TRAINING A FIELD AMBULANCE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2694, 14 February 1916, Page 6

TRAINING A FIELD AMBULANCE

ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE | i WHAT IT DOES & HOW IT DOES IT SOME ACCOUNT OF AWAPUNI CAMP (Specially Written for Thk Dominion.) On a recent date the No. 2 N.Z. (R. 13.) Field Ambulance, which had been in training for a period of about four months at Awapuni, near .Palmerston North. 6ailed from Auckland for "somewhere at the front, there to discharge amidst the horrors, the ravages, and the inhumanities of this cruel and devastating war, the essentially beneficent and humane t duties for which it is equipped. The occasion seems to be a fitting ono to supply the public, who tako so keen and sympathetic an interest in all that pertains to military activities at the present time, with some account of the scope and training of the Army Medical Service. It is a singular anil a deplorable fact that the public knowIces about this important branch of military work than they do of any other. The reasons for this aro various. Probably the chief ono is that the combatant. branches of the Army loom larger in the public eye and appeal more to the popular imagination than do tho non-combatant branches. This, no doubt, is not to be wondxared at, but, as is usual in such matters, it proceeds from an imperfect appreciation of the relative importance of the two sides of tho service. The Army, of course, is essentially a fighting and the writer yields to nobody in his admiration of the combatant unite, but these latter could achieve nothing without the Army Service Corps, and tho horrors of war would be multiplied ten thousandfold were it not for the Army Medical Service. Moreover, that attitude of mind, all too common, which looks upon war as a form of sport, cannot be too strongly condemned, but to those who profess to judge of the valour of troops by the measure of the risks they take, it may'here be pointed out that tho work of the non-combatant branches of the Army is every bit as hazardous as that of the men in the trenches, an assertion which is amply verified by the casualty lists. The Ambulance man does not carry 'arms, except for self-defence. The Geneva Convention says it is an offence for him to do so. It also declares that tho Red Cross which he wears on his arm shall lw his safeguard. Notwithstanding this, it may surprise the reader to learn that fully two-thirds of the men of the first Field Ambulance which left New Zealand soon after the war started aro now dead! Can any fighting regiment show a larger proportion of losses in the field ? THE GREAT REVOLUTION. But, apart altogether from this aspect of the matter, tnere is another reason why the Army Medical Service should bo much better known to the public than so far has been the case. It has often been said that the present war has disclosed revolutionary changes in tho methods of waging war. ' The weapons of destruction, for instance,'aro immeasurably more powerful, more accurate, and more deadly than was ever the caso before; they are more plentiful and more varied, and the devilish ingenuities of chemistry as applied to ballistic science have reinforced lawful with .unlawful weapons of tho most terrible character. But, revolutionary as havG been the changcs in the methods of waging war in this direction, it is safe to say thai the most revolutionary chango of all, and one which happily is entirely gratifying, is to bo found in the medical and sanitary service in the field. If, on tho one hand, tho weapons of'destruction aro infinitely more powerful than ever bofore, on the other, the proportion of wounded men saved in this wj»r has probably been much larger and the proportion of deaths from diseases and epidemics very much less than in any previous war, and for this the Army Medical Service is solely responsible. Protective inocculation and personal cleanliness, control and classification of water supplies, adequate and efficient field sanitation, and aseptic surgery, adequate field and base hospital accommodation, the provision of suitable and sufficient food, rapid transit, and so on,, have saved countless lives in this war, which in any previous campaign would have been sacrificed. It will thus be realised that he has but a poor conception of _the work of the Army who knows notnmg of tho character and work of its non-combat-ant services. It has frequently been remarked, and too often forgotten, tli3t a modern army is a vast and complex organism, wherein all the parts are'intimately interdependent, and he is as incompetent to understand how an army works who has not studied all its parts as would be a quack medico to explain tho functions of tho human body who had only dipped into a chapter here and there in his textbooks of anatomy and physiology. THE WORK OF THE MEDICAL CORPS. Tho scope and activities of the New Zealand Medical Corps are ihe same as those of the Royal Army Medical Corps as defined and laid down in the manual of training for that corps. Some idea of the duties to be discharged has already been given in what precedes. Broadly . speaking, they fall into two main divisions: the prevention of disease and the collection, treatment, and care of the sick and wounded. The service itself may. be divided into regimental medical establishments, field ambulances, and military hospitals, will appear presently, vary in character according to their localc. All three branches of the service are cbarged of course, with the provision anji maintenance of adequate sanltafio'n and'the control and classification of water supplies. Apart from this, the medical duties of cach branch ar'e differentiated, though to some extent they necessarily dovetail. The regimental medical establishments are primarily charged with the supervision of tlie health of the regiments to which they are attached. It is also their duty when in action to collect tho wounded so far as they are able in the trenches and administer first, aid. Thereafter the sick and wounded pass into tho hands of tho field ambulances.. In order to understand the work of the latter ic is necessary to explain that the field operations of the medical service behind the actual trenches is divided info tnree zones: the collecting zone. Che evacuating zone, and the distributing zone. And here it might bo advisable to quote the official description of these zones: "(1) The collecting zone corresponds with the area occupied by - the field units, aud contains the regimental medical establishments field ambulances and cavalry field ambulances. In tihis zone the points of medical assistance to the ' wounded are, first, the regimental aid! posts of the regimental medical establishments, and, second, the advanced dressing stations, dressing stations, and divisional collecting station or stations of field ambulances. Cavalry fifild ambulance,s form collecting posts or dressing stations according to tbe nature of tho operations "fiil Tliq evmiaiiuajane^eorres-

pouding with the lines of communication and coiiKiiuing the clearing licspiials, ambulance trains, ;wivnncod depots ol medical stores, find, in certain eir:.-unist.inces, genen;! and stationary huspitak. "(in) Tho distributing zone, which Includes a portion or the lines ot e:>mn.unicatk>in;, the base, and, in ail oversea war, territory outeidu the theatre of operations. It conwins stationary and general hospitals, convalescent dcpo-is, ambulance trains, base depots of medical r.tores, hospital ships, and military hospitals in the United' Kingdom." Although distinct iu theory, in practice the three zones form a single service, and a certain amount of overlapping occurs, but it wilh readily be gathered that the principal scene of the activities of a field ambulance such tiy that which has just left for the front is in tlio collecting zone, and that there it is charged with the collection and treatment wounded men until such time as they are fit to be passed on to the evacuating zone; with tho compilation of records concerning these men, and with the control of sanitation and water supply. ORGANISATION OF ft FIELD AMBULANCE. Before passing on to a description of tlie course of training for recruits in the Army Medical Service, it may prove interesting and helpful to tho render to provide him witn a brief account- of the organisation of a field ambulance. Sucii a unit, then, contains 10 officers and 224 men, divided into three sections known as "A," "15.," and "0.," each of which is practically a replica of the others, and H capable of acting, and, if necessary, of being mobilised independently. Each section is divided into two branches— a bearer division and a tent division. These terms explain themselves. The bearer division carries the stretchers, collects the wounded, and conveys them to the advanced dressing stations after administering, where necessary, first aid. It consists of six stretchers, each normally manned by six men, though the exigencies of warfare after a sharp engagement with many casualties sometimes necessitates only four and oven only two men being employed on each stretcher. No. 4 in a stretcher squad is in command of his squad. He carries tho surgical haversack for first treatment on tho spot, and hero it may be mentioned tiiat every soldier in the army carries on his person a first field dressing so that he may be able to dress a wound rnughlv before the medical corps gets hold of him. Nos. 1 and 3 carry,the stretcher, and all the others seaich for the wounded in formations which vary with the nature of the ground, the character of the action, and so forth. When less than six men are in a stretcher squad, the allocation of duties has to be modified accordingly, but they must all be performed. When a bearer finds a wounded man, he informs No, 4, who examines the man, and, .with the assistance of such other bearers as he may call up, administers such first aid as he may deem necessary. He then makes out a ticket showing the regimental number, rank, and name of tho casualty, together with the naturo of his injury and the treatment given. The wounded man is then taken to tlie advanced dressing station on a stretchcr, unless he is able to walk, in which case be is accompanied by one of tho bearers. All the stretcher squads aro supposed to keep in touch with each other, and with their base, tho advanced dressing, station. _ So _ much for tho work of the bearer division. The tent division is divided into two sub-divisions, one of which sets up and remains in charge of the advanced dressing station, whilst the other sots up and is in charge of tho dressing station. Tbe advanced dressing station is as close up to the fighting lines as possible. The dressing station is usually situated about two miles behind the advanced dressing station, but the distance may vary according to circumstances. Both these dressing stations aro sufficiently accurately described for the purposes of this article' as temporary movable field ■ hospitals, where t'he first aid administered by, the bearor division may be reviewed* and supplemented, and where the patients may beefed and rested. The dressing station is much moro elaborate, from a ■•nodical and surgical point of view, than the advanced dressing station, which is really but a clearinghouse for the dressing station. It is at the dressing station that the first hospital and operating tents are encountered, where the casualties aro fully treated before being passed on to the evacuating zone. It would occupy too much space to explain in detail the organisation of these dressing stations, nor is it very necessary to do. so, because tho reader who knows anything at all about hospital work and administrative and records work can easily imagine for himself what such stations under the exigencies of field warfa.ro may be like. Something may now be said about the training of tho Medical Corps. TRAINING OF THE N.Z.M.C. , _ A recruit who joins the Army Medical J Service may be employed in majiy capaI cities, and it is therefore necessary that he should be trained to fill any position to which, through tho exigencies of warfare, ho may be appointed. It is a safe rule in the Army to say that every man must be fitted to fill at a moment's notice the position of the man next abovo him, and therefore, tliough a man may "sign on"> for some particular job, lie must know how to tackle any other job which ho may be called upon to do. In tho Army Medical Service a soldier may have to act as a bearer, a nurse, a sanitary engineer, a water expert, a cook, a clerk, a storeman, or a driver, and these arc only some of the positions he may have to fill. It is, therefore, uecessary that the course of training should cover all this ground, and more than that, a recruit must be drilled in infantry formations, and the spirit of soldierly spirit —must bo developed in him. That is what is being done here in New Zealand at tbe Awapuni training camp. Tho_ Field Ambulance which recently left New Zealand after four, months' training is, in the opinion of Major A. A. Martial, the well-known Palmerston North surgeon, one of the best trained and best equipped field ambulances which lias so far gone to tho front, and he kiiov/s what he is to,lking about, bec:ui.. is o nly recently that ho relu: >ni Flanders, as everybody kiiu ,o has read his delightful boo'k "A ... ~'ju in Khaki." Major Martin lias again gone on active service with tho No. i Field Ambnlajice, which is commanded by Lieut.-Col. J.' Bardie Neil, of Auckland, who, as Commandant of the Awapuni training camp, trained it with the assistance of a large staff of experieuced and highly-qualified- instructors. The course of instniction for men of the N.Z.M.C. includes: (1) Infantry and physical drill. (2) Awbulanco drill' with stretchers and wagons. (3) field work reproducing as nearly us possible actual service conditions, and comprising the setting up of regimental aid posts, advanced dressing and dressing stations, and the search for, col?Jction, and treatment of casualties. (4) Medical lectures on anatomy and physiology, on wounds and fractures «n:l iiVir treatment', on aseptic surgery, on the use of bandages and splints, and the improvisation of the same (and of stretchers) in the field, on haemorrhage, on dislocations and sprains, on the j treatment of burns and scalds, shock, loss of con.scious.ness, tits, suffocation, choking, cold, foreign bodies in tho oyo and ear, drowning, poisoning, and so on. (C) Instruction in hospital work and mirolng, inoiudin;; tho.uco of surgical inctr.ain(uita. anaesthetics and .aatieoj*.

tics, r.lio administration of medicines, surgical nursing, tiio treatmeut of inIcctions cases, observation of tho sick and generally all tlio varied duties which havo to bo discharged in hospitrtl. (0) General lectures on discipline, Army organisation and administration, military law, map-reading, judging distances, signalling, experience gained in the present war, and on other subjects. It will readily bo gathored from what precedes that the training is an elaborate one, covering a wide ground, and it is sale to say that meu thus equipped will bo ready to cope actively and efficiently with the wcrlc which will confront them in the field. THF. AWAPUNI CAMP. If recruits lor the N.Z.M.C. are fortunate in the character of the training they receive, and the qualities of their instructors, they aro equally fortunate in tho general conditions oi'"their camp life. There are, of course, some grumblers in every camp. Such people would grumblo in Paradise, but it is no exaggeratKHi to say, that- tho Awapuni Camp is probably ono of the most luxurious camps in the country, and that whilst reasonable discipline is rigidly enforced, the men are allowed more liberty than is probably the case in any other camp.' It must bo said for tho men that they have not abused the latitude thus extended to them, and it is satisfactory to know that the men u" the N.Z.M.C. enjoy a high reputation f or good behaviour in Palmerston North. The camp is situated on the Manawatu Racing Club's course, and the racecoursc buildings are used as administrative, living, dining, and sleeping quarters for officers and men. There is no sleeping under canvas. Tho food is plentiful and of vory good quality, ihe scenery around is most attractive, and the racecourse grounds, with their lawns and trees and flower-beds, are really delightful. . AH sorts of recreations are provided for the men, such as cricket, football, tennis, croquet, boxing, and music. The corps has a high reputation for its musical talent, and has given several public concerts and dances. The Field Ambulance has gone aivay with a really first-class orcliostra, and another is in process of formation amongst the reinforcement drafts at present m camp. The men havo _ always been most generously entertained by the people of Palmerston North and of Feilding, . They have much appreciated the kindness of the public in the Manawatu, and many abiding friendships have been formed: So far as one can judge the girls of Palmerston North havo taken quite an exceptional interest in the Medical Corps. Surely _ the very idea of hardship in connection with such a camp and such conditions is absurd. In the contrary, the life is a most healthy and a most enjoyable one.