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The Civil War and Illinois Medical Care
(IRN) -- Many of the medical techniques doctors and hospitals use today wouldn't be possible without lessons learned during the Civil War.

Eugene Bencomo, acting as a major with the Danville-based 31st Illinois Regiment, says this state was considered the wild West during Civil War times. Most of the experienced doctors were out East.

He says doctors in this part of the country, who took care of up to 2,000 soldiers at a time, had to learn fast. "They never washed their hands, they never washed their equipment," he says. "If you can't see it, it doesn’t hurt you, so they didn't know anything about bacteria, cleanliness, and it wasn't until the Sanitation Commission started that women were allowed to actually work in the hospitals with the doctors."

Bencomo says that paved the way for female nurses. He says those who don't read history are doomed to repeat it, but medical professionals remember lessons learned during the Civil War.

(Illinois Radio Network)
07 24 11 by Newsroom
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