X-RAY TESTS

Camp News (Northern Command), Volume 1, Issue 1, 3 May 1940, Page 8

X-RAY TESTS

THIRD ECHELON 120 Recruits Examined CLASSIFICATION PROCESS At the rate of about one a minute, 120 recruits for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force underwent X-ray examination at Auckland Hospital on April 23. As fast as technicians exposed a film and dispatched it to the darkroom for rapid developing, the routine was repeated, man after man taking his place before the screen with a swift regularity until the full group was completed within two hours. Nearly 150 square feet of film was used. Under the direction of Dr. C. D. Costello, radiologist at the hospital, two technicians were on duty in the X-ray room, one placing each man in the correct position and. the other handling the controls. An exposure of the film for. one-tenth of a second and a postero-anterior record of the chest

was. photographed. With no loss of time the film was despatched to the darkroom for the developing and fixing processes, which altogether occupied about half an hour. Scrutiny of Films The films will be classified by Dr. Costello. When that is done all abnormal films will be scrutinised by Dr. Costello and a chest specialist, Dr. C. McDowell. In cases where the trouble may be of a serious nature, the recruit will later appear before a special army medical board. In the past the procedure has been to X-ray the men after they had gone into camp, but the disadvantage of finding men unsuitable for overseas service some time after they have actually begun training has resulted in the adoption of the new system of examinating newly-enlisted recruits at the hospital. Further groups of 120 men will be examined at the hospital each night, and it is hoped to comolete the work for the third echelon by May 3. Tribute to Technicians To examine such a large number of men in a short time is no easy task for the hospital authorities, but the chairman of the Hospital Board, Mr. J. Allan Moody, said that in any war measure the board had willingly agreed to give its utmost assistance to the authorities. He added that a particularly fine spirit had been shown by Dr. Costello in offering to perform the work in his own time. For his part, Dr. Costello acknowledged recently the willing manner in which the technical staff had agreed to work the long hours necessary to complete the task.