A History Of AMEDD

Goal of AMEDDThe aim of Army Medicine is to be an excellent healthcare provider, giving the best care to those who are working together with the armed forces. AMEDD (Army Medical Department) is a proud organization and it can look back on a history of saving lives.Start of AMEDDThe beginning of AMEDD can be traced back to 1775 when the Continental Congress thought an Army hospital would be a good idea to treat the current 20,000 soldiers. Medical books were in short supply, and the only text on hand was by Dr. John Jones, a book on how to deal with wounds and broken bones. The first assignment for AMEDD came from the president himself; they were to provide immunization for smallpox to the US army.After the United States gained independence, the military was reduced, including the medical units. This left the military with just a single surgeon and four helpers. The war of 1812 made Congress realize they needed an organization they could always rely on, and they passed a reorganization act a few years later that called AMEDD into permanent service.AMEDD was more prepared with staff and supplies, but the brutality, size, and suddenness of the Civil War caught everybody off guard. New weapons, including the Gatlin gun, meant soldiers were dying faster, requiring quicker treatment. Hospitals were overcrowded, leading to unsanitary conditions. Not everybody knew the importance of bacteriology, and hygiene was bad as well.In 1862, the Surgeon General of the army became an official rank. More effort was put into keeping track of medical records. John Letterman, medical director, introduced innovative changes. He redid how field supplies were distributed, making them get delivered more efficiently. He also developed an ambulance corps, made to respond to more seriously injured soldiers.One man may have been more influential than any other in the history of AMEDD. John Shaw Billings spoke and wrote about how crucial hospital hygiene was. He also designed several well known care facilities, including Johns Hopkins hospital.Congress introduced the Hospital Corp in 1887, which made AMEDD a possible career path for those enlisting. This was supplemented by a division for nurses, and later dentists in the early 1900s. AMEDD was expanding, and also saw a veterinary and sanitary Corp.By WWI, medical technology had increased, and it showed. Soldiers died often the battlefield, but a person suffering from wounds or diseases had a decent chance of surviving. By WW2 the ranks of AMEDD were 600,000 strong, which later included a residency program and specialist medical and surgical teams. In 1973, Texas became the home for AMEDD, at Fort Sam Houston.AMEDD has existed for over 200 years, but the goal has always been the same; save lives and provide the best care for soldiers.If you are going to be working with AMEDD, be sure to contact some of the resources that are available to see how you can make your move to Fort Sam Houston as comfortable as possible. Those resources are there to make the transition easy for both you and your family.