Evening star., 1915-09-14
Officers Are Elected.

The officers elected during the execu-
tive session We're: President, Surgeon
Gen. Rupert Blue, United States pub
lie health service; first vice president,
Medical Director George A. Lung,
United States Navy; second vice presi
dent, Col. Henry Alters, Medical Corps,
New Jersey National Guard; third vice
president, Col. H. Z. Birmingham, Medi
cal Corps, United States Army; secre-
tary, Lieut.. Col. Edward y. Munson.
United States Army, and treasurer, ].
Harry Uhlrichs. Medical Corps, Mary
land National Guard.
The association selected Chicago as
the next place OF meeting and Octo-
Der, 1916, as the time. :
Asserting that hospital units for the
military services should be trained
for war in time of peace if the coun-
try did not desire to pay the price in
suffering for men, women and chill
dren and in heavy pensions, Maj. Will
liam o. Owen, Medical Corps, L. S. A.
today read q paper or the relation OF
the Army Medical Corps to the Army
Medical Reserve Corps and the Medi-
cal Reserve Corps of the organized
militia.
He traced the military medical serv-
ice from the time of the revolution
down to the present day, when, he
said, it was greatly deficient in units
with which to cope with any big war.
He charged that the United States. in
all its wars, went in unprepared from
a surgical standpoint.
Likened to Wrecking Crew.
Likening the military medical serv-
ices to a wrecking crew. he pointed
out that. it was the duty of the sur
geon in time of battle to go through
the wreckage and pick out the slight
ly wounded and attend to them, so that
they could return to the firing line,
leaving those who are near death to
the last. The medical officer, he said
should go through the wreckage, pro-
gressively choosing for repair those
who are likely to prove most useful on
the fighting line.
IF there are ten men slightly wound
ed. each with a reasonable chance of
recovery, and one dying man." said
Maj. Owen, sit is the duty of the medi-
cal man to go to the dying man first
But the medical officers duty is with
the nation first. He should attend to
the ten slightly wounded first, for these
men men may mean the nations life.
They are a part of the army. 1t is not
a failure of the sympathetic sense
which prompts the medical officer to
attend to the slightly wounded first"
Much Training Needed.
Mai. owen pointed out that much train
ing was needed by medical officers to fit
them for service in battle. No soldier,
he said, would think of going into battle
with unframed units. The infantry
would not do il and the cavalry would
not do il, and why. he asked. should the
MEDICAL corps be expected to do what
the lire will net do?
yet" he went on. that is precisely
what the United States has done in all
5iz wars
The Medical Corps officers and men
must learn in time of peace to use the
tools which they would be expected to
learn in time of war. 1t is far better
to have trained set of men remove
tie than to have them accompanied to
the rear by their comrades. The men
feel better and will fight better when
they know that they will be looked
after by skilled hands. In all wars in
which the United States has partici-
pateG there has been a shortage of
medical and surgical material, trans
portatiou for medical forces and A
seTious shortage of medical officers and
enlisted men.
Unframed Personnel Expensive.
To provide unit that is so small
that IL cannot be properly trained in
vide at all for its war functions" he
said, in conclusion. AN unframed per-
\sonnel, whether it be regular or vol
unteer, is expensive. 1t is the function
of the Congress to determine whether
II is best for the United States TO train
these units III time of peace for the