Humphrey's Ch.7-Afterward

      Throughout the final chapters of the book there were many points of interests that struck me hard. But the one point that stuck out to me the most was the section titled, coming home. In this section the author speaks about how the wounded and sick returned home after the war. The men returned to where they were used to being while sick or wounded. However not all men were able to feel the comforts of home one last time. There were over 200,000 women who were widowed and left to keep the house, land and family running on their own.
   Also there was another section in the book that spoke of the prisoners of war. In todays modern time, when people think of prisoners of war they think in a 3rd world country or in the middle east. I don't think many people think about how during the civil war there were prisoners of war as well. When brother turned against brother, there was torturing and starvation that was occurring on American soil between the North and the South. Some of the pictures that are in the book show how gruesome and horrid life was for a prisoner of war during the civil war.
    I have found this book very interesting because it educated me on subjects that I didn't even know occurred during the civil war. And also the book focused on issues that have been skimmed over by many historians that were important to the development of the medical world today.

Humphrey's Ch.4-6

Throughout chapters 4-6, Humphrey focussing on the USSC, Which stands for the United States Sanitary Commission. I find this organization very interesting because of all the different roles it played During the American Civil War. Women started to really take a leading role when the USSC was established, although they were involved before, this set the involvement of women off even more so. Men were not used to being sick and not being at home without the comfort of their wives or mothers, however when the USSC was made that drastic reality was made a little more tolerable. For the formation and continuation of the USSC, women raised money, made uniforms, worked as nurses, ran kitchens, administered hospital ships, as well as soldiers homes, and lodges. The acts of women previously listed are not the only activities that women partook in. It is interesting to me that the "small' things in life during peace time were a little glazed over. I am very far away from being considered as a feminists, however the everyday acts that women complete in the home life and for the family end up determining how successful and able people will be while not at home. So During the civil war things such as bathing, eating nutritiously, and cleanliness/sanitation were more difficult to obtain without women playing a large, prominent role. So therefore the USSC played a very important role and helped with the war effort during the civil war.

Humphreys--Intro-Ch.3

        When we are to think about all the medical attention we receive today, and what is available to us most of us don't realize what kind of advances have been made and how extraordinary it is that when we need the flu shot, or have a broken bone, or need stitches all of those are able to be taken care of. Throughout the Civil War, many deaths occurred because of something as simple as sanitation issues. However, sanitation is in a way simple to us now because we have a way to make sure everything is clean and sheets can be changed and instruments can be cleaned, but during the Civil War sanitation was in no way simple. I find it really interesting that what we are concerned with today concerning medicine is vastly different compared to what the doctors and nurses during the Civil War were worried about. But its not because those doctors and nurses were unequipped, although some were, but it was because the knowledge of medicine that is available to us now, they didn't have the slightest inkling of.
      During the Civil War the hospital ended with a drastically different role than it began with. At the beginning of the war the hospital was not a place for the wealthy or the mildly sick, but as the war progressed the hospital was used for soldiers and the wounded and its goal was to try and heal them to send them back off to war as soon as possible. Also most of the people who were getting wounded were males. Males were not used to being sick or wounded and not being at home to have their wife/mother/sister care for them. During the war men would have to remember to shower and eat healthy and all the necessary things a sick/wounded person must do to get better.
   There were many other topics that Humphreys touched on throughout the intro to chapter three but these were just a couple that I found the most interesting!

Introduction Blog--Before the 1920's

Before the 1920's the health care/medical situation was in a sense hopeless. The medical situation was mostly hopeless, not because the people weren't as intelligent as the people of this day and age, but the resources that are available to us are much more helpful compared to the resources that were available to those before the 1920's. Sadly, the results of this minimal resources availability, was more deaths and hope was lost for most.