Books and Documents > 67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL (SEMI-MOBILE)
HEADQUARTERS
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL (SEM)
APO 230, U. S. ARMY
15 March 1945
SUBJECT: Transmittal of Annual Report.
TO : The Surgeon General, U. S. Army, Washington 25, D.C. (THRU: Surgeon,First United States Army, Main Echelon).
1. Transmitted herewith Annual Report of 67th Evacuation Hospital (Sem) foryear 1944.
2. Delay in submission of report due to recent movements of this command.
For the Commanding Officer:
[signed]
JAMES C. WOOLLEY
1st Lt. MAC
Adjutant
ANNUAL REPORT
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
iii
Table of Contents
Map v
Calendar of Western European Operations vii
Appendixes
A - Report of Operative Section
C - Activities of X-Ray Department
D - Activities of Laboratory Department
E - Report of Registrar and Receiving Sections
F - Report of EENT and Dental Clinics
I - Report of Quartermaster Laundry
J - Activities of Nurse Personnel
Map of 67th Evacuation Hospital Locations (1)
Map of 67th Evacuation Hospital Locations (2)
Map of 67th Evacuation Hospital Locations (3)
vii
CALENDAR OF WESTERN EUROPEAN OPERATIONS
1944
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
(Arrival of Unit in ETO: Scotland, 29 Nov 1943; site inEngland, 30 Nov 1943)
Days Open | Days Closed | Days With Patients | Days with No Patients | ||
Training in England | 1 Jan | ||||
Departure for Continent | 16 June | ||||
Arrival of Unit in France | 17 June | 1 | 1 | ||
Bivouac: Boutteville | 18 June | 1 | 1 | ||
Operation I: Near Ste M?re ?glise | 29 | 29 | |||
| a. Opened | 19 June | ||||
| b. Closed (Last Treatment: 17 Jul) | 17 July | ||||
Bivouac: Ste M?re ?glise | 18-23 July | 6 | 6 | ||
| Lison | 7 | 7 | |||
Movement | 31 July | 1 | 1 | ||
Operation II: Near St. L? (Berigny) | 9 | 5 | 14 | ||
| a. Opened | 1 Aug | ||||
| b. Closed (Last Treatment: 14 Aug) | 9 Aug | ||||
Movement | 15 Aug | 1 | 1 | ||
Operation III: Near Gorron | 4 | 8 | 12 | ||
| a. Opened | 16 Aug | ||||
| b. Closed (Last Treatment: 27 Aug) | 20 Aug | ||||
Bivouac: Near Gorron | 28-29 Aug | 2 | 2 | ||
Movement | 30 Aug | 1 | 1 | ||
Operation IV: Near Pierre Lev?e | 8 | 4 | 12 | ||
| a. Opened | 31 Aug | ||||
| b. Closed (Last Treatment: 11 Sept) | 7 Sept | ||||
Bivouac: Near Pierre Lev?e | 12-21 Sept | 10 | 10 | ||
Movement | 22-24 Sept | 3 | 3 | ||
Operation V: Lentzweiler, Luxembourg | 11 | 11 | |||
| a. Opened | 25 Sept | ||||
| b. Closed (Last Treatment: 5 Oct) | 5 Oct | ||||
Bivouac: Stavelot, Belgium | 6-31 Oct | 25 | 25 | ||
Operation VI: Malm?dy, Belgium | 48 | 49 | |||
| a. Opened | 31 Oct | ||||
| b. Closed (Last Patient Cleared: 18 Dec) | 19 Dec | ||||
Tactical Withdrawal | |||||
| a. Spa, Belgium | 17 Dec | ||||
| b. Harz?, Belgium | 18 Dec | ||||
| c. Huy, Belgium | 19-22 Dec | 4 | 4 | ||
| Bivouac: Namur, Belgium | 23-31 Dec | 9 | 9 | ||
Totals | 109 | 89 | 127 | 71 |
Number of Days onContinent198
Number of DaysOpen109 -- 55.05%
Number of DaysClosed89 -- 44.95%
Number of Days Hospitalizing Patients127 -- 64.16%
Number of Days With NoPatients71 -- 35.84%
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The year 1944 will not be soon forgotten by the officers, nurses, andenlisted men of the 67th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile. Mouths of preparationand training in The United States and England were more than amply rewarded bythe satisfaction of participating, both as members of a Medical Department unitand as individual soldiers of the American Army, in the campaigns of WesternEurope during this momentous year.
After landing in Normandy on D-day plus 11, the 67th Evacuation Hospitalfulfilled its mission of aiding combat troop-in a creditable manner, it isbelieved-by rendering medical service to more than 11,000 Allied battle andnon-battle casualties, not to mention over 1,000 prisoners of war, during theCherbourg push, the Saint L? breakthrough, and the race across liberatedFrance. The last three months of the year were spent in the very regions ofLuxembourg and Belgium which later became the scenes of the unfortunate drama ofthe last two weeks of December. Forced to abandon operation in a town on thevital northern shoulder of the "bulge" forged by Von Rundstedt'sarmies, the hospital withdrew on the 17th of December to a city well to therear. No losses were suffered in that action; however, the chagrin whichresulted from the retrograde movement brought the year to a sober close.
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The first five months of 1944, recollected with difficulty after the excitingevents which followed them, passed slowly in England, where the unit had arrivedon the last day of November of the previous year. Its assignment to the FirstUnited States Army dates from the day of arrival in the European Theater ofOperations.
Intensive training was the order of the day, for signs of the nearness of theenemy were not lacking in England. The town in which the hospital was located,however, experienced only three air-raid "alerts" and no bombs fellnearer than five miles away. Valuable as every hour of preparation turned out tobe, training schedules, field problems, hikes, classes, and "dryruns", followed by more "dry runs"- so near and yet so far fromthe fields of actual batt1e-alternately brought spells of "invasionfever" and a sense of frustration. This state of affairs continued intoJune.
The pre-invasion months of blacked-out nights and many sunless days in asmall Gloucestershire town produced only a few events worth recording. Duringthe last two weeks of January, the hospital was set up in its entirety in tentsin a scrubby pasture on a bleak hillside. There the unit received its baptism ofEuropean mud.
In March a more successful field exercise was carried out when the completehospital with all its equipment was set up for a week on the level lawnsadjacent to historic Berkeley Castle.
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Here for the first time were tried out the arrangements of tents andequipment which later became standardized as the unit standing operatingprocedure, although such another grassy expanse was not found among thehedgerows of Normandy or the hilly farmlands and woods of Luxembourg andBelgium. Brigadier General John A. Rogers (then Colonel), First US Army Surgeon,inspected the installation with Colonel Edward S. Murphy, Medical Inspector ofhis staff, and pronounced the unit ready for its probable mission in futureoperations.
Early in April, mainly for physical "conditioning" of personnel,the hospital was again set up in a picturesque site on a high plateau lookingout over typical Cotswold valleys. Road marches and other field exercises werecarried out.
Recreational and morale activities were important aspects of the stay inEngland. Fortunately the town possessed a large hall where dances for bothcommissioned and enlisted personnel could be held and Special Service moviesshown. Three USO shows played to crowded and enthusiastic houses. Internationalgoodwill was fostered, perhaps not negligibly, by the custom of inviting tothese dances groups of members of the RAF and WAAF from nearby airfields. Asoftball league among the hospitals of the region, mainly First US Armyevacuation hospitals, natural rivals, proved diverting to both soldiers andcitizenry. The local secondary school generously loaned its playing fields forceremonies so that formal retreat was held daily after April.
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The entire unit participated with other local American troops in the"Salute the Soldier Week" parade and ceremonies in May.
Nor was the spiritual welfare of the hospital neglected. Protestant membersworshipped with a local congregation which lacked a pastor, the unit chaplainpreaching in his place on Sunday mornings, an arrangement which proved verysatisfactory. Catholic personnel attended the local church, while those ofJewish faith went to services at a nearby station hospital.
Otherwise the months before June followed familiar Army patterns. Eachsection of the hospital studied and experimented with-and then selected andperfected-methods and procedures for operating under combat conditions as faras they could be known or foreseen. Occupied with obtaining, distributing, andmaintaining the hundreds of items in the tables of unit and personal equipment,the Supply Section seemed at times the busiest section. Almost every medicalofficer, 11 nurses, and 26 enlisted men attended special Army and civilianschools for courses in war surgery and medicine as well as in general militarysubjects.
In April a detachment of one officer and thirty-three enlisted men of theQuartermaster Laundry Company was permanently attached to the hospital, becominga very valuable, indeed, almost indispensable, part of the hospital. Two membersof the American Red Cross, an assistant field director and a recreationalassistant, were attached also in the same month.
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In April, too, a course in waterproofing was attended by the unit motortransportation officer and three enlisted men, who later instructed otherdrivers and mechanics. About May 1, the mess officer received word that for amovement to the Continent "K" rations for three days for hospitalpersonnel and "B" rations for two days, excluding perishable items,for patients would be carried. Early In June the unit was brought to fullstrength in personnel. Unit equipment which was not to be taken onorganizational vehicles was transported to a Welsh port and loaded on cargoships. Everybody was ready "to go places."
D-day arrived, however, with the 67th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile, stillin Gloucestershire, waiting impatiently for the secret order which finally cameon the evening of June 14: The unit was to leave for France in the morning!Last-minute loading of vehicles with personal luggage and "housekeepingequipment" was accomplished with enthusiastic dispatch.
On the following morning six officers and fifty-one enlisted men departed inmotor convoy from the home station at six o'clock, arriving five hours laterat Marshalling Area "D" near a Channel port. Final waterproofing wasimmediately started.
All other personnel departed by rail at 0945 hours and reached theirdestination about four hours later. During the afternoon and evening personnelwere "processed" and received the usual instructions. Pounds andshillings were exchanged for
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francs, s?rie de 1944.A detachment of three officers and thirteen enlisted men left with eightvehicles for LST 1109 just before midnight.
The morning of June 16 saw the main detachment of hospital personnel beingloaded onto LCIs 1423 and 1424 in groups of 201 (31 officers, 40 nurses, and 130enlisted men) and 75 (1 officer and 74 enlisted men). About three o'clock inthe afternoon these commodious vessels got underway. The crossing was slowbecause the LCIs were serving as escorts for a number of lumbering LCTs. Threeofficers and thirty-eight enlisted men loaded the remaining vehicles on LST 1110later that night.
The crossing of the Channel and the landing of the four detachments intowhich the 67th Evacuation Hospital had been divided proved entirely uneventful.None of the groups encountered any known enemy action, and the sands of"Utah Beach" were gained without even a wet foot. One LCI was almostrun down by a Liberty Ship during the night. Motion-sickness pills may havecontributed to the minimum of obvious seasickness.
The two main groups of personnel disembarked at 1400 hours, June 17, andproceeded on foot to a temporary transit area a quarter of a mile back from thebeach, remaining there for a few hours. Officers and nurses then went to the91st Evacuation Hospital, several of them going to work soon after arrival.Enlisted men bivouaced in a separate area.
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During the morning of the 18th, the detachment with the unit vehicles landedfrom their LSTs and reached the temporary location of the unit. The firsttruckload of supplies reached the unit supply office in the early afternoon. Onreceipt of instructions to open the hospital on the following day, enlistedpersonnel went to prepare the site and to set up the hospital.
The move to the first site having been completed, the 67th EvacuationHospital officially opened at 1200 hours in the vicinity of La Fiere, about fourmiles west of Sainte M?re ?glise. The front lines were about 7 or 8 miles awayon the north, 6 miles on the west, and 3 to 4 miles on the southwest. The firstof the 4,684 patients admitted during twenty-eight and a half days of operation,Pvt John Micheal, was admitted at three o' clock in the afternoon. Two of thefirst ten patients were enemy prisoners of war.
The hospital had for its use two large fields bounded by typical Normandyhedgerows. The hospital occupied the larger field, with the pup tents andfoxholes of the enlisted men spread along the edges. Tents for officers andnurses were placed in the other and smaller field to the rear, which slopedtoward the rearward front line west of Carentan. Adjoining fields were lateremployed by two attached hospitals. The motor pool had a separate field a fewyards away. All fields were nearly level and covered with grass. All in all, thesite proved very satisfactory, and it was
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approached by a fine network of roads.
On the second day of operation the first of many surgical teams ofspecialists from the 3rd and other Auxiliary Groups and General Hospitalsarrived for duty. Thereafter, the hospital normally functioned with at least twoattached surgical teems.
Aside from the anticipated strains and excitement connected with starting tooperate for the first time under combat conditions, the only significant snagduring Operation 1 was the holdup in evacuation of patients to the beach and toair-strips resulting from adverse weather conditions.
From June 19 until June 27, the hospital had utilized 40 prisoners of war,mainly as litter bearers and mess helpers. On this day the prisoners werereturned to a POW enclosure and replaced by some 38 Polish civilians obtainedfrom a Civil Affairs "cage". The men, formerly forced laborers in aGerman Todt battalion in the Cherbourg region, were the first of a group (whichfor a few days in August numbered sixty-eight) to be employed in an experimentwhich turned out to be highly successful. The energy and willingness of thePolish workers surpassed all expectations. The hospital benefited from thefreedom from the resentment and hostility frequently felt by wounded Americansoldiers when in the presence of prisoners serving in the hospital. A few of thePolish workers drifted from the hospital during the summer, and nearly half ofthem left in early November, some to another
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evacuation hospital and many of the youngest and best workers to join thePolish Army Forces in France and England. Fifteen were still with the hospitalat the end of the year in the role of civilian employees-a status which hadbeen attained for them in October.
On the first day of July, Company "A" of the 91st Medical GasTreatment Battalion was attached to the hospital and moved into a connectingfield. A welcome adjunct, the unit rendered invaluable assistance for a periodof slightly more than two weeks. Personnel of the organization worked both inthe main hospital and in wards set up in their own tents. A few minor operationswere performed at tables in their own operating room. Several officers andnurses from the 77th Evacuation Hospital, which had been assigned a large fieldnear the hospital, were attached also for duty from July 8 to July 16 when theirown hospital began to function.
On July 17, the last day of this operation, the hospital was visited bySecretary of Henry L. Stimson, accompanied by Lieutenant Generals Bradley andPatton. Secretary Stimson went through the operating room and several wards withGeneral Bradley.
After twenty-eight and a half days of operation the hospital closed atmidnight. The remaining patients were taken over in situ by the 32ndEvacuation Hospital, and attached units were relieved.
The volume and continuity of work accomplished by a
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[newspaper clipping of Stimson visit]
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single hospital-shown in the following special operations report for theperiod-presents its own eloquent commentary on the Cherbourg campaign.
PERIOD OF OPERATION: 28 ? days, 19 June - 17 July 1944
TOTAL ADMISSIONS: 4673 (Informal, 537 in addition)
DAILY AVERAGE: 163.9
TOTAL SURGICAL OPERATIONS: 2563
DAILY AVERAGE: 89.9
GREATEST NUMBER ADMISSIONS IN ONE DAY: 350 (July 7 T/O 400 beds)
GREATEST NUMBER DISPOSITIONS IN ONE DAY: 244 (July 7)
GREATEST NUMBER PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL: 667
GREATEST NUMBER SURGICAL OPERATIONS IN ONE DAY: 137 (July 10)
GREATEST SURGICAL BACKLOG: 275 (July 7)
DEATHS:
OnAdmission1
In Operating Room 2
PostOperative 29
Other34
TOTAL DEATHS 66
PERCENTAGE OF POST OPERATIVE DEATHS TO TOTAL OPERATIONS:1.2%
July 18th marked the beginning of a welcome rest period of just under twoweeks. Six days were spent in bivouac about a half mile from the site of theoperation, followed by a similar stay in the vicinity of Lison, Normandy. At thelatter site the hospital watched from a comfortable distance the bombings of theSaint Lo region and the beginnings of the breakthrough.
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Chart, Chart of Daily Direct Admissions, Operation 1[not reproduced,statistics on page 13]
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On the 3lst of July the hospital moved to a site about four miles east ofSaint L?, opening at noon on the next day. The hospital set up for Operation 2in a large field, uneven by nature and now pock-marked by bomb and shell cratersof various sizes. Several duds, shells, and mines were removed from the fieldbefore occupation. The field was always dry, and before many days of activitythe dust problem became well nigh intolerable. Enlisted men's pup tents andfoxholes were spaced along a lane between apple trees which led to a shell of afarmhouse in and about which many dead animals were scattered when the unitarrived. Officers' and nurses' tents were pitched in an orchard and werereached through path cleared of mine fields. Along the sides and at the back ofthe orchard, on the arrival of the unit, were two unexploded mine fields andseveral bodies of German and American soldiers and civilians.
Early on August 2nd occurred the most serious accident during the entire yearinvolving members of the organization. When personnel of the attached 502ndMedical Collecting Company drove their ration truck into the farthest corner ofthe adjoining field, which had been swept and reported clear by the Engineers, aGerman Teller-mine exploded, injuring two sergeants. An ambulance with personneltrain the attached company advanced to render medical treatment, thereby settingoff another mine. The ambulance having caught on fire, several officers and menfrom both the collecting
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company and the hospital advanced with fire extinguishers and first aidmaterials. One of them set off a third mine. At least one dud also went off.Altogether, the accident caused one fatality, while one officers and thirteenenlisted men required medical treatment and hospitalization. In all but threecases, the injuries were sustained by members of the 502nd Medical CollectingCompany. Two of the casualties among hospital personnel had to be evacuated andhad not been returned at the end of the year. The Purple Heart Medals awarded tothe men injured in this incident were the only ones awarded to the members ofthis organization during the year. Engineers again inspected the hospital areasfor mines and also gave a demonstration of the mechanism of mines, explainingwhat had happened.
On the 4th of August the largest number of operations in any one twenty-tourhour period in the year were performed, namely, 145-a figure which no memberof the unit would have thought possible during training in England or America.Two days later 221 patients were evacuated, the largest number in a twenty-fourhour period throughout the year.
The stage was thus set for another highwater mark for the hospital. At aboutfour o'clock on August 8, word was received that two hundred casualties wereto arrive that evening. Within an hour casualties appeared in an ever-increasingstream until the hospital tents were filled to overflowing. About two hundred ofthe lesser
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wounded were placed on litters and blankets under the trees along theentrance. Altogether nearly five hundred patients arrived in about four hours.In a twelve-hour period between 1800, August 8 and 0600, August 9, the patientsactually admitted into the hospital numbered 412, while all the rest had beenput under cover.
Naturally enough, therefore, August 8 showed the year's greatest figure foradmissions in a day, namely, 476. The next day, August 9, began with the largestsurgical backlog of the year, 295. Before midnight, however, all the majoroperations had been completed, and within another twenty-four hours the surgicalbacklog had been reduced to nothing-a remarkable achievement for the operativesection of the hospital. The hospital closed for admissions at noon on August10, but continued to evacuate patients until the 27th when the 617th MedicalCollecting Company took over the remaining patients.
Bronze Star Medals, the first decorations received by members of the 67thEvacuation Hospital were awarded on August 11 to one ward nurse (post-operative)and two enlisted men (an X-ray and a surgical technician). 2nd Lieutenant Miller'smedal is believed to have been the first awarded to a feminine member of theAmerican armed services during the Western European campaign.
On the sixteenth of August the hospital moved one hundred miles for Operation3 at an attractive site on the grounds of a country mansion with an ancient moatjust outside Gorron,
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Mayenne. The hospita1 proper was set up in fields on one side of a long laneof old beech trees, enlisted and officer's tents were pitched in an orchard onthe other side, while the nurses enjoyed a separate garden area behind stonewalls. The hospital admitted patients for only four days but remained in itsbeautiful surroundings for ten more days.
The first and only death among the personnel of the 67th Evacuation Hospitaloccurred on August 18, when Technician 5th Grade Earl Seawright died as a resultof injuries received when a truck in which he was a passenger overturned whilehe was on detached service with the 1st Medical Supply Depot.
The longest convoy movement during the year was undertaken on the last twodays of August. After travelling 230 miles to the city of Arpajon, southeast ofParis, orders were received about six o'clock to continue immediately toPierre Lev?e, a distance of more than fifty miles. By travelling all night themovement was finally completed about 0900.
The hospital was at once set up in a large pasture near the 51st FieldHospital, which was closed soon after this hospital opened at noon August 31.The unit was tired but proud that it had been able to move nearly three hundredmiles in 24 hours and at the same tine to set up and open the hospital withinthirty hours after such a long movement had begun. Morale was at a very highlevel. Nearly a third of the patients treated during this
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short operation were Germans. The hospital closed for admission on September7 and the last patient of Operation 4 was evacuated four days later. Nine daysof rest ensued.
After several days of "infiltration" movement to Lentsweiler[Lentzweiler],Luxembourg, the scene of Operation 5, was completed at 2000 hours, 24 September1944. The distance covered exceeded two hundred miles, the last seventy milesbeing through the Forest of the Ardennes.
For ten days the hospital operated under the most exasperating physicalconditions encountered during the year. Tents were pitched in stubble fieldswhich had been ploughed this year so that what with the almost constant rain, ithad become a mud-patch even before the hospital was set up. Engineers valiantlyattempted to make roads, but bogged down after making the first row of tentsaccessible to ambulances. A double ward tent was successfully employed forreceiving. On October 4, the remaining patients were turned over to the 617thMedical Clearing Company.
The period from October 5th to the 29th passed swiftly and pleasantly inbivouac at Stavelot, Belgium, an interesting old town which was to become wellknown to Americana two months later. Enlisted men were housed in the communalschool and in the boys' college. Nurses and a few officers lodged in a hotel,and the remaining officers enjoyed billets in private homes. The period wasprofitably spent in cleaning and checking equipment and in making
Chart, Chart of Direct Admissions By Operation [not reproduced, statistics onpage 56]
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plans for future operations as well as in a little more resting.
On the last day of October a move of only eight miles was made to Malmedy,Belgium, where the hospital operated for seven weeks. Operation 6 was both thelongest and final operation of the year. For the first time buildings-formerlybarracks of the Belgian Army-were used. The main building provided room foreight wards and the X-ray and Laboratory sections on the first two floors, thequarters of officers and nurses, the Red Cross, and headquarters on the secondfloor and wings5 and the enlisted quarters and day-room on the thirdfloor. Tents for receiving and the enlisted mess were the only ones set up.After two weeks the enlisted mess was moved indoors. Receiving occupied fourward tents in the shape of a large H with connecting canvas. A large garagefurnished room for an operating room and surgical wards. Smaller buildingsflanking the entrance served as offices for the Registrar and the Chaplain.Another large building was utilized for the dental and EENT clinics and for theofficers' mess and clubroom. Supply occupied a large barn.
V-bombs went over Malmedy and the hospital almost every day, but the nearestof these infernal engines fell over a half a mile away.
The hospital celebrated the first anniversary of its departure from theshores of America on Thanksgiving Day when the unit was honored in having asguests for dinner Major General
[no page 21 in renumbered manuscript in National Archives and RecordsAdministration-ed.]
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Albert W. Kenner and Brigadier General (then Colonel) John A. Rogers, FirstUS Army Surgeon. Two days later General Kenner and the Army Surgeon inspectedthe hospital in operation.
An important change in enlisted personnel occurred with the assignment of 33men from the disbanded 479th Ambulance Company and the transfer of a like numberto other units. A month later nineteen men were transferred to medical unite ofthe 2nd Infantry Division and replacements obtained.
Artillery shells falling in and around Malmedy at 0545, 0800, and 1300 hourson December 16 ushered in what proved to be the most eventful week for thishospital since the landing in Normandy. A few fragments from the shells firedduring the first two sallies fell within the hospital area, but injured no oneand did no damage.
By two o'clock on the following afternoon the movement of civilians,soldiers, and heavy equipment along the main road suggested that the hospital,too, might have to move. The order to depart without equipment was given atabout 1630 hours. Nurses left at 1700 hours, followed by officers at 1810 andenlisted personnel from 1830 with 2100 hours. Attached surgical teams andlitter-bearers accompanied the unit. The movement was slow, owing to almostsolid lines of trucks going north and west against continuous lines of othervehicles, mainly armored vehicles and ambulances, going in the direction of bothStavelot and Malmedy.
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Only the vital headquarters and registrar's records were taken at thattime. The night was spent at Spa at the 4th Convalescent Hospital with the"refugees" from other medical units forced to flee on that fatefulday.
On both the 16th and 17th of December many casualties had arrived at thehospital so that when withdrawal became necessary some two hundred patients werestill in the hospital. The following three officers, five nurses (volunteers),and forty enlisted men remained to care for and to evacuate the remainingpatients:
Captain William T. Van Huysen MC [MC, Medical Corps]
Captain Norman Hagopian MC
Captain William N. Baker MAC [MAC, Medical Administrative Corps]
1st Lt Anna M. Aslakson ANC [ANC, Army Nurse Corps]
1st Lt Nina L. Bareham ANC
1st Lt Sally J. Casement ANC
1st Lt Ethel Gilbert ANC
1st Lt Elizabeth J. Stuber ANC
S/Sgt William Anderson MD [MD, Medical Department]
S/Sgt Joseph J. Wysocki MD
Tec 3 Warren D. Blaylock MD
Tec 3 Winford L. Graham MD
Tec 3 Norman E. Long MD
Tec 3 Thaddeus J. Naskiewicz MD
Tec 4 Thomas Coffman MD
Tec 4 Warren W. Hallsell MD
Tec 4 Dal C. Holland, Jr. MD
Tec 4 William P. Shrader MD
Tec 4 William C. Snider MD
Tec 4 John J. Zysk MD
Cpl Cecil V. Horton MD
Cpl Edward Stevens, Jr. MD
Cpl Ralph D. Young MD
Tec 5 Howard J. Hancock MD
Tec 5 W. J. Newbolt MD
Tec 5 Wiley R. Oliver MD
Tec 5 James G. Walker MD
Pfc Ollie F. Barfield MD
Pfc Irven Bierman MD
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Pfc Damon H. Burkeen MD
Pfc Woodrow N. Littleton MD
Pfc Christopher W. Nagle MD
Pfc Clyde N. Snyder MD
Pfc Luther B. Tabor MD
Pfc Howard I. Tilley MD
Pfc Joe Vietti MD
Pfc Jewel C. Webb MD
Pfc Calvin H. Weber MD
Pfc Alvia Young MD
Pvt Donal R. Barnhart MD
Pvt Helmut M. Boehm MD
Pvt Charles W. Carr MD
Pvt Charles Miller MD
Pvt Warren G. Neal MD
Pvt Paul Roberts MD
Pvt James T. Rose MD
Pvt Elmer L. Schrader MD
Pvt Jack N. Troll MD
More than ten operations were performed that evening. Five ambulance driversattached from the 464th Medical Collecting Company bravely evacuated thepatients under increasingly hazardous conditions. Before noon hospital personnelexcept for those listed below were able to rejoin the unit. The last patientleft safely in the afternoon. Captain Van Huysen and the following sevenenlisted men stayed at the hospital site as guards over the hospital equipment:
Tec 4 Thomas Coffman MD
Tec 4 William P. Shrader MD
Cpl Edward Stevens, Jr. MD
Tec 5 William B. Reed MD
Pfc Christopher N. Nagle MD
Pfc Clyde N. Snyder MD
Pfc William J. Wilson MD
Certificates of Merit were later awarded to the officers and nurses and toseveral of the enlisted men, all enlisted men being commended for theirunselfish devotion to duty.
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While the hospital at Malmedy was being cleared, personnel went on to asecond stopping place on their westward flight at a large and old chateau nearHarze. Only one night was spent there, for it was too near to the approachingenemy tanks. Aerial and tank skirmishes occurred at no great distance during thenight and paratroopers were dropped about five miles away. On the followingmorning without delay officers and nurses moved farther westward across theOurthe River to a chateau at Terwagne, and enlisted men continued on to Huy onthe Meuse River.
On the afternoon of December 20, a party of 6 officers and 77 enlisted menreturned in several vehicles to obtain the equipment left under guard at Malmedy.Infantry troops were found occupying the former hospital, with a battalion aidstation set up in what had been the operating room. Between 2200 hours, when thegroup arrived and 0300 hours on the 21st, some twenty-eight trucks were loaded.One of the major lines of the German attacks had approached to within a halfmile of the hospital, and small arms fire was frequently heard. For a few hoursofficers and men slept as best they could before returning in the morning. Therear guard came back with the others, the last group reaching Huy about 1800hours.
This action was carried out without any harm to hospital personnel beyond adent in an officer's helmet made by a sniper's bullet at Malmedy. The gastanks on several trucks were hit but
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the holes were plugged with sticks and adhesive tape. All major items ofequipment were saved, the only losses being a few instruments and one trailer.Thus, as a result of valiant effort on the part of all officers and menparticipating in these actions, much valuable Medical Department equipment wassaved from possible capture by the enemy and from certain pillage anddestruction. Most of the recovered equipment was stored at the Medical SupplyDepot in Dolhain, and a small detail was left there.
On December 23 personnel of the hospital went still further west to Namur onthe final move of the year, installing themselves in two schools. The movementof equipment to Namur extended over several days.
Christmas Day found the unit well billeted after a week of retrograde actiondictated by the tactical situation. An excellent turkey dinner was served, eventhough it lacked some of the items listed on the printed menu. These souvenirscould not be given out until later, since the printer, thinking the unit hadbeen captured, failed to get them out on time.
The last days of the year were spent in sorting, checking, and cleaningequipment and in otherwise taking stock. Replacement of unit and personalequipment was accomplished.
December 31 saw the 67th Evacuation Hospital ready once again for action andfor Operation 7.
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67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
Changes in Status of Personnel during Periodfrom 1 January 1944 to 16 June l944
TRANSFERS
| TRANSFERRED IN | TRANSFERRED OUT | |
Officers : | 6 | 6 |
Nurses : | 10 | 10 |
Enlisted Men : | 36 | 30 |
PROMOTIONS
Officers : 11Nurses: 3
AWARDS
Good Conduct Medals awarded to 36 Enlisted Men 16 May 1944.
ATTACHED
Detachment "F", 456th Quartermaster Laundry Company (Sem), composedof 1 Officer and 33 Enlisted Men attached to this organization 17 April 1944.
CASUALTIES
Private David Underwood burned seriously during field maneuvers in England.
Changes in Status of Personnel during Periodfrom 17 June 1944 to 31 December 1944:
TRANSFERS
| TRANSFERRED IN | TRANSFERRED OUT | |
Officers : | 10 | 11 |
Nurses : | 6 | 7 |
Enlisted Men : | 52 | 57 |
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PROMOTIONS
Officers : 1
Nurses : 20
Battle Field Appointments to 2nd Lieutenant, MAC:
1 Warrant Officer
1 First Sergeant
Appointed Warrant Officer, Junior Grade:
1 Master Sergeant
AWARDS
7 Bronze Star Medals awarded to 3 Officers, 2 Nurses, and 2 Enlisted Men formeritorious service rendered in connection with enemy action in France andBelgium.
Certificate of Merit awarded to 1 Nurse for meritorious achievement as ChiefNurse.
Unit authorized to wear 2 Bronze Service Stars for combat participation.
CASUALTIES
Non-Battle (disease) | 72 |
Non-Battle (injuries) | 3 |
Battle Casualties | 3 |
Deaths | 1 |
REPORT OF OPERATIVE SECTION
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REPORT OF OPERATIVE SECTION
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
OPERATIVE STATISTICS
Total number of patients operated upon | 4946 | |
Number whose wounds were caused by missiles | 4646 (93.94%) |
| Severe | Slight | |
Single wounds | 1098 (24%) | 1418 (30%) |
Multiple wounds | 1080 (23%) | 1050 (23%) |
Operations on the Head and Neck | 580 (12.5%) |
| Skull and Brain Operations | 60 |
| Other Scalp | 110 |
| Eye | 15 |
| Ear | 5 |
| Face | 93 |
| Nose | 14 |
| Plastic Repair of Mouth | 38 |
| Neck Operations | 5 |
| Other Debridements | 240 |
Operations on the Trunk | 763 (16.4%) |
| Thoracic Operations | 57 |
| Combined Thoraco-Abdominal | 17 |
| Abdominal Explorations (Intestinal Injuries - 82) | 148 |
| Genito-Urinary Operations | 36 |
| Laminectomy | 4 |
| Other Debridements | 501 |
Operations of Extremities | 3303 (71.1%) |
| Compound Fractures | 1414 |
| Peripheral Nerve Injuries | 66 |
| Ligation Major Vessels | 52 |
| Other Debridements | 1570 |
| Major Amputations (Elective - 50) | 108 |
| Minor Amputations (Fingers and Toes) | 100 |
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Total Number plaster casts | 1501 |
Cases of Anerobic Infections | 67 |
Post-Operative Mortalities | 59 (1.2%) |
Anesthetics Administered | 4702 |
REMARKS ON PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
The principles of operative treatment as outlined in Section B, Manual ofTherapy, May 1944, and all subsequent directives and circular letters werefollowed habitually. It was found that these principles were sound and resultedin a very low incidence of infection and a very low mortality rate. Theanesthesia was highly satisfactory with only one mortality directly attributableto this. A moderate number of laryngeal spasms were encountered but were easilycontrolled. In general the resuscitative treatment before and during anoperation was highly satisfactory, constituting an important factor in the lowincidence of operative mortality. It was found that this was due to generous useof whole blood. Special studies were made of the cases presenting evidence ofanerobic infection. The results of this have been compiled and accepted forpublication in the Medical Bulletin, Office of the Chief Surgeon, ETO. During arelatively quiet period Staff Conferences were organized of which there werefour as follows:
9 November 1944-
1. Discussion and review of cases of gas gangrene.
2. Discussion of use of Filbrin [fibrin-ed.] Foam and ProThrombrin.
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23 November 1944-
1. Discussion of experiences in anesthesia.
2. Discussion of experiences in anesthetic emergencies.
30 November 1944-
Discussion of Circular Letter No 131, Office of the ChiefSurgeon, ETO, subject: Care of Battle Casualties.
7 December 1944-
Experiences in treatment of shock.
LOCAL HOSPITAL IMPROVISATIONS:
1. Removable attachment to arm board as syringe holder used in intravenousanesthesia (Plate I).
a. This is constructed of scrap metal and two 30 ccsyringe clips removed from an anesthesia set. It is easily attached to an armboard and can be moved to any position desired.
2. Metal frame for suspension of arm or leg to facilitate application ofplaster casts (Plate II).
a. It is constructed of ? inch gas pipe on a jeep brakedrum used as a floor base. It is easily adaptable to any position. Its usefacilitates the application of a plaster cast to an extremity and obviates thenecessity of holding the extremity manually. It is a definite time and effortsaver.
3. Mimeographed Form (Plate III) having a three fold function,
a. Operative Request: this form it instituted by thepre-operative or shock ward officer and submitted to the operating room. Itcontains the time of examination, complete diagnosis, the x-ray report, and hisopinion of the patients' operative priority.
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REPORT OF MEDICAL SERVICE
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REPORT OF MEDICAL SERVICE
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
I: FUNCTION OF THE WARD SECTION
The ward Section of the 67th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile, was chargedwith the pre-operative and post-operative care of all patients in addition tothe care of medical cases. To accomplish this mission, the pre-operative care ofpatients was handled in either the shock section or the pre-operative sectionpersonnel and equipment having been divided into two sections. Patients wereclassified by the receiving officer and sent to a shock or preoperative ward.Severe cases were labeled with a piece of gauze marked with blue ink so as toattract the attention of the ward officer, thereby insuring immediate attention.It was necessary to have one ward officer for the pre-operative ward and one forthe shock ward present at all times.
Post-operative cases were cared for in eight double post-operative wards. Twoofficers were assigned to each shift to supervise this care. Post-operativecases were further segregated as to nature of injury so that all abdominal caseswere on one ward, all chest cases on another ward, and so forth. Medical caseswere segregated in one ward, and during periods of greatest activity the numberof such cases was usually small. Other post-operative cases were put in theremaining wards. Whenever the turn-over of cases was rapid, it was difficult forthe two ward officers on each
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shift to give close personal attention to each case. The ward officers wereaided greatly by the competent and efficient nursing staff, with the end resultthat every case was given excellent attention and checked thoroughly beforeevacuation.
II WARD SET-UP
a. Tentage: All ward tents were set up end to end as double wards and lacedtogether in the middle. On each end the entrances were blacked-out by the use ofsteel frames covered with canvas. The usual allotment of tentage was as follows:
Pre-Operative Ward - 2 double wards or four ward tents
Shock Ward - 1 double ward or two ward tents
Wards (numbered 1 to 8 incl) - 16 ward tents
b. Bed Capacity:
Pre-Operative Wards - 80 beds
Shook Ward - 30
Post-Operative Wards - 30
Abdominal - 30
Chest - 30
6 Others (40 in each) - 240
Total Number of Beds in Wards - 410
c. Ward Equipment: The ward chests were arranged so as to form shelves and adesk for the nurse. This was located in the center of the double tent andutilized the dead space at that point. Bed pans and urinals were kept at the endof the ward and arranged on racks for drainage and aeration. Sterile dressings
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and dressing sets were kept on hand and replenished from the hospital centralsupply.
d. Improvisations:
(1) Back Rest. This was made as shown in diagram.It was well worth the effort of obtaining, being light, collapsible andindispensable for chest cases. (See Plate I)
(2) Plasma Stands. These were made by bending ahook end of a six foot rod and inserting the sharp end into the ground. (PlateII)
(3) Wangensteen Apparatus. On occasions it wasnecessary to complement the supply of this item. An usuable substitute was madewith vacuolitre bottles and rubber tubing. While not so effictent as the regulartype, the improvised Wangensteen apparatus served its purpose for short periods.
(4) Litter Holders. Cross sticks of cots were so asto increase the height by 10 inches. Litters could be put on the cot frames.This lessened the strain on personnel bending over patients for long periods.
e. Layout of Wards: The wards were established as near to the operativetheater as possible. Due consideration to shortening the litter haul was made.Pre-operative cases were never mixed with post-operative cases for fear oflosing or delaying operative procedure. The diagrams (Plate III and IV) show theusual set-up, which was altered only on one occasion because of the nature ofthe terrain. On this occasion there was a large bomb crater almost
[Editor's Note on Pagination--In the NARA repaginated copy in RG 112, theplates and text were mixed up, Plate I is p. 45, Plate II is p. 42, Plates III& IV is p. 43, the last page of text is p.44. For the reader's convenience,what was apparently the original order has been restored.
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in the center of the hospital area and the wards had to be shifted to oneside of the crater.
III EVACUATION
Evacuation was, primarily, not a function of the ward section, however, itwas the duty of the ward sections to determine the cases to be evacuated andthen to prepare them for timely evacuation. All Army and ETOUSA directives wereclosely followed as to types of cases to be held for further post-operativetreatment. All records were prepared by the ward personnel and checked by theChief of Medical Service before submitted to the Registrar for typing.
The chief nurse on duty for each shift kept a chart on vacant and occupiedbeds on each ward and periodically notified the operating room of changes.Patients were loaded into ambulances directly from wards.
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ACTIVITIES OF X-RAY DEPARTMENT
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ACTIVITIES OF X-RAY DEPARTMENT
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
PROCEDURE:
a. All procedures in this department were done according to the US Armydirectives and circulars. Anterior-posterior and lateral films were taken on allextremities. The same procedure was followed with injured chests, abdomens, andskulls.
b. Fluorosoopic examination of patients for foreign bodies and fractures wascarried out only as an emergency procedure. Gastro-intestinal series and bariumenemas were done only on cases which were thought to be interesting and unusual.
c. Portable X-Ray Examinations: Genito-urinary X-ray studies were done in theoperating room when the X-ray machine could be moved, otherwise they were donein the department. Portable chest films were taken whenever and whereverpossible.
d. Reports: Duplicate reports were rendered on all patients examined.
e. Special studies were done on the recommendation of this department afterdiscussion with the chiefs of services.
STATISTICS:
The statistics are listed and broken down as to the various parts of the bodyX-ray'd. The largest number of patients that were completed in one 24-hourperiod was 207, done during Operation 2 on August 7th. This necessitated the useof about 450 films. The
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largest number of films taken on any one patient was 23.
Chests | 1379 |
Abdomens | 566 |
Pelves | 382 |
Spines | 400 |
Skulls | 706 |
Extremities | 3947 |
Teeth | 141 |
Total No of Cases X-Ray'd | 7321 |
Total No of Patients X-Ray'd | 5880 |
Total No of Films Used | 13,740 |
IMPROVEMENTS:
a. Fluoroscopic Hood: A fluoroscopic hood was devised whereby two individualscould do the fluoroscopic examination at the same tine. The hood was designed tosave time, space, and to allow for a quick fluorosoopic examination. The machinecould be set up anywhere. And mainly was it designed at the tine because we onlyhad one dark room issued. The attached diagram shows how it was made. Materialsused were blackout material, ordinary wire, elastic, and ordinary clothingsnappers. (See Plate I)
b. Drying of Films: Evacuation hospitals are not supplied with sufficienthangars to make use of the issued dryer. Therefore, a dark room tent was set upin the rear of the X-ray department. An automobile heater with a blower wasfound in a salvage dump and repaired by an ordnance company. Films were pinnedon rope lines overhead in the drying room. About 60 films could be dried at thesame time which took approximately 30 minutes to dry. Films sent to surgery weredry and in preservers.
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SUPPLIES:
All supplies were received as necessary. At no time did the department haveany shortages of films or solutions.
RECOMMENDATION:
a. An evacuation hospital of this type should not be issued a dryer, aheating and cooling unit, or more than 2 dark room tents.
b. Personnel to run an efficient department requires at least 8 men.
ACTIVITIES OF LABORATORY DEPARTMENT
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ACTIVITIES OF LABORATORY DEPARTMENT
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
Until the hospital received its equipment, personnel of the laboratory andpharmacy section devoted their time to learning and reviewing technicalprocedures and in discussing the preparations which would have to be made forthe expected invasion. A training program covering all phases of the work of thesection was instituted by Major Leroy E. Guice, the first of three laboratoryofficers during the year.
After equipment was received, the hospital was set up twice in the field, anda general pattern for operation in one ward tent was worked out as the SOP forthe section.
In preparing for the Channel crossing, the section used one 2 ?-ton truckwith trailer. Several technical improvisations had to be effected before thehandling of the two kerosene-burning refrigerators, a metal frame was weldedonto the back of each refrigerator so that it could be carried by six men. Afolding microscope table, six feet in length when folded and ten feet in lengthwhen set up, was designed, complete with drawers and a staining tray.
OPERATION 1: 19 June - 17 July 1944. During the move from England to thefirst operating site in Normandy, no equipment was lost or broken. Although agreat number of casualties entered the hospital, the laboratory was called onfor very little work during the first two weeks.
During the entire operation, the supply of whole blood from the
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ETO Blood Bank was satisfactory. To solve the problem of slow flow of bloodduring transfusions, a simle-pressure devise, consisting of an empty vacolitrebottle, was attached to the airway of the bottle of blood. Pressure was built upby a sphygmomonometer bulb. Transfusions were drawn for a number of patients whohad had reactions from stored blood. Post-mortems were performed on request.
Toward the close of the period the laboratory became more active, aconsiderable number of malaria smears being examined. Contact was maintainedwith the 10th Medica1 Laboratory, where work which could not be accomplished bythe department was sent.
OPERATION 2: 1 August - 14 August 1944. Major Nathan B. Bluestone becamelaboratory officer after Major Guice was evacuated because of ill health.
At the second site the supply of blood from the Blood Bank proved inadequateand had to be supplemented with fresh blood. Donors were secured fromreplacements at nearby depots, military police, and walking wounded. The Armytransfusion sets were useless for drawing large numbers of transfusions becauseof the difficulty in cleaning them for reuse. A simplified system wassubstituted, namely, the employment of sterile vacolitre bottles and suctionfrom a Higginson syringe. A separate tent was set up for drawing transfusions,there blood was drawn in considerable amounts and kept for not more thantwenty-four hours in the icebox.
In aiding the diagnosis of gas gangrene, slides were examined
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and cultures forwarded to the 10th Medical Laboratory. A practical techniquefor examining smears from affected tissue was worked out by Tec Sgt Naskiewicz,and through his method laboratory diagnosis of the presence of the clostridiumWelchii was made in many cases. Culture reports substantiated practically allpositive reports on smears obtained through this method, when both procedureswere done. All reports relating to gas gangrene were submitted to the chief ofsurgical service.
OPERATION 3: 16 August- 26 August 1944. During the third period of operationsthe number and diversity of 1aboratory tests increased. Communication with the10th Medical Laboratory was poor, owing to the distance involved. Major RoderickL. McDonald succeeded Major Bluestone as laboratory officer.
OPERATION 4: 31 August - 12 September 1944. The supply of blood was adequateduring this period. Contact with the 10th Medical Laboratory was not practicalsince that unit was more than one hundred and fifty miles away.
OPERATION 5: 23 September- 5October 1944. At Lentzweiler, Luxembourg, with aconsiderable number of medical patients being admitted, a corresponding increasein laboratory work resulted. Contact with the 10th Medical Laboratory was good.
OPERATION 6: 31 October - 17 December 1944. For the first time the hospitaloccupied buildings, and for the major part of this period it functionedpractically as a station hospital. A large number of medical patients wereadmitted, and a corresponding volume of
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Laboratory work was done. All items of equipment were used extensively.Contact with the 10th Medical Laboratory was satisfactory.
The need for a power centrifuge and an incubator was acutely felt, the firstfor satisfactorily performing a large number of tests on blood, includingsedimentation rates and hematocrits, and the second chiefly to expedite byimprovisation and use of the facilities of the 10th Medical Laboratory, thediagnosing of diphtheria.
During this operation, a fairly complete laboratory service was afforded thehospital. Icteric indices and blood sulfa levels were determined in thelaboratory. All other blood chemistries, all cultures and pathological specimensfor study were sent to the 10th Medical Laboratory.
This busy period of operation terminated without warning in a tacticalwithdrawal by the unit.
Two enlisted men from the section remained behind as guards from the 17th tothe 21st of December, when it became possible to evacuate the equipment. Nolaboratory equipment was lost or abandoned.
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STATISTICAL REPORT OF LABORATORY DEPARTMENT
| OPERATIONS | |||||||
EXAMINATIONS | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | TOTALS |
Blood Counts | 210 | 94 | 41 | 38 | 170 | 649 | 1512 |
Urinalysis | 138 | 59 | 45 | 27 | 136 | 991 | 1782 |
Malarial Smears | 144 | 43 | 7 | 22 | 13 | 22 | 255 |
Miscellaneous | 125 | 89 | 83 | 38 | 74 | 340 | 913 |
Tests forward to 10th | |||||||
| Blood Kahns | 25 | 15 | 39 | 10 | 92 | 112 | 349 |
| Spinals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Cultures | 9 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 87 | 102 | 286 |
| Blood Chemistries | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 5 | 41 |
| Pathologies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 9 | 45 |
REPORT OF REGISTRAR AND RECEIVING SECTIONS
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REPORT OF REGISTRAR AND RECEIVING SECTIONS
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
The Office of the Registrar functioned in accordance with directives fromhigher headquarters, preparing the necessary Medical Department records. Theoffice also served as information center, receiving many inquiries concerningpatients.
The statistics which follow indicate the volume of work required of thissection.
The Hourly Census Chart furnished a convenient index to the number ofpatients in the hospital at any given time.
A valuables tag in German-translated by a hospitalized German medicalofficer-was adopted late in the year.
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STATISTICAL TABLE OF DIRECT ADMISSIONS
| LOCATION - PERIOD | DISEASE | INJURY | WOUNDED | TOTAL | OTHERS | GRAND TOTAL |
| OPERATION I | 608 | 246 | 3365 | 4219 | 454 | 4673 |
OPERATION II | 292 | 49 | 1202 | 1543 | 83 | 1626 |
OPERATION III | 139 | 33 | 274 | 446 | 36 | 482 |
OPERATION IV | 82 | 31 | 231 | 344 | 50 | 394 |
OPERATION V | 373 | 138 | 489 | 1000 | 20 | 1020 |
OPERATION VI | 1551 | 595 | 1080 | 3226 | 57 | 3283 |
| TOTALS | 3055 | 1092 | 6641 | 10,778 | 700 | 11,478 |
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STATISTICAL TABLE OF INFORMAL ADMISSIONS
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
| PERIOD | TIME | NUMBER |
| OPERATION I | 1200 Hours | 2400 Hours | 537 |
| OPERATION II | 1200 Hours | 0900 Hours | 0 |
| OPERATION III | 1200 Hours | 1200 Hours | 9 |
| OPERATION IV | 1200 Hours | 1200 Hours | 58 |
| OPERATION V | 0001 Hours | 1300 Hours | 25 |
| OPERATION VI | 0800 Hours | 1800 Hours | 272 |
| Total Number of InformalAdmissions | 901 |
STATISTICAL TABLE OF OUT PATIENTS
TYPE
NUMBER
Dental
168
Laboratory
84
X-Ray
220
Physical Examinations
48
General Medical & Orthopedics
78
EENT Patients
588
Total Number of Out-Patients
1186
(The 48 Physicals are not included in the X-Ray, Laboratory, EENT and Dentaltotals and they all went to these clinics.)
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CLASSIFICATION OF WOUNDS
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
TOTALS
DEATHS
A. Number of Wounded Admitted "Direct"
1. US Army Troops
2. British Troops
3. French Army Troops
4. US Navy-Marine Corps
5. British and French Navy
6. Enemy Forces Personnel
7. Civilians
8. Others (RAF: 1; Canadians 2)
Total Number of Wounded Admitted "Direct"
6300
5
3
3
61
536
51
3
6962B. General Classification of Wounds (US Army only)*
1. Slight
2. Serious
Total Number of Wounds
2893
3407
6300C. Number of Patients with Multiple Wounds
1887
48
D. Anatomical Classification of Wounds
ADMISSIONS
1. Wounds other than Burns
a. Abdominal
194
17
b. Thoracic
871
15
c. Thoracio-Abdominal
117
3
d. Maxillo-Facial
547
1
e. Neurologic
(1) Head
395
22
(2) Spine
38
6
(3) Nerve
39
0
f. Extremities
(1) Upper
1297
2
(2) Lower
2252
13
g. Buttocks
239
6
h. Others
204
1
2. Burns--All Locations
107
0
Total Number of Wounds
6300
86
[Editor's Note--There is no page 59 in the NARA, RG 112 copy.]
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CLASSIFICATION OF WOUNDS [Continued]
ADMISSIONS
TOTALS
DEATHS
E. Classification of Wounds by Causative Agent
1. Gunshot Wounds
1374
24
2. Shell Wounds
3020
53
3. Bomb Wounds
274
4
4. Blast Injuries
85
0
5. Wounds Secondary Missiles
10
0
6. Burns
107
0
7. Others
1430
5
Total Number of Wounds
6300
86
F. Number of Transfusions (All Patients)
1. Fresh Whole Blood
40
2. Stored Blood
1582
3. Dry Plasma
2425
4. Other Blood Substitutes
(Do not include crystalloids0
Total Number of Transfusions
4047
G. Number of Units of Penicillin Administered
260,000,000
H. Number of Amputations
1. Upper Extremities
107
2. Lower Extremities
101
Number of Amputations
208
I. Number of Cases showing Clinical Evidence of
Gas Gangrene1. US Army
38
1
2. Other
29
1
Number of Cases of Gas Gangrene
67
2
J. Number of Wounded Evacuated to Other Hospitals
1. US Army
2184
2. Other
161
Total
2345
*(Note: B thru E pertains to US Army troops only.)
Chart, Classification of Wounds [not reproduced]
Property Accountability Form (In German)
REPORTS OF EENT AND DENTAL CLINICS
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REPORT OF EENT CLINIC
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
The EENT Clinic functioned with each hospital setup, for both in-patients andout-patients. The out-patient clinic hours were from 1400 to 1700 hours eachMonday, Wednesday and Friday. When the hospital operated on a station hospitalbasis, the clinic hours were from 0800 to 1700 daily.
In the field one half of a ward tent was used by this clinic, while inbuildings, a small room was utilized, with an adjacent 15 to 20 bed ward forEENT patients.
Patients seen by the clinic in its first seven months of operation were asfollows:
Total Number of EENT Patients
140
Total Number of Consultations
518
Surgical Cases
a. Major
12
b. Minor
29
Total Number of Surgical Cases
41
Total Number of Out-Patients
773
Total Number of Eye Patients
(Including Refractions)640
Total Number of Ear, Nose and Throat Patients
133
The receiving department furnished one enlisted man for work in the clinic ona part time basis. The equipment is that of standard evacuation hospital issue.
It is recommended that an audiometer be included in the standard issue of theequipment of evacuation hospitals.
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ACTIVITIES OF DENTAL DEPARTMENT
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
From 1 January 1944 to 16 June 1944, when the unit was still in Englandpreparing for the coming invasion, the Dental Clinic rendered service topersonnel of the hospital and nearby units. During these months personnel of thesection received training, and preparations were made for functioning undercombat condition.
The following statistics represent the amount of work accomplished duringthis period:
Calculus Removal and Prophylaxis
150
Restorations
231
Gum Treatments
48
Dentures Adjusted
13
Dentures Constructed
2
Occlusions Adjusted
14
Teeth Treated
12
Teeth Extracted
13
X-Rays
19
During operations on the Continent the Dental Section was normally allottedone half of a ward tent. During the first two operations, however, part of theSurgery Section was installed in the dental tent owing to inadequate space inthe main operating room. Maxillo-facial and other minor face operations wereperformed there. The EENT Clinic also utilized this additional operating room.
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During combat operations dental personnel at times performed various dutiesin Surgery. During rest periods the dental clinic was open for emergencies andfor personnel of this unit.
The following statistics represent the amount of work done during operationson the Continent:
Calculus Removal and Prophylaxis
111
Restorations
205
Gum Treatments
208
Occlusion Adjusted
10
Teeth Treated
25
Teeth Extracted
181
Dentures Repaired
36
Dentures Constructed
6
Impressions Taken
28
X-Rays
241
Anaesthesia Performed
129
Fractures:
Reduction of
10
Intermaxillary Wiring
29
Splints
11
Wounds of Mouth Sutured
52
Wounds of Mouth Treated
102
Examinations
521
CHAPLAIN'S REPORT
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CHAPLAIN'S REPORT
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
Until the hospital went into buildings in Operation 6, the Chaplain'soffice was always a pyramidal tent, usually located near headquarters, and notfar from the receiving tent. Both office and quarters for the Chaplain, thistent was always equipped with electricity and a telephone. There was also aradio to get news daily and a map on which the war situation was indicated.
The Chaplain gave out many New Testaments, prayer books, Jewish scriptures,etc, and made numerous hospital visits. Sunday and special services werearranged for members of different faiths by working with nearby Installationswhen necessary.
In regard to ministering to wounded men, the most effective service wasrendered in the wards after the men have had surgery and some rest.
As far as can be ascertained, no Catholic has died in the hospital withouthaving had ministration of a Catholic priest, either an Army Chaplain orcivilian priest.
STATISTICAL REPORT
NUMBER
ATTENDANCE
Sunday Church Services conducted at Hospital
38
2382
Sunday Church Services at other Organizations
9
255
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NUMBER
ATTENDANCE
Week Day Services conducted for 67th Evac Hosp
6
235
Communion Services conducted for 67th Evac Hosp
2
140
Union (sic) Church Services held with other Units
2
500
Masses arranged
23
991
Personal Counsel Cases
323
Welfare Cases
10
Hospital Visits
215
Number Attended
22,715
(Many hospital visits were not counted when they were just to see one person.The ones counted have usually been when the Chaplain was visiting the wholehospital.)
REPORT OF MESS SECTION
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REPORT OF MESS SECTION
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
The Mess Section of the 67th Evacuation Hospital (Sem), may be said to havereached France at 0400 hours, 18 June 1944, after a quiet crossing on an LST. Noequipment was lost or damaged during the movement. Following attachment for oneday to the 91st Evacuation Hospital, the first meal prepared by the unit mess,breakfast on the 19th, was served near Saint. M?re ?glise, Normandy.
For nearly a month the mess drew 10-in-l rations for the personnel of thehospital and 5-in-1 rations, augmented by 25-in-1 hospital supplemental rations,for the patients. When it was discovered that the 5-in-1 rations containedinsufficient vegetables for the patients, personnel of the hospital agreed tolet the patients have their vegetables from the 10-in-1 ration.
About July sixth the Quartermaster "Class I" truckheads startedissuing fresh bread, followed two days later by "B" rations for thehospital. From this date on, the food problem for patients was eliminated, withthe exception of juices for patients, since the hospital supplemental ration didnot contain a sufficient quantity of juices. No other special problem in regardto diet requirements was encountered thereafter.
The M-1937 range was found to make a very good oven for baking rolls andpastries. Metal plates cut to fit the inside of the range can be inserted,thereby making possible the baking of three pans at one tine. The necessarymetal plates were made from salvage metal
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by a cooperative Ordnance company.
Thanksgiving Day brought an exceptionally fine menu. The Quartermaster"Class I" dumps issued a meal which could have been bettered only withdifficulty, and the same may be said of the Christmas dinner.
For the records it should be noted that the number of meals served on a givenday reached the astonishing total of 4,200 on July 6th. The hospital was filledto overflowing with patients, while the personnel of two attached hospitals, the32nd and 77th Evacuation Hospitals, were also fed. For several weeks in June andJuly more than 3,000 meals were served every day.
REPORT OF QUARTERMASTER LAUNDRY
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ACTIVITIES OF QM LAUNDRY COMPANY
DETACHMENT "F"
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
On the 17th of April 1944, Detachment "F" of the 456thQuartermaster Laundry Company (SM), was attached to the 67th EvacuationHospital, Semimobile. Although operations with both units were continued, stillthe work was not so heavy as it had been earlier, the main purpose at this timebeing preparation for the big move to the Continent where this organizationwould receive the acid test under actual war atmosphere. This period was spentin gathering complete equipment and supplies, and in moulding an organizationwhich would withstand the rigors of war and perform with maximum efficiencyunder trying conditions.
Much valuable experience was gained at the first area in Normandy. Storagetents were not set up. An old stone barn situated alongside a running streamhoused supplies and equipment and was utilized as the work tent. Minordifficulties were soon ironed out. The detachment was divided into two shifts,each shift working 8 hours, one taking the day turn and the other the nightshift. The amount of work received varied, and the organization was prepared forany flow of laundry. When it was heavy, the hours of each shift were lengthened,and when it was extremely heavy, personnel worked around the clock, sometimesusing the usual two shifts, each shift working 10 to 12 hours, and occasionallyusing three shifts of 8 hours each. As flexibly as this small well-knitorganization was
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constructed to handle a large volume of work, it became apparent that a greatdeal depended on improvisation.
For a few days during the first operation period and the last day of thefirst rest period, a 1500 gallon canvas water tank, borrowed from hospitalsupply, was used in place of stream water for water supply. Water trucks,700-gallon capacity, would shuttle water from water point to canvas water tankevery two hours--a method which can be used in an emergency.
During Operation 2, the mechanics found the Jaeger pump faulty and improvisedas follows S/Sgt Dyson constructed a platform which held the Jaeger pump and a2-horsepower motor. By use of pulleys and a belt, the pump could be used withoutconsumption of gasoline. The power-line came from the main control panel fromone unit and was connected to an electric motor. This method was found to behighly efficient.
On Saturday, 25 November 1944, Major General Albert W. Kenner, accompaniedthe Commanding Officer on the regular Saturday morning inspection. GeneralKenner remarked that the laundry installation was by far the most practicalsetup he had seen in his tour through the Seventh and Ninth Armies, and as faras he had gone through the First Army. General Kenner was especially pleased tolearn that in addition to its regular duties, Detachment "F" wasservicing the patients' laundry each and every day in the week.
The area of Operation 6 was the most practical setup in all our operations onthe Continent. The valuable experiences gained
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in all previous setups were put to good use in the installation of an ideallaundry section.
The following is a resume of the results of unit operations for the yearending l944:
UNITS
NUMBER
Clothing of Personnel
Bundles
9389
Bundles
Pounds
91,797
Hospital Linen and Miscellaneous
Pounds
251,318
Total Poundage
343,115
Hours of Actual Production
3206 ?
(Hours (clock hours) one half of amount shown. Two units in operation.)
ACTIVITIES OF NURSE PERSONNEL
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ACTIVITIES OF NURSE PERSONNEL
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
Upon arrival in England half the nurses of the 67th Evacuation Hospital werebilleted in private homes and the remainder in a large old mansion which hadbeen vacant for many years.
During the winter and spring, all nurses followed a heavy training schedulewhich consisted of daily classes and lectures and many hours of teachingsurgical techniques arid nursing procedures to enlisted personnel. Hospitalequipment was put into shape, nurses doing considerable sewing, such as makinglap sheets, glove covers, and cuffs on gowns. Three large inner tent-liners,each consisting of 30 sheets, were made for the operating rooms. Nursingpersonnel also underwent a rigorous physical training course of drilling.
A day after arrival in France 17 June, the hospital began functioning. Duringthe following months the nurses worked faithfully and efficiently under the moattrying conditions. The achievement of the nurses in the field represented nosmall contribution to the successful operation of the hospital in WesternEurope. More then 15,000 patients benefited from their solicitous and skillfulcare.
In addition to the work expected of nurses, they have had to do many thingsthat doctors ordinarily do in civilian life. Many lives have depended upon theirjudgement, initiative and ability. During
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certain emergencies it was necessary for nurses to give blood transfusions,plasma and intravenous injections. It became a common sight to enter a ward andfind from 10 to 15 of these treatments being given under the supervision of anurse.
On the "belly" ward frequently there were as many as 15 to 20colostomies with dressings which had to be changed every few hours. One nurseremarked that in private life such a case usually had a special nurse, and wasconsidered a difficult case; but in this hospital one nurse, with the assistanceof capable enlisted technicians, took care of the entire ward.
In the operating room one nurse circulated for as many as three tables at thesame time. Nurses also assisted in giving Sodium Pentothal anesthesia and evendid minor debridements.
The health of the nurses has been good especially while living in tents.Owing to various illnesses and transfers, however, 15 replacements in a group of40 have been required during the year.
Three Bronze Star Medals were awarded to nurses of the 67th EvacuationHospital as follows:
Captain Jean R. Truckey
N-7308xx
ANC
28 December 1944
1st Lt Mary C. Willhide
N-7355xx
ANC
28 December 1944
1st Lt Alice A. Miller
N-7670xx
ANC
2 August 1944
Certificates of Merit were awarded to 6 nurses. One was awarded to 1st LtLois H. Grant when she left the unit in November to become Chief Nurse of the51st Field Hospital. The other certificates went to the five nurses who stayedbehind at Malmedy to care for the 224 patients who were still in the hospitalwhen the German
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counter-offensive forced the unit to withdraw on 17 December. Every nursevolunteered to remain, the following being selected to remain:
1st Lt Anna M. Aslakson
N-7292xx
ANC
1st Lt Nina L. Bareham
N-7293xx
ANC
1st Lt Sally J. Casement
N-7671xx
ANC
1st Lt Ethel Gilbert
N-7443xx
ANC
1st Lt Elizabeth J. Stuber
N-7297xx
ANC
They were able to rejoin the rest of the hospital personnel on the morning of18 December. Part of their experiences were put onto the "Army Hour"broadcast later.
Lt Miller went to England in September where she appeared on a "livebroadcast" to America dealing with the experiences of nurses in the WesternEuropean campaigns,
Capt Truckey spent about 3 weeks at the Office of the Chief Surgeon, ETOUSA,in connection with public relations works concerning the Army Nurse Corps.
REPORT OF SUPPLY SECTION
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REPORT OF SUPPLY SECTION
67TH EVACUATION HOSPITAL, SEMIMOBILE
1944
This unit arrived in England without any T/E equipment except for very fewitems such as typewriters and other office equipment.
A small reception party consisting of an officer and a few enlisted men metthe unit on its arrival at Dursley, England. This party had already spentseveral days arranging for the various billets for personnel and had drawn thevarious essential housekeeping items for cleaning, billeting and messing.Considerable time was spent after the unit arrived improving these conditions asvarious other supply items could be secured. Most of these first items weresecured through the local district stores operated by the British Military.
The next procedure was the requisitioning of all the T/E equipment from thevarious branches of supply, which was authorized by T/O and E 8-581 dated 26July 1943. As these items were approved by higher headquarters, and wereavailable, notification would be received and in most cases would be picked upby the units' organic transportation.
A very complete and elaborate system of base and sub depots had been plannedand set up within the United Kingdom for the purpose of receiving, organizing,and issuing the various branches of supplies. The greatest difficulty with thisarrangement of depots was the distance involved travelling to and from them.This was necessary due
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to security measures, and not having all the supplies of one branch stored inone place. The breakdown of the United Kingdom into districts was extremelyhelpful, but it often became necessary to go outside of the original designateddistrict to secure various allotted items of equipment. A period of six monthswas used drawing and collecting together all these various items of supply.
The first large item of equipment received by this unit was the Medical UnitEquipment (Item #97223). This was shipped to us by rail and came in severalwagon loads. After securing a suitable apace to move this equipment into manyweeks were spent by most of the unit personnel in unloading, unpacking, sorting,arranging, and issuing of these items to their respective departments where theywould be used when functioning as a hospital. This took considerable time, andplanning as this equipment was originally packed and shipped without any thoughtor consideration as to the departments it would eventually be issued. After theissue of this authorized equipment was completed many needed items wereimprovised and constructed and also great consideration was given to thedepartmental packing of this equipment for future movements.
Several weeks prior to our shipment to France, we were issued some threehundred water proof boxes by the Medical Department. These had been speciallydesigned, manufactured, and shipped to us from the United States. Their useprimarily was for packing all
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valuable and other supply items that would be spoiled by becoming wet whilecrossing the channel or unloading on the beaches of France. The equipment packedin these boxes were loaded on our own vehicles and would cross the channel onLST's.
The last month spent in England was an extremely busy one. All items ofequipment which had not already been received had to be procured at this time.Special approval had to be obtained, and many trips made to finish this job. Onsome days trips were made in all directions. Before the designated deadline wasreached all the unit equipment was complete and ready for shipment and loading.
The First Army Surgeons' Office had. many excess items of various branchesapproved and issued to the unit approximately three months prior to our shipmentto France. Most of these items were of a medical nature and without these excessitems this unit could never have performed the service it did upon its arrivalin France.
An estimate was made of all equipment to be shipped to France as freight.This was everything other than could be transported on our own trucks. Thisamounted to some forty-five tons. All this equipment had to be suitably packedand ready for shipment on very short notice.
One great problem about this time was the necessary marking of some 40 wardtents with the prescribed Geneva Convention Red Cross and also the making andpainting of two red cross ground markers
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100 feet square. These ground markers originally were to be items of issue,but were not received in the United Kingdom in time for issue and to date havenever been received.
Late Sunday afternoon 5 June 1944, notice was received that all equipmentbeing shipped as freight was to be loaded on our trucks and taken to the Port ofEmbarkation the following morning. All Sunday night was spent loading theequipment and making out the various forms for shipment. The job was finallycompleted by 0700 hours Monday morning and the fleet of trucks departed for thedesignated part where the equipment was loaded on boats to be shipped across theChannel.
Some ten days later word was received for the movement of the unit and allits equipment loaded on the trucks on which it would cross the Channel. Ourfleet of trucks were split up into two groups at the port. One consisted of ninevehicles, the other eighteen. These two groups came over on two differentLST's. By Sunday morning 19 June all trucks with equipment and the unitpersonnel were safely assembled at one sight in Normandy, France.
Within twenty-four hours our hospital was to be set up and ready to receiveits first patients. This was accomplished in due order with what equipment whichwas taken over in our own vehicles.
As the casualties became greater in the early part of this campaign the needfor our additional equipment which had been shipped by freight became moreurgent. Fortunately within a few days it started arriving on the beaches and wascompletely account-
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ed for by the time the weather took a turn for the worse and nothing could bebeached for many days. Without this additional equipment this unit could neverhave rendered the service so urgently needed at this time.
The only great problem of supply encountered by this unit was one regardingour power units, generators. The original units issued were not large or strongenough to stand the great load put on them. With the cooperation of First ArmyEngineers and the Surgeon's Office we were eventually issued adequate powerunits to handle the terrific load. All other minor problems of supplyencountered by this unit were promptly and adequately taken care of by thevarious dumps already set up in France.
Many moves and set ups were made and always the much needed equipment to meetany type of problem was available and on hand.
The most valuable time spent by any unit pertaining to its organic equipmentand supplies is that period spent prior to its commitment for combat service.Acquiring all authorized and needed equipment, and anticipating any needs thatmight arise is certainly most important.
