Iola High School sophomores taking American history got a hands on lesson in Civil War medicine Tuesday when the school district’s superintendent facilitated a battle clinic re-enactment.
“It seemed like the real thing but without the blood,” said Sophomore Karlie Lower. “It stunk though.”
In front of the class of 25 laid what looked like a wounded Confederate soldier. Next to the rags doubling as a warrior were two other unfortunate bodies.
“There’s no saving them,” USD 257 Superintendent of Schools Brian Pekarek told the class.
Pekarek, a history buff and Civil War re-enactor, said whether kids are interested in history or medicine, the presentation always gets students involved.
“It’s fascinating how far medicine has come and this is a good way to teach kids about history and medicine at the same time,” he said in an interview last week.
When the presentation began, Pekarek asked for volunteers to act as stewards, basically surgical assistants.
The hands of potential volunteers flew up like someone had asked, “Who wants to go home early today?”
Using a turkey leg to replicate a human limb, the class got a crash course in old fashioned amputation. First, Pekarek explained to the class that not all Civil War injuries were treatable.
“If you got shot in the head or the midsection, you were a goner,” he said.
Fortunately for the soldier spread out on the table, he said, the gun shot only clipped an arm.
“We want to save his life, so we’re going to have to cut the arm off,” Pekarek said as the class looked on.
Levi Baker, one of the students who played the surgeon’s steward, said he was amazed how authentic the re-enactment seemed.
“When they said we’d be doing amputating, I thought we’d just be using paper or something,” he said. “I didn’t think we’d actually be cutting through a real bone.”
From the anesthetics used to the method of clipping bone fragments from a fresh amputation cut, Pekarek went into great detail about what Civil War surgeons experienced everyday.
“Its important to separate the skin from the bone so you can cut right through,” he said as five volunteers worked to make a clean cut.
The students’ history teacher, Bill Peeper, or Mr. Peeper to them, said having hands on activities like the one Tuesday is always beneficial, especially with history.
“It helps the students find an interest in things. They may not all of a sudden have a new love for history but they might at least be more interested in seeing what’s next,” he said. “It definitely reinforces the topic.”
And it’s a good thing it’s Pekarek’s doing and not his, Peeper joked.
“I probably couldn’t get away with bringing knives and fire into my classroom but the superintendent can,” he said.
Gauging the students after the class, Pekarek’s presentation did what it was intended to do.
“I learned a lot more than I thought I would,” said Fryendz Wallace, one of the volunteer stewards. “It was a lot of fun.”
I NEED A MEDIC! Students get excited about Civil War medicine
