The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-01-26

By NEA servlee

By NEA Service
 The little boy was discharged from the hospital, walking cau- eiously with braces.
 He was rosy-cheeked. straight IiInhed, ftil of hope. A ysars uEl- remitttng care had got tho uppsr hand on crippling infantile par aIysis.
 Three years later that boy came hObbliing back to &he hospital. He was almost Q foot taller, pale, drawn looking. One leg was twist. ed. His back was bent. He lean- ed heavily on two crIltches.
 What had happenede
 This: the child who had made llia first iinportant steps toward rehabilitation, and was ready for further improvement. left the hospital and from then on had no care, And SO, the good work done for him in the institution had, gone for naught. He required four operations to bring him back to where he had been three years before.
 CONTINUOUS
 TREATMENT NEEDED
 This is the story behind the National Foundation for In- fantile Paralysis grant of 910,O00 to the National Organization for Public Health Nursing, which was announced this week. To avoid just such tragedies as this -- an actual case - this, money has been appropriated for training of orth. opedic public health nurses.
 Public health nurses who 90 into homes of patients and super wise continuation of treatment are one of the most important units in the army which is fighting in- fantile paralysis" says Basil O'Connor, president of the Nation al Foundation.
 "One of our first educational tasks is bringing home to the American people the necessity for prolonged attention for infantilh paralysis sufferers. It Is not enough to attempt to control epi- denies and provide care during the acute stages of the disease" The imperative need for ortho- pedic nursing was demonstrated last summer after the Infantile paralysis outbreak in Charleston, 8. C., when Mayor Henry w. Lockwood of Charleston asked state interver. tion, in behalf of financing the eni- ployment of an orthopedic nurse in Charleston until June 30, 1940, to treat convalescing poliomelitis pa- -tients. The mayor pointed out that the orthopedic nurse who had been engaged from May until October was needed for at least Q full year, if 30 per cent of her 175 patients were to come through the siege with a minimum of handicap.
 LITTLE THINGS
 ARE IMPORTANT
 It is ell Q matter of education, which cannot be accomplished in a few weeks, or even Q few months, according to the best au- thorities. First, patients must be taught the importance of what seems to the laylnan a series of little things: how to live through days and nights without stretch- ing their weak muscles, how to be bathed, have their gowns changed, be transported to the doctors office without changing the required position of rest. If the patient understands, he can aid his own recovery.
 "So much so," says Miss Jessie L. Stevenson. director of the new nursing project, "that five-year. old child with paralysis of the shoulder soon learns, without be. ing reminded. to use his good a:in to support the paralyzed arri at shoulder level whenever the brace is removed for nursing care or examination by the doctor. I once saw 6 boy, whose hip muscle had been affected, become paraiCky when he was allowed to stand up for the first time because acci- dentally he sat down instead. He