RECRUITS X-RAYED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 158, 10 May 1940, Page 6

RECRUITS X-RAYED

RESULTS PLEASE MINISTER The Minister of Defence. Hon. F. Jones, has made available the results of the X-ray examinations of recruits for the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. :hc ures being limited to those conducted this year. These show that approximately 3.8 per cent of the rccruits have been referred to the Army Medical Board for nut'ier con sideration, the remainder being passed as fit. The figures as supplied by Mrt Jones deal with recruits examined from January 1 to March 31, except for Trentham, which are for February and March. The figures are:—Referred Camp Recruits to Board Papakura 1901 74 Ngaruawahia 1-149 115 Burnham 2174 4(> Trentham 1582 275 Totals 710G 510 The men referred to the Medic? \1 Board, the Minister explained, include cases of chest abnormalities of all kinds, many of which woulc' not make a man unfit for service. "It will be seen," added Mr Jones, "that the percentage of those referred to the Mcdical Board is very small and only a proportion of those would be discharged. "It is impossible to obtain the actual numbers of those discharged, as Base Records inform me that about 2000 files have still to be examined, and many others are still' in transit." The Minister stated that a complete change in the system of Xraying recruits had been made by the Army authorities. Arrangements had been made with the various hos oital boards to have that examination before the men were finally accepted for training. "Although the number of men discharged as the result of defects be;r:g disclosed in the X-ray pxaminnion is gratifyingly low, the system tow in operation will prevent imfit -vn being kept in camp," Mr Jones in cone'usi-Mi. / /