SURGERY AT SEA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLII, Issue 9372, 29 October 1921, Page 7

SURGERY AT SEA

UP-TO-DATE EQUIPMENT.

OPERATIONS IN MID-OCEAN. The prospect of having to undergo an operation m mid-ocean is on© which can nowadays be faced with no more trepidation than a similar ordeal on land, writes a ship's surgeon m the Daily Mail. The big modern liner not only has its hospital and its two of' more qualified surgeons on board, but even its operating theatre equipped with the most up-to-date method of lighting, instruments, and sterilising apparatus as perfect as m any hospital ashore. The hospital and operating theatre are usually built between decks amidships, where the movement of the vessel is least noticeable and the vibration from the propeller practically nil. By this means sufficient stability is secured m normal weather, and the most serious and delicate operations have been performed at sea with brilliant results. When a very heavy sea is running the surgeon's task is more diffioultj but if the case calls for immediate surgical treatment the commander of the vessel is informed, the engines are stopped, and the boat is turned and allowed to drift before the wind until the operation is over, so that the movement is reduced to a minimum. The surgeons are assisted by the special -"sick-bay stewards" — frequently ex-non-commissioned officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps who have been trained for the work. If a nurse is required, she can usually be found amnog the stewardesses, many of whom are fully trained nurses. Some steamship lines will accept only a fully trained nuf se for the position of stewardess. In the smaller and older boats, where there is probably no proper operating theatre, the .ship's surgeon must use his wits and do the best he can to ensure the success of the operation with the equipment at his disposal. There is, of course, generally a hospital, but it is often m the poop of the .vessel , where the motion and vibration make any but a minor operation risky, if not an impossible, undertaking. In that case, if immediate treatment is imperative, the surgeon must either operate m a cabin — a difficult task, as it is possible only to get at one side of a patient m a berth — or have his operating erected" m a better position. - Many a serious operation has been successfully performed m a theatre rapidly erected by' the bosun m one of the alleyways amidships by rigging up sails or tarpaulins around the table and with the sky as a roof. A ship's surgeon rarely gets through a voyage without having an operation of some kind to perform, and although wounds or broken limbs resulting from accidents supply most of his patients, serious operations, such as that for appendicitis or trepanning are not uncommon. There is a freemasonry of the sea which makes the services- of a ship's surgeon the property of anyone wh6 needs them. The captain of a liner that picks up a message from a/vessel carrying no doctor and needing medical aid will call on his own surgeon to deal with the case. The patient's symptoms are wirelessed, and if a prescription by. wireless is not enough, or if an operation must be performed, the liner is stopped and 'kept waiting until the surgeon has done all in' his power for the preservation of life.