Established a war hospital1/10/2024 In 1953 Humphrey Bogart starred as a MASH surgeon, along with June Allison as an Army nurse, in the film Battle Circus The mix of near-death casualties, leading edge emergency surgery, and life in a front line Army unit has a lot of dramatic potential. Organized April 1952 to treat hemorrhagic fever patients. Originally 1st MASH, Arrived Korea September 1950. Staffed at onset of hostilities, June 1950. Staffed at onset of hostilities, June 1950 However, in general use the units were still called MASH. For example, the 8055th MASH became the 43d Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army). By 1953, unit designations changed from the post-WW II and early Korean War designation Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army) using the two digit designation in the table (New #). MASH Unit Names and NumbersĪ total of seven MASH units were operational in Korea, not all active for the entire period. In Korea, it would eventually reach a new low of 2.5 percent. That rate had been 4.5 percent during World War II. The early treatment of wounded at a MASH located only minutes from the battlefield, combined with the swift, comfortable delivery and evacuation of the seriously wounded by helicopter, helped to lower the fatality rate for the Army's wounded. They, in turn, were utilized for resupply, rapid patient delivery to the MASH, and comfortable evacuation from the MASH.īy 1952 the fighting had stagnated and MASH units functioned primarily as static hospitals through 27 July 1953 when a cease fire agreement ended the fighting. Additionally, four helicopters were attached to each MASH. An ambulance platoon was attached to each MASH to facilitate the rapid evacuation when post-operative recovery was complete. Each MASH operated five surgical tables in a shift with a highly organized system of managing shock patients. After arrival at its new destination, it was operational within four hours. Standards for a MASH required that it was disassembled, loaded onto vehicles, and ready to depart on six hours notice. MASHs and a Norwegian Mobile Surgical Hospital (60-bed capacity) in support of U.S. Relatively inactive hospital staffs were moved to augment the heavily burdened MASH since it received the greatest casualty load. This proved to be efficient for easy access for the wounded while still operating safely. Through the latter part of 1951, a concerted effort was made to move the MASHs closer to the battles, usually about 20 miles from the front lines. The United Nations forces went on the offensive in 1951 and MASH units remained mobile, moving typically once per month. By the end of 1950, there were four MASH units in support of seven divisions and attached U.N. Up through 26 December 1950, three MASH units supported four U.S. In some instances, a MASH exceeded 400 patients a day. In effect, the MASH became a small 200-bed capacity evacuation hospital providing care to the division. With this expansion in workload (medical cases in addition to surgery) and with no increase in personnel, rapid evacuation of patients to higher echelons was essential. The MASH concept of "surgery only" was abandoned under wartime pressure. In response, each MASH was enlarged to 150 beds (November 1950) and then to 200 beds (May 1951). Because of the lack of transportation, an inadequate road and rail network, and the volatile tactical situation, the 400-bed Army evacuation hospital could not properly function in Korea. Three MASH units were established in Korea after hostilities began, staffed by personnel stripped from other Medical Department units, but not enough were in place to have one in support of each division as planned. Five MASH units were created on paper between 1948 and early 1950, but were not staffed or ready for combat when North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950.Ĥ4th Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army) MASH operating room, Korea, January 1954. The MASH was to be truly mobile, fully staffed with surgical and medical personnel, and equipped to provide definitive, life-saving surgery, to make the patient transportable to rear medical facilities, and to provide post-operative care for non-transportable patients. The concept called for placing a sixty-bed, truck-borne MASH in a forward location just out of enemy artillery range, in support of each division. The MASH was intended to bring emergency lifesaving surgery closer to critically wounded casualties. The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH as it quickly became known, was a new kind of organization, announced on 23 August 1945, at the very end of World War II. Origin of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH)
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