Transport of Wounded in War

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume VIII, Issue 2, 1 April 1915, Page 77

Transport of Wounded in War

One of the great features of the present war Is the many new methods of conveying th? wounded from the battle fields to the clearing hospitals and from these on to the base hospitals, where they finally stay, until convalescent. First come the motor ambulances, which go to the battlefields accompanied by a doctor to pick up the wounded. These are fitted very comfortably , and usually accommodate about six lying-down cases and sev eral standing or sitting. These very rap'dly and fairly comfortably convey the wounded to the first dressing station, and sometimes even go out from the base hospitals. Sometimes nurses accompany the doctors on these errands, and there is keen competition for the honour of going. Some of these have an arrangement for carrying hot soup and other food which more than anything help to combat the shock of the wounds. Hospital trains of which there are about forty, equipped with dual brakes to travel over any railway m Britain have been supplied from the large railway companies of Great Britain. They are m use for the conveyance of men from the landing places to the various hospitals. They are provided with treatment rooms, fitted with steam cooking arrangements, lavatories, beds, hot and cold water, and all that is required for the officers and men during the journey from the coast, as well as day and sleeping accommodation for doctors, nurses, and general staff. Besides these trains there are many trains on the Continent near the fighting area, which run between the clearing and the base hospitals. Nurses give very interesting accounts of the duty on these trains. We reprint one from the "Nursing Times" of January 9th. : Ambulance Train No. 11, Boulogne. We have had a very busy lime lately, here, there, and everywhere, bringing men down from the Front to the different base hospitals. Ko time to collect oi r Christmas letters wliich arc still waiting for us at Rouen ! I cannot toll you very much about our work because of the Censor, but this week I send you an account of the train. I hope to send yoa a photo shortly, but as it is nearly 800 feet long it is a difficult subject for a camera ! It consists of two kitchens, dispensary, stores, doctors' coach, and dining saloon, sisters' and matron's coach, orderlies' barraok room, ten wards, each of twenty-two beds, two coaohes to

hold sixty-five sitting-up cases, etc. Each sister is responsible for her own ward with two St. John Ambulance orderlies tinder her ; she can requisition all she needs for each journey from stores and dispensary. The one drawback is the want of communication between the coaches, so that when we are en route with bad cases we have an anxiotis time, as the only way to get the doctor is to send an orderly flying for him anywhere the train may happen to stop. The doctors are very good m coming, even if it means walking along the footboard, a somewhat perilous affair on a French train ! The cases are most i iteresting ; many of the men come straight from the trenches, and are so grateful and uncomplaining. I had two nice Scotch boys last week ; both had been m the trenches the day before ; one is sixteen and one seventeen, and they went by the name of " The Babes m the Wood 1" Our coach is a first-class carriage with corridor ; each sister has half a caiiiage, which she arranges according to her own taste. Our equipment consists of a mattress, pillows, four grey rugs, pillow cases, towels, and an enamel jug and basin, and very comfortable we tind our beds after a good day's work m the wards. In daytime rugs are folded, pillows put into covers of various colours, and basin hidden away, so we have quite a nice little sitting-room. Great ingenuity is shown m the many devices to disguise one's sponge, brush and comb bag, and to make them ornamental. One sister is very patriotic, her room gay with Trrkey twill and British flags, while the other side of the compartment favours the Navy. Another is faithful to Auld Ireland, while her companion is decked m Belgian colours. One of our many interesting journeys was on Christmas Eve ; we started at 3 a.m., and arrived at our destination about 9. We could hear the guns plainly, and saw many aeroplanes. At one time we heard a curious crackling souni, which an officer told us was artillery firing at a Taube of the enemy. We took over 300 cases on board, some very serious eases of bullet wounds, shrapnel, and frostbites ; all were attended to and dressed en route, and made as comfortable as possible. One poor man with rheumatic fever and a temperatare of 104 degref-s had slept on straw for days. Of course every possible care is taken of the ill and wounded. Meals on boai d are a real luxury to Tommy after the trenches ; soup, milk, eggs, frrit, and good bread and bolter are a pleasant change from bully beef and biscuits. We arrived at the base again about 10 p.m., and having seen all our patients carefully moved on stretchers to their respective hospitals, put thr wards m order again, and ready for the next jo arney ; we left the orderlies to clean up, a much needed process, and went to bed, starting on our next joarney at 1.30 a.m. There are also the hospital yachts of which Sister Penley writes from the Hospital yacht " Albion " : I joined at Southampton. This is a private yacht and is fitted up beautifully. We can take about sixty patients. There are a Matron, six Sisteis, a Colonel m charge, ,wo Medical Officers and two Orderlies,

Another Sister and I have the theatre and have been kept quite busy, we have had an amputation of an arm and lots of bullet* have been extracted. They all seem very plucky, I think they teel lucky that they are alive after all they have gone hrough. We usually leave Southampton one day, embark patients at Boulogne the next, and disembark at Southampton the following morning, after doing all their dressings and making them as comfortable as possible. We take it m turns to do night duty- — two at a time, so our turn only comes once a week and there is always a steward up to sec 1 to our meals. We are all agreed that we are m clover. Never m my wildest dreams have I imagined anything so delightful. Our cabins are quite luxurious only two berths m each one and lots of room for our things. The owner, Mr. Loe f fler, is most kind and thoughtful, he has provided us with rugs, coats and rubber shoes for the deck. Earlier m the war, we read about the barges, which are fitted up quite comfort -

ably for the wounded, and travel slowly down the rivers. This is a very easy way of progress, and the nurses can attend well to their patients who benefit by the fresh air and slow motion. There are also the many fine hospital si lips, owned by the British navy and which are staffed by the Royal Navy Sisters, that is, Queen Alexandra's Naval Nursing Service, and the Reserve of that Service. These are very comfortably fitted up, both for patients and nurses. There are, too, ships fitted up and presented by private people, and many yachts, and splendid work is being done by these m so quickly getting the wounded who are at all fit to move out of danger.