The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-06-19
Preparation for Emergencies
Began Last December With
a General Reorganization.
DIRECTED BY COLONEL. KEAN
hospitals and Universities Of the
Country Are Ready to Give
Aid at Base Hospitals.

The American Red Cross today took
steps to be in immediate readiness
for service on the Mexican border
in case of general hostilities there.
The Red Cross just now 10 better
prepared than ever in it's history to
meet this emergency call. This pre-.
paredness Is result OF reorganixa-
ton undertaken last December. and
still in progress in anticipation OF
such a crisis as II now faces.
The reorganization was undertaken
at the behest Of William Howard
mittee, and II took the form Of divid-
ing the Red Cross work. hitherto
into two DIVISIONS, one for military
relief and one for civilian relief.
Organize Two Divisions
While the latter, under Ernest p.
Bicknell, has been attending to calls
from Europe, the former. under Col
Jefferson r. Kean. has reen quietly
preparing for any national military
In this activity. Maj. Gen. Arthur
Murray. u. s. A.. has actively partici-
The immediate work to be done to &c,
ready for service Is that OF the pur-
chase of supplies. Gen. Murray plans
to purchase these and have them In
case the Red crosS sI is called sD out. a ie
tried to obtain storage room from the
War Department. but It was found that
the department had scarcely enough
room for It's own supplies. SO he Will
60 ahead to arrange independently for
these stores.
The supplies In question are to equip
base hospitals which would be estab-
lished back OF the line OF operations In
w
The personnel of these hospitals ID
what Colonel kean has been working
on for the past three months.
Need Big Stats.
Each Of the base hospitals requires a
stan Of about rs persons. These will
include twenty-five physicians. fifty
nurses and about 100 other helpers.
Colonel Kean went about organizing
by getting big hospitals Of the coun-
try to organize base hospital stats to
be in readiness for immediate service.
than will be needed. already have been
organized. The nearest one to WASH
tngton Ia that at Johns Hopkins. in Bal
timore. and there are four In New York,
and Cleveland. Others are being organ
lied now in Philadelphia and other
cities will be in line later.
The material and supplies needed to
costs $4,000. In addition to organising
staffs in the Bellevue. New York, Pres
byterian and Mt. Sinai Hospitals In
New York, $4,000 was raised In that
city alone to help establish them.
Supply Columns Needed.
Aside from base hospital staffs. hos
pital and supply columns are needed TO
run from the evacuation or clearing
hospitals Of the army medical corps TO
the base hospitals OF the Red Cross.
These arc being organized In colleges
and universities. In addition to or
ganising o base hospital staff at liar-
ward students there have organized one
of the field column units.
placed back Of the three relief station
lines of the regular army. Soldiers
wounded are first taken to- dressing
stations. Thorc more seriously injured
are carried back to temporary hospital
stations. Then they are transported to
evacuation hospitals. From there they
are taken ove- by the Red Cross field
columns and transported to the Red
Cross base hospitals.
1t Is estimated that one man In ten
finds his way to one OF these Red
Cross field hospitals in case OF hos
tliities. Therefore. with 100000 regulars
In action. and 1000 national guards
men. fifty field hospitals would be
needed. Each field hospital has 500
beds.
Army Has Enough Supplies
The regular army has enough supplies
to care for 250,OGC men. but 1t has less
than the needed quota OF physicians.
The national guard Is organized In
the same way as the regular army,
so far as Its three hospital relief
lines are concerned. and Its medical
corps would care for these. It has a
full quota OF physicians.
1t is expected that the Red Cross
will be called upon the minute actual
hostilities start. Like the national
guard. II does not volunteer. but
awaits being called out. It serves
as an addition to the Medical Corps
of the regular army and national
guard. in the same way the national
guard serves to augment the force OF
regulars In time OF war