Summer “Walks Through History” – “When Heartbeats Measure Time: Battlefield Surgical Care at Gettysburg”

What would a practicing Orthopedic Trauma Surgeon and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist think about the Surgical, Anesthesia and medical care of Union and Confederate Soldiers in the Civil War? Join Licensed Battlefield Guides Dr. Rick Schroeder and Fran Feyock, C.R.N.A.  for this unique walking/driving tour to explore this topic from the view of four of the many wounded combatants in the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863. We pick up the stories of the four wounded soldiers from the moment the missile strikes their flesh, then follow their journey through 1863 battlefield surgical care.

For more than 25 years Fran and Rick practiced at a Level One Trauma Center in western Pennsylvania. The presenters perform amputations and administer anesthesia making this program one that sheds new insight on this topic. “They have the ability to take complex medical topics and make them understandable with a mix of humor and technical expertise.” Blending their modern surgical and anesthesia experiences with the historical record, Fran and Rick describe the similarities and differences between surgical care of the modern era and the care of the wounded soldiers in the 1860s.

The route of this walk involves limited walking (less than ½ mile) over mostly level ground. The walk will involve some driving within the park.