Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-25
AMBULANCE BILL
MEETS SETBACK
Protest Raised at Failure OF
Congress to Give Air
Field Machines.

An unexpected setback in the pro-
gram of modern ambulances for Army
air fields has Just been encountered
in the House of Representatives, with
the recent passing of the War Depart
ment supply bill and its complete
omission of funds to carry on the mod
ernization of ambulances at more than
dozen air fields. The latest report
from Surg. Gen. ireland shows an in
crease in the number of deaths in
Army aviation from 35 of last year to
81 deaths for 1880.
Program Begun in 1929.
The program to obtain modern and
sanitary vehicles to replace the old
wartime artillery ambulances now in
use at many Of the Army posts was
inaugurated in 1929 with one expert
mental model that was tried out at
Brooks Field. It was then decided to
commence program that should carry
on this important work each year of
some 20 ambulances that would be sub
stituted annually for the open type,
which had been harshly criticized by
! the surgeons and many visitors to the
air fields.
According to Representative Roy G.
Fitzgerald of Ohio aviators are ex-
pected to serve for 80 years before they
can hope to retire from the service
If the expectancy is such, with the
present hazards" he stated yesterday,
that man must be dead some three
and half times before he can retire,
by the ordinary nature of things in
aviation, feel that we should do all
we can to try to preserve the lives of
these brave lads, and that this help
should not be grudgingly withheld,
whether for ambulances or any other
aids. to life saving on the air fields"
Following the original model, some
| 10 of the new type ambulanceS were
! obtained and sent out to a number of
the more important air fields and
Army general hospitals. including Kelly
Field in Texas. March Field in Cali
fcrnia, etc. Thirty new ambulances
were provided for by Congress last
! year, under the 1881 appropriation,
| which were to cost mot more than
$780," but because of the fact that
only 20 had actually been asked for by
/ the War Department only this smaller
number were permitted, by some ruling
| OF the Quartermaster General, and thus
10 vehicles were lost to the service.
Strong Protest Is Made.
| Apparently the Bureau of the Budget
the present estimates for 1882 and 1888
came up before them in the War De-
| partment appropriation bill recently A
| strong letter of protest against this
omission of funds for ambulanceS was
| sent up to Adjutant General Bridges,
early in January, after it was learned
that no more new machines would be
available in the next two years But
| 1t was then too late, and in any case,
| Of ha -,
not permitted to discuss such matters
with Congress after the Budget has
ruled against them.
All told, about Is Army flying fields
are now badly cared for in this essen
| tial respect as the old-time vehicles
are not merely relics of the World War,
and thus IA years old, but have a slow
speed that is considered an unneces-
sary menace by the flight surgeons
One Of the chief uses Of the air field
| ambulance Is to bear the officials and
| hospital corpSmen to the scene of a
crash where wire cutters can be used
! II necessary, 10 cut out the pilot or pas
sengers from the plane.
| In some cases, in fact in many cases
plane starts to burn as it strikes the
ground. and. high speed is required tc
reach the spot in time to save the
| aviatorS from a terrible death. A few
|
Infantry offlcer who has broken his
arm or Cavalryman who has fallen
| from horse, may mean discomfort
but not invariably the difference be-
tween life and death, as in aviation.
Immediate Action Desired.
It is for this reason that the Govern
ment officials feel that ambulances ca
pable of faster speed than is possible
to the old Army type, should be pro-
vided as rapidly as possible, and have
urged this measure for the past IL
years.
This past year, when 20 ambulances
were delivered to the War Department
under a new contract that permitted
great savings because of the recent de-
preston and lowered costs generally
only two such conveyances out of the
entire lot, reached the air stations. This
means that it will not be until some
time in 1888 that new ambulances will
be sent to these great Army air fields
Representative Fitzgerald hopes that
some action may be taken before Con-
gresS adjourns.