First wounds get First Priority right back they go to the boats that landed them for the short time before. This is part of the plan where the ellis tees are unable to come in close enough to use to get the wound to them. So the ships received their damaged human cargos. All along the beach as they wait. The fighting develops, every means is used to hasten the removal of the wounded from the scene of the battle. The chief of all trades is pressed into service and proves itself again. Set out with a flood of wounded. Through it all, the slogan of speed remains the keynote. The lst used in the normandy invasion were designed to become Emergency Hospital ships as soon as the fighting cargoes have been deposited for sure. Wall brackets were installed. Each could accommodate 200 or more patients. In the first days of the invasion, 90 were evacuated on the ships. The smoke and a drink of water and trophies and rest. The dead rest of exhaustion. Elsewhere, i life is being saved. Some wounds cant wait. Planning included in operating room on each lst. Also an experienced army surgeon. Soon it will be england again and rest and care and safety. The routing of the ships had been carefully planned to avoid congestion anyone landing point on the english coast. Each shift disembarked wounded, those cases needing immediate surgery or other treatment were moved to the nearest boarding hospital. Then as soon as they were transportable again, they were moved inland to the transit hospital serving the area. Move directly to the landing point of the transit hospital. From there were routed by special train to the north. Every preparation had been made. Ambulance company strung out all along the coast. They were under the control of evacuation offices of each receiving area. 5000 of these vehicles stood by, ready for immediate service. The ship start coming in. Some to ports, some to peers in outlying areas. Others pull up onto the beaches. No time is lost wounded. Specially trained sanitary Companies Take over jobs and the business of unloading begins. Evacuation officers supervise. The disposition of each liver case has been decided. And so man helps man. And american teamwork proves itself once more, and the job is shortly done. The emergency cases move out first. Often its only a matter of minutes before a dangerous wound has been xrayed. A decision made, and a patient readied for surgery. As soon after the operation as its safe for him to travel, hes moved out, sent off to the transit hospital. In normandy, the fighting has moved inland. In the last war when a soldier was wounded, he just had to watch and wait until a man found him. Now the order is reversed. The aid man does the watching and waiting and is at the side of the casualty as soon as he becomes one. In addition, the american corpsman today, unlike his counterpart in previous wars, is qualified to administer morphine and plasma and to render numerous other services to the wounded. All this is making a vast difference in the saving of life. Some of the wounded filter back to the aid station on foot. But evacuation by walking and hand litter bearing soon gives way to the faster method of evacuation by jeep. A battalion aid station operates just behind the lines. Here the trained corpsman again demonstrates his value, taking over many jobs that the physician would otherwise have to perform. This frees the doctors time for more detailed attention to the serious cases. Next, the wounded are brought to a collecting station a mile or so farther back. There are facilities here for further emergency treatment if needed. But the primary job is the transporting the wounded with all possible speed to the clearing station. This is located far enough to the rear to avoid exposure to direct enemy action. Here medical officers expert in judging the condition of casualties sort the patients and determine their disposition. Surgeon cases needing certain specialized types of surgery are turned over to the Field Hospital which is set up close by. A great majority of operations here are for perforating abdominal wounds and sucking wounds of the chest like this one. Whole blood flown in from england consolidates the gains that have been made by lifesaving plasma at the front. On dday plus four, the first Evacuation Hospital goes up in france. This is the largest and most elaborate type of installation used in the combat zone. Nevertheless, its ready to receive patients within 30 minutes, and operating starts in two hours, three of them going on at once. Count them. Skilled army nurses look after the patients, and there are such comforts as cots and mattresses and hot food. Many of the less seriously wounded will make complete recoveries here and report to replacement depots in a matter of days. But cases requiring prolonged periods of convalescence are sent back to england. Plane evacuation, expected to begin about dday plus seven is actually begun on dday plus three. Within a fort night were flying out more than a thousand wounded a day, and sea evacuation has been almost entirely supplanted. The air trip from france to england takes about an hour. Speed has won another triumph, and it becomes a common occurrence for a soldier wounded in france in the morning to be resting in a General Hospital in england by evening. From the landing field, the patients are shuttled to the transit hospital, and before long theyre boarding the hospital trains that pull out daily from nearby railway spurs for the trip north. And the last leg of the journey begins. The General Hospitals are telling some remarkable stories these days, like 16,000 casualties handled by one group and only 15 deaths. What is making such records possible, of course, is the fine condition in which patients are arriving due to the splendid work of units all along the line. In the first two months of the invasion, some 76,000 wounded were handled by the medical department. In world war i, 8 of these men would not have survived. Today, less than 3 are being lost, and many who would have been invalided for life will have been totally healed. So the careful planning of months bears fruit, and men who knew the battlefield but a few short hours back, knew the pain, the suffering, now know the care, the comfort, and the hope that the best in modern medicine can bring. music music