Existing comment:
In the months and weeks after the Battle of Antietam, Major Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, began to finalize a new organization for military medicine. His comprehensive plan is still the basis for military and civilian emergency care today. Changes were made to include:
* Better organization of field hospitals
* Improved medical supply chains
* Organization of ambulances
* Improved evacuation systems
* Better hospital record keeping
* Higher quality of operating surgeons
* Clear divisions between medical strategic and tactical planning
Many of these changes were instituted before the end of 1862 within the Army of the Potomac. In 1864 the Letterman Plan was passed into law by Congress and made the medical standard for all US forces. |