Medicine Looks Ahead 229 



more men than bullets killed in other wars. He is fortified by 

 vitamins C and K, the former to give quicker healing power 

 and the latter to insure swifter coagulation of the blood in 

 case of wounds. Then he is given "weapons" to fight infec- 

 tion and is taught how to use them. 



Each man has fastened to his belt, easily removable, a first- 

 aid packet, a package of sulfadiazine tablets an improved 

 sulfa drug and sulfanilamide powder. If the soldier is hit he 

 tries to take the sulfadiazine tablets. A special plastic container 

 releases them into his hand one at a time, so that the hurt man 

 will not spill them on the ground. He also dusts sulfa powder 

 in his wound, and uses the first-aid packet. 



The Hospital Corps at the Front 



Generally, however, a hospital corpsman will have reached 

 the soldier before he has had time to use his first-aid packet. 

 Long experience has taught the Army and Navy doctors just 

 how many corpsmen to assign to each group of fighting men. 

 Often a corpsman is beside a wounded soldier a minute or two 

 after he is hit. 



The corpsman carries a larger kit of supplies and admin- 

 isters quickly to the soldier, giving him an injection of a drug 

 which stops pain almost instantly and increases his ability to 

 withstand the ordeal. This drug is carried in a new-type hypo- 

 dermic which is marvelously simple and speedy to operate. 

 The needle is already sterilized for instant use. After treat- 

 ing the soldier the corpsman ties a tag to his belt telling what 

 type of treatment was given, fixes a bit of gauze to a bayonet 

 or stick to mark the place where the soldier is, and then goes 

 forward to help some other man. 



Attracted by the white cloth, the litter bearers are next on 

 the scene. They are not ordinary privates, picked at random 

 to aid their buddies. They are trained men who know how to 



