A mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is a self-contained United States Army military unit established to perform surgery and provide post-operative care immediately behind the front lines. The units were first established in August 1945, and were deployed during the Korean War.
The MASH unit was conceived by Michael E. DeBakey and other surgical consultants as the mobile auxiliary surgical hospital. It was an alternative to the system of portable surgical hospitals, field hospitals, and general hospitals used during World War II. It was designed to get experienced personnel closer to the front, so that the wounded could be treated sooner and with greater success. This proved to be highly successful; it was noted that during the Korean War, a seriously wounded soldier that made it to a MASH unit alive had a 97% chance of survival once he received treatment.
The idea made its way into popular culture through the film M*A*S*H, based on the novel Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker, and the television series based on the movie.
In 1997, the last MASH unit was decommissioned. A decommissioning ceremony was held in South Korea, which was attended by several members of the cast of the M*A*S*H television series. MASH units have since been replaced by the U.S. Army's combat support hospitals.
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Last updated: 05-16-2005 21:32:35
