Hospital Sheepskins “Very Comfortable’*

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29778, 22 March 1962, Page 18

Hospital Sheepskins “Very Comfortable’*

(New Zealand Press Association)

INVERCARGILL. Mar. 21. Two patients who volunteered yesterday to try sheepskins as an alternative to conventional under-blankets on their beds at the Southland Hospital, were pleased with them.

"Very comfortable,” was the verdict given by Messrs N. L. Scott, a 23-year-old carpenter, and 17-year-old Brian Flannery, who went “on the wool” as part of an investigation prompted by medical research success overseas. The sheepskins are from the hospital farm's hogget flock and, after a few initial difficulties, the skins now in use were prepared at a cost of more than £1 each, including their market value. They were laundered so thoroughly that no smell of wool is left. The skins were cured with salt and alum and massaged with a brick to break the grain and make them soft. They are expected to be good for about 14 trips to the laundry and, afterwards, may still fetch a respectable price from wool and skin merchants.

The two patients, who are not of the type for whom sheepskins would usually be ordered, found the new “under - sheets” ticklish around the shoulders at first. The skins stretch from the shoulders to the heels and the two men are lying

directly on the fibre. The “itch” wore off within about 15 minutes, they said. “The skin is soft, not too hot. and absorbs any moisture,” Mr Scott said. “It warms up a lot more quickly than a sheet, but does not became uncomfortably warm,” said Mr Flannery. Overseas reports show that the idea is gaining ground, particularly in the United States where a few doctors have been supporting it for a fairly long time. Skins are considered most useful in geriatric nursing. The main object is to eliminate bedsores as much as possible. A Christchurch firm is said to process skins suitable for medical use in New Zealand.