Battlefield medicine

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An illustration showing a variety of wounds from the Feldbuch der Wundarznei (Field manual for the treatment of wounds) by Hans von Gersdorff, (1517).

Battlefield medicine, sometimes termed combat casualty care, is the treatment of soldiers in or near an area of combat. Medicine has been greatly advanced by procedures that were developed in order to treat the wounds inflicted during combat. With the advent of advanced procedures and medical technology, even polytrauma can be survivable in modern wars.

Among the notable medical advances made on the battlefield:

The practice of Triage, by Dominique Jean Larrey during the Napoleonic Wars.
Advances in surgery - especially amputation, during the Napoleonic Wars and first world war on the battlefield of the Somme.
The first practical method for transporting blood, by Norman Bethune during the Spanish Civil War.
Ambulances or dedicated vehicles for the purpose of carrying injured persons.
The extension of emergency medicine to prehospital settings through the use of emergency medical technicians.
The establishment of fully equipped and mobile field hospitals such as the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital and its successor, the Combat Support Hospital.
The use of helicopters as ambulances, or MEDEVACs.

The term "Meatball surgery" is a term used in battlefield medicine to refer to surgery that is meant to be performed rapidly to stabilize the patient as quickly as possible.