A NEW ZEALAND HOSPITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 May 1916, Page 3

A NEW ZEALAND HOSPITAL.

WORK OF DOCTORS AND NURSES. SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF WOUNDS AND DISEASE, (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces) Cairo, March 29. I first came upon it, it was full of wounded and sick from various parts of the Empire, and there was some uncertainty about its control and administration. When I saw it again, after months of war, it was just a little bit of New Zealand—sick and sorry, bruised and battered, but still cheerful and optimistic—planted on the fringes of the famous city. From the balcony you could watch the far Mokattam Hills changing from pearly grey to rose and amethyst, and palest opal. Not far off was the site of the ancient city where Moses studiejjU-phJlosopliy. The Nile, bearing picturesque, white-winged dahaibeahs gracefully on its broad bosom, was close at hand. On the borders of the camp, about a mile away, soldiers from the Antipodes were finding the pottery and bronzes and scarabs of departed dynasties. The convalescents, in an afternoon, could visit the (Pyramids, and in front of the inscrutable Sphinx think out the Riddle of the Sands for themselves. A hospital in war-time is not generally supposed to be a cheery place; but there was certainly no air ef gloom about the New Zealand Hospital at Pont de KouMieli. Stricken down with disease and bomb 3 and bullets and high explosives men found their way thither and found it a haven of healing and rest—a calm and peaceful oasis far removed from the noise and stress, of war. But as you were carried down the valleys and the long sap with the "red ticket" on you, and the germs of disease or a pointed Turkish bullet in you—or through you—there was no certainty where you would pull up for final treatment. Helped out of trench iv bivouac, men would find themselves in some dressing station—often none too safe from shot and shell. Down from the deadly slopes of Chunuk Bair, along the sunken roads from Hill 60, through the saps from Quinn's and all tht- other well-remembered places, men were sent via the dressing stations to the casualty clearing stations, where they were liable to be hit again by bullet or blown to bits by high explosive. Thence they limped or were carried to the bettles" or barges—on days wiien it was calm enough—and so on to the white-painted ships at anchor a mile offshore. The Peninsula had now got rid of you, and you were at the mercy of the lines of communication. England, Malta, Alexandria, Cairo, might claim you according to the exigencies of the' occasion. In the beginning it was not all plain, sailing, and there wore not enough doctors and nurses. The toll of human life and limb in modem warfare had been greatly under-e3timated. But gradually all the deficiencies were made good, and eventually little was lacking in the interests of the sick and wounded. To Alexandria it was a two or three day's journey. If your case was serious, you went into one of the big, wellequipped hospitals there. Other cases went on by hospital train to Cairo, and, from Heliopolis, an ambulance car took you to Pont de Koubber, where, in what was before the war the Egyptian Army •Hospital, you found yourself under the careful attention of New Zealand doctors, New Zealand nurses, and New Zealand orderlies, enjoying a diet that was almost a shock to your bully-beef digestion —and, above and beyond all, New Zealand butter! Two old polished brass, muzzle-load-ing cannon flanked the main entrance to this little bit of New Zealand to which you had come. In the hall were trophies of old wars—brass helmets topped with the crescent; native drums (stretched hide over great copper bowls) and silken banners, bearing Arabic inscriptions. These latter—drums and banners—were presented by the Sirdar to the detachment of the Medical Corps under command of el Bimbasbi Myles, present at th% action of Tokar, February 19, 1891. New Zealand was fortunate in getting a building designed and already equipped as a hospital. It is twostoried, with shady balconies, and spacious grounds, in which are tents for the overflow. In other hospitals, hurriedly improvised, both doctors and nurses had to work under les3 advantageous circumstances. But here, again, the deficiencies were remedied as quickly as possible. THE STAFF, The staff and the control of the hospital varied from time to time, till finally it worked up to a personnel for a hospital with '520 beds. But what with beds on the balconies and tents in the grounds there were at times accommodated 'between 800 and 1000 patients. The staff for a: 500-bed hospital consists of a lieutenant-colonel in charge, two lieutenant-colonels, five majors, twelve captains, a quartermaster, and sergeants, corporals, and men for ward and general duties. The nursing staff consists of a matron, 16 sisters and 26 staff"mirsps—43 in all. The staff was seldom up to this strength, yet it carried on the work practically of a 1000bed hospital at times. The medical and surgical staff was a highly competent one. while too much praise could scarcely be bestowed upon the self-sacrificing energy and devotion of the highly-train-ed New Zealand nurses. An ophthalmic surgeon belonging to the R.A.M.C. visited the hospital once a week for consultations. There were about 12ft orderlies in the establishment, and, in addition to these, over sixty native servants were employed in menial work in and about the hospital. » THE POST OFFICH. Attached to the hospital is a post office, which is a great convenience. In the tent which accommodates it as many as 16,000 letters are dealt with in a week. Between 20 and 30 sacks of newspapers arrive per week—that is, when the ships can bring them. Three officers censor the letters. There are six men employed in the post office, one man being continuously employed in redirecting letters to ten other hospitals and convalescent camps. SOME STATISTICS. During last-year the admissions to the hospital numbered 6506—115 ofl'icns anl 6391 other ranks. These were iv* all New Zealanders, a certain num .er if English and Australian, office l ;* ;■ ■ men having in that time passed 1 v the hospital. By far the larger »'■"• a >f pases 2 £ c. 3 ,. .. ji;

reaching the high figure of 5325 sick as compared with 1181 wounded. A large number of New Zealand wounded, .especially in the earlier stages of the fight' , ing, received treatment in the numerous other hospitals in Alexandria and Cairo, and most of the serious cases returning from the battlefield were not taken past Alexandria. The deaths in the hospital had been remarkably few. No officer had died of wounds, and only one from sickness. There hud been 32 deaths oE men from sickness and only 10 from wounds. The greater number of oVaths from wounds had of course occurred on the battlefield in the dressing and clearing stations, and on the hospital ships. There had been over 200 operations for gunshot wounds and complications, 35 for hernia, 30 for appendicitis, 42 for varicose veins of varied nature, and 27 for haemorrhoids. There had been 120 minor operations, in addition to a large number of abdominal operations. NEW ZEALAND WOMEN'S WORK. An inspection of the hospital at Pont de Kouhbeh reveals two facts that make a deep impression upon the mind of the visitor—the wonderful amount of industry and the warm-hearted generosity displayed by tiie women of New Zealand. In so far as bedding and clothing are concerned, this hospital has been practically equipped oy them. Mmost the only tiling that has had to be purchased here Ls a supply of blankets. Some blankets have been sent' from New Zealand, and, needless to say, their quality is decidedly superior to the English article purchased elsewhere. The New Zealand women have sent garments worked by their own handspyjamas, underclothing, socks, cholera •belts, shirts, slippers, hospital suits, etc. Table and bed linen have also come to hand iu large quantities. Another thing that surprises one is the general excellence, not only of the work, hut of the material employed. You note in your tour, for instance, a beautiful pillowslip that, is perhaps neatly marked with the name of a. friend in far-away Xew Zealand. Money has also been sent out most liberally for the comfort and entertainment of the patients. Individual nurses have received as much as £SO to be spent in this way. In the case of men. returning to New Zealand on troopships, the matron packs a kit-bag for each individual. The contents often include warm Cardigan jackets, and even dressing-gowns' for the cot cases. In regard to men returning in the hospital ships, there is not the same necessity to cater for the comfort of the voyageurs, for the hospital ships themselves are very well supplied with the various necessaries and comforts for the homeward voyage. One of the sisters summed up the position in regard to the excellent work that lias been done when she remarked; "I think it is amazing." SHADOWGRAMS AND SURGERY. ■ One .of the most interesting corners of a modern military hospital is that in which the X-ray expert does his work. ' The New Zealand Hospital is quite up to date in this respect. Bullets and bits of shell and bombs and shrapnel are located with wonderful and uncanny accuracy. By this means not only is tlie patient saved a great deal of exploratory cutting, that would in many cases be necessary in the olden times, but lie is even, in some cases, saved the necessity for operation altogether. The deeper in the bullet is the harder it is to locate, and the outer wound is often no index as to the exact locality in which the bullet may be lying, for bullets arc frequently deflected in strange ways. The pointed bullet coming at a high velocity generally goes right through, and makes a clean wound, hut sometimes it turns round after impact and tears the tissue and breaks the bone, leaving an ugly wound. This it is that lias no doulbt given rise to the many stories about the Turks using explosive bullets—stories that were, of course, quite inaccurate. The most dangerous wounds, of course, come from bits of shell and bombs, and from shrapnel bullets, which are apt to carry in hags of dirt and clothing that the pointed bullet leaves behind. There is a general disposition nowadays to leave in the body bullets that are not likely to give trouble, and to let Nature do the healing without further disturbance of the tissue by the surgeon's knife. After this war there will 'be thousands and thousands of men walking about quite unconcernedly with bits of iron and bullets in them. In the shadowgraphs you see these bits of bullets and bits of iron quite clearly, in all sorts of strange positions and places. The -X-ray man is quite proud of some of these negatives. There is one with splinters widely scattered below the knee. There is another of bits of hone in a Maori's Irsnd. A third—rather a nasty one—is a Christmas Day present from the Senussi. Amongst a number taken in the days when the wounded were pouring in after the historic landing at Anzac is a fine negative with an arrow pencilled in above what was thought to he a fracture in a skull. The X-ray man dwells upon this because it is a fine negativesurprisingly good to have been taken with the primitive apparatus installed in the early days of the hospital. Tt is rather a coincidence to find that the skull belongs to one's own son. THE CONVALESCENT?. . There are 200 beds in the hospital reserved for surgical cases requiring special attention. Minor eases are accommodated in tents. At the time of my visit there were some Sflfl patients in the hospital, and seven in a. convalescent annexe in Heliopolis. Some of the New Zealand convalescents were also sent to Luxor and Ileloan, ahd liidy Godley's Home took in others. At Port Said there was a camp for convalescent enteric patients, where they waited till they could be sent back to New Zealand, and at Suez a rest camp, where other New Zealand-bound patients could bo sent. So far as very bad surgical cases are concerned, they are, of course, dealt with' much nearer the firing line than Cairo—some on the hospital ships, while many of the more serious cases, both of disease and wounds, were conveyed to other hospitals at Alexandria. Most of the cases are gushot wounds, but quite, a number arc the result of accidents. Operations were also neees-. sary as the result of septic sores and wounds, surface infections and abscesses. Some healed quickly, others were delayed in their healing through blood poisoning associated with the life we led on Gallipoli. Debility, flies and dirt played their parts. There were a .. large number of operations for appendicitis, hernia, varicose veins and hemor-. rhoids. In the winter, cases of trench foot and a few cases of real frostbite turned up. There were, however, no amputations from these causes in the New Zealand hospital. Trench foot is 'usually caused 'by interference with the circulation due to swelling of the limbs as the result of standing for lengthy periods in cold and wet without removing the boots. As a rule, the cases | stopped abort of gangr«n%

During the hot weather, operations were carried on at a disadvantage, but by starting at 6 ajn., before the heat became intense, and by scrupslous attention to aseptic technique, th» results attained in civil hospitals under the best conditions. There was a very low death rate from enteric in its varied forms of typhoid and para-typhoid, alpha and beta. At one stage there was an epidemic of jaundice. Cases of pneumonia, enteritis and rheumatism came into the hospital, but there were no cases of cholera or typhus. Malaria and mild fevers of an obscure character —degue, influenza, neruasthenia and debility claimed attention. Neurasthenia was generally attributable to shock from high explosives and debility. THE CULINARY DEPARTMENT. Few people have any idea of the enormous quantities of provisions consumed in a hospital that accommodates from SOO to 1000 patients. The supplies required for the New Zealand hospital reached their maximum in December. Here are a few interesting figures:— Eggs, 80,000; bread, 18,54; loaves; beef, 10081b; mutton, 79971b; chickens, 3644; milk, 21,833 litres; vegetables, 60341b. In Egypt there is fortunately a wonderful supply of eggs and poultry —a necessity in any hospital. The country exports millions of eggs, but since the war started the Army has made big inroads on the local supply, and the export has decreased proportionately. New Zealand butter was a great luxury, and there seemed to be no difficulty about the supply. The British Red Cross and Order of St. John had a kitchen in the hospital, and indefatigable lady workers did excellent service in the cooking of delicacies and light foods for the sick and wounded. Numerous gifts, of course, found their way to the hospital from New Zealand and elsewhere, end were greatly appreciated.