Or Perish In The Attempt
The story of the medicine of Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery.Or Perish in the Attempt
Or Perish in the Attempt
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Published:
The story of the medicine of Lewis & Clark.
About the Show
The story of the medicine of Lewis & Clark. Using the best medical knowledge of 1803, Captains Meriwether Lewis & William Clark were the physicians for the Corps of Discovery expedition. Before the expedition departed, Benjamin Rush, a leading American doctor of the time, gave Lewis a two-week crash course in medicine, the best available at the time. With no knowledge of bacteria, viruses, parasites, antisepsis, or even how many of the internal organs functioned, Lewis & Clark doctored themselves, their men, Sacagawea, her baby, and the native peoples they visited. Throughout the three years, 1803 – 1806, of wilderness travel, they treated snakebites, STDs, dysentery, frostbite, dislocated joints, gunshot, ax gashes, mental illness, and more. Remarkably, in spite of the relatively poor medical care, all but one member of the company returned home. Based on the book by David J. Peck, DO., Or Perish in The Attempt helps us understand what they did, why they did it, what was almost always wrong with it, as well as some long distance diagnosis to get a sense of what medical science would do in the present day.
Or Perish In The Attempt
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Re-Creation of some of the Lewis & Clark Expedition traveling on the water.
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Replica of typical chest of medical tools and supplies of the time.
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Replica of typical medical compounds of the time, stored and ready for transport in a wooden chest.
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Dr. David Peck, D.O., is the author of the book “Or Perish in the Attempt: Wilderness Medicine in the Lewis & Clark Expedition” upon which this film is based.
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Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent American patriot and physician at the time of the Corps of Discovery’s expedition.
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Illustration From the late 18thcentury, depicting areas of concern in the human body, and external associations.
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Recreation of a typical vial of laudanum, a tincture of opium.
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Representative campsite as might have been used on the expedition.
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Some of the medical tools that would have been in use during the Expedition’s journey.
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As was typical at the time, the Expedition was prepared to cast lead bullets as needed.