Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-05-29

geon. The stretcher bearers may be
either men selected from his own
company or from the Royal Army
Medical Corps.
After first aid, the wounded man is
removed either by stretcher or horse
ambulance to the nearest dressing sta
ton, where he passes from regimental
aid to one of the divisional field am
balances. These organizations are
composed of three sections, each con-
sisting of one section of bearers, who
collect the wounded, and a section in
charge of the tent dressing stations.
The advanced dressing stations are
pushed as near the front as possible,
On the arrival of the patient, his
wounds are carefully attended to and
an injection of anti-tetanis serum
given.
The next place of treatment is at a
more or less safe distance behind the
firing line, generally in a church or
school or other public building, pos
sibly in a town. In this larger sta
ton the wounded man is made COM
Portable and given food and drink.
The wounded here are assorted as to
degrees of gravity and prepared for
transport to the nearest casualty
clearing station. Transport to and
from these stations is done by the mo-
tor ambulance.
The clearing stations are generally
situated at the railway heads so that
patients can be removed direct to am
bulance trains. In the true sense of
the word, these stations are not hospi-
tails, although they may retain cases
of abdominal and head wounds when
the men can not be removed without
danger. During the battle of Neuve
Chapelle one clearing station of a nor
NAL capacity of 200 handled 500 daily
for four consecutive days and received
and passed on 1858 cases within a
nRriO6- of SIX DAVIS They unite
elastic in makeup, but their staffs
have to work day and night during
battles. 1t is in these stations the pa
tient experiences for the first time the
luxury of lying on bed and having
a woman nurse in attendance. His
length of stay depends on the train
facilities, but as rule he is placed on
an ambulance within few hours.
The train takes the wounded from
what is known as the Collecting Zone
to the Evacuating Zone, which means
from the medical authority of the
fighting army to that of the line of
communications. There are fourteen
ambulance trains now running in
France, each with a personnel of three
officers and fOrty-seVen attendants of
other ranks and three nursing sisters.
The number conveyed depends on
the nature of the cases-whether sit
ting or lying. Several of these trains
were especially designed and built, but
the rest were converted from the or
binary French coaches, with rooms
for staff, dispensaries, kitchens and
stores. Eventually the number of
trains will be raised to twenty
On arriving at one of the British
military bases, the patient is carried
in motor ambulance to a fully equip
ped hospital The permanent hospi-
tails are divided into general and sta
tionary. The general are the larg-
est and best equipped, while the So
called stationary are intended to be
mobile and moved up at various points
on the lines of communication.
Red Cross and privately endowed
hospitals are also found in the base
cities and receive their share of the
wounded. Hotels, casinos, converts,
schools and temporary huts are used
for both the army and civilian hospi-
tails.
The object of this system is to re-
lieve the fighting force of its sick and
wounded as soon as possible not only
to romove a military burden but to
give the wounded the best care, and
what is often needed more than any
thing else, a change of scene.