It is highly likely that a field hospital will need to provide wound care. The very presence of a field hospital indicates that a situation exists where normal healthcare is challenged. It is important that staff understand the situation as it directly impacts on the type of care that should be delivered. The wrong type of care will not just yield suboptimal results for the patients, but will adversely affect workload, impact on resources, and compromise the effectiveness of the facility. Achieving good outcomes in wound care is dependent on ensuring the patient’s general well-being is optimised. The core requirement for wound care is initial wound surgery, which fully evaluates the wound as well as performing debridement and essential immediate interventions. Wounds associated with conflict and disaster should not be primarily closed. Healing is achieved by delayed primary closure or later complex reconstruction.