Battlefield medicine

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An illustration showing a variety of wounds from the Feldbuch der Wundarznei (Field manual for the treatment of wounds) by Hans von Gersdorff, (1517).

Battlefield medicine, also called field surgery and more recently combat casualty care, is the treatment of wounded soldiers in or near an area of combat. Civilian medicine has been greatly advanced by procedures that were first developed to treat the wounds inflicted during combat. With the advent of advanced procedures and medical technology, even polytrauma can be survivable in modern wars. Battlefield medicine is a category of military medicine.

[edit] Chronology of medical advances on the battlefield

French military surgeon Ambroise Paré (1510-90) pioneered modern battlefield wound treatment.
The practice of Triage, by Dominique Jean Larrey during the Napoleonic Wars.
American Civil War surgeon Jonathan Letterman (1824-72) originated modern methods of medical organization within armies.
Advances in surgery - especially amputation, during the Napoleonic Wars and first world war on the battlefield of the Somme.
The first practical method for transporting blood, by Norman Bethune during the Spanish Civil War.
Ambulances or dedicated vehicles for the purpose of carrying injured persons.
The extension of emergency medicine to prehospital settings through the use of emergency medical technicians.
The establishment of fully equipped and mobile field hospitals such as the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital and its successor, the Combat Support Hospital.
The use of helicopters as ambulances, or MEDEVACs.

The term "Meatball surgery" is a term used in battlefield medicine to refer to surgery that is meant to be performed rapidly to stabilize the patient as quickly as possible.