The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-05-28

YOU do give it attention and unless
YOU do something about it there is go
ing to be failure and suffering right
here, that win impair your efficiency as
a community.
During the last 10 or dozen years
there has been built up among you a
machine or a system for giving care to
the people in sickness which is now de-
veloping into part of a still wider and |
more important sytem that embraces
uot only the cure of sickness, but the |
prevention of sickness and the pro-
motion Of physical efficiency in the !
ways that you have heard something |
of this evening.
Now, when work is organized and |
goes ahead turning out its results month |
after month, one comes almost to for |
get that it depends upon people. Few
of you can realize that to keep the hos
pital and the Mutual Aid open every
hour of the night and day to the call of
distress takes the work of devoted
people. 1t takes work such as Mr.. Hill
dreth and Mr.. Subway have given to
the hospital within the last two years
without which we would have faced
financial disaster. 1t takes work such
as that given by Mrs. Tyler, whose
| voice at the telephone these many years
| has made YOU feel that if there was
any of the help you needed to be got
ten anywhere she would get it. 1t
means work such as Miss Shields has
given to the patients in the hospital
and Miss Fandell to those in the homes,
and devoted work such as has been done
| bvrg 9TH
| Now all this work that has been at
your service during these years doesn t
do itself-it takes people to do it and
the handspring of this work is our
nursing force. That is where we are
up against it. Our graduate force avail
able outside the hospital has been cut
down from 90 to eight and our non
graduate force from % to la total
reduction from 45 to 10, nearly 60 per
eent-and apparently we arc not
through yet. Unless you get interested
and busy we shall not be able to take
care of your sick during the coming
year
This is the situation and we must
now consider what you can do about
it, for without you nothing can be done.
We have started here, in connection
with the Mutual Aid association after
metl approved by the best nursing
authorities, a school which can train
women in short time to act as attend
ant nurses with the help and supervi-
sion OF graduates and take care of the
people in their homes after the plan
that was started in Brattleboro and has
, been used here for a number of wears
This plan was approved and adopted by
the Boston chapter of the Red Cross
as war measure and has Just been
Endorsed as one means of filing the
shortage of nurses by the National
c Council of public health nurses al
> Cleveland
| We have started this school to fiji
: this need, but we cannot get pupil
c aad shall not he able to do so till this
r work is recognized IL YOU as necessary
c war work and you get your Windham
t County chapter of the Red Cross to cal
5 for this service as war work as TIL,
Metropolitan chapter in Boston has al
ready called. We have done all VIC car
y in arranging for this school aud it i
;, now M to You, my friends. You hay,
y vonr full share of tho million and
half soldiers and sailors families tina
: must be well looked after in sickness
: if the hoys at the front arc to he keep
= in good heart. and you have got You
! share of the country work to DE-
:. That can only be done if we all stan,
r bY each other through the stress of wa
% in the crises of sickness that come some
J. time 10 every f rily You must max
n that cal through your Red Cross chap
A. Ter If ven want it answered by tn
N women that viii answer it if they kno,
le it is war call and we stand ready s
far as our means allow to help civ
IN this training and get the service 70
st this and for other communities in tn
no state if they need it and ask for it.
n