PHARMACISTS AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2866, 2 September 1916, Page 3

PHARMACISTS AND THE WAR

f : CURIOUS METHODS. ... (To the Editor.) , Sir, —I have uoticcd at different times letters and .articles in your columns dealing with pharmacists and war, and reference to scarcity of dispensers, particularly in the IJ.A.M.C. Apparently the services of qualified pharmacists have been underrated, ana thus men have shown preference for other branches for service. The enclosed clippings are interesting, and speak for themselves; th.cir publication may help to open the minds of some of our local authori-, ties. For the protection of civilian safety and health, pharmacists must abide by a dozen and one different Acts of Parliament, besides being : qualified by examinations. For the life of me I cannot understand why the salno principles do not apply in the Ii.A.M.C. and N.Z.M.C. Surely our soldiers' well-being and protection from misadventure are quite if not more important than that of civilians at the present day. The handling of drugs and chemicals, compounded or otherwise, in permanent military hospitals would certainly be best left to the responsibility of a properly qualij tied pharmacist, and not to an incompetent, inexperienced lancc-jack. As a pharmacist, I know from whom I would sooner receive mp physic, even though it were only black draught or mist, tussis, to say nothing of stock mixtures doled out, or special prescriptions dispensed i" the •• military camp dipensary. Why are qualified pharmacists not given a commission they are respectfully entitled tor Would this not mean better men and hotter service in. their special department? Other countries have commissioned pharmacists, but the N.Z.M.GV, as the R.A.M.C., will bnngle along willy-nilly until the twelfth hour, only to find either misadventure calls for recognition of competence and qualifications, that dispensary mismanage-' mcilt is entangling the duties of other responsible medical officers, or that the scarcity of dispensers means advertising for applicants as at Homo in the Old Country just now. The question, is deserving of more interest. I hope some more, able person will take _ the matter up.—Thanking you, dear sir,— I am, etc., VIGIL. (■Enclosures.) The enclosures referred to are from "The Chemist and Druggist," London, and are .as follow, "The lack of Army dispensers, if it exists, is, as you say', entirely the fault of the military authorities, who have not only failed to offer pharmacists the position duo to skilled men, but have done all they could to. thwart tlicir wish to he employed in the work for which they are by education nnd praptice pre-eminently fitted. That mauy pharmacists who might otherwise have offered themselves for this work have been thus deterred and remain still behind their own counters is quite likely—and not to be wondered at. We have shown otirselves quite as'ready as any other class to -come to'our country's help, but we have received less encouragement than most to do so jn the most effective way. To contrast" our action in this matter with that of theTriedicalprofessioii, as was done the other day by the Brighton doctor who said that if we had been equally patriotic with, them half tile chemists' shops would be empty, is monstrously unfair. . The doctor who enters the Army receives at once a salary often equal or even superior to what ho was making in private' practice (it he had one), is -given the rank of .officcr, and treated as a gentleman. I have been told of men going straight from the examination-room of the College of Surgeons to'an Army appointment at £400..a year. .'.lf.the..treatment of' attesting pharmacists had been proportionately generous there might have been some point in tlio comparison, but there would then have been no occasion to make it. All things considered, our patriotism has stood the test to which: it lias been subjoctcd amazingly well. But thorp is another point for remark." ! "jRe your editorial last week. My personal oxporieuccs may serve te bear .out .your argument. _e I am a major man, unmarried,' thirty-two years of age. I was holding a responsible post, but in the' early days of the war I offered my services as a dispenser both to tlio local recruiting officer and direct to the War Office. No result. Lately, being called up as a, conscript, and after being bullyragged and cursed at one rccruitiug oflice and another, 1 got gracious permission to apply again, for the position in which I should bo of most use to the country—viz., dispenser in cither Army or. Navy. As regards the Army, after the usual decorous interval, . I received a reply stating that there were no' vacancies in the R.A.M.C. .The Navy business was quite exciting U> its a J' Town A recommended mo to writo Town B; referred my case to Town C; 0 thought, the best place to communicato with was the Naval Hospital at D. I wroto D, and when a week had p'isied without a reply. I. sent a. pre-, paid' telegram. D said, "Apply to 15,' which I did by wire. Ifcply, 'No vacancies.' I then joined the Navy as seaman. Tlio day afterwards I got a telephone message from a Labour Exchange intimating that' over 100 chemists were required for work iu a munitions factory, and a lew days later saw the application you quote for chemists to serve in Mesopotamia. Result of the muddlo: I "shall ho swabbing down docks (which personally I do not mind in the least); while some expert who diiily realises that one No. 5 pill plus one No. 4 pill is equivalent to one No.'9 pill will bo niost efficiently serving his lving And country by being taught gratis by tlio State the rudiments of' a profession, iours faithfully, • "A. BOBINSON. "Baildon, Yorks."