Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 251, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1917 — Guarding Health of Men in Navy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Guarding Health of Men in Navy

Government has most careful provision for sailors ill or wounded:: Service afloat very desirable for youth of country from standpoint of physical well being—no cause for worry

by William G. Braisted, Surgeon General, United States Navy, in New York Herald Magazine of « the War.

It is perhaps somewhat strange, and yet it is p fact, that friends, and especially parents, of boys who enlist in the navy are more gravely concerned for the health of the men than with the prospect of battle casualties. This state of mind is evidenced in hundreds of letters which come to the office of the surgeon general and in the personal calls of scores of fathers and mothers who are apprehensive that their sons may become ill and not receive proper medical care. As one mother put it, “If the boys are going to be wounded-or killed it is only what we must expect. It’s part of the war sacrifice and it can’t be helped. We must give our lives and the lives of those dearer to us than our own without question, but it is a terrible thing to think of their being ill or exposed to disease needlessly with no one to take care of them.” The answer to this woman was to show her through the medical department’s headquarters in the navy annex building and to explain to her just what is being done, not only to care for those who are ill but to prevent men of the navy from becoming ill. She went away contented —her mind at rest. A mother's care can, of course, not be replaced by anything in the world, but she was satisfied that should her boy contract any ailment he would have everything it in humanly passible to give him except her

care. Obviously, it is impossible to ex--phrirrpersonaHy-to all cullers just howthe medical department of the navy is conducted and how it works, but through the Magazine of the War I will be able to reach thousands of mothers and fathers who perhaps have been concerned about the same thing. In the first place, an ill or delicate man cannot perform the duties required in the navy. He is a burden. He not only is useless himself while ill but it requires other men to'care for him, and he often becomes a menace to his shipmates. From the standpoint of efficiency, then, the navy must do everything in its power to keep the men" well and strong. If for no other reason this should reassure those interested in enlisted men in the navy. Then take the medical officers. It is their duty to cure the ill and prevent the well from becoming ill. If they do not perform this duty satisfactorily they come to be known as Inefficient officers. It is a matter of pride with them to discharge their duty well —and faithfully.—Moreover, it is the spirit and tradition of the corps to feel a human interest in all the men and boys who come under their care. They are specialists in their line and yet they regard the men with the same personal feeling that a family physician has toward his patients. That- is a feeling which cannot he bought and paid for. It is the outgrowth of tlieir training, a part of the esprit de corps of the medical department. 2 1 At the heads of the brandies and bureaus of the navy department are men actuated by the same-principles — men who feel that it is the enlisted sailor who is making the greatest sacrifices for the flag and that he is entitled to the very best in comfort and care. No man who is not physically sound and tn good health can enlist. Therefore the recruit is supposedly well when he enters the navy. The first weeks of his Service are passed at, a stronger physically, and here the regular life and exercise make him even more healthy, as everybody can testify who has watched the recruits arrive at a station and has seen them leave a few months later, standing straighter, weighing more and often an inch taller. He is then assigned to some unit in th,e regular navy. There he is under tne constant supervision of physicians who have made a study of the conditions under -which he is living and the ailments and disease to which he is liable. This is more than could be said of him at home. In the . office of the surgeon general of the navy hangs a map of the United

States dotted with pins with heads of various colors. The map resembles those used to show the movements of the belligerent armies. It is, indeed. a map of an invasion of the United States, but it is not a military invasion. The colored pins show the Invasion of armies of disease

throughout the various states, and each color denotes a different contagious disease, such as measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, meningitis and the like, as these diseases come first from the foci in the civilian population. Every day come reports from officers of the United States public health department, and the pins are moved about as the germ armies advance or retreat. At a single glance it can be told just what diseases are prevalent or present in any part of the country. Let us say, for instance, that this map i. shows a number of cases of meningitis in Kansas. The examining ofticerfr-are tilfbrined through the public health reports, and all applicants* for enlistment in the navy from the affected district are watched for symptoms of prevailing diseases. The same is true of every disease which can be carried or conveyed in any manner from one person or place to another. At the training stations the men are kept under observation for days until it is practieaHy certain that they are not carriers of infection. The conditions under which the men live once they are in the navy are com

dmive t<> health, and it is not easy for a disease ]to start and gain a foothold, but Transmittable dlseases do not get into the navy from the outside. Wherever great numbers of young men live together they are liable to epidemics, but these diseases are quickly isolated and taken care of. It should be remembered that In peace times epidemics of disease are extremely rare in the navy, and the deaths' are too few to attract attention. When, however, at the outbreak of war hundreds of young civilians, as newly enlisted recruits, are brought together from all parts of the country and intimately associated, epidemics do occur. The boy from a home where the parents “do not believe in vaccinations,” from a town where the authorities think it unnecessary to quarantine a contagious case, etc. Thus a youth whose little sister or brother has measles or scarlet fever and who may carry the disease is allowed to go away and enlist and in time he endangers hundreds of others. In a great many ways the men themkelves can better their health and maintain it. These ways are shown to them, and many are required by the discipline ofj.be navy. In the first place, the bulk of the navy is at sea. Nothing certainly could be better to breathe than the pure sea air. The quarters in which the men live are scrupulously clean. The ventilation is good and the food plain but wholesome. Expert dietitians have agreed upon the navy rations, and the men are assured of enough to eat to maintain their strength and health. Cold storage facilities and the 1 great quantities of food which can be carried on board ship make—navy fare perhaps more varied and agreeable than that which it is possible to give to the army in the field. Then there is no possibility for the meh to go'outside and eat a lot of things for which their palates yearn but which upset the stomach. >

A certain amount of prescribed exercise must be indulged in every day. This keeps the men in condition and builds up. their strength. Personal cleanliness is required of every man in the navy. His clothing. Tnspected. Men with unpleasant or unhealthy habits are not allowed to enlist. If any elude the vigilance of the examining surgeons they are dismissed from the service. Clean teeth, clean bodies and clean habits are rigidly enforced. The water on Joard ship is of the purest, because it is distilled water. Frequent tests are made by the leal officers to insure its freedom from contamination. ’ ' If I should give advice to the young men entering ,the npvy us to their health it would be: “Keep elean, wash frequently, eat the navy fare and do not stuff yourself with rich, unwholesome food when you go ashore.

“Follow the directions and advice of the officers over you and report the first symptoms of illness to the medical officer. “When on liberty conduct yourselves as gentlemen and do not lay yourself liable to diseases which may wreck your own lives and be communicated to others. “In the case of landing parties do not drink water promiscuously. Stick to the water in your canteens or to the sources of supply which have already been tested and approved by the medical officers. “Keep your quarters clean and do not allow matter to lie around which will attract flies or other insects. Protect yourself from flies and mosquitoes all you can, especially in tropical climates.” If the boys in the navy~wHl~foHow these simple rules they should be healthy. They must aid and supplement the work of the medical officers, who will see to it that conditions are made and kept conducive to health. A ship with its complement of several hundred men, sometimes more than 1,000, is similar to a small town, luiving constderfttion for its water supply, sewage disposal, lighting of its passageways and living apartments, heating and ventnation of its living quarters, protection against epidemic diseases,—maintenance of she generai health of the community and general hygienic and sanitary matters , On board this ship there are officials who represent in a similar way the various officials of a town. The medical officer, or officers, represents the board of health, the sanitary Inspector, medical adviser and family physician. He represents all the medidal talent available to any community. No one with a friend or a relative in the navy need fear for the manner in which the men are cared for in such circumstances. Every morning there is “sick call,” at which time those who feel indisposed report to the proper officer. They are at once examined and disposed of according to their needs. Some are given medicine and return to work. Others may be treated in their quarters and still others are sent to the sick bay and put' in clean beds under the care of trained male nurses. The medical department on board ship is established in a generous space,

WTiichls speeiticalJ? provided for and desirably located in the original plans of the vessel. In the larger vessels this space is divided into an examining room, dispensary, operating room, bathroom and the sick bay, which corresponds to a hospital ward, and there is generally a small isolation room for'contagions diseases. Should the patient become so ill that he needs special care and quiet, he is transferred to the hospital ship; which is in attendance on the fleet. Hhre the patients will be under medical officers thoroughly equipped with all medical and surgical appliances, in--cluding X-ray machines and the most up-to-date, apparatus. These hospitals are conducted after the manner of civilian institutions, the nursing staff consisting of a certain number of nurses of the nurse corps (women) and of the navy and hospital corps. On board these hospital ships are medical officers who have specialized in (Ffferent lines of work, so that no matter from what the patient suffers lie is assured of, the best medical and surgical care. In addition to the hospital ships the navy maintains 20 shore hospitals, which are among the finest and best equipped in any service. The duty of the line officer is to destroy the enemy. The duty of the medical officer is to insure the physical fitness of the whole command, and, knowing the spirit which actuates the medical officer of the navy, I can do no more than say that as I ha\ e intrusted the health of my own son so would I advise others implicitly- to intrust their > sons to the the men who guard his health should he enlist in the navy.

Dr. William C. Brzisted, U.S.M.