Medical treatment in Casualty Clearing Stations and Base Hospitals
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how medical care was organised at Casualty Clearing Stations (CCSs) and Base Hospitals.
Key learning points
- Triage systems were used in Casualty Clearing Stations (CCCs).
- CCSs prioritised wounded soldiers with life-threatening injuries, but who could be saved, over other patients.
- Base Hospitals were able to care for large numbers of patients.
- An underground hospital was constructed at Arras.
- The underground hospital at Arras was abandoned during a battle.
Keywords
Ward - a room in a hospital where people receiving treatment stay
Dressed - in this context, to clean an injury and put a covering over it to protect it
Moribund - something that is at the point of death
Common misconception
Patients with the most severe wounds were prioritised for operations at CCSs.
Patients with the most severe wounds who were unlikely to survive were sent to moribund wards rather than being operated on at CCSs.
Teacher tip
After teaching pupils about the triage system, you may give them some examples of wounds soldiers might have (fractured femur, gangrene from trench foot, shrapnel wound and severe gas gangrene infection, cut arm and small bleed) and ask how they might be treated at a CCS.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What was the purpose of the Chain of Evacuation?
Q2.At which stages of the Chain of Evacuation were surgeries normally performed?
Q3.Where were Blighty wounds treated?
Q4.How many personnel worked for the RAMC by 1918?
Q5.Ambulance could transport over 400 wounded men at once.
Q6.Who was responsible for retrieving wounded men from the battlefield?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.If something is , it is at the point of death.
Q2.Where on the Western Front was an underground hospital built?
Q3.Where was the triage system used?
Q4.Who was prioritised for surgery under the triage system?
Q5.How many patients could be accommodated in total across all British Base Hospitals in 1914?
Q6.What did the Base Hospital at Calais specialise in treating?
To help you plan your 10 history lesson on: Medical treatment in Casualty Clearing Stations and Base Hospitals, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 history lesson on: Medical treatment in Casualty Clearing Stations and Base Hospitals, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18 unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.