The military medical system on the mountain front is little researched. One of the main reasons for the few publications is probably the complex source situation in the archives. The relevant information is usually difficult to find in the archives, and is usually found accidentally. Occasionally, notes on the medical system can be found in autobiographical documents.
The medical system in the mountains had some special features, which were mainly due to the local conditions. The respective units had more equipment and personnel at their disposal and they were equipped with greater autonomy than on other fronts. The reasons for this were the rough terrain and the limited possibilities of communication.
The transport of the wounded from the high positions had to be carried out by stretch-bearers.and was physically extremely demanding. It should also be remembered that this work was usually executed by men who had been classified as unfit for military service. Their number per mountain unit was therefore twice as high as in the lowlands.
Although the issue of deaths caused by avalanches, which is very present in collective memory, is an important reason for losses, the latest research assumes that the number of avalanche victims has often been overestimated in the past.
The main health problem in mountain warfare was frostbite due to the lack of adequate footwear. In the course of the war, this situation worsened noticeably due to the general shortage of materials. When looking at the frostbite reports of the Carinthian district, it is noticeable that far more forced laborers, primarily Russian or Serbian prisoners of war, suffered significantly more frostbite than soldiers.
Compared to other war zones, however, epidemics posed a lower risk. This was due, on the one hand, to the relatively smaller number of soldiers deployed and, on the other hand, to the fact that they were not concentrated in such a confined space, such as in the trenches on other sections of the front. Nevertheless, typhus spread several times among the soldiers. The causes of the disease were contaminated water and the poor hygienic conditions. Last but not least, the picric acid that escaped from broken unexploded ordnance led to water contamination; even boiling the water could not not reliably protect against intestinal disease.

For a long time, more detailed information on the medical services of the 10th border section in the area of the Sesto/Sexten Dolomites and the Val di Landro/Höhlensteintal was available only to a limited extent. Some of the few relatively reliable sources are the memoirs and biographies of doctors who worked at the front or visited the front. The most important source is the autobiography of Anton von Eiselsberg (1860-1939), the founder of the Viennese School of Surgery (Wiener Chirurgenschule). He visited the front in the autumn of 1915 and described which doctors were stationed in the various facilities. Other documents also provide information about the doctors mentioned. For example, there are the records of Paul Niehan (1882-1971) published as „Monate im Kampfgebiet der Dolomiten. Erlebnisse eines Schweizerarztes“ (Months in the combat zone of the Dolomites. Experiences of a Swiss Doctor), who worked at a dressing station in the Val di Landro/Höhlensteintal.
The organizational files of the 56th Mountain Brigade deployed in this section of the border contain general information on the structure of the military medical service. They also provide information on how the wounded were transported from the front to the nearest hospital.
The hospitals for the Grenzunterabschnitt 10a, which included the area of the Höhlenstein valley, were the Red Cross Hospital No. 2 with 200 beds in today’s Grand Hotel Toblach (then Südbahnhotel), which was under the regimental physician Dr. Hermann Ritter von Schrötter (1870–1928) and an infectious diseases hospital with 50 beds, which belonged to the Mobile Field Sanitation Institute V/2. The latter had eight carriages to transport the wounded from the dressing stations/disease collection points and was led by Dr. Matscher. Collection points were located at the Brückele in Braies/Prags and at the Nasswand in the Val di Landro/Höhlensteintal.
For the Grenzunterabschnitt 10b of the Sesto/Sexten Dolomites and 10c of the Carnic ridge from Harnischeck to today’s border of Carinthia/Kärnten and Tyrol, the sanitary facilities were located in San Candido/Innichen. The Lienz hospital was not used for the removal of wounded from the front because of its distance. The K. K. Landwehr Marodehaus in San Candido/Innichen had a total of 200 beds, was under the authority of senior physician Dr. Innerhofer and consisted of several sub-facilities. The Marodehaus and the civil hospital belonged to the surgical department, had 25 beds each and were under the authority of Dr. Brunner. The Stiftshof and the Villa Saxonia together had 130 beds, were subordinate to Dr. von Kaan and formed the internal department. The Felicitas Infectious Diseases Hospital (Infektionsspital Felicitas) with 20 beds was also headed by Dr. von Kaan. In addition, there was the Mobile Feldsanitätsanstalt V/1 with 40 beds under the regimental physician Dr. Prokes as well as a garrison chief physician and head of the wounded transport. The establishment was located as a Marodehaus in the Villa Aguntina. The brigade chief physician Dr. Kroboth was accommodated in room no. 19 of the Gasthaus Hellenstainer (Hellenstainer Inn). The first aid stations of border section 10b were set up at the Lanzingersäge, at the exit of the Val Campo di Dentro/Innerfeldtal and at the Rifugio Tre Scarperi/Dreischusterhütte, for the border section 10c in Kartitsch, Obertilliach and Leitan.