CARE OF WOUNDED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24275, 16 May 1942, Page 9

CARE OF WOUNDED

iIBOTOEUA INSTITUTION RESTORATION facilities rehabilitation measures No. 11. The new services convalescent hospital established on the lake-front at Rotorua by the Health Department is Scribed as a temporary building, see|jg that its walls are constructed of jkeets of fibrous non-inflammable jpaterial, the joins being covered by flanged strips of the same material, with little wood in evidence. In every other respect, however, the building and its jquipinent are permanent and, may be, these ""alls will serve until the hospital [l out-moded by the knowledge of time. As has been stated in the previous article, the hospital has been designed rijnarily for the care of wounded solders, sailors or airmen requiring a long (Opalescence. It is not the intention to deal with cases of neurosis or war ibock, for the treatment of which Hanger is better suited, as it has a staff m specially trained for that work. Medical Equipment H 1 ijljq Rotorua institution has a surj§ gery, an X-ray room and a plaster if room, but it is not probable that surff gery he practised to any extent. B ij-jjg function of the hospital is to treat 1 patients before and after surgical treatI jnent elsewhere. I The physiotherapy department is very i Important. It is equipped with a modern 5 giectrical plant containing many differi en t units. Patients there can receive H ultra-violet ray and infra-red ray and P diathermic treatment besides massage. If There will be . a gymnasium provided 8 tfith apparatus of the kind whereby a I patient by his own muscular effort may 1 help to restore the movement of con--1 tracted muscles and stiff joints. Occupational Therapy i Considerable emphasis will be placed I upon occupational therapy. Owing to I the difficulty in obtaining materials this I department is still in its preparatory | gtase, and in any case there has not |. yet been a large influx of wounded men. I But il is partly in operation, and under I the guidance of specially trained staff 1 f a number of the men are finding in the Jfwork a very agreeable interest. One man who is lame through a wound is I an enthusiastic operator of the spinning I wheel. He has turned out some ex--1 cellent wool fit for knitting into gar--1 inents or weaving. I So far the department has only small » wearing frames, which limit the work I to its simplest form, but that does not | detract from the effort of the men I using them. Some coloured scarfs and | narrow-width pieces of fabric are most I creditable productions for beginners. Among the handcrafts that will be 1 laught will be the covering of stools I with seagrass fibre, the making of basI ketware, soft toys, mats, gloves and I many other things, the rebinding of | books and so on. Gifts of scrap material I iiiitable for bookbinding and skin for | glove-making are among: those appref dated. The department has a carpentery 1 shop with a few simple mechanical tools I where articles of the lighter sort will I be produced. j The occupational therapy department I .will serve the purposes of giving I patients interest in creative work, pro- | riding exercise for hands and arms, and | in some cases where, through disable- ! ment, a man must find a new occupaI tion, teach him a craft whereby he can I earn his living. "Rehabilitate the Mind" 1 ("What- we must constantly keep in Blind," said a medical officer, ''is that H we must rehabilitate the men's minds as 1 well as restore them physically as far | a= possible." I He did not suggest that any of the I patients to be treated at this hospital I will have mental disabilities, but em- | phasised in the light of the experience I of the past that the soldier, after his I war service, has to be aided by every I means during his physical convalescence I to adjust his mind back to the civilian I plane of life. I In this games as weM as occupational I therapy play a very great part. Tho 1 hospital authorities are therefore very I gratified at the action of the Tourist 1 Department in allowing all patients to I play golf, bowls, tennis and croquet in I the Government grounds free of charge. Much appreciated also is the service 1 of the hospital Y.M.C.A. representative I in collecting playing material, organis--1 ing games and arranging a weekly enterI tainraent in the recreation hall, and the I action of the picture houses in making I their entertainment free to patients Every Aid to Health I In many ways the joint committee of I the St. John Ambulance Association I and the Red Cross Society have helped, I among their services being the taking ! I of groups of men for motor drives once 1 a week. "This," said the medical offiS cer, "is not joy-riding. It is a direct I benefit to the health of the men. and I all part of /the* scheme to rehabilitate I their minds." There is -no doubt that the general 1 environment of the hospital, and the | helpful services of many members of a I public which can never repay the soldier 1 for his sacrifice, will support him in his I periods of exhaustion and nervous deI pression, and help him back to civilian 1 life and its monotonies, which are often I inclined to loom large after the thrilJI tag hours of active service. I As at Hanmer, the hospital will reI main civilian in status. The medical officers will not have military rank, but 1 tiey possess powers of discipline which 1 they can exercise if the code of honour I is abused. I In the first article it was erroneously p stated that the wards occupy the north I »nd south sides of the rectangle. What S should have been said is that the 1 ar ds run north and south and form I east and west sides. % (Concluded)