In the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and other Commonwealth militaries, a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) is a
military medical facility behind the front lines that is used to treat
wounded soldiers. A CCS would usually be located just beyond the range of enemy
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
and often near transportation facilities (e.g., a railway). The CCS receives battlefield
casualties
A casualty, as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion.
In civilian usag ...
from
regimental aid posts located in the combat zone. Casualties that cannot be adequately treated in the CCS are stabilized there before being transported to a
field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...
or
military hospital
A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...
.
History
On 1 March 1970, the
Royal Army Medical Corps went through an internal reorganisation which saw the old medical designations replaced by modern terms. The old casualty clearing stations became field hospitals (a term which will disappear in the British Army in 2022), and the old field dressing stations became field ambulances. The new field hospitals were non-mobile units designed to take care of, run, and maintain rear hospitals. The field ambulances meanwhile, as the name would suggest, were mobile units equipped with
Land Rover Ambulances which would support units on the battlefield.
See also
*
Royal Army Medical Corps
*
Aid station
An aid station is a temporary facility (often a tent, table, or general rest area) established to provide supplies to endurance event participants or medical first aid and provisions during major events, disaster response situations, or military ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Casualty Clearing Stations in the British Army of 1914-1918
Military medical installations