Historical anniversaries connection america an accidental to summation position connected the present, spot wherever we came from, and a accidental to memorialize the trailblazers who paved the mode for america all. This twelvemonth the Navy Medical Department volition people respective notable anniversaries that supply america ample crushed to look backmost and celebrate.
Bicentennial (200 years):
The aboriginal years of Navy Medicine was shaped by our combat against disease. And fewer diseases were much deadly oregon impactful connected our nascent work than vector-borne diseases. Medical vessel logs from the Navy’s aboriginal years are afloat of cases of “ague,” “fever and ague,” “bilious fever,” “inflammatory fever,” “intermittent fever,” “remittent fever,” and the ever popular, “putrid, malignant vessel fever”—all archaic presumption for mosquito-borne illnesses that plagued the work successful an epoch earlier germ theory. This twelvemonth we people the 200th day of 1 of the archetypal Navy-led aesculapian investigations into the origin of vector-borne disease.
In September 1823, pursuing an outbreak of yellowish fever astatine the Naval Station Thompson’s Island (Key West), Florida, Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard ordered a peculiar ngo to analyse the causes of the illness. Commodore John Rodgers oversaw a aesculapian task unit comprising 3 of the Navy’s astir accomplished physicians—Surgeons Thomas Harris, Richard K. Hoffman, and Bailey Washington.
Rodgers and his aesculapian task unit arrived connected the land connected October 23, 1823, lone to observe that overmuch of the unit assigned to the presumption had fled. Of the 140 Sailors and Marines remaining, 59 were sick with fever, respective of whom were being treated nether the attraction of Surgeon Thomas Williamson. Surgeons Harris, Hoffman, and Washington walked the land studying each topographical diagnostic and collected clues with the thoroughness of forensic scientists. They noted that implicit fractional the land was covered successful brackish h2o and caller h2o ponds, the second layered with “decomposing rootlike and carnal matter.” They suspected the resulting “miasma” (literally “bad air”) would person had a “powerful effect” connected the wellness of the Sailors.
On October 29th, the surgeons drafted a study to Secretary Southard outlining six causes of the outbreak—sudden vulnerability to tropical climates; deficiency of comfy quarters; intemperate habits; deficiency of caller and wholesome provisions; “continued annoyance” by mosquitoes and sand-flies; and alleged “depressing passions,” arising from the prevailing epidemic.
Harris, Hoffman, and Washington had gone arsenic acold arsenic aesculapian subject could (or went) without pinpointing the mosquito arsenic the sole origin of the epidemic. Most interestingly, the surgeons noted that the illness lone seemed to beryllium contiguous erstwhile the somesthesia exceeded 50 degrees. It could beryllium argued that they were conscionable 12 degrees distant from a important breakthrough. Mosquitoes volition not wound erstwhile the temperatures driblet beneath 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
Although the fever connected the land had subsided arsenic the upwind cooled, astatine slightest 21 officers and an untold fig of enlisted, died from the disease.
President James Monroe aboriginal praised the enactment of Commodore Rodgers and the “skilful” [sic] surgeons successful his code to Congress.
Quasiquicentennial (125 years):
This year, Navy Medicine volition people the 125th day of the founding of the Hospital Corps (June 17, 1898). In 1898, the Navy organized its escaped conglomeration of apothecaries, aesculapian attendants and purveyors into 3 enlisted rates (hospital steward, infirmary apprentice archetypal class, and infirmary apprentice) and a warrant people (pharmacist). Since then, each who person served nether the banner of this corps person been known by the moniker “Hospital Corpsmen” oregon simply “Corpsmen.” Today, the Hospital Corps is comprised implicit 27,000 Sailors representing 40 Navy Enlisted Classifications (NECs).
Centennial (100 years):
On February 3, 1923, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) established the Naval Dental School astatine the Naval Hospital Washington, D.C., for the “purpose of giving postgraduate acquisition to officers of the Dental Corps and acquisition to specially elaborate infirmary corpsmen who are trained to service arsenic assistants to dental officers.” In 1923, the schoolhouse commenced with 5 dental officers and 10 infirmary corpsmen (dental technicians).
Over the past 100 years, the schoolhouse has operated nether assorted names—from Naval Dental School (NDS, 1923-1971) to the Naval Graduate Dental School (NGDS, 1971-2001) to its contiguous moniker, the Naval Postgraduate Dental School (NPDS, 2001-Present). Today, arsenic a subordinate enactment nether the Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command (NMLPDC), NPDS conducts “advanced programs for dental officers that are designed to assistance the Dental Corps conscionable its request for officers who are afloat qualified to practice, teach, and behaviour probe successful dentistry.”
Semisesquicentennial (75 years):
Seventy-five years ago—in 1948—Navy Medicine was moving beyond the post-World War II warfare demobilization and adapting to a Cold War posture. As the Surgeon General reported successful his Annual Report of that year, the “[Navy] Medical Department ran its people against a inheritance of home inflationary trends, the ‘cold war,’ national budgetary retrenchments, and unit shortages.”
To code these modern issues, Rear Admiral Clifford Swanson, Surgeon General of the Navy, convened the archetypal ever Navy aesculapian enactment symposium connected May 27th astatine the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) successful Bethesda, Md. Now known arsenic the Surgeon General’s Leadership Symposium (SGLS), this gathering has been a contented successful Navy Medicine ever since.
The twelvemonth was besides marked by the largest translation of the Hospital Corps standing successful implicit 30 years. On April 2, 1948, the Navy changed the standing names and insignia that were a mainstay since 1916. Gone were the “pharmacist’s mate” sanction and the Red Geneva Cross. The caller titles were infirmary apprentice, hospitalman, infirmary corpsman 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class. And the caller insignia for the Hospital Corps was the winged caduceus.
Hospital Corpsmen who specialized successful dentistry had been portion of the Navy for decades. But successful 1948, the Navy authorized the Dental Technician (DT) standing and badge. DTs remained portion of the Hospital Corps until 1972 erstwhile they became a abstracted occupational specialty. In October 2005, the DT standing was merged backmost into the Hospital Corps. Although DTs nary longer deterioration dental standing badges, infirmary corpsmen proceed to service successful an assortment of dental related NECs similar dental laboratory technician, surgical technologists, maxillofacial technician, dental instrumentality repair, and dental hygienist.
In June 1948, arsenic the Hospital Corps was celebrating its (then) fiftieth anniversary, President Harry S Truman signed into instrumentality the Armed Services Integration Act. This landmark authorities granted each women the accidental to service successful the regular military. Prior to this lone Navy nurses were allowed to service connected progressive duty—all others held reserve presumption arsenic WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). After June 1948, women physicians, dentists, aesculapian administrators, scientists, clinicians and infirmary corpsmen could service successful the regular Navy.
On July 12, 1948, HM1 Ruth Flora was sworn into progressive duty, becoming the archetypal pistillate corpsmen to gain this distinction. By autumn of 1948, Lt. Cmdr. Frances Willoughby (Medical Corps), Lt. Mary Keener (Medical Service Corps), Lt. Paula Towle (Medical Service Corps), Lt. (j.g.) Maria Emiliana Aquino, Lt. (j.g.) Virginia J. Eager Lott (Medical Service Corps) and different Navy aesculapian women joined the progressive duty.
Semicentennial (50 Years):
On May 14, 1973, Navy formation surgeon Capt. Joseph Kerwin made past arsenic the archetypal American doc successful space. Eight years earlier, Kerwin was portion of the archetypal people of “scientist-astronauts.” Early successful his NASA career, Kerwin underwent a rigorous people of “basic” grooming from a 10-day carnal exam, learning abstraction systems, and undergoing ngo power simulation to underwater “spacewalks” successful a neutral-buoyancy vessel astatine Marshal Space Flight Center successful Huntsville, Alabama.
In 1973, Kerwin and chap crewmembers Charles Conrad and Paul Weitz spent a full of 672 hours and 49 minutes aboard the Skylab presumption and 3 hours and 58 minutes conducting extra-vehicular activities (EVA) to repair the harm the presumption suffered successful orbit. As Skylab’s lone physician, Kerwin was besides liable for operating what could beryllium called the archetypal orbiting aesculapian clinic. Equipped with a aesculapian kit called the In-Flight Medical Support System (IFMSS), Kerwin managed insignificant injuries and illnesses. He aboriginal recalled, “I had intravenous fluids, drugs, a insignificant country kit for suturing, hemostasis, and I had a cardinal laboratory capability. I could adjacent bash cardiopulmonary resuscitation if it were necessary.” Fortunately, different than a fewer headaches, a dislocated digit and 1 lawsuit of fluid successful the mediate receptor owed to unit alteration the Skylab unit proved rather healthy.
Kerwin whitethorn person been the archetypal Navy doc to go an astronaut but was acold from the last. Eight different Navy physicians would travel Kerwin, including Lt. Cmdr. Jonny Kim.
In different aviation first, 50 years ago, Lts. Jane McWilliams and Victoria Voge became the Navy’s archetypal pistillate formation surgeons aft graduating from the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) successful December 1973.
Vicennial (20 Years):
On March 20, 2003, the U.S. stalemate with Saddam Hussein ended and U.S. forces invaded Iraq. Throughout the war, Navy aesculapian unit played pivotal roles helping to attraction for and stabilize critically wounded and coordinating their evacuation. These frontline aesculapian providers continually risked their lives portion caring for others. Too galore would wage the eventual sacrifice -- among them was HM3 Michael Vann Johnson of Little Rock, Arkansas, was killed successful Iraq connected March 25, 2003 portion tending to a wounded Marine. He was the archetypal typical of Navy Medicine to suffer their beingness successful the war, but acold from the last. Between 2003 and 2011, a full of 25 infirmary corpsmen and a Medical Service Corps serviceman died successful Iraq.
The Iraq War was proving crushed for a caller level devised by a forward-thinking surgeon named Capt. H.R. Bohman. Known arsenic Forward Resuscitative Surgery Systems oregon FRSSs, these highly mobile teams comprised of wide surgeons, anesthesiologists, captious attraction nurses, doc assistants, Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDCs), operating country (OR) technicians, and wide work FMF Corpsmen were quality makers during the warfare arsenic they provided lifesaving attraction for critically injured casualties.
While successful Iraq, FRSS teams operated successful proximity of the part maneuver elements and specialized successful harm power surgical techniques to stabilize causalities and past oversee accelerated evacuation to higher echelon aesculapian facilities successful the rear. In 2003, six FRSS teams (comprised of 48 individuals) were deployed to theatre successful the archetypal signifier of the Iraq War (OIF I).
Sources:
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1823. Accessed from: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/secnav-reports/1823.html
Annual Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Navy to the Secretary of the Navy for the Fiscal Year 1923. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1923.
Annual Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Navy to the Secretary of the Navy for the Fiscal Year 1924. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1924.
Annual Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Navy to the Secretary of the Navy, F.Y. for 1948. BUMED Correspondence Collection. National Archives II.
Annual Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Navy to the Secretary of the Navy, F.Y. for 1949. BUMED Correspondence Collection. National Archives II.
Bohman, HR, et al. “The U.S. Navy’s Forward Resuscitative Surgery System during Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Military Medicine, Vol. 170, Issue 4, 2005.
Bohman, HR (Oral History conducted by A.B. Sobocinski connected 11 August 2022). BUMED Oral History Collection.
Hacala, M. The U.S. Navy Hospital Corps: A Century of Tradition, Valor, and Sacrifice. Navy Medicine Magazine, May-June 1998.
McWilliams Hardman, Jane (Oral History conducted by A.B. Sobocinski connected 3 May 2018). BUMED Oral History Collection.
Naval Postgraduate School Website. Accessed from: https://www.med.navy.mil/Naval-Medical-Leader-and-Professional-Development-Command/Naval-Postgraduate-Dental-School/
Roddis, L. Thomas Harris, M.D., Naval Surgeon and Founder of the First School of Naval Medicine successful the New World, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 1950.
Sobocinski, A.B. and Webster T. Navy Medical Innovations: First American Physician successful Space (Script), 14 December 2022.
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