COMFORT FOR THE SICK

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 666, 18 May 1929, Page 1

COMFORT FOR THE SICK

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE’S NEW DEPOT FIRST IN NEW ZEALAND The work of the St. John Ambulance among the poor and needy of Auckland has been further extended by the opening of a Medical Comforts Depot at the ambulance station in Rutland Street. From this depot sick-room comforts* such as air-cushions, hot-water bottles, crutches, invalid chairs, back-rests and bed-cradles —articles which make all the difference between the comfort and discomfort of a patient—will be issued on loan at a small weekly charge on the recommendation of a nurse or doctor. In really necessitous cases the charges may be remitted. Everything returned to the depot will undergo a thorough cleaning and sterilisation before being sent out to other patients. In England and in Wales these depots have been found to meet a great need and, although they may not be self-supporting at first, many of them become so after a short time. The depot in Rutland Street is the first of its kind in New Zealand and to make it a success it will be necessary to increase the present stock of sickroom requisites. The committee, therefore, would be very grateful for donations of sick-room comforts from anyone who has them to spare. The funds at the committee’s disposal for carrying on the depot are very small and to augment them a benefit lecture will be given in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall on Tuesday evening by Mr. R. J. Terry, dietitian, on the subject of diet.