Norwich bulletin., 1913-11-20

DIR. STEPHEN J. MAYER.
 Dr. Stephen J. Maher of New Haven. chairman of the state tuberculosis commission, has just submitted to Gov ernor Baldwin his report on the re- cent conference in Berlin. Germany, on the subject of tuberculosis.
 In it, pr. Maher says that at first blush, 1t may seem presumptuous to report that in some points, and these not the least important points, Con- necticuts sanatorium equipment com pares very favorably with Germany's, but such is the fact.
 Of course there are many differences between the Connecticut tuberculosis sanatoria and the German tuberculosis sanatoria- The German sanatoria are almost invariably of brick and stone construction, and, as you know, the Connecticut sanatoria are built en- tirely of wood. The grounds about the German sanatoria are carefully groom ed, whereas in Connecticut we have been so engrossed with the erection of buildings and the systematiZing of the management of the new inStitu- tions that not until this year were we able to make a beginning at proper ly treating the grounds about our va rious sanatoria.
 Germans Use X-Ray.
 As rule. the equipment of the san
 
 in Germany. In Germany, however, there is usually in every sanatorium good X-ray outfit. In Connecticut sanatoria there is yet no X-ray ma chine. In most of the German sana- toTia there is a large, expensive, tiled douche room to which the patients are obliged to go every day for vigor- ous hose douching from one of the physicians or nurses. We have no such luxury yet in Connecticut sanatoria.
 Connecticut Nurses Better
 The Connecticut nurses are the bet ter-the quicker, and, 1t seemed to me- the more attentive to details. The old CT Connecticut kitchens are rather cramped and primitive. German san atoria have large, generously appoint ed kitchens and good laundries.
 Milk and Babies.
 Tn Connecticut sanatoria the milk is not heated. In none of the German sanatoria is fresh milk given to the patients. Everywhere the milk is pas teurized or steriliZed. That is true not only of the tuberculosis sanatoria but of the general hospitals as well. The only exception that l found was in Dusseldorf, where Dr. Schlossnan, the well known specialist in chiIdrens dis eases, used raw certified milk for the older babies in his wards in the new city hospital.
 Baby Wards of Glass and Tile.
 These wards of his, by the way, par ticularly the infants wards, are won ders. They are of glass and tile and are really huge incubators with elab- crate contrivances for regulating the temperature and freshening the air and preventing contagion. The mother is never permitted into the glass com partment where the baby sleeps, but when ii is time tO nurse thR bph a sliding window in the glass wall back of the crib is opened, and the nurse passes the baby through this window to the waiting mother, who stands in another sterile glass compartment and, under the eye of the nurse, satisfies the little ones craving for food. Then the baby is passed back through the window and the mother goes to an- other window and nurses another baby, this time not her own We in Ger many said Professor Schlossman, consider it a great crime for any chiIdren's hospital to fail to be pro vided with plenty of wet nurses"
 All these babies are carefully tested from. birth with tuberculin for evil dence of taint of tuberculosis.
 Where Connecticut Leads.
 To return to the difference between Connecticut sanatoria and German sanatoria. A surprising difference is
 
 their patients the full open air treat ment for tuberculosis. The German sanatoria do not In the Connecticut sanatoria the patients sleep outdoors. In the German sanatoria the patients sleep indoors. Only occasionally is the German patient outdoors in the twenty-four hours. Only occasionally in the twenty-four hours is the Con necticut patient indoors. The German sanatoria are provided with elaborate little lean-tOs, some distance from the sanatOrium proper, where the patients go at certain hours of the day to rest on wicker cots. The Connecticut san atoria have no such annexes because the patients beds and cure chairs are in the open air all the while, night and day. The few yerandas that ornament German sanatoria are for infrequent use in the daytime only Surely, if there is any virtue in the fresh air treatment of tuberculosis. the Connect icut and not the German method is the proper and logical way to apply it.
 Sent Home After Four Months.
 Another difference between German and Connecticut sanatoria, is that in Connecticut no limitation is put on the time of a patients stay in the in stitutiOn. The patient who complies with the very easy rules may stay until the attending physicians pro- nounce him an arrested or cured case. In German sanatoria the patients are not allowed to remain longer than four or six months. At the end of that time the improved cases are supposed to know how to continue their inn prevement at home and the unim- proved are sent home as incapable of receiving benefit from sanatorium treatment. As rule, these incurables remain with their families to the end, under constant observation of the nurses from the tuberculosis dispen- saries. The patients and their friends are usually not averse to this method of conducting the last act in the drama l for the reason that while the patient was in the sanatorium, his insurance benefit was shut off from his family and when he came home it was turned on again. If the patient discharged from the German sanatoria as incurable has no home to go to, the insurance society sends him. as a rule, to the general hospital of his district, where he re- mains until the end.
 Where the Money Comes From. Of course, a radical difference be- tween German and Connecticut sana toria lies in the different ways in which