IN CASE OF INVASION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13778, 17 June 1908, Page 4

IN CASE OF INVASION.

VOLUNTEER MILITARY , NURSES. A NATIONAL NEED. DR. -SCOTT'S \ VIEWS. "My subject will primarily Ikj babies," remarked Dr. Scott, of Onehunga, in reply to a question put by a Herai.i> representative, the remark. being apropos of a lecture which the doctor intended delivering at an open meeting of the Onehunga Nursing Brigade, recently. " Babies are in the air just now, as you know, in other words numberless or- . ganisations, the world over, are at the present time concerning themselves over the prevention of infant mortality, the importance of which certainly cannot ba overestimated from a national standpoint. Our local Trades and Labour Council has? taken the matter up, and Mr. Rosser has, I hear, tabled a motion in favour of .babies. " Joking apart, however," went on the doctor, "babies are indeed required, for unless we fill this Dominion, .and that quickly, some oilier—probably Eastern—nation will do so, and we .shall 'have neither the moral right nor the physical force, to deny them entrance. "Is there not another question you intended expanding upon on this occasion?" This occasion!" replied the doctor, with •warmth. "For years I have been hammering away at it!the matter of getting lady volunteers to enrol themselves for the duties pertaining to a military nursing brigade, against the possibilities of a war breaking out, you mean':" , " Exactly," was the reply. "Oh, I shall probably take occasion to drag it in. The subject is a pet hobby of mine, and I have a mania for riding it whenever opportunity offers. It also is relevant to, and in my opinion as nationally important as, that of infant life protection, its objectbeing to preserve the flower of our young manhood from untimely graves." " Then you think a military nursing brigade necessary to the defence scheme?" "There is a crying necessity for it," answered the doctor with-conviction. "In time of peace prepare for war. All seems peaceful at present. We have occupied this Dominion for 60 odd years, and have never taken much thought, until quite recently perhaps, of the prospect of a warlike invasion. But it -would really bo remarkable if this happy state of affairs should continue to go on from year to year. The fact that your house has been up for 50 years without taking fire gives no assurance that it will nob be burned down to-night. The matter of national defence is of such paramount importance, and is so well championed by the Herald and other progressive newspapers, that nothing need be said by me in its favour. But if national defence is required, say, against an awakening East, then I say not the least necessary part of the duties of national defence devolves on the nursing brigade. This aspect of the question," the doctor went on, "seems to have been entirely ignored hitherto; but if our young men were called out, say, to resist an invasion of Auckland, one- or two thousand wounded in a single action would not be beyond probability. Awful to contemplate would be the sufferings of these poor fellows if we only had, say, 100 nurses available. Our present staff of train.ed nurses can scarcely over-take the ordinary work in stressful times, and during the last few months many have ,had to bo drawn from the South and the 'Commonwealth, to fill vacancies at the Auck- : land Hospital, and in outside practice. One ; thousand additional nurses, in time of war, | would be but a moderate estimate for press- j ing duties. I propose asking the ladies of j Onehunga to form a nucleus of this brigade ; of 1000 volunteer military nurses. I shall advise them that if they will memorialise ! the medical side of the defence authorities, whoever they may be, and ask them to form a nursing staff, and declare their willingness to become the said nucleus, their petition ! will—this I have on excellent authority be favourably entertained and undoubtedly bear Valuable fruit." ; "How do you propose to train these volunteer nurses';" he was asked. " Partial training, both in theory and practice, would have to suffice in the absence of fully qualified nurses," answered Dr. Scott. " Theoretically they could be trained by the medium of illuminating lectures, and they could obtain a practical insight into their duties by suitable provision made in the public hospitals of the Dominion, for the purpose. My suggestion in this latter respect is that, say, at the Auckland Hospital, in each of the 10 or 12 larger wards, one member of the brigade might be permitted to attend and observe the process of bone-setting, and such other casualties as would be contingent on an engagement, as well as many other details of. nursing, without in any way interfering with the discipline of the wards. Supposing we had a brigade, or whatever it might be called in military parlance, of 1000 partially trained nurses, ready to respond at a moment's notice to the call of duty. We may estimate that 100 of the most vigorous trained nurses could be drafted for military duty as highest grade nurses, called nursing sisters or whatever name would be most suitable. There would be 800 junior nurses, who might be expected to do the work that 400 more highly trained nurses could easily do. These, working an eight hour day, would give 33 sisters, or fully trained nurses, 270 nurse's assistants, whose qualifications or lack of them would require two to do the work of one, in other words there would be 1 the equivalent of 135 junior nurses or probationers, who would be available throughout the day and night. The other 200 volunteer nurses would, as it were, garrison the general and private hospitals, and fill the places of the 100 trained nurses taken for duty as sisters. In Germany, where the spirit of militarism is ever rampant, it is proposed that all women shall undergo- a practical training in the hospitals, for, I think, one year, so that they may take their place as military nurses, should it ever be demanded of them. This may sound revolutionary, but it is what should be aimed at in this Dominion. For if we require (and I think we should expect) all young men to qualify themselves for defensive warfare, itis surely only right to expect- our women to do their share by preparing for eventualities. And, moreover, as I believe the training of our young men would improve their physique, so the training of the women would the better fit them for their life duties. This is a large subject, and one lam never tired of descanting upon. If the ladies can be prevailed upon to take the initiatory steps, I feel confident it will lead us on to the realisation of this volunteer nursing brigade 'idea. It may take a long time to stir the authorities "up to a sense of their duty, but I for one think this is a matter that admits of no delay."