WHAT CURE?

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2853, 18 August 1916, Page 7

WHAT CURE?

FOR INFANTILE PARALYSIS

THIS CITY'S SYSTEM

TREATMENT BY' MASSAGE REJECTED

A NEW IDEA

An important- discussion on the - treatment of infantile uaralvsis patients at the Wellington hospital took place at yesterday's meeting of tho Hospital Board. The Inspector-General of Hospitals CP r - » alintme) forwarded for the consideration of tho board a copy of a report bv Nurso Bevilaqua. In his covering letter, he cannot too strongly call, your attention to this report-, and my great disappointment with the. results at tho Wellington Hospital, Miss Bevilaqua's results as far as I can gather liavo been most satisfactory in other institutions. I sincerely hope that your board will take this matter in hand, and appoint either Miss Kane or Miss Helmfcldt to supervise the work, with possibly the assistance ol a student from the Dunedin Massage School, who might permanently reside iu the hospital to carry out tile work. Thero are many patients m outlying hospital districts suffering rrom tho results of infantile paralysis, and it would be a great advantage it your board could take these patients at Hiiinitfciianco foes to be arranged with the hospital boards concerned, ilio cases might bo accommodated in tho unused portion of the Children's Viaid. Members of j'our board will, or course, understand that it is practically impossible to arrange for the proper treatment of these cascs'in the smaller country hospitals."

"Unable To Do Ant/thing." Nurse Bevilnqua's report (to Dr. Valintme) read:—"l regret Laving to write to you m this strain,, but 1 am unable to do anything to benefit' the lntantllo paralysis patients resident in or those who are, or should bo attending as outpatients at the Public Hospital, M ellington. As requested, I supplied the Hospital Board with tno names of two ladies, cither of whom, it appointed, would have given the patients every chance to benefit under the system that, for -the children s sake, I was brought to the Dominion to teach. Hos P ital is the. only hospital that I have visited where this work- is not being carried out. As you know, on my first visit to Wellington, I gave clinics and demonstrations ex-T-r«r ?g i°tI fir t ° u , da -vs. I was at the Hospital tho whole day, from 9.30 a.in until 6 p.m., somethimes 7 p.m. 1 only, saw tho honorary masseuse, Mrs. I S li ' ?' llß st demonstration, which was given before the work of teaching was begun, and not again No^ ,V °«s e n r( ?™ K ladies > Misses Sa 'A er ' and Smith > PUPILS of i-, carry "'? 011 ' the roassago of tho infantile paralysis children, of whom there were 28. As far as they were able, arter their work was done, they, were with me. Tho zeal and enthusiasm for their work was tremendous, and their self-sacrifico, for they were there early and late, won my highest admiration. Givea a leader, the work at tho Hospital would, • nav. must, nave been a huge success, instead of which, except for two Mackenzie splints, I see nothing to show that this work has over been heard of. ' The most pathetic part is this: no children in tho Dominion had a better chance of making a complete and speedy recovery, and in no other hos. pital have we had such a chance of proving tlio worth of this system of rest and re-education of muscles, for we had absolutely nothing to undo. lhern was no deformity in any of the patients to be overcome. There was not one. case of foot-drop. Every muscle m all tho children was ready tor re-education, and this means a quick recovery, and all this was due to the skul and enthusiasm of Dr. Scoullar, the house-surgeon. So interested was he m the infantile paralysis, and in these children especially, that he had, when the time came for him to give them up, gained permission to keep them on, and despite his other work he had kept full'notes, no particulars had been ueglected of each child's progress, and it had been markedly good in every case, and ho assured mo ihat theso young ladies had helped him well. "Here, then, we had everything that made for success—the children, the interested doctor, the love and willingness to work on the part of these young ladies, who in the hands of Miss Helmfelt or Miss Kane weald, I feel assured, have secured results that would, under other circumstances, have been impossible. Why, oven during the ten days that I was there, despite the feet that on account of the teaching that had to be done (for the surrounding country boards had sent masseuse and matron to receive instruction) really systematic teaching could not be engaged in, we had.muoh to show what oould .be done—a. little leg that the day before could not lift, after a night's splinting in cardboard would lift well; an arm that could move only so much to-day,, to-morrow would double its work, and so it is in this work all tho Ivay through; where it is done properly, tho improvement is continuous. Is this Right to the Public? "This work .is not massage. Only a masseur or masseuse is chosen to do the work on account of his, or her, knowledge of anatomy. In all the other hospitals of tho Dominion the masseur, or masseuse, honorary or othcrwiso, gavo up all else to be with me. How else can this work, be learnt. So important did Dr. Moore, the head of tho Dimedin School of Massage, consider this work, that he gave me almost all his time, and this keenness has been All through tho Dominion. On my second visit to the centres down south, I found tlia workers ready for me with soro<? result to show for tLeir work 'during my absence; and all eager to see moro of it and anxious for me to test their knowledge. "I return to Wellington. I sco & few paralysed children, two of whom I know did better work tho day I left than they do now, eight weeks later. I liavo been at tho Hospital for four days already, and I have neither seen nor heard anything from any masseur or masseuse on tho staff. Is this right to the public ? Good results are already boing reported from many places' whero they havo not had half the opportunity for success. I have already seen some wonderful results among the private patients, work of tho two masseuses 1 recommended as competent to put in charge of the work. But what about the Hospital ? And those, whom I know, from outside, too poor to pay for private work, whero aro they? "This work ,that tho Government has brought mo over to teach, il properly carried out, ensures that thero be no deformity—for tho splints alone, if properly applied, guarantee that. From every other part of the Dominion I have had the one opinion. 'This treatment is tho most sane, and at tho same timo scientific, treatment . that has ever been offered.' Why cannot it be put to tho test in Wellington? While in tho South Island I actually saw over ono hundred and thirty cripples as the result of the Dominion epidemic. This ono numbered five times as many victims. I camo to try to save these from crippledoin. I said: 'Please let mo come. I can if necessary manage to financo myself.' Just for the children's sako I cainc, aJttd, please,

Dr. Valintine, why cannot I help them in Wellington? Is it because I recommended to the board that the ones appointed should have a salary, and the assistants an honorarium P If 60, please what does one cripple cost the State? And if this was not the case, wherein lay the difficulty?" When the communication had been read, the chairman of the board (Mr. H. Baldwin) said that some membors of the board had 6een the InspectorGeneral on this matter on Monday, and a meeting of thaje members had subsequently been held, and the result was tho following recommendation to the board, which he moved:— "That a fifth-year student (female) at the Dunedin School of Masseurs be appointed for, say, twelve, months, with house allowance, if no room is available in the Nurses' IJome. That'a specialist be appointed for treatment of infantile paralysis, cases, and that the attendance to be given to the institution bo arranged by tho acting-medical superintendent." ' A Protest Against a.Change. Mr. Baldwin said that it was proposed that tho annex •of tlie Seddon Shelters should be used. There wero sixteen beds available, and if that accommodation was not sufficient, some patients could be put into tho Children's Hospital. The Rev. H. Van Staveren: That meeting was entirely illegal—a hole-and-corner affair. You had better refer the' matter to the Hospital Committee, Mr. Baldwin: It was not a hole-and-corner meeting. ... This board has an. Advisory Committee, and it only did its duty in dealing with this matter. Mrs. T. 31. Wilford protested against an "unnecessary procedure"—unnecessary because twenty out of twentyeight cases had been cured. The other eight were still under treatment. Tho percentage cured warranted the board in. saying that the masseuses thoroughly knew_ their business. Tho proposal was unjust, "because in appointing others you as good as say that tho women who have done the work aro not competent." "Also," she continued, "I maintain that these uncurod children were not given every chance. ' Instead of being put into a ward by themselves . . . they were herded in the ordinary wards along with every other sort of disease, ,when they could have been put into the unused ward, where conditions could have been made ideal, so that they could havo been given every chance. . . . I would like to ask this board to act fairly by the women who have done the work, and who it is proposed to supersede by outsiders." Doctor Favours the New Treatment. Mr. Baldwin: Will you name the women who have done the work? Mrs. Wilford: Yes; Nurse Everett and her masseuses. 'Mr. Baldwin: Can you' stato how. many times Nurse Everett visited tho Hospital ? Mrs. Wilford'did not answer. Mr. J. Castle seconded the motion of tho chairman. He thought they should follow the medical men's advice. Rev. H. Van Staveren moved as an amendment that the matter should be referred to tho Hospital Committee. Mr. Baldwin: What! And penalise these afflicted children for another month? ■ Dr. Morice, acting medical superintendent, was called in. He said' that he regretted that the two schools of treatment had been drawn into conflict —massage and tho treatment which had nqt yet got a name. Massage did the paralysed musoles harm, though a few years - ago massage was reckoned the right treatment. The new treatment was the outcome of further knowledge—it might be called psychic treatment —and it needed a person oi strong personality to apply it. Mosl of tho children treated in the Wellington Hospital had been cured. . Mrs. Wilford seconded the Rev. Vai Staveren's motion. She made some observation regarding taking du f er credit from those who had done good work. Mr. Baldwin: Nurse Everitt has onlj treated one case. i Mrs. Wilford: But her pupils have done a lot of work. The amendment was lost and tho motion carried.