RESTORING DISABLED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 306, 22 September 1919, Page 5

RESTORING DISABLED SOLDIERS

NEW MEDICAL HEADQUARTERS . ORTHOPAEDY IN PRACTICE Unostentatiously,, quite efficiently, one section of tho DefcnCo Department which is doing splendid work on behalf of invalided returned-soldiers is the sick and wounded branch at District Medical TfiMCfimirior.s, Brandon Street. Formerly, the medical headquarters wero located at '.iic Uarrisoh Hull, Buckle Street; but owing to the accommodation there not being -iuffieient, a move was decided upon, mid about a month ago tho premise.- in Brandon Street used by tho War lOxpjnses Branch wore handed over for tlm requirements of the District Medical Headquarters. Tho new headquarters are on the tliird and fourth floors of tile building, and, boiug roomy and airy, they are very well suited to (lie purpose to which thev have been converted. The third floor is occupied by Lieu-tenant-Colonel A. W. Hogg, AssistantDirector of Medical Services, and the clerical members of the administrative staff/ The sick and wounded record? soetion, which is under the direction of Captain C. 0. Brinsldy, and which contains over 30,000 personal files, is also located on this floor, On the floor [ above'is the massage department, which is in charge of Captain S. H. Arthur. Here there is also a cheery looking and (!omfnr*n.bly apnoiiited waiting room, aud the Y.M.C.A. Buffet, which dispenses hot drinks am! light refreshments free to such men as desiro them. The buffet is riuite a feature' of tho establishment, and it is mucin appreciatdd by the many men who have to dttend the massage department for treatment every week. There is also a branch of \ the Vocational Training Department on this floor, where men may attend for instruction in subjects which they have taken up while awaiting their turn to undergo treatment, or interview medical officers. Lieutenant Wray has charge of this .branch. The whole of the administrative medical work for the Wellington military district is now dono from Brandon Street. All inquiries concerning treatment, etc., fi'Otn men In the district nre forwarded there, and Colonel Hogg issue his instructions accordingly. Of course, nnlv incapacitated men/ belong- } ing to Wellington citv and near-bjjloeal--1 ities actually go to. Brandon_ Street f-r treatment, but some indication of' the volume of work done there may lie gathered from tho fact that during the week ended September 1, 915 treatments'of one sort or another were carried out at the department. In Order that men who find it inconvenient to attend for treatment in the daytime not have their ordinary civilian duties interfered with, a night clinic in connection with the massage department has been established,. and this is open between the hours of 7 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. A large number of men are thus enabled .to re■ceive necessary attention who otherwise might have to forgo it on. account of not being able to get' away from their daily work. -. .. ' Tlu? massage department is quite a wonderful place, and here Sister Gubbins and a staff of - seven other sisters carry out the work of restoring damaged or atroohried muscles, and awakening, deadened nervee. When the massage briinch was. first established at the Garrison Hall, Buckle Street, there were but two huTses. and the only equipment the branch possessed was a Bnstow battery. In'the, new premises thero are now eight thoroughly qualified masseuses and a complete outfit of accessory electrical plant. So effective are the. arrangements that the massage branch can how carry out any ■ class .of treatment connected .with orthopaedic work. The rower for the electrical plant is generated on the premises. Some really amazing things aro done, in this department. For instance, there is a Schnee bath, by nieans of which drugs are forced through the system by..electrio : energy'to whatever part of the body-is being brought "back to a state of normal ■ity. This particular type of treatment is known as "ironisation," and the aver-age-length of time which a patient remains in the bath for any one period is > dbout 40 minutes. 4 very large number' of Schnee baths have been administered Ho patients.'and in no instance has there been anything in the nature of a "burn."

Some of the Cases. A Dominion representative who visited the massage branch yesterday was dhown 6evern'l eases) in which positive success had been achieved in treating. men who had disabilities consequent on injuries received in the held. One ease was 'that of a man whose right thigh had withered away until it was no thicker than either of his By careful massaging, however, the muscles had again been brought into piny and the limb had been restored - to its proper dimensions. In addition, the soldier could now use the leg freely—a thing •which he was unable to do until taken in hand by the masseuse. There was another case of a man who had been shot through the neck and who could not turn his head to either side of his body. After undergoing a few weeks' treatment the muscles ot the neclc hove been "re-educated," and the patient, although not yet thoroughly cured, is .yet able to do "Eyes right!" or. "Eyes left!" as smartly as when he was with Ms battalion on service. Walking exoiefees are practised by men who have los: ihe control of their leg's through atrophy of tho muscles ami nerves, and here also excellent and Rraiiiying Tesults are being obtained. During tho reporter's visit one man was asked to illustrate the way he Hmped when first he came for treatmem, but go successful had been the curative work in hi.* case that he had forgotten how lio used to walk! Arrangements are'being made for Major Marchant, who recently returned from tho front after four and a half years' servico with the New Zealand Medical Corps, to be in attendance at the ixiedioal headquarters-once or'bvipe in each week for the purpose of treating patients who have received injuries to, or have contracted diseases of, the eye, ear. or nose while on active 6arvice. ■ This will be a specialist out-patient department, and it is hoped that it Tvfil 1m in operation very shortly. Much assistance in furnishing the waiting rbom and the massage department wit'i chairs and books has been' given by the New Zealand Red CJro?s Society, and for this the medical authorities' and' the men are duly thankful, for it has abolished th* tiresome monotony entailed in waiting about to receive attention, such as was tho case before the medical headquarters shifted, from the Harrison Fall.