The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-05-08
NURSES FOR THE ARMY.
Women Who Have Been Asked to En-
list By Uncle Sam.


to women to study this branch Of the
profession. The second reason is that
there is no place in this country where
women can secure adequate training
for army service.
1.-THE only way in which the govern
ment can make sure of a corps of COM
petent nurses. on which 10. rely in time
of war. is to establish for this purpose
training school, along lines somewhat
similar to those followed in the great
English hospital at Netley. where for
the past IS years British army nurses
have received their training. This
school should be located in the nation
al capital, and might be conducted in
the same manner as the military ac;td-
envy at West Point. That is to say, the
women appointed to the school could
be educated at government expense, on
condition of giving their services for
a term of years. After that, if they
wished TO resign, they could do so, ana
would then form reserve force, on
which the government could draw in
case of war
THE course in such a school would
be divided into hospital and field work
in the hospitals, in preparing and APP
plying bandages, treating fevers and
! other diseases apt to be prevalent in
| camps. and administering anesthetics;
! that part of the course devoted to field
W
! the battlefield. how to put up field
! hospital, etc. For the benefit of the
navy. training ship would be provid-
ed, on which the nurses could become
| familiar with work on shipboard and
! with the conditions TO be met in sea
| duty.
In such a school as is here briefly
outlined. the nurses must form an in
tegral part of the army and navy, just
as the surgeons do now. They would
| be under military discipline, wear
| distinctly army uniform, be eligible to
promotion and decoration, and, after
certain length of service, to retirement
on part pay. After completing their
training in the school, they could be
assigned to the different army posts
and hospitals, in order to obtain prac-
teal experience.
AS in the case of West Point and
Annapolis, such an institution could not
but prove of benefit to the army anG
navy, by giving women the most thor
ough training, a training which many.
probably, would never be able to secure
otherwise. The project has been sug-
gested in military circles more than
once before but nothing ever came OF
it. because the iaw-rnaking branch of
the government could not see the ne
cessity of such a provision.
Just now. however, in the absence OF
army nurses, the government is relying
upon the various schools where nurses
are instructed.
While much of the work of caring for
the sick and wounded in the field will be
left to the Red Cross, the heads of the
army are preparing staff OF nurses to
accompany the troops when they move
south, and to care for the injured in
the military hospitals. The way in
which these nurses have been obtained
is the same as that in which the sur
geons for the volunteer corps of the
army and navy have been supplied.
Through the different hospitals and
schools the surgeons general secured
the names of a large number of nurses
who have recently completed their |
training. To all of these enlisting
blanks are sent, with the request that
the nurses who felt so disposed should !
fill them out, indicating whether the !
government could call for their services /
whenever needed. Some agreements |
were for immediate service, others for /
enlistment after three or six months.
A large number of replies, several |
hundred in ALL have been sent in. Some /
of the signers say that they Will go at /
once. others that their services can be |
had after July l, and so on. These have !
all been filed away at Washington, and /
as fast as a demand for nurses arises. |
they will be acted upon.
The work of the nurses will begin
with the actual commencement of hos
tilities. War under modern conditions is
so little known that it is impossible to
tell how great inroads sickness and I
wounds will make in our ranks. But the
government proposes to be prepared for
any emergency. If our army moves into
Cuba it will be accompanied by a de-
tachment of the Red Cross, under Miss
Barton. Most of the field work will be
left to the members of the Red Cross.
who will care for Americans, Cubans or
Spaniards, as necessity may require.
The trained nurses who have volunteer
ed directly under the command of the
surgical department of the army and
navy, will be sent to Key West Tampa,
or other points where hospitals may be
established.
Every woman who served as a nurse
during the civil war has been besieged
by a host of inquiries from her earnest
young sisters, who want TO help in the
present struggle. After a lecture at
one of the schools the other day. lot
of the girls gathered about Mrs. Ellen !
Opp, a pleasant, gray-haired woman,
who acted as nurse in the conflict in
1861.
Il shall never forget my first expert
ance with a wounded man." said Mrs.
Opp, with a smile. 1T was after the
battle of Bull Run and l had just ar :
rived in Washington. l had cared for
sick persons, but never seen more blood
han would come from a cut finger.
The first man brought into my section :
was soldier. His leg had been shot I
away. His clothing was all bespat- {
erred with blood and the sight of that 5
and the terrible wound made me feel
more deadly faint than l ever did be-
ore or since. My limbs almost gave c
way beneath me and l leaned against c
he wall to keep from falling. In spite !
If the pain he was suffering, the !
soldier noticed how pale 1 became
Raising his hand in half salute he /
laid. family:
Nurse. could you get me a little /
/
That brought me to myself I could q
It least carry water and 1 ran back 4
md forth with cup, bringing n drink 7
o every wounded man who was 4
brought in. AS. soon as 1 learned what t
o do 1 got over my feeling of faint I
less. There is nothing like work to :
onqr.er such a weakness. l.
Speaking of water; that's the great e
equirement of men who are wounded h
n d battlefield. A drink of water will
Usually relieve them more than any I
hing else the nurse can do for them. q
he next thing is to get them into a r
omfortab BILE position. In the civil war il
neH VINO were SnOL OIlen Tell forward D
n their faces and smothered in the n
rass before anybody reached them. L
hey should be turned over on their 9
acks or sides. and if an arm or leg is c
roken it should be placed as nearly as b
ossible in a natural position, until the u
urgeon comes. If there is a bleeding S
'ound it must of course be tempor- 2,
rily bandaged. G.
After ALL the best thing that 7
oman can do for the sick and wound
d is to bring them hope and courage II
Y her presence and by the attentions q