HOSPITAL SHIPS

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15919, 5 June 1917, Page 8

HOSPITAL SHIPS

THE SERVICE ACROSS THE CHANNEL. * (IT.OII A SriXIAL COr-RESrOXDENT.J t LONDON. April 10. The visitor to a British base port who sees tho elean-painted hospital ships besides the quays has little idea of what a prodigious amount of work is performed by their staffs on each journey".

A hospital ship has two separato functions. It is a ship, with all a ship's needs and requirements, and a travelling hospital, with all the multitudinous equipment of modern medical service. For the most part the duties of tho seafaring staff and tho hospital staff do not overlap. Coaling operations, Sailing orders, and cleaning ship aro affairs of tho former, tho infinito routino of preparing wards, taking on medical 6tores, and making out tho many necessary returns, aro the duties of the latter. Sometimes there are duties when both staffs co-operate. Such a one is the practico of "Abandon Ship "

Suddenly and without warning tho Bhip's signal bell clangs 'unmistakably. It is the call for an emergency practice of "Abandon Ship." At its first notes everybody oii board stops ihe work that ho is engaged on, and all hasten off to their parado stations. "When everyone is present at his post "AH present" is announced, and then, and not till then, tho bell is-silenced. Each group lip its own particular boat, and is under command of a specified official. The groups narade by the boats, tho chocks are dropped, tho. davits swung out, tho party embarked and tho boats lowered. When in the water the sailors who havo lowered them ewarm down the falls and join tho crew, tho oars aro unshipped, and the boats rowed off to a distance which will be clear of the maelstrom of tho sinkin z vessel. These "Abandon Ship" parades havo been carried out as permanent drills for many months, for to a hospital ship, ever since the beginning of the war, chance contact with a floatin.-j mine has been a continual menace. To-day tho naked murder-threat of tho beaten German —his boast that now his U-boats will torpedo Red Cross craft, has made tho practice more and more essential.

Loading "cases" on board is always a quick process, for there is a rivalry among the hospital boats in their swift and methodical handling of the suffering freight. Tho time taken depends on tho port, for as the high and low tides vary, so do the slanting gangways aid or hinder tho carrying of the stretchers. Off loading, too, is a matter of varying speed, for some wharfs are better equipped than others, and motor ambulances can lino up almost alongside tho laden boat. The ship itself is divided into six main -wards and three' smaller ones, the latter being reserved for "special" cases, such as serious surgical stretcher cases, "mentals," and contagious diseases. ' Beforo the patients come down a detailed list, known as the "loading state," is sent from tho hospitals to the ship, and according to the .list accommodation is parcelled out and provision made for the reception of sick and wounded. First comcs the loading party of stretcher bearers, then a squad of th© Dockers' Battalion rig up gangways, and at the appointed time a long lino of motor ambulances draws up along the quay side. Each patient ber.rs two labels, each-, giving his number, rank, name and regiment, and 0110 with additional information as to tho case and its treat- i ment. Tho latter is retained as a | gtiido to medical officers during tho. • patieiit's nourney, jind the other is given up to the oiiictr on tho quay, ' as a kind of receipt i'oi delivery of so i many individuals to a hospital ship. | The patient is assigned to his particu- I lar ward according to hit? label, as arranged from the list sent in advance. ] Tho numbers embarked vary with tho stress of circumstances at the front, but an averago small vessel will embark somo three hundred or more patients in thirty-five minutes. The pressuro of work during loading is high. Each, patient is placed in tyed under supervision of a sister, examined and mado comfortable. The standing cases, that is tho slightly wounded, aro allotted berths in the saloons, while the stretcher eases have special swinging cots in tho wards. Soon all are on board, and tho ship casts off on her homeward voyage. Tho staff are busy; here a man in pain needs injections, there a dressing must tw changed, and to everyone who is -fit to receive them, fruit, cigarettes, swoots, and cups of tea are distributed. Whilo tho patients aro settling down an orderlv is methodically placing acoloured ticket over each berth and cot. This is assumed bv the patients to bo uart aud_ parcel of the medical mvstorles, but in point of fact tho colour of tho tickot denotes his place in the boat, and the number of attendants needed to niovo liim to safety m tho event of an accident or tho torpedoing of tho ship. ¥ All walking eases are issued with lifebelts, and a rigorous "lights out" order is in force. Few of the men ponder the question of submarine murder. They arc inxired to the risks of war, and past that stage where men wonder at tho utter beastliness of tho German _

The sisters go about tneir business methodically, keen eyes keep watch on the bridge, and-at last tho crossing is made in safety and the great white steamer sweeps slowly into harbour, there to disgorge her pitiful freight of men maimed and wounded in tho struggle to maintain civilisation in the world.