MEDICAL BOARDS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2919, 3 November 1916, Page 4

MEDICAL BOARDS

NEW REGULATION GAZETTED

RULES FOR THEIR GUIDANCE

Tlio following regulations pertaining to Medical Boards and their work of examining reservists callcd up to servo in tlio Expeditionary. Force are gazetted:— 'i'hero sliall bo established by the Minister of Defeneo suich. Medical Boards as ho from timo to timo thinks nccessary for tlio mcdical examination of rosorvists callod up for service with tho New Zoaland Expeditionary Force. Each such Board shall consist of such number of persons, being two or more, as tho said Minister thinks necessary, all of whom shall bo officers of' tho New Zealand Medical Corps. Tho members of each such Board shall bo appointed and may bo removed by tho Minister of Defence, and tho samo person may bo appointed as a member of two or moro Boards. Every Medical Board shall exerciso its functions in such military district or districts as may bo specified in that behalf by tho Minister of Dofenco on. tho establishment of tho Board. " If any member of a Medical Board is in. tho opinion of tho Minister of Defence temporarily incapacitated by illness or othorwiso from performing his duties, the Minister may somo other qualified person to act in the place of that momber during tho peridd of his incapacity. Every such appointment shall, unless sooner caiir celled by tho Minister, continue in force until tho member so incapacitated returns to duty.

One of tho members of each such Board shall bo appointed as the president thereof by' tho Minister of De-

Every such Board shall meet at such times and places as may bo determined by tho president. There shall bo associated with each such Board, as the expert advisor thereof in dental matters, an officer of tho New Zealand Dental Corps to bo detailed for such duty by the Commandant.

Examination of. Reservists Called Up,

When a reservist has been called up for service with the Expeditionary Force, an authorised officer may by written notice delivered or posted to that reservist require him to report at a specified time and placo for examination or re-examination before a Medical Board.

Tho placo to be so specified shall be at or near the headquarters of the military district in which the reservist is for the time being resident, or at such other place as tho Commandant may in any caso or class of case, direct. '

If any man so summoned before a Medical Board is incapacitated by illness or other unavoidable impediment from presenting himself for examination at the time and place notified, he shall, not later than twenty-four hours before the time so notified, post to tho authorised offioer from whom the notico was so received a registered letter stating the reason for his absence and tho probable dato at which he will bo able to present himself before a Medii cal BoaTd.

Tho. authorised officer will thereupon take steps to satisfy liimsolf of tho truth and sufficiency, of the matters set forth in the lotter, and shall act accordingly. Tho examination of a recruit by a Medical Board shall take place in tha presence of all of the members of the

There shhll be in attendanca at such examination an officer of the New Zealand Defence Force's, 'together • with such warrant officer or non-commission-ed officer bolonging to the permanent staff, or holding the _ appointment of a sub-area sergeant-major, as may be.detailed for that purposo by the" Commandant.

No indication shall, under any circumstances be given to the. members .of the board as to the - name,{identity, or residence of the recruit under examination. '-

The form of report on any such, examination shall be filled in- by the warrant officer or non-commissioned officer in Attendance as aforesaid at the dictation of the examiners. The report shall bo signed by the members of the board, and all alterations, _ erasures, or intorlineations shall be initialled by one at least of the members, but so that the name; identity, or residence of the recruit is not thereby disclosed to any member of the board. The report of a Medical Board on any case submitted to it shall bo in accordance with the opinion of tho majority of the members, but any dissenting, "member shall indicate his dissent and the grounds thereof in a separate report. If tho mombore are equally dividod in opinion they shall mako soparate reports. 1 Every report of a Medical Board shall classify tho {recruit in one or other of tho following four classes:— A. Men fit for active service beyond tho seas. B. Men fit for active service her yond tho seas, if they undergo specified medical, surgical, or dental . treatment. - C. Men permanently unfit for activo service beyond tho soas, but ' fit for servico in Now Zealand in connection with or for tho purposes of tho present war. D. Men permanently unfit either for active sorvico boyond tho seas . or for any service in New Zealand in connection with or for the purposes of the present war. Every, report which classifies man as bolonging either to Class 0 or Class D shall set out fully the reasons of that classification. Every recruit shall before tho making of tho report of tho Medical Board he examined by tho associated officer of the Now Zealand Dental Corps, who shall advise tho board as to the dontfi condition of the recruit and as to the necessity of any dental treatment. Tho report of the Medical Board bo forthwith transmitted to the Commandant, who shall take tho same into | consideration and take thereon such action as ho may tlnnk fit, having rocard to tho powers conferred upon him bv Scction 14 of the Military Service Aot Tho Commandant may, it he thinks fit, require tho recruit to bo reexamined before tho same or any other

Tho boar<l may give to ;i rccruit such information (if any) as in its discretion it tliinks fit with respect to the result of liis examination and. tlio nature of the report. , i _ Every roferenco to a Medical Board in tlio regulations made undor tlie Military Sorvico Act on October _ 10, 191G, relativo to appeals to Military Service Boards shall bo deemed to bo a refcrenco to a Medical Board as constituted. under thr>so present regulations. . . When a Medical Board is required m pursuance of tlie said regulations of October 10, 1916, to examine any person for tho purposes of an appeal under Section 30 of tlio Military Service Act, tho present regulations shall, so far as applicable, apply to that_ examination and to the report mado in pursuanco thereof, in tho sanio manner as if tho person examined had been called up for I service..

Examination on Discharge from Force.

No membo.r of the Expeditionary Force, whether he has been called up for sorvico or has voluntarily enlisted therein, shall at any time bo discharged therefrom in New Zealand as medically unfit until he has beon examined 'by: a.

Medical Board in accordance with theses ~ regulations, and reported by that board ,to bo permanently unfit for aotive sow vico 'biy'ond tho seas. Examination of Voluntary Recruits,; fho medical examination of voluntary! • recruits prior to their enlistment in thq Expeditionary Force may, as the Commandant from timo to time directs, bei mado either by a medical officer or by ai Medical Board, and in the latter oaso tlio foregoing regulations as to medical examination shall, so far as apply in ills saino manner as if the re-i eruit had been callcd up for service.