The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-21
BRITISH NAvY'S
 HOSPITAL WORK
 IS BIG PROBLEM
Manner of Transporting Wounded Is Described
 By Two Surgeons.

New York, Aug. z1-Dr. James Por. ter and pr. A. yavasour Elder have written an account of the method used for the transportation of the sick as14 wounded of che British Navy for the British Medical Journal They say that the removal of these men from the ecenes of their activities to the seclusion of a hospital isi no small fac tor in the general work of the Medi- cal Department.
 This paraphrase of their account ap- pears in the Medical Record:
 ITO dea1 with this phase of medical work a special medical transport or ganixation has been created. There is a central offjce at the Admiralty for the principal medical transport officer. and thus in touch with the depart msnt. Medical transport officers have been appointed at all places around the coast where wounded are likely to be landed after action At each of these places provision has been made for establishing dressing stations and HomporAry hospital accommodation for a certain number of cases until such time as an ambulance train can be sent to remove them to base hospitals elsewhere
 'tOne of the difBculties is the inn possibility of arranging in advance or foretelling exactly at which spot and in what numbers wounded will be landed Certain obvious bases exist to which ships return after an action. but at the same time these bases are far apart. leaving large gaps of coast line with many ports into any one of which rescue vessels and smaller dam aged vessels might be compelled to enter and discharge their wounded. Hence the establishment of what are termed emergency medical depots. with medical transport officers in charge of each at various places along the coast. Thus sudden thrush od wounded men can be taken care of
 Briefly. from the time a wounded man is landed from a ship until he is finally placed in hospital he is in the lcharge of the land medical transport branch of the Naval Medical Service The syseem adopted by the navy diff fers from others in so far that when a man is wounded severely enough tc require immediate treatment in bed after having received medical atten- tion, he is put to bed in his ship in Q standard medical cot and made as comfortable as circumstances will per init.
 The cots are canvas, stretched oyel a wooden frame and laced together and so made that the sides can lar over the wounded man, affording ex ara protection and warmth. EacY cot is provided with sufficient bed ding, including mattress, thus nak ing a complete bed wherever sftuat ed. These cots are sslung' to a stan dard and are removable, so that iron the time . patient is placed in a co on board e fighting ship until he | finally put to bed in a hospital he i never moved out of 1t. He and hi cot travel together all the way, thu saving much of the pain and suffer ing involved by frequent transfer b, stretchers and trains.
 "Ambnlance trains, motor ambu lances, bearer parties, Sc, have beer specially organized in a standard an, uniform manner. with regard to eacl individual link of the transport chain As regards the ambulances, beyon. being fitted specially to take maya cots instead of the military stretcher they are simply a squadron of thir ty motor buses, which were fakeI over from the London General Omni nus company early In the war, an, were fitted with spring trestles, ol which the cots rest. The writer state that these have proved exceed ingiy satisfactory in every way, be ling just as comfortable for patient as the latest 4pattarn specially bull ambulances. z---,s3a1-c-c ,-el1ss
 sEach emergency medical depo aloRg the coast is .suppHed with cot