CARE OF WOUNDED AND SICK

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 60, 4 December 1942, Page 4

CARE OF WOUNDED AND SICK

U.S. Mobile Hospital NAVAL SnVon WORK IN Efficiency and comfort are the keynotes of a United States Navy mobile hospital now established in New Zealand. The utmost welfare of thA sick and wounded is the goal. Not one. ot the hospital staff ever stops • striving to reach that goal, and this staff has now been joined by United States Army nurses, who are quickly* settling down and will bring that touch of womanhood so necessary in the cause of healing. . . . ’ , Captain Felix P. Keaney, Medical. : Corps, U.S. Navy, is commanding officer. and he has as his executive, officer Captain Robert W. Kimberley, also of the Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy. The remainder of the medical hnd ad-' ministrative staff are members of the United States Naval Reserve of Officers. Practically every branch of surgery and medicine is represented among these officers. The buildings Of the hospital were originally erected for use as a convalescent home for servicemen, but there has been considerable altera--1 tion and addition to them since they < ! were taken over by the mobile unit; indeed, more and more buildings aro ‘ still being added. ,The wards lire ' roomy and airy, though the demand for ' beds has comr>elled the utmost use of ’ floor space. New wards, now .almost ready for occupation, will remove this ’ difficulty. The site of the hospital is a flat spur ! running outward from a chain of hills ’ which lines a quiet valley. ' The road- ! ways in the hospital grounds have ’ been tar-sealed, and the footways are . 1 concrete. A special railway siding and ’ platform serve the hospital, and slid--1 ing doors in the platform shelter permit easy access to traiiis for the re--1 moval of stretcher cases. ’ With green wooded hills all round ’ and a swift running ri ( ver close by, ’ with a sunny aspect and with country- ! side quiet, it is difficult to imagine 1 a’ more suitable position in which to ! mend the health.of those who have given and taken blows in the battles • for mankind's destiny. , ' There is one thing, however, which ’ strikes a visitor.- It is the complete ' absence of flower gardens. Cut flowers V j in profusion reach the wards, but the ' square austerity of buildings and ! roads is broken only by recently-sown ! lawns. Perhaps it is early days to draw attention to this, but maybe convalescent patients will be given the opportunity to while away some of their spare time in planting flowerbeds in imd. round the lawns. Hospital Equipment. Equipment for every conceivable type of prdblerii, surgical or medical, which can be encountered in war, has r been assembled. Some was taken over ’ with the buildings, and more was 1 loaned by the New Zealand Govern- ' ment; other equipment was brought by ’ the mobile unit itself. 5 There -is an eye ward and an ortho--1 paedic ward, a neuropsychiatry ward 1 and a dental ward, to mention only some. The wards yesterday accomj modated patients, sick and . wounded, drawn from the United States Navy. , the Marine Corps, and the United ‘ States mercantile marine. The dental work of the hospital is, by the way. ’ for all United States personnel in the , district and not restricted to hospital ( cases alone. ....... .... . A laboratory and a dispensary are both staffed by hospital corpsmen, but , some of the bacteriological and , pathological work is carried out. by ' the Wellington Public Hospital. , All Inmates of the hospital, whether patients or “crewmen” —the . hospital,

being naval, is staffed by a crew —are fed from a central kitchen, the food being, carried to the wards for lied cases, in special hot wagons. The wards themselves have facilities for keeping food hot. Walking wounded and crewmen feed in dining-rooms. Recreation. Every possible thing is done to promote the happiness of the patients. There are a recreation room with billiard tables (provided by the New Zealand Government) and a table-tennis lay-out. Plenty of magazines are provided, and there is a large library, for which most of the books have been received from the United States, though New Zealand well-wishers have pro- ’ vidcd quite a number. A New Zealand woman has voluntarily undertaken charge of this library, devoting most of her time to it. She lias nearly completed a catalogue of the books, sp that bed cases can select-what; they want and have .them brought to them. The canteen is run by the New Zealand Canteen Board. It Is well supplied witli goods, and all profits from it go to the United States Welfare Fund. Liberty for both walking cases and crewmen Is liberal. Patients can obtain day passes most days of the- week, the time limits being 10.30 a.m. to shortly, after midiiiglit. Hospital corpsmen are on day; duty in watches, one day off, one day on. and may “go aslipre” on their days off. Night duts’ corpsmen may “go ashore” any day, but must return for duty by 9 p.m. There are picture shows twice a week in the theatre, on Mondays ami Fridays, and mobile projectors carry the films into the wards on Wednesdays. In addition, visiting companies give concerts every Tuesday. Pni’tleS of women eo-opdrating with the American Red Cross. visit the hospital on Tuesdays. doing little things for the patients, and running their errands. The condition of the patients on their arrival is good, in the opinion of one of the higher ranking officers of the hospital. The use of sulphanilamide antiseptics has much reduced the inei'dence of sepsis. A certain number ot tropical diseases have been met. but the patients in this class suffer mainly from malaria. . The only fly—or flies—in the ointment of the hospital are the sandflies. Both patients and crewmen complain of their voracious appetites.