Today we began touring an old operating theatre. No, it is not a theatre where they show musicals or plays, but actually where they used to perform surgeries. Our lovely guide gave us a full demonstration and description of the hospital and how surgeries used to be performed. She explained to us that back in the early 1800s, no anesthetics were being used; therefore, all surgeries were conducted when the patients were awake. She went into depth about how an amputation was done by having Maritza volunteer to be a patient. As seen in the photo below, her head is propped up while on the operating table. That is not because of comfortability, but to make sure the patient was still alive. Due to the gruesomeness and likelihood that the operation would work, surgeries were often the last resort to save one's life. Personally, I think I would rather pass away peacefully than maybe survive and constantly be in pain. There were also no sanitation procedures, and the surgeons viewed more blood on their apron as giving them a higher status. Also, all the tools they used would just be wiped off on their apron or in their mouth and then used for the next patient. Not only were the markings of blood on your apron an emblem of skill, but also how fast you could conduct the procedure. Surgeons would try to compete with each other and have their students time them with their pocket watches to see who could finish first. Little did they know, this quickness did help reduce the presence of infection. This talk made me very grateful that I was born in the time period I was with the amazing medical technology we have.
The first photo is of the demonstration of the amputation. The second photo is a replica of the bloody aprons they may have used. The third photo is of medical leeches that would suck blood off of paitents to reduce bleeding.
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