Medic's White Powder

gavmeister13 · Post by **gavmeister13** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:51 pm

What was the white powder that medics spriknle all over wounds? I've only seen Ami medics do this, did other medics do this too?

Edelweiss. · Post by **Edelweiss.** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 2:18 pm

I believe it is sulphur powder, which cauterizes (sp?) the wound -- thereby preventing infection. I'm no medical expert, so any corrections would be welcome.

Regards,
Edelweiss

WT · Post by WT » Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:05 pm

Sulfanilamide was discovered by Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (1895-1964), a German biochemist working for I. G. Farben, whose research with antibacterial chemicals resulted in the discovery of a new class of drugs that provided the first effective treatments for pneumonia, meningitis, and other bacterial diseases. In 1932 Domagk tested the drug on his daughter, who was near death from a streptococcal infection and had failed to respond to other treatments. She subsequently made a complete recovery

Domagk published his findings in 1935. Subsequently, other researchers developed derivatives based on the sulfonamide group. The resulting so-called sulfa drugs revolutionized medicine and saved many thousands of lives.

Domagk was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1939.

Sebastian Pye · Post by **Sebastian Pye** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:36 am

Did germans use it too?

stab131 · Post by **stab131** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 8:38 am

From: http://www.wwiidaybyday.com

The Verwundetennest was set up by the medical soldier of the platoon right behind the frontline ( ~100m). Stretcher bearers from the medical company recover the wounded and bring them to the nest which is equipped with first aid material.

Treatment provided at the V-Nest:

* First bandage (package)

* make the patient ready for transport

* extension-transport-splint

* pressure-bandage, tie-off

Here the patients not able to walk were put on a stretcher and the transport to the Truppenverbandplatz was arranged.

After this first treatment the wounded soldier is transported to the Truppenverbandplatz (TVP).

Kimmo · Post by **Kimmo** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 9:06 am

WT wrote:Domagk was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1939.

The interesting fact is, that Domagk was forbidden by the Nazi government to go and collect his Nobel Prize and so he was able to receive the Prize only after the war in 1947.

The brand name of the drug that Domagk introduced, was called Prontosil and even when quite effective, the bacterias developed resistance against this drug and by 1953, about 80 to 90% of the bacterias were resistance to all of the different modifications of this drug.

I happen to know a lot about this subject, as I did my final presentation about the Drug Development History between 1897 to 1949 and finally graduated to Assistant Pharmacist :)