The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-12-30
Children Have
TOnsils and Adenoids Re-
moved at Community
Surgical Meeting in
Basement of Con-
gregational Church
By Dorothy Garfield Fisher.

BY Dorothy Garfield Fisher.
We all know in our communities the
service and value OF the District nurse.
Her little car, with the small red cross
painted on the door, is a familiar sight
these days, on our highways, and stand
lnS IN front OF our farmhOuSeS. No one
can estimate what her efficiency, her
helptulness, her encouragement, means
to the womea at the head of these coun-
try households, and what present and
future benefits the little children reap
from her surveillance
he nurse advises and suggests what
should be done in each individual case.
She usually has the entire cooperation
Of the village doctor and the village au-
thorities; and wherever there is a hos
pltal IN the vicinity, its staff and equip
ment are generally at the disposal of the
District nurse and her most urgent pa
tients.
In our Vermont communities, the
nurse has greater obstacles to overcome
than IN many parts of the country. Our
settlements are very old, lying along the
water courses, and also frequently hug
gng the stony sides of the mountains;
antedating the railroads, which thread
the valleys, by many, many years. This
Is very different environment to one
near the great cities. or in the fiat lands.
Intcrsected ev-~vwhere ~ the interu T
ban trOlleys of the Middle West; and it
makes a very different task.
Distant from Railway.
Dorset is one of Vermont : Ioveliest
villages, but it Is eight miles from the
railway. Perhaps that indisputable fact,
those extra eight miles may tell the tale
OF the cause and effect OF the One-DaY
Dorset Emergency Hospital, last sum
mer. Take a busy farmer : wife, with
her home and her life full of small chill
dren 1t may seem almost impossible for
her to get hold of the Ford, or the horse,
and then Of the children who need it
and most of them do.-for the drive over
. TO the railway, on their first lap of the
WeGrylng journey towards getting rid of
offending tonsIls and adenOids.
Doctors cannot cOnscientiouslv oper-
ate, except in emergency cases in the
usual conditions Of any home; and the
county nurse, Miss Clark, found that
it was beyond her power to do what she
realized was necessary.
W 18th the earnest cooperation of Or.
Little of Dorset, a committee was
formed of interested women; Mrs West
/ Mrs. Haven, Mrs. II. 2. Gilbert, Mrs.
BdTOWs, Mrs. Atkinson and Mrs. HaT-
rington. There was one man on the COM
mittee, Mr.. Batchelder, not only of par
t,cular help In advising and directing
the whole movement, but who also did
valiant service in carrying and moving
cots and the required equipment.
They promptly found an ideal loca-
tioa-torr their work, in the basement of
the Congregational church, the large au-
dleuca room to be used as ward, the
kitchen for operating. and the little Ii
braTy for the children : dressing room.
The women of the committee made
themselves responsible for the cots and
bedding, the sheets and towels, all the
old. soft RAGS they could gather together
and with Mrs. Little : HELM, whatever
nourishment would be required for the
little patients of q day.
Miss Clark attended to the thorough
sterilization OF the rooms and dressings.
And the committee also made some half
dozen little night gowns for the chill
dren. which proved a very present help
I'm trouble: these gowns now carefully
Numbered are laid away for a possible
future use.
Scrambling Task.
DR.. Marshall, the surgeon came down
from Rutland, for the appointed day;
and was willingly assisted by DR.. Lit
tie, by Dr.. Elliott, health officer from
Manchester. Miss Clark two other
aurses and a practical nurse from the
village. The committee were on hand,
isld some of the anxious mothers, to as
sist with a nurse, in helping the children.
out from ether: most of them seemed TO
revive at about the same time, which
made very absorbing, really scramble
l0T. TASK OF II.
There were Is small patients for tom
sis and adCnoids. There was no room
nor tirle for several more, unfortu-
nately, who came brayelY without their
breakfasts. and sat patiently, finally
having to 90 back home, taking their
tonsiIs with them. Later in the day, III
the first stages of cOnyalcsccnce, Mrs.
Little supplied the ward very generously
with iea-tream In fact. the moral value
of that ice-cTeam cannot be everest
mated as each child was assured of all
that it was possible to eat afterwards.
Most of them could be taken home that
niaht. Those who stayed until morning,
under the convoy OF Miss Clark and one
or two mothers who requested permis-
sion, were given a breakfast, by the com
mittee, of soft, cooked cereal, before
they left
The surgeon 5 charges were SO an OPP
Grafton. Four children paid the SO.
These children were able to go to hos
pitaI elsewhere, or to have excellent care
and surroundings at home; but they
were brought to the Church hospital, IN
order TO help make the experiment a sue
cess. The other children paid exactly
what they could, in each case Inc rest
of the money was raised by subscription
in the village. and made up by the local
Red Cross Organization.
Experiment a Success.
1t is generally hoped that this expert
ment will be tried again. For the DAY