National Museum of Civil War Medicine

When you complain to your doctor about having headaches, how often do they tell you to cut your arm and bleed out an ounce or two of blood? All the time, right? Medicine has come a long way since the days of blood-letting, balancing humors, and mercury ingestion. Some of the greatest medical innovations have occurred during troublesome times, such as plague and war. One of the most innovative time periods in American medicine was actually during the Civil War. Emergency and hospital procedures that may save your life today were first started as a means of caring for the massive numbers of wounded soldiers that came stumbling off the battlefield in the 1860s. In today’s episode we visit the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, a place dedicated to acknowledging and remembering the revolutionary work of Civil War physicians and nurses. Our guest, the museum’s executive director David Price, shares stories and provides insights into the impact Civil War Medicine has had on medical practices today. Also in today’s episode, take a trip into the past with us as we delve into the journals of Nurse Amanda Akin and Assistant Surgeon John L. Wooden, two physicians who served during the Civil War. Learn about the origins of embalming and how it became a common funeral practice today. And keep an open ear for an infomercial highlighting the hottest new medical treatment available in the 1860s- bromine! Finally, join us on a detour to southwestern Idaho as we visit the Westside Drive-In as part of our Special Confections segment, where we visit unique places that thrill the taste buds.