ON GUARD!

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 150, 20 March 1919, Page 6

ON GUARD!

GROUP COMMANDERS AND HOSPITAL

BOARD CONSULT

SCHEME TO TRAIN NURSES

INFLUENZA STILL HERE

The onus of organising tho public in case of a recrudescence of influenza having been cast upon the hospital and charitable «id boards of New Zealand instead of upon tho city and borough councils, Defence Department, etc., a general meeting was called for yesterday to co-ordinate tho voluntary ouUido forces (which did such notably good work in November last), with thoso of the board. The chairman (Mr. H. Baldwin) explained tho new responsibility that had been thrust upon the board. The hoard's activities were divided into giving outside and inside assistance to sufferers. To do the wtfrk the, board required tho assistance of tho outside public. Tho Mayor, in his usual tactful manner, had said "God help Wellington if the epidemic, conics again and tho Hospital Board has control of things." Ho was sorry that Mr. Lulco had made such a remark, as lie would Have been I'nablo to combat the epidemic had he '.lot received tho hearty support of tho sommunitv. It was the general community which" fought the epidemic so well, not the Mayor, and it would now bo the "oneral community which would do the great bulk of tho work, not tho chairman of the board. He requires not only their assistance, but the assistance of many others not present. Knowing the nature and effect of the organisation ot group commanders, ho wished them to transfer their allegiance from tho Town Hall to the Hospital Board. Oiving to (he delicate nature of the matter ho had refrained from making any reference to it until tho Mayiir returned from the south, and all he wished theiii now to do was to transfer their allegiance from him (the Mayor) to tho board. To .that end-hee had called tho meeting 111 the experience of most other countries

the epidemic did recur, and if it was coming back here, it behoved them to be as ready as possible to meet tho attack. If it were to como they would at least have a few more beds'io offer al the hospital. But the work of the group committees would have no connection ( with that institution—lheir3 would be ; the outside work, looking after people in their ow r n homes, etc. The temporary ; hospitals would bo looked after bv the hoard, who would also attend to the transport arrangements (in connection with tho hospitals),and tho medical attendance. He could say there and then that tho medical men had practically agreed to lay out the city in blocks and so prevont any overlapping—it was satisfactory as far as they had got with that phase of the work. .As regards nurses, tho Public Health Department had been asked' to arrange a series of lectures on home nursing. He had also personally spoken to Dr. Valintino on the same subject, and ho had agreed that it might be done with boneat. The board was considering the matter of tho supply of drugs to the tempor.iry hospitals and the motor transport; to avoid any confusion each temporary 'hospital would have its own transport allotted to it. So, it was, hoped, with the assistance of 'the group commanders and their committees, that, if tho epidemic should recur they would be ready loi it. (Hear, hear.) He would ask those who worked so well on tho occasion oi tho last outbreak to notify any -Jiiiiigos ill address to the ■ group commanders. He asked all who were present for their hearty support and assistance, anu the same measure of loyalty as ks shown last year. Then, with tho help of God Almighty, they would do the work that had to bo done faithfully ami well. ' . The chairman read apologies from Messrs. J. P. Luke, P. l?raser, W. H. L, Foster, and M'Kenzie. .... , Mr. Stickney (Central) wished to know if anything had been done with regard to tho securing of places for temporary hospitals. i j Tho chairman said that they wanted to fix them, but pending power to commandeer they could not fix definitely on.' buildings. The places they were considering were the Sailors Friend bo-1 ciety's building, Sydney Street Schoolroom, St. Patrick's College, and South Wellington School. These wero tho buutlin"s they were making arrangements for. The Rev. Robertson Orr: Then you are not considering .the Normal School, it was our biggest and meet convenient hos- * Tho cliairman asked if it was not used as a convalescent home for children (confusing the Normal with tho Ivelburn School), but was informed that it was the big hospital for women at lhorndon. Continuing, the chairman stated that tho motor ambulances were the concern ot tho board. All the professional nurses ill tho temporary hospitals were proposed to ho accommodated in ono building, compulsory wearing of masks was likcijMr. John Smith thought it was rather early to fix the. motor transport, lhe matter had been left to Mr. L. S. Diaki, who had undertaken to provide from twelve to fourteen ambulance cars iron 'those in uso by the City Council,. as vel as others which could bo com ei ted into ambulances.

Board to- "Foot the Bill." Mr George Frost asked who was to w "foot the bill" for the expenditure involved, and was given the assurance that h tho board would be the responsible boilj . t( M; Frost, referring to the heroic work 0 done by the voluntary helpers last year expressed the hopo that in hxinft buildings to be used as temporary liosiiitals the board would look well ahold. He referred to the very hilly natuie ot v tho district (Brooklyn) in which lie ie- g sided, its distance away from the citj, ; an I the complimentary references which _ had boon made to their hospital (m the f Brooklyn School) by Dr. Jlakgi 1 H s also referred to the work of relief a d the demands or the voluntary visitom. Would anyone be deputed to sign orders °' Tllo° oh a inn an said that quite possibly ( such work would be done by Mr. True- \ also mentioned that in some ] places voluntary workers had been aid- i cd by a card system, whereby every house- ! holder exhibited in a ™'W ■ cord bearing tho words, All well oi "Til" T f the former card was usiuio . they knew that no time need ho lost in pnlliii" there, whereas the sign in would" tell them at once that help was probably needed. As was wel known, tliev had gone to some houses laM, je.u to ; find people dead or dying owing to having been unable to advise anyone of {heir condition, whereas lives might tee 1-een saved by a notification that help was required. So long as the board provided tho means, and provided a temporary hospital in each district, it could . rely 'on tho public to do its pint. It was up to every individual in the community to "do his bit. Voluntary Cars,

Air. S. G. Nathan said that now was Hie time to make arrangements for securing the voluntary use of as many cars as i.'issible. After that they could arrange or other ears, which, hi thought, should be hired l>v the, ono authority, the bouid. It would lie a biff drawback to leave such an important provision until the trouble arrived. Tim board, too, should lniow beforehand what it was going to pay, ami ot leave the question until a towards. Rome hundreds of pounds could lidvo been snved in taxi hire last year had the arrangements been made beforehand. wis" a matter of gren importance that motor transport should be £ loall 'II,nLJ1 I,nL J On this subject the TCev. Robertson On reminded Hie meeting that the biggest eharee and the one there js.is monl tbio about w'is the amount spent on '. ' "St would be well to Place that part of the work on a belter looting. »No Brandy-thc Mayor's Gone Home!" Mr Nathan also suggested 'that there mi»ht lie a hotter arrangement lor getting supplies than was the case las -\uvenibe.' On the one occasion a docto Ivns needed in Wadestown 11.0 pation wis ordered champagne and brandy, lie MS successful in getting the champagne but when lie visited the town Hall at midnight and asked for brandy the reply was: "You can't get any brandyho Mayor's gone home!" (Laughter.)

Ha argued that such supplies should be koDt always available at a central place. Tho chairman: Whoso authority did you get to order cars? Mr. Orr; We got full authority to dp so from the Mayor. _ The chairman stated that m tho case of loaned cars petrol would bo 'supplied free, and tho coat of all repairs to cars, rendered necessary through epidemic work, would be a charge upon the board. Instruction in Nursing.

"Mi-. T. Gray (ICelburn) suggested that after medical aid, the tiling of first importance was the nursing. Ho regarded it as a matter of great importance that the women of the community should be taught tho fundamental principles ot nursing, so that if an outbreak did occur they would have an organisation ot nurses available. As the epidemic was again raging in England he would like to know it the authorities had any; fresh nevs a' to the treatment of tho disease. All the latest data should bo iiiudo available tj the doctors, the nurses, and the con'miltees. .. Tho chairman said that tho evidence given before tho Epidemic Commission cloarlv showed to him that the doctors di,l not know what the disease was, nor how to treat it-at least tlmt is how ho i'G'i-1 tho evidcnco of tho mcdical men. Tlii'y saw by tho papers that ono doctor caiiod it the "black 'plague' and another "influenza." . Mr. Gray said, respecting the trainin" of the'women in elementary nursing, it "was time to set the ball a-rolling-it was of vastly more importance than tho Commission. „ _ Mr. Baldwin, m calling on Dr. Baldly (medical superintendent.), said that the Department had been advised strongly to take the mattor up, and pointed out that nine out of every ten women know nothing whatever about nursing. In that respect he had received a lottor from Mr. AV. Foster (who could not be present) containing some verj r good ideas. One was that classes of voluntary nurses should bo formod in tho various contres, and lectures given them on elementary nursing. A second suggestion was that useful hints to parents should be propar Ml in leaflet form. Ihe board was only too ready to do fill it could m tho

ti'iiinin!! of nurses. . ~ Mr Gray: I iloxit think wo should wait fur the Deportment-we got very tired lust Year waiting for Government action i We could ask the ladies to enrol ani attend classes, and if the board could assist with advice arid teaching it would solve a difficult problem-our greatest problem after that concerning tlio doctors. , Mr H. Tolan (Hataitai) said that the} foinii that the women canio forward freely to help, but few knew enough to undertake nursing cases. Ihe trouble had been faced in Hataitai, and (through the assistance of the Women's National Reserve) the first lecture 011 elemontary nursing was to bo given by Dr. 1 lnttsMills that evoning. Ono hundred ladies had promised to attend. It was proposed tint the lectures should be continued even' week for a month.

A Practical Proposal. Dr. Barclay (medical superintendent) said that ono speaker had said that the nunin ,f problem-- was eccond to that ol the doctors. In his opinion homo nursing was the, most important; of all considerations. He put it a long way _ m front of mcdical advice. Home nursing was essential, and without it much ot the effort made was futile. As regards methods of training, ono ounce of piflplice was" worth ten tons of theory, iNo objection was mado to lectures it they were made practical —if practical d c,l ) on " strations were given. He noticed that at Palmerston North'they had commenced a system of taking in Iwtches of women for'a brief courso of training in making of beds (with an invalid in them), sponging down, and feeding them on slop foods. That meant taking u.p their residence temporarily in the hospital. There was no necessity for the lecturer to take in anatomy or more advanced studies. Whether such a scheme were feasible here was another matter, but whilst the idea was opposed: by the Dopai'tuiont, lio could not seo how it would clash in any way with the properly trained nurses. He was opposed to the issue of a certificate to such women that will possibly be used afterwards. If the Department and Hospital Board apr,roved, he would not mmd trying the experiment here of teaching women how to make beds in wards and sponge down a patient. It would bo better training than could' 'be got by the uso of a dummy, and a better training than could be got at lectures. After all on thoso in the homes that the great brunt of the work fell-only a limited number ot patients could be taken to the hospital. In reply to questions, Dr. Barclay said that the number they could take in at a time depended on the accommodation available, and they would have to live on tiie premises. Ho did not think t hej could take more than twenty. If they came for training they would have to turn to at (i o'clock in/the morning, it would.' be no good them strolling m at 10 (Laughter.) The hours would probably be from 6 to 12, with divided duty in the afternoon and evoning.

Groups to be Consulted. j Tho chairman said that those present could put the nurse-training proposal before the group committees, discuss it, and if they favoured it, the board would fall' in with the idea. v Mr. Orr said (hat some of their beat workers were those in business, and could •not undergo such training. The chairman: They will have to confine themselves to the lectures. Mr. Nathan asked if a central depot would be established The chairman said the point would have to be considered. They might have to establish one either at the iown Hall or some other place. 3fr Frost wished to know if it was desired that the group committees should be called together at once. Tho chairman said that the sooner u wore done the bettor. All I can fifi) is, said Mr. Baldwin, "that several cases o influenza —in <i uiild form, I ujkloiskukl —are" with us. Still, while tho mild form is there we have to look out for something else!"

A Resolution. Finally Mr. H - Toliin proposed and Mr. C. Odliii (Island Bay) seconded: That we "roup commanders assembled do pledge ourselves to support the Hospital Board in every. possible way in case of another outbreak of influenza. lins was carried unanimously.