CRIPPLED CHILDREN

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 192, 11 May 1937, Page 5

CRIPPLED CHILDREN

Treatment at Hospital Inadequate VIEW OF MEDICAL MAN "New Zealand lags far behind the world in the hospitalisation of cripples and. worse still, in Wellington we cannot hope to have anything like a proper system of treating cripples for years to come.” said Dr. Alexander Gillies when speaking at the annual I meeting last night of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society. , Mr. Gordon J. Reid presided, and among those present were the mayor. Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, and Mr. C. 11. Chapman, M.P. An apology for absence was received from the Minister of Health, Hon. P. Fraser. “We are on the eve of building a great modern hospital, but finances do not run to including an orthopaedic block, let alone an orthopaedic hospital,” said Dr. Gillies. “Not only now, lint for years to come will the bonetuberculosis cases, such as spines, knees, elbows, shoulders and joints, be treated in shaded buildings, closed and dark, mixed in witli other patients, which does not affect the other patients but is very bad for the tuberculosis ones themselves. In other countries they are treated in open-air wards, properly heated, lighted and ventilated, with every facility for the trapping of all available sunshine. Let us not smugly congratulate ourselves that we have the best. If we have anything whatever to be proud of in our treatment of tuberculosis of bones and joints, the best we can say is that we have some experts in the shut-in treatment.” Dealing with infantile paralysis cases, Dr. Gillies said that, like the foolish virgins, “we are caught with our lamps untrimmed, except that we can scarcely claim that we have even the lamps.” “For years.” he said, "we have stressed the need of under-water exercise pools, and where are we? —in the throes of an epidemic witli little patients needing under-water exercises now, and the pity of it is they cannot get them, and as far as these patients are concerned that is the treatment they will forever lack, considering the time it takes to get anything done. With the paralysis there is a vicious circle, unused muscles atrophy from disuse—that is, they shrink and become more and more useless if they are not used in some way, and as they cannot be used in the ordinary way we give them movements of a special specialised kind. Essence of Medical Opinion. "Friction and gravity make the movements very fatiguing to the weakened muscle, and have to be overcome before we can get movement which is going to be of any benefit. Sometimes patients fail to overcome friction and gravity, and then there is no way of getting movement at all, because it is the movement by voluntary action which is the most essential one to get. Thus you see a muscle movement can be very tiring and dangerous, but no movement at all means that the muscle becomes more and more useless. So ■what are we to do? In water we largely eliminate the forces of gravity and friction. The arm is buoyed up, the body is buoyed up, arms tend to float in the water, as do the legs, and we can concentrate on the exercises with less danger of doing harm. That is the essence of medical opinion at the present time. Dr. Gillies said he thought it was up to the members of the Crippled Children Society to bring the facts before the people. After all, New Zealand was a democratic country, and the people ruled. What they thought to-day would be law to-morrow. Address by the Mayor. "We are all agreed, as must be every well-meaning person, as to the necessity of doing what we can to look after those little children who, through no fault of their own, are deprived of the full, and hi many eases, the main physical benefits of life,” said the mayor. “When one looks round, as one does after contact with a society such as this, .and looks into some of the cases witli which you have been hi contact, and which I have personally,(through my office, got to know of, it does wring one’s heart to feel that there are so many in proportion to our community who need our help. Indeed, I think it is only since Lord Nuffield started his fund in New Zealand that the average man and woman’s attention has been directed properly to tills problem in our midst. It is, of course, true that: institutions have been dealing with it, but (lie average man and woman has not been aware of the necessity ihat existed in the community for help along the lines which this society is now fol lowing.” Mr. Hislop said that the society had done much eood work during the year, but not as much as it would have liked. A. great deal more assistance from the general public was necessary before the society could do anything of an appreciable nature in meeting the problem. Officers Elected. The election of officers resulted as follows: —Patron,, the mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop; president, Mrs Knox Gilmer; viceliresidents, Lady Buckleton, Lady Myers, Lady Nolan. Lady I’omare, Lady Roberts, Rt. Rev 11. St. Barbe Holland. Archbishop O’Shea and Rabbi S. Katz, Me "dames F. IV. Dawson. A. Gillies, IV. E. Herbert, 1. C. A. Hislop, C. J. B. Norwood, B. Sutherland. Bishop Sprott, Sir James Grose, Messrs. C. C. Odlin. L. T. Watkins; general commit too, Mrs. Knox Gilmer (president), Gordon J. Reid (chairman). Mesdames 11. D. Bennett, IV. Blundell. Chalmers, E. IV. Hunt. B. L. Dallani, C. W. Earle, M, Fraser, ]>. Fraser, J. G. Hughes, J. M. A. Hott, A. Longinore, Marshall Macdonald, C. J. Moore, J. O’Shea, A. P. Smith, F. C. Spratt, C. IT. Weston, R. Pearson, IV Young. Misses Cooper. N. Donovan. F. M. Low, I. Myers, M. McGregor, Messrs. H. E. Anderson. E.~Bull, C. Clabburn. T. B. Gusscott, P. D. Hoskins. S. M. Hobbs. IV. McLay, J. Meltzer. IV. G. Morpeth, J C. Riddell, G. B. Stephenson, It. G Railing.. Dr. Morice, Dr. Montgomery Spencer.