THE EPIDEMIC

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 7

THE EPIDEMIC

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE PEOPLE ASSISTANCE IN THE FIGHT OVERCHARGES FOR SERVICES MINISTER'S COMPLAINTS The Epidemic Commission sat to hear evidence yesterday afternoon. Sir John Denniston presided, and with him sat tho Hon. E. Mitchelson and Mr. D. M'Laren. Harry Hadlow Seed, Assistant Commissioner in charge of the St. John Ambulance Brigade (Overseas), was railed. Ho said that the membership of the organisation in New Zealand wns about-3500, and in Wellington district, comprising Wellington, Wanganui, Paluierston, and I Napier, 2SO. The brigade was under • separate administration from tho St. I John Ainbulanco Association. Both wero , branches of the Order of St. John. Tho association wns more or less a teaching branch, and tho brigade bound its members to keep up practice after getting association certificates.' and ■ bo in readine?s to administer aid to the sick and injured. Members had to undergo an annual test, and tliey mot regularly for practice-in first aid and home nursing. Both tho association and the brigado were working for the same object. Unfortunately there were districts in which there were no branches of either the association or the brigade. Members of the brigade worked actively at tins time of tho epidemic. Whore Thoy Went. Mrs. Katherino Preston, of the Wellington South Nursing Divisiou of the Ambulance Brigade, said that thero had been no warning of the epidemic, and the division was not organised in preparation. Members went out to individual cases as they occurred; some went to temporary hospitals, and some went to assist in the General Hospital. Of the 37 members of the division 27 gave service iu the epidemic, all without payment. Her instructions to members were to report to thoir district committees. She had found, a great lack of nursing knowledge among the women. Few people knew how to uso a thermometer, how to make a bed with tho patient in it, how to reduce temperature, and how to feed patients. Owing to this lack of knowledge she found that she .could do most good by going round advising people, who wero at a loss in the times when medical advice was not obtainable. Witness thought the reason why the membership of the brigade was not larger was because members' services wero not wanted for any purpose. The association could do much lietter work if it had quarters and better facilities for holding classes. Expenses wero so heavy that the classes wero often not largr- enough to pay expenses. This was a special difficulty in the country districts, and in these districts the need for ambulance instruction was greatest. Experience in Petene. William Cox, a district superintendent of St. John Ambulance Brigade, iravo an account of the work done by the Petone branch at the time of the epidemic. He said that this branch had practically taken charge in that district, and set up the first temporary hospital. He could not deny that the brigade was not flourishing as it used to' be. One cause of this was the cost of instructing classes. The strength of the Petone branch wns about 22 men and 18 women, and about 40 women were receiving instruction in preparation for another possible outbreak. It was found that branches of the brigado did better in small communities than in big cities. He thought the Government might assist the organisation by giving capitation on effective members. The brigade was recognised by the authorities iu Britain and in Australia. If n siiJv j sidy "were paid here the brigade would have funds to provide for the training ol new members. Needs of Ambulance Service. .Mrs. Mary Waters, member of the executive of the St. John Ambulance Association. iiiid in charge of the ambulance section, of the. National lteserve,' spoke of transport,, of the sick. For many ve-ivs tho association carried the sick, providing vehicles for this purpose. Appeals were made to the public for funds, hut these were discontinued in the war period. People would not pay for being carried in ambulances, and there were no funds coming in. No Government subsidy was obtainable, and in 1910 tho association handed over its vehicles to the Hospital Board, going out of the transport branch of the work. There was great need for more ambulance veliielos and for skilled ambulance drivers. Ail ordinary driver did not know enough about carrying patients. The teaching woik of the association was being kept uo. The Ambulance Association thought that ambulance vehicles should be housed in some central locality, and would prefer that they be controlled by the municipality. She had heard nothing but golden opinions about the work of the members of Ihe association during the epidemic. One of the worst obstacles of the association was the charge now made bv doctors for lectures. Once medical men used to give services tree, but a medical man who had been a friend of theirs got a motion through the B.M.A. that the fee should always be five guineas. They always "remembered this gentleman kindly." Miss Maud Eobieson, superintendent of tho Wellington Nursing Division of the association, gave an account of how members of her organisation worked. She said there was lio doubt that the ambulance nurses did very good work. She said that even during the war the doctors had been most kind lo the Wellington division. • The division needed a building, and a little more financial assistiUKi!. The Housing Problem. Michael John Beardon, union secretary and piesident of the Trades Council, said that ho nnd other members of the Trades Council had concerned themselves most at the time of tho epidemic with the worst area of Te Aro flat. The people iu that area were really very badly housed, and he thought it would do good if the Commission could make a recommendation on housing. Jt did not ap- • pear that either tho City Council or the Health Department had sufficient : po-.svr to deal with houses unfit for liabi- ■ tation. or that the powers possessed were • fullv enforced. • He would urge mem--1 here of tho Commission to visit some of ■ the houses in the poor parts of To Aro 1 fhi. lis mentioned eases which showed th-.it houses were in disrepair, and that ; the authorities were unable or unwilling ■ to compel the owners to put them iu order or to pull them down. Pegardiug the sickness, he said that no doubt numbers of men had suffered relapses, and some had died, because they tried to go to work before they bad fully recovered. In Case of Another Outbreak, ; The Hon. G. AV. llussell made another statement to the Commission. He said 1 that splendid services wero given by voluntas workers. but ho feared-that- in ! case of another outbreak wo might notsafei lvreiy on volunteer labour. Ho suggesl--1 ed an organisation which might bo doI veloijcd, for tho division of cities into 1 blocks, and ihe administration of work in those areas. At the head of this organisation would be Ihe Chief Health Among the suggestions wore that this officer or his deputy should havo power to commandeer buildings for .hospitals, motor-cars, fruit, and the services of doctors and nurses. Tho Gov- : eminent had had recourse to tho War .Regulations for these emergency measures. but there would ho no war and no war regulations presently, and lie thought there, ought lo lie power under the Public Health Act to take these emergency measure,;. He mentioned this matter , because of tho enormous charges which j wero demanded for tho liiro of motorcars and oilier services. Expenses had bee i much higher in soino plows than in others. . He was afraid to speak ot tho charges mndo in some places. Ho 3 agreed (with the chairman) that a lot nf j tho wasteful expenditure was duo to carelessness, but in some places the local j. authority had tried lo use tho Govern--0 menL a-i a milch cow. In the event of national Prohibition , being carried the Public Health Depart; i. m-jut would havo to carry stocks of alco- . hoi for medicinal purposes. . To gel; this medlcino people--would require certifi-

cates. nnd arrangements would bo mndo for Government doctors to give these certificates free of charge. Burial of the Dead. legislation would be necessary lo give tho government power lo arrange for tho burial of the dead, and to fix tho cost of funerals. Hospital boards paid for funerals ot persons dying without estate at the rate of «E1! 30s. per burial. But in-one city whero an enormous number of people died, tho local authority proposed to pay at the Government's cxpen.io at the rate of .£!) 15s. per burial. In Unit city at the height of tho epidemic bodies were put in rude coffins and taken to the cemetery in lorries. In another place demand was made for <tll Ms. per burial, and in this case also the number was large. Quite poor people had appealed to the Government to pay funeral expenses, amounting lo 4!IS and .£l9 for the burial of poor people dying without any estate. Ho proposed" that the charge in epidemic times should be limited by regulation. In the event of another epidemic the Gcu-ri.ment would havo to consider whether a . part of the cost would not. have to be borne by the local authorities. In this case it had been all borne by the general Government, and the total cost would be not less than a quarter of a million Second-line Nurses. Esther jMacLean, Depuly-Pegistrar of Nurses and Midwives, and matron of the N./.A.N.5., told of the distribution of nurses to meet the emergency demands of the epidemic. There was a shortage of nurses to supply the demands, owing to many of Ihe nurses'contracting the disenso. She also offered some opinions as to Ihe best means of training .nurses in hospitals, and of giving instruction to women, in home nursing. She was totally opposed to any scheme for admitti'ig young women to hospitals for a partial training there. This would jeopardise the teaching of probationer nurses, and would be undesirable" for other reasons. The best medium for the instruction of women in homo nursing seemed to be tho St. John Ambulance Association. 'J'be Commission will sit at 10 a.m. on Monday.