The Dominion MONDAY, JULY 12, 1915. THE DOCTORS AND THE WAR
. PEOBABLY. n0 scction of the'community has been more directly affected by the war than tho members of 1 the. medical profession.- Never before has warfare produced such enormoufe casualty lists; never be : fore were such -immense bodies of men gathered together under emergency''conditions calling' for tho skill l and experience of. tho medical profession to .minimise tho dangers attendant on /men living in. the crowded state and under such circumstances as exist, on the battlefi-onts of Europe at the : present time. Tho demand for doctors': was never so great; and the medical profession has risen splendidly to the occasion. Lucrative practices have been ■ sacrificed; /comfortable, consulting • positions giv<in-up at a moment's "notice in order to'meet the needs in the crowded hospitals near the .fighting lines or on the fringe of the field of battle ' itself, tending the wounded under the firo of . tlie enemy's guns. Here in New Zealand the doctors have, not been behind the members of their profession elsewhere. There have-been volunteers for service, in abundance, and' at the present time there are. many-medical .men, some of them of -Army Medical Corps experience, anxious to get to the front and unable to do so. Some want to go to England in response to the call which came from the Mother Country a few weeks, ago; others are prepared to servfe anywhere the Defence authorities deem best.
There appears to be a good deal of doubt and: uncertainty- as to how many can be spared for war service ■Without seriously depleting the civil population- of ; the medical assistance it requires} ,ahd- - the matter-is, we believe, still under" consideration. The quickest and smoothest'road to a settlement of'this point would seem to be to consult the doctors themselves through their association.. We have little 'sympathy these, times with touchy people who are ■ overready to. take affront at fancied, slights to their dignity and importance, and he.re; and there complaints from individual members of the medifeal profession, as from those in other walks of life, have been,of a somewhat petty nature. But the part, which' tfie medical profession plays in the life of a community— and particularly in view -of the emergency call on that profession as the'outcome of the war—establishes for it a claim to consultation by tho authorities before any step directly affecting the - members- of the profession" is. decided on. We 'have no doubt that Ministers have. .already determined to consult the Medical Association. What we suggest is that the-.step should bo taken Jit once: It. is most desirable that all those doctors who qm bo spared for service .with \ the. British ■ Forces in France—and doctors we are told are urgently needed there—should bo notified'at the earliest possible moment. . The sooner lihey go ths greater the service they_can. render." It is not a time for too nice balancing as to what we may or may not require in New./ Zealand , eighteen months or ■ two years hence. That ,is problematical —a problem for tho future. What is certain is that doctors aro imperatively wanted now. to tend the sick 1 and- wounded soldiers in Europe. Aro we to debar our doctors from going to the assistance of these wounded men in France and Belgium who - need them now, for fear that eighteen : months or two years hence, if tho war continues, they may be wanted here? Reasonable , precautions must, of course, be taken, but we must if necessary take some risks —and who would shirk that risk when it means' so much to the men who have suffered wounds and mutilation fighting our battles 1
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2511, 12 July 1915, Page 4
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606The Dominion MONDAY, JULY 12, 1915. THE DOCTORS AND THE WAR Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2511, 12 July 1915, Page 4
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