THE MEDICAL TESTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2498, 26 June 1915, Page 4

THE MEDICAL TESTS

Now that a further demand has arisen for men for the Expeditionary Force, interest once more attaches to the physical standard set for recruits. At present there is one hard-and-fast test for all branches of the Service, and a man is classed either as fit for the firing line-or as totally unfit for- employment with tho forces in any capacity. The standard set is a. high one, and thero are not wanting mcdical men who consider that in some respects it is unnecessarily high. In our news columns this morning a nnmlicr of modifications in the test are set out, which have been suggested by a committee of doctors in Jv'clsori. It is urged by the doctors that these modifications should at least, be made in the ease of men taken for the Annv Service and Ambulance j Corps. Every man su taken, it is pointed out, would release a man perfectly fit for (lie firing line. In these columns we recontlv directed I attention to the methods of (he Medical Department, and urged (hat changes were oeccssarv. There is no j flisulO. thin, illicit-)■ Ilw Ikisls I 92 they, etaad numbers of perfectly,

serviceable men have to be turned away. Some doctors observe the regulations strictly, while others use their common sense and turn a blind eye to minor defects. The suggestions ol the Nelson doctors are worthy of careful consideration. The dissatisfaction with the regulations and their administration is not confined to Nelson, but is widespread among medical men throughout the Dominion, and it, is an undoubted fact that there is good reason for iL.