Compared with practicing medicine in society, although serving the army increases the risk of wartime, it can also earn an extremely stable income. Of course, the premise is that the economy of the Austrian Empire is enough to support such expenses.
General physicians serving in the army can receive a daily salary of 10-15 crowns, while surgeons can receive between 5-10 crowns. If you are an ordinary assistant, this income will drop to only 1/3, but compared to working in an ordinary hospital, this income is very stable.
And the most important point is that doctors who serve in the military medical service will receive great promotions.
During the Franco-Austrian War, a young surgeon experienced the transition from assistant to chief surgeon, and his military rank was directly promoted from sergeant to captain in just 8 months. 【1】
In the merit-based rewards at the end of the war, he was promoted two levels in a row, and finally received the title of lieutenant colonel.
That person was none other than Ingenac, the current chief surgeon.
The promotion process must have been supported by the original chief physician Waterman, as well as the bonus of the baron title above his head, not to mention Ingnatz's superb surgical skills, but this can also reflect the promotion of military doctors in the army. How easy it is.
But thinking about it from another angle, the reason why the benefits are so high is simply because there is a shortage of military doctors.
The recruitment news was sent out at the end of March, and now it is mid-to-early May. For a full month and a half, there are still only a limited number of people willing to join the military medical team.
This limitation is not reflected in numbers but in quality, because the number of applicants received by Edinson is not that small, but there are very few people who can actually meet the requirements and be able to go to the war hospital to complete the corresponding work as soon as possible. .
“I have seen some old documents from the Medical Committee at that time, and I can still see Dean Waterman’s complaints in them.”[2]
Kawei and Morasso chatted in the small garden of the hospital: "I don't need to go into details about the internal medicine department. Each one is an elite, and the number is less than 1/5 of the surgical department. It is definitely not enough. I will only mention what I am involved in. In surgery, there are three types of positions: ward assistant, surgical assistant and chief surgeon. Do you know the proportions of each?"
Morazo shook his head.
"An operation basically requires one surgeon and 1-3 assistants, plus 2-3 assistants in the ward. On Dr. Edinson's list, this ratio is 1:10:35." Carvey said, "Don't be so surprised. He wrote the data himself. I just accidentally saw it."
"There are so few surgeons?" Even though Morasso had never studied medicine, he had been cut open by doctors while lying on the bed. He knew very well who the backbone of the surgery was.
"Looking at the number of people alone, it's indeed quite a lot, but if you look at the chief surgeon, the situation is actually not more optimistic than that of internal medicine."
Kawei calculated the time: "The recruitment has already passed the initial golden period. Even if there are still 1-2 months left, it will be impossible to recruit the same number of surgeons. The saddest thing is that even if we do recruit, With the same number of surgeons, the gap is still huge."
"so......"
"So you, the chief inspector, have to remind him that now is not the time to worry about drug channels, but to fill the doctor gap as soon as possible."
Carvey does want to beat Edinson, but his more purpose is to run the medical committee well, which has various historical problems. Only in a qualified medical environment can the statistics generated by clinical experiments be the most objective.
Of course, he did not want to see unnecessary conflicts that would damage the empire's national strength. At least those soldiers who were injured and retreated from the front line were innocent.
When he was looking up information at the university, he often came across various issues that arose during the Franco-Austrian War. Austria does not lack people who find loopholes, but it lacks management who can actively correct mistakes.
Many mistakes and errors still exist in all aspects of the military after seven years of precipitation. They are gorgeous on the outside, but full of holes on the inside.
If it really comes to wartime and the hospital faces a large number of patients with severe trauma, there will definitely not be enough surgeons. At that time, Edinson will inevitably follow his previous practice of promoting those who have just started as assistants to become chief surgeons.
In a sense, this measure can promote many outstanding young people, but more and more serious consequences have to be borne by the wounded soldiers.
"I also read some biographies and memoirs during the Franco-Austrian War, and the description of an ordinary young man who was drafted into the army left a deep impression on me. He was just 17 years old at the time, with a high school diploma, and was working in a clinic. I worked as an apprentice for three months, and then was temporarily promoted to surgical assistant by the Medical Council due to the shortage of medical service personnel." [3]
Kawei is worried: "Too many non-medical personnel have been promoted to become doctors, but even so, many battalions may not be assigned a chief surgeon."
Morasso nodded as he listened to these words, but the expression on his face was very calm, as if he was not shocked by this.
"Don't you think this is outrageous?"
"Em... I think it's not bad." Morasso looked at Kawei, "When I did the surgery, weren't you also dragged onto the operating table as an assistant by Yingenatz? That time Son, you just came to the hospital to report, right?"
Kawei was stunned and could only change an example: "Then let's talk about the later period of the Franco-Austrian War, when the number of wounded in the army increased and the number of doctors accompanying the army could not cope with it. Because the military medical office at that time could not recruit people, it could only choose those The quartermaster responsible for the purchase and distribution of medicines and the pharmacy assistants who handled medicines came to serve as assistants, and the original assistants were promoted to chief surgeons.” [4]
"It's definitely a bit much."
"There is no way, there is a shortage of people." Kawei continued, "The situation now is the same as before. There is no problem in terms of numbers, but the structure is very unreasonable. You may not see anything at the beginning of the war, but in the middle and late stages, this kind of Weaknesses will be exposed.”
Carvey laid out the facts and made sense, and explained the staffing configuration thoroughly, which also allowed Morazo to basically understand the main problems of the military medical department today.
But understanding what the problem is doesn't solve it. What he needs most now is a solution.
"What should I do?" Morasso was not polite. Knowing that Kawei could talk to him, he must have thought of a solution. "You have to give me a good solution so that I can compete with Edinson."
"The method is actually very simple." Kawei said with a smile, "Change the existing recruitment strategy, because the army's method of recruiting military doctors is wrong."
Morazo couldn't understand that recruitment was nothing more than giving conditions for them to actively enlist in the army. The conditions were set by Franz after consultation with a group of ministers. The daily salary, promotion conditions, and military ranks were all stipulated in detail, so there was no reason to change them.
"This kind of half-hearted money, power, and status are exactly what those surgeons care about least and have no appeal to them."
Kawei explained: "From the perspective of a surgeon, 'contributing to the empire' is not a good reason to serve on the front line. And the 'stable daily salary' has actually shrunk for surgeons who are already able to operate. their income.”[5]
Morasso found it incredible, because in his eyes, contributing to the empire was a matter of course. Even if you have wealth and status, you will definitely be the first to rush to the front line when you hear that the empire is threatened by external forces.
"Many of them have titles!"
"So what?" Kawei asked back, "The world has changed, Earl."
Only then did Morazo realize that he had encountered a lot of resistance when he went to find Kawei. Perhaps this was the dilemma brought about by his career?
"maybe."
Kawei has no energy to discuss the inner connection between loyalty and profession. Now he only needs to solve the trouble caused by this connection: "The title cannot restrain people more and more, but the profession can. Without the title, those doctors will still be the same." They can make money to support their families, but without a job, the title can only make them eat at home and wait to die."
"The First Clan"
Morasso gradually realized the crux of the problem: "So what you are saying is that the recruitment order should not use titles to guide doctors' thoughts of serving the country, but that they have to do what they want?"
"Although it's very philistine, this is the reality." Kawei asked, "Do you know why Teacher Yinggnaz can become so good?"
Morasso shook his head: "I don't know."
Kawei sighed: "Then let me put it another way. Do you know what surgeons care about and like the most?"
Morasso frowned and thought for a long time, still shaking his head: "What is it?"
"Corpse!" Kawei showed a smile, "The most lacking thing in the surgical field is cadavers. Especially those hospitals that do not have sources of cadavers, cadavers often take more than a week. Because without cadavers, there is no opportunity to practice. Without practice, Surgical technology will not be improved.”
Morasso realized: "War brings a steady stream of corpses."
"And they are all free corpses. In Vienna, they need to spend at least 30 kronor to get a rotting corpse." Kawei said with a smile, "As long as the military medical office authorizes the surgery, the surgeon can dissect the dead soldiers. I don’t think there is any ideological mobilization at all, and a bunch of surgeons will come to sign up soon.”
"this......"
"It doesn't matter if it doesn't work, there are still Prussian corpses."
"That makes sense!"
In terms of staffing, Kawei gave a good plan, but it was limited to surgery. In comparison, the problem of internal medicine is more serious, because not only is the staffing seriously insufficient, but the biggest trouble of internal medicine now is that the overall level is very limited.
Although the threshold for becoming a physician is extremely high, it objectively avoids the dilemma of uneven quality of personnel like surgery. But in fact, they did not have much experience with possible plagues and nutritional problems in the army, and even the medical treatment that was truly within their capabilities was mediocre.
"Staffing is only one of the problems faced by the Military Medical Department." Kawei said, "My method can only improve the insufficient number of people and the staffing ratio. Some necessary assessments are needed to improve the overall quality."
"Edinson has already set up an assessment office." Morasso said, "I saw it in the plan."
"What assessment? Is it a simple bandage? A plaster? Or suturing? An operation?"
Kawei does not have high hopes for this kind of assessment: "There are also frontline stretcher teams, the establishment of first-aid stations, and how to maintain conveyor lines. These are all directly related to the prime time for rescuing the wounded... And as far as I am concerned, In other words, Dr. Edinson’s tentative war hospital of 350 people is still too small.”
"Is it very small?"
"It was mentioned during the post-war logistics discussions of the Franco-Austrian War that the wartime hospital and the two medical tents accompanying the army were always at full capacity. The recovery speed of the wounded was far less simple and fast than making the wounded, and the new arrivals Wounded soldiers can only lie outside in the sun or rain." [6]
Kawei said helplessly: "For ordinary people, being exposed to the rain will only cause a cold, and getting some sunshine is good for the body. But for wounded soldiers who have lost too much blood, being exposed to the rain will only accelerate the reduction of their body temperature." , and exposure to the sun can exacerbate their dehydration."
"So how big do you think the hospital needs to be?"
"500 beds, and 5 accompanying tents, each tent can accommodate 20 beds."
The content of the chat became more and more focused on the real professional field of military medicine. Although Morasso had experienced it when he was in the army, when it came to logistics, transportation and supplies, he completely lost his patience: "Doctor recruitment, assessment and hospital bed addition, these three things It’s enough to take back the initiative.”
"Then I wish the count a successful start."
Morasso recorded the summary of the chat in a small book and was about to leave. Unexpectedly, he realized a problem, a problem that could solve his tiredness: "By the way, I remember that the Chief Inspector of the Military Medical Department directly Accept your fate and have the power to promote doctors in the area, right?”
"Huh? There should be."
"Then in order to divert my heavy workload, is it reasonable for me to directly appoint a deputy inspector to accompany me?"
Kawei recognized the voice of his words, and the deputy inspector he spoke of was himself.
Just when he wanted to talk to Moraso for a few more words, a black figure suddenly appeared on the wall of the second ward in the distance. He walked quickly into the garden and found where he was with Morasso.
"Chief Witte, why do you have the time to come to me today?"
"Mr. Earl is here too..." Werther bowed slightly in greeting, with a solemn expression on his face, "Kavi, do you have a patient named Fernand?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"What kind of surgery was done?"
"Surgery? That's a lot." Kawei briefly described the names of the operations, "cystolithotomy, circumcision, bilateral mastectomy, and unilateral mastectomy."
Breast glands and gao pills gradually overlapped with the two priorities in Werther's mind. Now he can only rely on luck: "Do you know where he lives now?"
"It was originally supposed to be in the butcher's shop on Niujiao Street, but I don't know where it moved later." Kawei hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem yet. "It's been almost a week since his operation, and he didn't ask me to change the dressing. I don’t even know if there’s something wrong with the incision.”
"What's the number of the butcher's shop?"
"Number 94."
"good......"
In just two or three minutes, Witte got almost all the materials. What is missing now is the surgery voucher: "Mr. Kavey, please take his medical records with me to the police station. Don't be nervous, I just want to know more." Just some Fernan situation.”
"Fernand? What happened to him?"
"We suspect he killed people, many, many people."
