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American History

The Wild West’s Ice Trade: How Frozen Lakes Fueled the Desert

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6. The Impact on Health and Medicine

6. The Impact on Health and Medicine
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Ice quickly became indispensable in frontier medicine. Doctors used it to store medicines, keep vaccines stable, treat high fevers, and preserve critical perishables. Its availability helped reduce spoilage, improve patient care, and increase survival rates during outbreaks and epidemics. The arrival of ice represented a major advancement for health and medicine in remote Western settlements. Explore more via PBS.

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