The AMSUS History of Military Medicine Essay Award. The story of the mobile army surgical hospital[corrected].

The critical task of the physician uniting effective surgical intervention within close proximity to the front lines, and therefore the wounded, must be matched with the challenge of not becoming a casualty as well. The U.S. Army Medical Services during the Korean War balanced the surgeon's ability to protect himself and save others. This article tells the story of perhaps one of the most characteristically highlighted medical aspects of the Korean War, the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Originally intended to be close to the front lines of fighting, the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital was equipped to move on its own. Initially, the unit was formed to provide surgical capabilities for one division. It transformed through the course of the war into a multidivision and multinational all-purpose hospital. With this expansion in workload (medical cases in addition to surgery) without an equitable increase in personnel, rapid evacuation of patients was the only means of keeping up.