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In the divisions, the medical personnel were divided into two types; those that were permanent assigned to all major units and provided the immediate first aid and casualty evacuation to the battalion or regimental aid stations. These were backed up by the divisional medical battalion. These personnel assisted the unit medics in collecting the wounded and transporting them to the unit aid stations. They also evacuated the wounded on up the chain to the clearing stations and then on to the evacuation hospitals which were operated at army level. Divisional medical officers either worked at clearing stations during operations or reinforced the regimental and battalion aid stations. One clearing company could be attached to each of the three regimental combat teams.

Medical evacuation within the combat zone was by litter, jeeps and ambulances. Air evacuation could also be made by liaison plane or light transport. Surface evacuation from the combat zone was the responsibility of the combat zone commander, it did not matter I the evacuation was by road, rail or sea. Three types of hospitals were assigned to armies; these included evacuation, convalescent and portable surgical. In the combat zone, there were four types of hospitals; these included field, convalescent, station and general. Evacuation hospitals funneled all casualties from the front on their way to the communications zone. These would be located 12 to 30 miles from the battle front, on good roads and near airfields, railways and waterways. Portable surgical hospitals (of 25 bed capacity) were mobile units used to reinforce divisional clearing stations by providing immediate surgical treatment for patients too seriously wounded to be moved to the rear.

Those casualties who could be returned to their units in a short period of time remained at convalescent hospitals in the army area. Field hospitals were mobile hospitals, capable of giving station hospital type of care in the field whenever there was a temporary need. Station hospitals were fixed units which served a limited assigned area only. These did not usually receive patients from the combat zone. General hospitals were also fixed units capable of supporting 1,000-2,000 patients at a time, providing complete care for all cases in the theater. Air evacuation to the U.S. was the responsibility of Air Transport Command, but the ComZ had to arrange for the patient’s arrival at airfields and care for them until they boarded the aircraft.

The chief surgeon of the theater prepared the general plan for evacuation and hospitalization of the sick and wounded. The system was based on upon the premise that it was the responsibility of rearward units to relieve forward units of their casualties; there was also a laid down number of days that patients should be held in a particular theater for treatment before evacuation to the U.S.. Due to a lack of fixed hospital facilities in the South-West Pacific, South Pacific and North Africa, this was fixed at 90 days. For the European Theater of Operations and all other theaters, this was initially fixed at 180 days and later reduced in late 1944 to 120 days.