The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-01-25
Observations
Government Paid
Nurses May Ease
Army Shortage
BY HELEN EssARY

There is a possibility that the
desperate need for war nurses may
be eased slightly without the help
OF the proposed law TO draft nurses
So say several well-informed Wash
In ton physicians There are In
the capital hundreds OF nurses
whose daily services are not urg-
emily needed by the organizations
which keep them on payroll.
First among these organizations
are the United states Government
buildings. Here about $50 trained
nurses are employed under federal
supervision and according TO the
rulings OF the Ciyfl Service Cert
ainly some nurses are needed
where many people work. The
question in the minds Of the ply
sicians is-"Are rney needed as
badly there as on the battle Ines
And. Gould not the first aid rooms
of many United States government
buildings be stated adequately with
fewer nurses"
In many OF these buildings the
nurses have little 10 do except
treat an occasional headache or
swab out a sore throat.
Perhaps, so several physicians
have told me, such treatment could
be administered by a first aid as
sistant or a nurses aid.
In addition TO the nurses In the
United States government build
ings there are the nurses In the
District OF Columbia Offices, the
Public Health Services and the
Visiting Nurses Association. The
figures for all these branches were
not available yesterday. But add
ed 10 the number OF federal nurses
they obviously might make a sur
prisingly large total. Many con-
servative Washington physicians
believe that enough nurses could
be safely withdrawn from this
group plus the group In large de-
plrtment stores. to supply the
needs Of the stay-at-home Washing
ton public. This step would free
many OF the nurses now nursing
in local hospitals and private
homes to give their particularly eI-
perienced services to war suffer
ers.
A nursing situation similar TO the
one in washington exists In many
other parts Of the country, physi-
clans declare. If such loopholes
and wastage OF nursing power are
closed and they can be closed with
haolth ~ tho
pie in the individual communities,
the war nurse crisis will be great
J., lessened.
incidentally. Washington medical
people are proudly calling atten-
tiion 10 the fact that despite the
shortage OF physicians and nurses,
the health record OF the capital is
higher than az any time In the his
tory Of the district.
The failure OF SUFFICIENT volun-
teers to hll the nursing needs OF
the war. in my personal opinion,
may be the result Of the glamori-
ration OF the newer fields OF war
service for women.
T: I SHALL NOW END TODAE'S
sermon and its tempo with an anec-
/ dote or two about generals. You
! probably don't know II but there
! are living at Fort Myer, Va. within
the United States Army reserva-
ton, a total OF 10 generals. Nine
teen generals, Think OF the gold
stars you are likely TO come upon
in a three-minute stroll inside the
| enclosure.
Naturally. with such a congestion
| of rank. there are not enough gen
erals houses for the generals. Sew
eral generals have TO live in colon
els and captains and even in lieu
tenants quarters.
I really started out TO tell the
story Of Fleet the Dalmatian hound
Of Gen. George c. Marshall, chief
of STAFF OF the United States Army
and highest ranking Army officer.
When the war began General Mar
shall decided that his hound do his
bi, for victory. So he enlisted
Fleet in the (Canlnel Corps. There
Fleet was put through the training
a. modern United States dog war
JlOIb receive III pIepdi atiOh Ao4
tr-vel to the battlefelds.
Alas, Fleet has not had a sniff Of
q battlefield. Instead he has been
rejected as a member OF the Canine
Corps. His trainers said ne wasn't
lean enough 70 night
II is possible, so General Mar
Bhall's friends say. that Ike many
people. Fleet feels better when the
general is nearby. ~
Fleet might have been a better
warrior II he had fought near his
master. Anyhow, the Dalmatian
runs of from his Fort Myer home
Whenever the general is away He
IS found hours later across the river
IN Washington looking for the
boss