WITH THE AUSTRALIAN HOSPIIAL.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2385, 15 February 1915, Page 2

WITH THE AUSTRALIAN HOSPIIAL.

INTERVIEW WITH A NURSE.

Many people will remember reading in tie newspapers of the Australian Voluntary Hospital, which was raised by Australian money in the early stages of the war for work among tho wounded in Europe. Lady Dudley, the wife of a former Governor-General, interested herself in the matter, and so liberally and so quickly did Australians contribute their money that the unit was organised and equipped without unnecessary delay, and was soon at work in France. To meet Miss Burns, who is passing through Wellington on her return to Adelaide, and who worked as a nursing sister and dental surgeon in the hospital from Augut to December, was to hear much that was intensely interesting. Mi6S Burns had really gone to England for a rest from her practice, ana incidentally to attend a dental conference. , The war, however, burst like a thunderbolt upon the world, and all that everyone could think of was: how to play their part in the meat catastrophe that had overtaken civilisation. Mss Burns was very forttwato in being'accepted for work in the Australian unit, and in the four or five months in which she worked in the hospital has surely plumbed the depths of life. The Magic of Chloroform. The staff consisted of about twelve doctors, seventeen or eighteen nurses, and about seventy orderlies, etc. Winereux, from which the white cliffs of Dover could be seen, was one of the first stations. There they were quartered in the Golf Hotel, and a schoolhouse near by was also turned into a hospital. For ten days and nights they were constantly at work as hard as they could go, receiving the wounded, nursing them, and passing them on to the hospital ship. It was only after the tenth day that Miss Burns.found a few moments to explore the building they were in, other than the ward she was working in, and her sleeping quarters.

Never before, ill all her nursing experiences, had she realised the inestimable gift of chloroform. _ One breath or two and the greatest pain was stalled while bullets'were being extracted, Mattered bones bound together, and limbs amputated. It was working at high pressure all the time, and, the doctors did anything and everything to help, even to washing and undressing tfe wounded and acting as orderlies when suffering could be sooner alleviated. They were so brave, those wounded men! What they could stand without murmuring was marvellous, and often they would want to know when they »wculd be allowed out to go back to the firing line again. Head wounds were the most frequently met with, received in unguarded moments while in the trenches,' and wonderful escapes from wounds that in ; the ordinary course of ovente ought to have ended in death wero seen again and again. It was often in these cases that Miss Burns's dental knowledge was invaluable—fractured jaws, pierced oheeks, etc. The greatest grief was caused by the amputations of limbs, and one soldier wej)t most bitterly' when he found that his leg had to be amputated. To console him Miss Burns pointed out an officer, high up in the service who happened to be within sight, and who, was possessed of a wooden leg, and said that he too should have one just as hard to discover as the" officer's. A "wealthy lady was told of the' case, and the wooden le<* was forthcoming almost at. once. Wealthy people, not only in England but from all countries, are pouring their money out like water for the alleviation of these sufferers. Indeed, could too much be done for them? 1

From Winereux the Australian Hospital was moved to Havre to relievo the French nurses, and it also spent some little time on Lord Dunraven's yacht, which, however, was , not suitable for a hospital ship. It was .also on board the Asturias, the hospital ship which has recently figured in the .cables. At Havre, however, the' Australians were stationed but a very short time, as thq authorities considered it to be unsafe, and from there they went to Boulogne. Among the -ouhdod . who were brought to them from time to time were quite a number of Germans, ana. it would have been difficult, with but few exceptions, to find more grateful patients. Nor were they glad to leave the hospital. Miss Burns herself had seen no cases of atrocities committed by Germans. . A Difference of Discipline. The Australians were fortunate in being kept very busy, with ' periods of more or less rash after engagements, for there were • some hospitals tliat had but little to do, while in other places there would be Mich need of workers. This was owing iu a considerable measure to Lady .Dudley 's repieseutations to. the authorities. . Now, however, the War Office has taken over all private units, and turned them into base hospitals, as then they will know exactly what is going on and. what is needed. Li the English hospitals the military' discipline is very. strict, and rather a revelation to their compatriots from over the sea, to whom, like all Australasians, discipline is looked askance at. Australians, too, had never before been face to face with war in such a capacity, and the training and experience must count for much in the years to come.

The uniform worn by the Australian nnrses is of a dark grey, with a very becoming bonnet, quite unlike the ordinary regulation bonnet. A dark grey thick tweed overcoat piped with dark red, and made with a, -wide turnover ! red collar, goes with it, and the outdoor hat is of the same daTlt grey tweed, in a kind of sailor shape. On the left shoulder of'the ooat are the letters V.H. Australian (Voluntary Australian Hospital.) The question, of uniform was a burning one when the hospital was being formed._ Khaki was mooted, but the in . command with some discrimination turned to the matron, "You' have sortie pretty nurses among you. How would they like darkgrey ?" And dark grey-it nas. Relays of nurses and doctors will have to k constant, Miss Burns thinks, as the strain of wotk is terrific, and has in some caies lasted so long. With' the Australian Hospital they had been at work 'till .the timo she had to leave through a breakdown—that was in Bojembor. There will he no lack of offers, as trained nurses in their thousands are craving to do what they can for the men who are giving thoir lives for the safety of tho people at Homo. And the same with tho doctors, who are performing splendid work.