THE''PANDEMIC

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 144, 13 March 1919, Page 6

THE''PANDEMIC

WELLINGTON'S FIGHT WITH THE PLAGUE WATERSIDE PRECAUTIONS : (11TY COUNCIL THE BEST AUTHORITY ; TO CONTROL The Influenza Epidemic Commission continued its sittings in Wellington yesterday. Sir John Denniston presided, , and the Hon. E. Mitchelson and Mr. D. Jl'Laron 6at with him. , Archibald' Hale Monro, traffifc manager 1 for the Wellington Harbour Board, was . ; the first witness. He said that on No- ' .vember IS he was appointed by the Gov- , ..ernment Health Inspector of Wharves . and Ships. On November 10 he was appointed Waterside Health Commissioner, this appointment being mado by a com- , mittee of shipowners, tho Waterside , iWorkers' Union) and others. When the : epidemio was prevalent in Auckland, about November, the board ordered the fumigation of wharf sheds and the dis- • infection of wharves. This fumigation ' was kept up until December 31. An in- i • halation chamber was erected to accommodate forty people at a time, and dur- ( '.ing.the epidemic 54,000 passed through , this chamber. The board supplied dis- . •iinfectantS'free to all waterside workers, . ' and also gargle. About November 12 the Health Committee was set up', and this committee disinfected the quarters • of crews ) and the holds of every vessel . arriving. After this was done tho ves- ; . Bel was' declared clean, and the cargo was worked. It was found that men ' suffering from influenza on vessels were living under bad conditions. A clearing | station was set up on the wharf, and . • men suffering from influenza' were sent ! to this station to be seen by a doctor. This, he considered, was the best -measure taken by the waterfront authorities. ; . If a man were sufficiently ill to require ; hospital treatment he was sent to tho ■ Sailors' Friend Society Hospital, and on ; /convalescenceto St. Anne's-at Newtown. About seventy-three went through the clearing station, the bulk of them sailors ■ and waterside workers. All wharf , work- . ers had to pass through, the inhalation chamber before and after work, and if ' thev wished' to do so they could go 1 through in the middle of the day. Ilea- 1 Bures/were taken to clear garbage out of ships' galleys by carts sent round to re- ' ceive it. All ships had to be washed J down twice daily. More Ambulances Needed. i . One of the greatest was for more ! ambulances. All through the epidemic ' 'there were only three properly equipped . '' ambulances available, one of them be- ; ■ longing to the Harbour Board. Pati- ; ents were oarried by other motor vehicles, converted for the- purpose; but 1 'they were not suitable for the carriage sick people. The lpck of ambulances ' in' Wellington even to-day was appalling. There should be many more, and it 1 should be possible to summon them by ' alarms, after the fashion! of fire-alarms, 1 for urgent cases. The Harbour Board 1 --had purohased an ambulance as a pre- 1 caution, because serious accidents did : occur there, but people constantly rang 1 up to ask for the use of it. During the 1 epidemic it went out as far as Paekaka- 1 riki. _ _ ! At the time of the epidemic the Health • Committee found the crews' quarters on some vessels very dirty. He thought 1 bunk-boards should be abolished, and a ' light frame substituted to carry the mat- . tresses. It was found that these bunk- ' boards • were very dirty. He did not 1 wish to pursue the matter of ships' quar- 1 ters because improvements were being 1 . now made in this respect. ' 1 During the epidemic the supply c? for- 1 Bialin ran out, and less efficacious dis- ! infectants had to be used. He thought 1 big stocks of .formalin ought to be re- 1 tained. . : Reverting again to the ambulance rnatV i ter. he said that the ambulances ought • to be in charge of trained first-aid men. He thought more prominenoe should be given to the work"of the St. John Ambulance Association, and men encouraged to pass the association's examination. After this, men in. charge of ambulance vehicles might be assigned one to a-dis-trict. find given a retaining fee.. ■ Skilled Workers Scarce. Tho heed for men and women with a knowledge' of nursing and first aid was seriously felt at the time of the epidemic. The. division. of the city into ' blocks was an 'excellent measure. A .■very good organisation .was developed, and all- the., workers felt at the end of tho epidemio that they were prepared to combat anything. He .would like, to see the organisation maintained against an- 1 other possible visitation. If the work- • ers were to meet periodically he thought the .organisation would be kept up. Sir John Denniston asked witness how . long he thought' this would last if there .were no urgent need. ' Witness said there would have to be some incentive. He thought the Government might entrust to these committees ' .a certain amount of plant, supplies of drugs, and so on, in much the same «vay as plant was given to volunteer fire bri- ' gades. It seemed a pity that the epidemic ' organisation should be allowed to lapse, Diit the interest in it was already dying 1 out. He thought the first precaution to ! be taken against another epidemic was to insist on tho olcanlincss of vessels poming' to our coast. ;" t;- i. The- Hospital' Board. • 'chmman of the Wei. • | ln ? £on ' Hospital ' Board, said that hia boai'd. , _liad' not discussed making representations to the commission, and he therefore could, not speak for tho board. .The Government had thrown on the hoard responsibility for making arrangements in preparation for anothor possible visi-, ' tation. The board had committees working on this matter now. These matters were the provision of nursing staff, bos- ! pitals, medical supplies, and transport.' , The board thought, however, that 'if it had to fight"the epidemic; it'ought to ' have some 6ay in. the measures to be taken to, prevent anothor.' invasion. The noard asked for a more strict quarantine. The most serious cases coming into Wellington came from the shins. If no sickness came for six weeks tho General Hospital would be prepared with 150 additional beds, He thought ambulance vehicles could bo obtained by re- / quisitioning delivery vans and putting stretchers in them. At very short notice ■ thirty ambulances could be obtained in ' - iWellington. One of the things the board proposed to do was to have women train- . Ed in home nursing. The lack of nursing skill and knowledge among the. women of the community was one of the greatest difficulties encountered in iilie epidemic. He did not agree with Mr. Moore that it was necessary to have trained men in charge of ambulance vehicles for uso in nn epidemic. It was necessary that an ambulance man should have training to handle serious casualty cases,, but not to handle fever-patients. . The Mayor of Wellington. John Pearce Luke, Mayor of Wellington, gave evidence as to tho measures taken to combat the epidemic. Before the outbreak, in anticipation of something happening hero, he communicated with the chairman of tho Hospital Board and the Hospital Medical Superintendent, ond with them wont to see the District .-Health-Officer. Dr. Watt informed him that th 9 duties nf the City Council were confined to the cleansing of the city, and of the backyards of the houses of the city. The task of dealintr with the sickness, lie paid, would be the duty of tho Hospital Board. Witness then instructed the City 'Kngineer to be doubly careful and stringent in regard to the removal of refuse, and the cleaning of the streets, nnd also to procure quantities of disinfectant. Additional men were put on for tin's work. When the disease l)roke out tlie Minister sent out a circular to Mayors asking theni to get an oreanisation to fight the disease. Tie called a public meeting. The outcome of the , meeting was the blocking out of the city and the appointment of committees, eheh under n captain, to take charge in the blocks. Soon after this, the epidemic became-serious, the disease breaking out in "different parts of the town. Temporary emereenc.v hospitals were established. The people came to the assistance of the committees splendidly. The work of the helpers in a timo-of such danger was

very_ praiseworthy. A service for the distribution of comforts was organised at the Town Hall by a number of ladies with tho Mayoress. Medicines also were distributed from the Town Hull. No charge was made for food or medicine. He took up the dispensing of liquor at the Town Ilnll under tho certificate of doctors. He also arranged with undertakers, making tho two principal undertakers responsible for the removal of dead in the city, and with this arrangement the other undertakers fell in. There was difficulty about burials, and gravedigging parties had to be sent in from Trentham to bury the soldiers who died in camp. The question of cremating bodies was raised, but the council had no power to cremate bodies unless special instructions were given. Esople had subscribed generously to relief funds. In all lto received the sum of .£2303 in subscriptions. Receipts from supplies amounted to .£39l'. The sum of J3155S was expended on general relief, leaving .£llBO to carry over. Of this surplus he had deposited ,£9OO with tho Public Trustee for the assistance. of deserving widows. ' A Great Organiser. Ho wished to pay a tribute to the great organising ability of Major M'Cristeil, and to eive him the city's thanks for his assistance. He had called up Major M'Cristeil lato at-night, and told'him another hospital was needed. Major M'Qristell would say: "You can put the' patients in to-morrow morning at seven." This was no exaggeration. "I never saw in my life," said Mr. Luke, "a man who could organise so thoroughly and act so quickly. He had the plant to work with, and he also had the force to push things through." Cleaning the Houses. Some of the committees appointed members of their organisation to cleanno the houses in the lower parts of the cilv. . He, as Mayor, appointed these persons sanitary inspectors. He knewat the time that tho appointment would confer on them' no right to enter houses, ond knew that his action was, not legal, but he considered that the circumstances justified extreme measures; Mi. Litko read to,the Commission a report on tho sanitary condition of the city furnished to him by the City Engineer'{Mr. W. H. Morton). (The report was published in full at the time of the epidemic.) The Only Solution. The amendment made in the Public Health Act made an improvement in many matters, but there would ho no satisfactory solution until the whole responsibility for the health of the city was put on the City Council. The City Council was the only body which had machinery to deal with a big epidemic. The Hospital Board ha;l not such machinery. 'He admitted that if this arrangement were made it would cost the citv more money. He did not think that under munioipal, as distinct from Government, control there would be liability to more slackness . in the enforcement of decrees. "■ He vas 6iire that there would bo no'security_ against disease so long as the preventive measures were the concern of more than one authority. The city should be the sole public health authority within tho .city; the Hospital Board should keep control of hospital institutions and charitable aid: and the Government should still deal with shipping. He was sure that tho citv would be a,ble to attract to its service just as good 'medical officers as the Government now had. He did not agree with the suggestion that the administration of the city would be weakened by the influence or -opposition of individual ratepayers. As ijp suburban boroughs, they should be brought into the city by compulsion. But he was very strongly ■ of opinion that the City Council should have control within the city of sanitation, drainage, -scavenging, cleaning, inspection of .buildings, 'building by-laws, condemnation" of buildings, and the 6ize of sections on which houses might be built. Ho was aware that members of the City Council did not all share the whole of his opinions, probably because they were afraid of the expense. There was much work to be done which was not an engineer's work. It was useless for tho city to appoint a medical officer under the present law, which,would allow him to be no more than a glorified sanitary inspector. God Help the City! The organisation to deal with the epidemic was now to be taken over by the Hospital Board. He had been instructed not to act any more. "God help the city,", he said, "if another epidemic breaks out!" He declared that the Hospital Panrd had no staff to enable it to deal with an epidemic. The City Council was the only body with the necessary staff, and the only body which could develop an organisation. Ife thought that there,were, just as many cases in tho good parts of the city as in the poor parts. The sickness did not seem to be any worse in one part of the city than in any other. The Niagara Again, Dr. Makgill, recalled, said that in tho then state of knowledge it would have been absurd to quarantine .the Niagara. I.i the light of later knowledge it might lie considered advisable to quarantine the vessel. He would suggest .that three days should be the period, and _ that moi'e care should be taken in the isolation. of patients landed. He did not consider now that the Niagara sickness was severe, seeing that only one "death occurred on the voyage. He discussed at some length with Commissioners • the facts as they were known prior to October 12. and the reasons for his decision not to quarantine the ship. The Commisison will- sit again at 10 o,ni." to-day. WORKERS' SERVICES RECOGNISED PUBLIC MEETING AT MIRAMAR. At the Miramar Town, Hall last evening the Minister of Public Health (the Hon. G. W. Russell) made presentations on behalf of the Borough Council to those who rendered service to the sufferers in the borough during the influenza epidomic. " There was a large gathering, of residents, the Mayor of the borough (Mr. P. Townsend) presiding. Mr. R'. A. Wright, M.P., was also .present. In a brief address the chairman referred to the work done by tho voluntary workers, and made special mention of the very short time (seventy-two hours) . in which the Soatoun School was turned inlo an emergency hospital. He also referred to tho services rendered by Dr. Alice Gow, Miss Davenport (matron), andMrs. Pcet (in charge of the emergency hospital), whose efforts in combating tho epidomic were deserving of great praise. Mesdamos M'Vicar,. Smith, and Butler had also performed worthy service in leading the band of outside workers. A total of nineteen patients wero treated in the hospital, aud only three of this number hud died. Between threo hundred &ad four hundred homes had been visitel by the voluntary workers. Mr. Townsend also referred to the. motor-car owners of tho district who had rendered vaiuabb assistance to the Emergency Committee. Whether it was tho intention of the. Government- to foot the bill for these cars or not, ho could assure the Minister of Public. Health that Miramar enr-ownors had no thought of making any call on tho country's finances in that direction. Tho success of tho measures ' adopted for combating tho epidemic depended absolutely upon the willing help of every person in the district. Tho Hon. G. W. Russell, who was greeted with applause, stated that as ho was shortly to give evidence beforo the Royal Commission, he was unable to go into details of many aspects of the epidemic. His feoling was one of profound gratitude to the people of New Zealand, and especially to the women, for their, noble work during tho disastrous visitation. Tho disease was scientifically termed a pandemic—a world-wide epidemic reaching all countries and-making its worst inroads in countries where there was a coloured population. The disease had not been confined to human boings, for in Africa it had attacked numberless baboons, causing a great death, roll. The first wave of the influenza epidemic reached New Zealand in August last, and lasted till about October. Almost together with the arrival of tho steamer Niagara came tho disastrous wave which spread with terrible rapiidty over the whole of New Zealand in the. space of a' few weeks. Tho position was very acute, as both doctors and nurses wero stricken down at tho very time when their services -woro most' needed. For many days the staff of his Department consisted of Miss M'Lean, a senior cadet, and himself. It may be that the epi-

demic would prove a blessing in disguise for it had revealed tho insanitary conditions that wero growing up, and which if allowed to continue for twenty yeai-s wculd prepare a veritable harvest of denth. He desired to contrast tho action of car-owners of Miramar with that of certain other persons who had taken advantage of a time of stress to .wring, the last possible drop from the Government funds. Alrendy a sum of JiIOO.O'K) had been expended, and a grant for a further .£93,000 was now being asked for. but he was of the- opinion that the total expenditure would yet approach a quarter of a million. The policy of the Department had been that no expense was to be spared in combating tho disease, and if he were Minister of Public Health at a time when there should be a recrudescenco of the disease that same policy would certainly <e followed. In his opinion the "experience gained would enable the Department to combat efficiently any recrudescenco of the epidemic at considerably less penseContinuing, the Minister referred to four types of people who had succumbed to tho disease—those who became panicky, tho earoless people (both victims. their attendants, and persons not suffering from the disease), persons whose habits, personal and dou'estlc, were uncleanly, and, lastly, alcohol "soakers." He also mentioned that the sale of alcohol was prohibited upon the recommendation of high medical authorities. The Minister congratulated tho residents of the borough on their splendid showing. Teh ad not favoured tho establishment of a hospital at Seatoun, as it was the policy of the Department to centralise such services as far as possible, but he had to give ■ \Vay, and now he realised that Miramar had done a wonderful I amount of good work at a surprisingly low cost. The Minister than presented neatlyframed certificates to thirty-six women and eleven men who had done yeoman service in combating the epidemic. The certificates expressed the thanks of the Mayor, councillors, (and the residents of the borough.