Existing comment:
Clara Barton:
At the start of the Civil War, the medical profession was unprepared and ignorant of how infection was spread through unclean hands and unsterilized equipment. In fact the Union Surgeon General, William Hammond, recognized the war was fought "at the end of the Medical Middle Ages". By the close of the war, however, the field of medicine had witnessed new advances, such as the use of anesthesia during surgery, better record keeping and the role of women in the profession of nursing.
Clara Barton was perhaps the most famous female nurse during the Civil War. Because of her combat experience, she recognized the need for a national organization to respond quickly to emergencies. In response, she founded the American Red Cross in 1881. Her home in Glen Echo would become the headquarters for this organization from 1897 to 1904. Since 1975, the National Park Service has operated her home as a National Historic Site in Montgomery County. |