SICK REPORTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 52, 24 November 1917, Page 9

SICK REPORTS

CAMP HOSPITALS' WORK

WHY THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS

APPEARS LARGE

C.''^°* a l of reinforcements in hospital, . day, tho reports of sick'men jn. hospital iu the camps and military hospitals throughout tho Dominion nre published in detail, and tho total briefly summarised iu terras similar to that above-quoted. And tho civilian is prone to say: "That seems a large number of men to bo sick." But if tho same civilian could find ■cimo to visit tho camp hospitals—these are specially instanced becauso the outsido military hospitals aro chiefly for convalescents—ho would bo surprised at the hearty, healthy appearance of tho bulk of tho patients. Similarly, anyone who desired to mako a comparison of statistics between the soldier and civilian communities, wouT3 find hiniself nonplussed Tho fact is that tho conditions of civilian sick and soldier Sick are so different that it is impossible to mako any fair comparison, except as regards tho serious cases and tho deaths. Apart from these, all comparisons, in,fact, even tho daily hospital reports, aro misleading. Eighty per cent, of tho men shown as sick in the camp reports aro not sick'■ at all., But , they arounfit for duty, and in feimp there can bo no middle course. The soldier who cuts his toe has no Jiomo'close at,hand to go and rest in for a day. Therefore ho goes into hospital. Tho man with an attack of indigestion who needs a special diet for a few days, cannot got that diet anywhere but in hospital; similarly, the soldier who is suffering from a heavy cold, perhaps with a touch of influenza, jnust go to hospital. Yet, in civilian Sifo theso men would never bo counted aa sick in the hospital sense. ' At both Trenth am and Fcatherston Military Hospitals the majority of the sick come and s;p almost dailv. Most ■of them are as loth to go as they were to come. This is a strange feature in soldier psychology. Tho very suggestion of hospital makes many refrain from reporting sickV But thoso who Live been there, especially the "walking about" .patients, aro never sorry to repeat the visit. ,Atfer days of strenuous training it is pleasant to sit en tho sunny verandahs or in tho cosy sitting-rooms, and to watch the world go by, and listen to a gramophone, or play cards or "bobs." Most men, of course, would soon fret at the inaction, hut for a few days it is very ■pleasant. ■. ■ The point.is, however, that every one <of these quasi-sick men , has to.be counted in the hospital sick reports, ivith the result that.an impression is gathered that there is always a considerable amount of sickness in tho camps. A careful scrutiny of the details of the reports will,show how many serious cases there the -present moment less than half a,dozen—in both camps. And if one looks up the total of the deaths in the camps since they were established, it will bo found thai they aro astonishingly low, considering the thousands of men concerned, and even allowing that these men may have oeen the pick of flio community. ■