Item:
ON13336

Original U.S WWII Jeep Emergency First Aid Kit (12 Unit) - Complete Unissued

Item Description

Original Items: Only One Available. Ever since humankind has learned to batter the body through warfare, we've striven to mend it with medical care. In fact, the battlefield has served as a laboratory in which new medical techniques and advances have been formed throughout the ages. Chief among these is the concept of first aid -- medical assistance rendered to a wounded person as close to the time of damage as possible.

While medical advances continued throughout the years, it was a transportation advance that helped reduce the number of wounded soldiers who died in the Korean War by 48 percent: the helicopter. For the first time, men could be whisked off the field -- two at a time -- and transported by air to a hospital at a safe location.

The Korean War also gave birth to another major advancement in care on the battlefield: the MASH unit, which stands for "mobile Army surgical hospital." These portable medical centers were able to travel with the fight, ensuring that frontline soldiers were never far from care -- whether they needed life-saving surgery or the simple setting of a broken bone.

However, approximately a decade after the end of the conflict in Korea, the United States would join another war -- one without a front line. Because so much of the Vietnam War was fought in jungles without any real front line, MASH units were not as practical as they had been in Korea. Instead, the Army relied more heavily than ever on air transport, employing a fleet of UH-1 "Huey" helicopters that could each transport up to nine men at a time to any of the 28 hospitals the Army had set up throughout the country. A medical crew could load a Huey and get the wounded passengers to safety in an average of 35 minutes -- with care beginning in flight. The system resulted in an impressive 98 percent survival rate of airlifted men.

This is a genuine unissued example that dates from Late WW2 or early Korean War. Regardless, it is a very difficult and hard to find item. See photos for detailed contents. The kit measures 9 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 2 3/4".

During World War II (1942-1945) Mine Safety Appliances Co. of Pittsburgh, PA (and others) manufactured the twelve unit Motor Vehicle First Aid Kit, originally under five digit Medical Department stock number 97773. It was a metal olive drab box with cover marking as in the photo above. They were equipped with wire clasps, hinges and handle. Later production bore stock numbers 9777300, then converted to 9-221-200. The later stock numbers were painted on the cover in white, such as: "Stock No." + red cross in white circle + "9-221-200".

According to FM 21-11 First Aid For Soldiers dated 7 April 1943 this kit was supplied to motor vehicles on a ratio of one kit for four vehicles, including jeeps. It was mounted in a bracket, under the dash (between the gauge panel and the glove box) or other suitable place in the vehicle cab. It was not mounted at the factory, rather by the Army after delivery.

Idiot Clause - the contents of this kit are pre-1955 manufacture and are NOT suitable for use. They are being sold as novelty collector pieces only.

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