Supplement to 52nd report / Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital..

  • Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital (East Grinstead, England)
Date:
1940
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Supplement to 52nd report / Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital.. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/18 page 5
    fractures of the jaws, including the grafting of bone. The Wards. Ward I—(Sister Harrington)—is devoted to ranks and civilian male casualties. Ward II—(Sister Kennett)—is for women and children. Ward III—(Sister Meally)—is for officers, particularly R.A.F., and for the treatment of burns. Many V.A.D.’s have worked well and hard with the regular Staff, and to them we extend our grateful thanks. The Treatment of Burns. The value of saline in the treatment of burns and raw surfaces has long been recognised, but its scope has been considerably widened under war-time conditions. The first experimental Saline Bath Unit in this country was installed at the Queen Victoria Hospital in 1940. The patient with extensive burns can be completely immersed in Saline which is maintained at a constant temperature. In the bath the dressings literally float off the affected areas and a great deal of the pain and discomfort to the patient is avoided. This form of treatment allows the raw surfaces to be kept scrupulously clean—an essential requirement if skin grafting is to be undertaken at an early date. The original bath was installed in a corner of Ward III, but a new building is now being erected which will house two baths and to which there will be easy access from any of the Wards. The Saline Bath Treatment demands a highly-trained team, and in this respect we have been very fortunate as the Air Ministry have placed a number of R.A.F. Nursing Order¬ lies at our disposal. A considerable number of cases—sometimes as many as twenty a day—have been treated in the bath, and most encouraging results have been obtained. The Bath Unit has been used in addition as a training centre for R.A.F. Orderlies and Naval Sick Berth Attendants who have returned to the Services in charge of sinrlar Units installed as a result of the experience gained in this Hospital. In all about forty men have been trained in groups of four to six and are now carrying on elsewhere. This work has been most efficiently carried out by Sergeant Salmon, R.A.F.
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image