TROOP INFORMATION PROGRAM SERVICE

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24 OCTOBER 1949Vol. 7 No. 24

TIE, GHQ, EEC, APO 500

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YOUR MED/CAL CARE...fern vaBß* :' 8* ' ,'. _■,v.--■'■ -

The purpose of this topic is to provide materialfor a discussion of the Army Medical Corps and itspeacetime mission, particularly in the Far East Com-mand.

The Medical Corps has drawn upon the scientificand professional knowledge of the entire world.Wherever the serviceman is stationed the mostmodern facilities are available for his medical care.

Suggestions for handling the topic in discussionare found on Page 192.

THE moment a soldier’s name is written in the SickBook he has started in motion the wheels of the

largest military medical organization in the world.Whatever care he needs, be it only a band-aid or aserious operation, all services of the Medical Depart-ment are centered on this man. Let’s see the medicsof the Far East Command in action and see just howfar this service can go.

For example here is a soldier who was no ordinarypatient; for his life depended on the wearing of aportable iron lung. Stretched out in a respirator, everybreath given him had to be forced into his paralyzedbody by machine. He could speak only when thebellows deflated, when he could talk with the aid thatthe contraption squeezed out of his chest. Althoughthis weird iron-tank carefully and smoothly did hisbreathing for him, most people would have been scaredpink if their life had to depend on artificial lungs. Buthe lay there calm and confident, secure in his trustthat his life was in good hands.

“I was on my way to Shanghai from Japan. . .”

then the machine hissed and he stopped talking whileit took a long, deep breath for him “... It was a plea-sure cruise that I was on when I came down withp01i0...” Another hiss and another silence as againbreath was mechanically drawn into his chest.“... Later I was put off at Pusan, Korea, completelyparalyzed.” Between mechanically drawn breaths he

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continued to talk as casually as youmight say “Good Morning.”

T/5 George Fatt was flown in aniron lung from Korea to Japan, acrossthe Pacific Ocean, then across theUnited States to Valley Forge GeneralHospital. Not only was he given thebest of medical care in flight, but ateach air field where the sky-ambulancelanded there were doctors, nurses andspecially trained technicians, all stand-ing by to give him specialized atten-tion.

The last report revealed that he wasin comfortable quarters at ValleyForge Hospital, Pennsylvania, and thathe is slowly but surely winning thebattle against the effects of thatdreaded sickness, infantile paralysis.Again the medics won another roundin their all-out fight against disease.

In the Far East we find Army unitsstationed hundreds of miles apart, inmany cases in rugged territory, Aradiogram from one of the manytransmitters in the lonely, isolated out-posts can send medics by plane to apatient hundreds of miles away. Forthe serviceman’s protection the MedicalDepartment is on 24-hour duty andprovides medical attention wherevercur troops are—in the most denselypopulated spots, in the sparsely settledwastelands or in the far-flung islandsdotting the map of the Far EastCommand. Wherever the servicemanmay be, no spot is so isolated that itcannot be reached by the flying doctors.

Why are “shots” necessary ?

It is true that sometimes—the soldierfeels like a human pincushions. Hecan’t remember how many times hehas been stuck by the “medics” sincehe first enlisted. And soldiers in theFar East get extra jobs, too, since thereare many strange diseases here thataren’t found Stateside, One must keepin mind that the “docs” are not takingany chances—safety first, last and allthe time is their goal. Smallpox,typhoid, typhus, tetanus, cholera,diphtheria and Japanese B—the soldiergets all of them, and these shots are

just one of the many ways that theArmy uses to keep American soldiersthe healthiest soldiers on earth.

The FEC serviceman belongs to ahealthy and a very select physicalgroup, or he wouldn’t be in uniformwearing one of the Far East Commandpatches. So, because the soldier is topsphysically, the Army’s first medicalconcern is seeing that its commandgoes all out in keeping his name offthe Sick Book.

To keep the serviceman fit, trainedmedics are placed at necessary com-mand points as preventive medicineofficers. Their job is to inspect suchthings as the water supply, disposal ofwastes, insect and rodent control,barracks, kitchens and messes, andother matters that have to do with pre-vention of illness.

However, some soldiers will get sickdespite all that is done to prevent it,as there is always a certain amount ofillness in any group. For these menthere is hospitalization available.Station and large general hospitals arespaced throughout the Far EastCommand and can be reached byeither plane, ambulance, or hospitaltrain.

What should soldiers do when theyare ill 7

There is no need for soldiers toneglect minor ailments or, what isworse, resort to self-treatment. Theserviceman may go on sick call or tothe nearest dispensary at any time.Injuries or illnesses of minor naturewill be treated there. If he needs

hospitalization he will be admitted im-mediately to the hospital served bythat dispensary. If the case needsextra special attention, the servicemanwill be flown by ambulance-plane, orevacuated by hospital ship, to Statesidehospitals staffed and equipped to givethe very best of specialized care.

Lately Medical Service Corps officershave been participating in sick call andphysical inspection. This is somethingnew over here and it was put intopractice to make the best use of thedoctors’ professional talents. Civilianclinics in the States have for some timeused nurses to examine patients andwith such success that the Army de-cided to follow in their footsteps. How-ever, with the shortage of nurses andfor other reasons, it was decided thatmale officers would be best for troops.

The MSC’s who are handling sickcall were carefully selected on the basisof both Army and civilian background.In addition, they have graduated froman FEC “Medical Assistant School”that was organized to train MSC’s asmedical inspectors, for screening andminor treatment duty at sick call.Patients who appear acutely ill areimmediately sent to a hospital, whilepatients whose ailments are not seriousand can be treated on an out-patientstatus are examined and treatmentprescribed. Full use is made of thevarious hospital clinics as well as theservices of the X-Ray and laboratories.

The use of MSC’s as “dispensarymedical assistants” gives greater “hos-pital doctor-patient care” to the seri-ously ill and the Medical Departmentis able to meet its medical problemswith greater efficiency.

Are specialists available to thesoldiers ?

At home, when someone was verysick the family doctor sometimes calledin another town physician as a con-sultant. There are expert civilianmedical specialists in the United Stateswho act in the same capacity and whoare made available to the Army.Certainly civilians would like to havethe medical opinions of these consul-tants, but most people can’t afford it.The Army spared no expense to bringto the soldier these medical consultants,as far as the soldier’s pocketbook is

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concerned, “for free.” Since the endof 1947, top-flight civilian doctors andprofessors of medicine from rankingcolleges and universities have beenmaking medical rounds in the FarEast Command to give soldiers thebenefit of the latest in modern advancesof medicine.

FEC soldiers should be able to with-stand any rigor of an occupation, and

to this end medical rules have beenpublished that provide for timelyphysical inspections. The idea behindthe physical inspection is the old adagethat an ounce of prevention is wortha pound of cure.

Army doctors do all they can tokeep the soldier fit the soldier can alsohelp by keeping his body in top-notch

physical condition. He must notforget that one of the best ways to keepin shape is by being an active memberof the Army sport program. Athleticswill help greatly in bettering the sol-dier’s health and physical fitness. TheArmy is proud of the physical andmental condition of its Far East troopsand also of their help in maintaininghigh health standards.

What preventable factors causemany sick cases?

However, there appear to be twopreventable factors which cause a largenumber of entries in the Sick Book.These are abuse of the common senserules of food and drink discipline, andaccidents.

Occasionally the medics hospitalizesoldiers who have been poisoned byalcoholic drinks. Some of these menhave died and others are blind becausethey did not abide by directives whichprohibit purchase of liquor on the openlocal markets.

Here is an extract taken from amonthly report forwarded by one ofthe commands in the Far East. Readit thoughtfully.

“During the month, five deaths oc-curred among enlisted men as a resultof methyl alcoholic poisoning. In addi-tion, four men suffered loss of visualacuity. Two men have returned toduty with 100 per cent visual acuity.The remaining two were evacuated, asresidual left them unable to distinguishobjects. All fatal cases succumbed be-fore they could be hospitalized fordefinitive treatment.”

The eating of native foods by occu-pational soldiers presents a real healthhazard and seriously taxes the medicalservice for the occupation. Directiveshave been published against such prac-tices.

Why should indigenous foods beavoided 7

Locally procured foodstuffs, whereverthey may be served, are nearly alwayscontaminated with disease germs towhich the people of the Orient, over aperiod of many years, have developeda degree of resistance, but which pre-sent a source of illness when eaten byWesterners. The stomach group ofdiseases, such as dysentery, worm in-

• 1775—Continental Congressat request of General Washingtonestablishes “Hospital of the Army,”a medical corps, under direction ofa Director General and ChiefPhysician; doctors sometimes fightin front lines.

• 1777—Dr. Benjamin Rushpublishes first troop hygiene instruc-tions; “flying” ambulance, a horse-drawn chariot rushes doctor towounded in field.

• 1861 Congress authorizesArmy to use women nurses at payof 50 cents a day.

• 1865-98—Dr. George MillerSternberg, medical officer, discoversthe pneumonia germ and photo-graphs tuberculosis germs for firsttime.

• 1898—Hospital ship “Relief”used to bring wounded from Cubato United States; Typhoid FeverBoard begins study of spread ofdisease; first Army dentist.

• 1900—Yellow fever investiga-tion by Army medical men undercommand of Major Walter Reed inCuba proves disease is transmittedby mosquitoes.

• 1901 Congress confirmsestablishment of “Nurse Corps(female)”; caduceus (staff withwings and serpents) adopted asofficial insignia of Medical Corps.

• 1906—Tropical Disease Boardwipes out beriberi among PhilippineScouts after proving it is caused bybad diet; first motor ambulancebought by Army.

MEDIC MILESTONES• 1908—As result of studies by

Maj. F. F. Russel, M. C., Armyadopts anti-typhoid inoculation;Medical Department officially be-comes “Medical Corps of the UnitedStates Army.”

• 1910—Maj. C. R. Darnallreports success of chlorine methodof water purification; method soonspreads all over world.

• 1914—Maj. William C. Gorgasreports completion of job of clean-ing up disease which had stoppedbuilding of Panama Canal.

• 1916—Capt. George P. Foster,M. C., proves that certain types ofthe common cold are caused by aninvisible virus.

• 1917—Army doctor andMedical Corps enlisted men becomefirst American casualties in WorldWar I when killed by bombs.

• 1919—Army nurses given def-inite rank and authorized to wearofficer insignia.

• 1922—Army Dental Schoolstarted in Washington, D.C.

• 1941—Vaccination for. yellowfever ordered for all troops intropical areas and tetanus vaccinecompulsory for all personnel onactive duty.

• 1943—Army Air Forces schoolof Air Evacuation set up to traindoctors, nurses and enlisted men forevacuation of wounded by air; firstwoman physician commissioned.

• 194,4—Army Nurses receivefull military status for first time.y ■ ~

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YOUR MEDICAL CARE...GENERAL

HOSPITALMEDICALDISPENSARY

STATIONHOSPITAL

DENTALCLINICS

PREVENTIVEMEDICINE TECHNICAL

SERVICESFOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUR HEALTH

festation, diarrhea and liver disease are �

those most commonly contractedthrough the eating of contaminatedfoods. These sicknesses can be spreadfrom soldier to soldier with the resultthat the thoughtless man who know-ingly subjects himself to illness byeating unauthorized food may start achain of such illnesses.

Here is a case report on occupationalpersonnel who didn’t abide by theabove advice.

“Case history of an outbreak ofdiarrheal diseases following a privatedinner party at which native seafoodwas served.

“Served at a meal, in addition tothe usual types of Army procured food,were raw oysters from a native market.Approximately twelve to fifteen hoursafter eating, two military personnel be-came ill with nausea, vomiting anddiarrhea. At the end of about thirtyhours five more people became ill,although apparently the symptoms

were not quite as severe as of the twomen previously mentioned. However,in the latter group, the symptoms havenot cleared as rapidly. Three of themhad to be admitted to a general hos-pital because of continuing diarrhea.Two others, twelve days later, are stillhaving symptoms, including diarrhea,but are being treated on duty status.”

And so it continues, day by daypeople ignore medical advice andknowingly subject themselves to sick-ness which causes hardship for them-selves and places an extra burden onthe Medical Department. The aboveis just another instance of self-inflictedsicknesses which could have been pre-vented by exercising common “horsesense,”

How are emergencies handled ?

In the Office of the Surgeon, FEC,there are stationed a group of highlytrained Army doctors who specialize

in certain medical fields. Of thisgroup the specialists who work directlywith patients are technically known asConsultant in Internal Medicine,Consultant in Surgery and Consultantin Preventive Medicine. Althoughthese key men are stationed in Tokyo,they are subject to call anywherewithin this command whenever theyare needed. Here is the way they work:

A soldier is hurt on the Island otSaipan—a brain injury. The doctorin attendance considers that an opera-tion is a life or death matter and thatthe operation indicated is such that abrain specialist is required. A prior-ity radio addressed to the MedicalSection, GHQ,' FEC, is transmitted.Immediately upon receipt of the mes-

sage from the Signal Corps, theSurgical Consultant is alerted and isdispatched on his way to the air fieldin a car furnished by the Transporta-tion Section. He is greeted by the

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drone of the engine of a special planethat the Air Force placed at hisdisposal.

Some time later the plane swoopsdown onto the landing strip at Saipan.The Surgical Consultant is greeted bythe island doctor, who passes overthe patient’s case records. Even be-fore the drone of the aircraft engine isgone from the specialist’s ears, he iswhirled off to the hospital with an MPescort. Whether the sick soldier is ageneral or a recruit, rank makes nodifference as in either case he is firsta patient and as such will get VIP(very important person) medical atten-tion. In no other army of the worldis such doctor-patient service to be had.

What is the mission of the GImedics ?

“GI Medics” may be “Pill Rollers”to the average soldier, but they areactually highly trained medical enlistedmen and are accomplishing a toughjob and proving their worth in theFar East. In this command the work

t| p e Vol. 7 No. 241 1 r 9 24 October 1949

Discussion leader’s guidefor the use of Troop Informationpersonnel in the presentationof Troop Information Hours.

• • •

Prepared and produced in TokyobyTroop Information andEducation Section, GHQ, FEC.

• • •

THIS WEEK'SCOVER symbol-izes the type ofindividualizedmedical care re-ceived by service-men in the U.S.Armed Forces.

of the enlisted medic goes beyond thecare of the sick soldier, as here hemust also help in the care of depend-ents, DACs and many other Alliedpeople who are concerned with theOccupation.

It takes good men—good technicians—to carry on the skilled work requiredin our Far East hospitals. The MedicalDepartment has the same job of caringfor the ill, whether it is peace or war.Medical replacements are good basicmaterial but with little technical train-ing.

The big problem was how to trainthese replacements and still continueto render the same high quality ofmedical work. To this end a schoolfor enlisted medical technicians draw-ing its students from the entire FarEast Command was established at theOsaka General Hospital, Osaka, Japan.The school opened its doors for studyon 4 August 1946 and is still goingstrong. Surgical. Medical. Pharmacy.Laboratory. X-Ray. It’s one of thesemagic words that each technicianstrives to have written on the face ofhis diploma.

Although the school is the backboneof formal instruction, it is just one ofthe many training programs that GImedics undergo in order that they maymaintain the high degree of skill neces-sary to care for the soldier when he isill.What is the part off women in themedics ?

Women in khaki also serve in theMedics. Nurses, dietitians, physicaltherapists and WAC officers and tech-nicians all serve in Army hospitals.Because women of the MedicalDepartment are called upon to help inevery kind of emergency and underall conditions they must meet the mostrigid qualifying requirements. Formany years women worked with theMedical Department rather than inthe Medical Department, but because

nursing and certain related medicalpositions are fields in which womenadmittedly excel, they were madeactual members of the medical teamand share in the satisfaction that comesfrom being able to help patients intheir need for aid and comfort.

To give the patients hospitalized inthis Command more individual care,just a little extra in medical attentionfrom less busy Army nurses and medi-cal enlisted personnel, selected localnurses have been trained to assist withnon-technical duties. In Okinawa,Guam, the Philippine Islands, Koreaand Japan, indigenous nurses weregiven medical courses in certain phasesof Army nursing so that they couldwork in Army hospitals as nursesaides.

What conclusions may be drawnfrom this discussion?

The occupation began and is con-tinuing in the midst of conditions thatwould well shock health authorities inAmerican cities. Yet Americans re-main as healthy here as they wouldStateside. Just how does the Armykeep its soldiers from coming dowmwith the strange diseases that are foundin these foreign lands? One importantpart of the answer lies with twomedical units stationed in this com-mand and known as “Medical GeneralLaboratories.” Briefly, they help thedoctors by providing medical research.A detailed explanation as to just whatthe laboratories do would involve a lotof ten dollar words. It is their re-search which lies back of every shotand vaccination, behind all the extrahealth measures which one is requiredto observe over here. They investigateall contagious diseases among the localpopulation, because what happens tothem might happen to you. The lowdisease rate of strange diseases commonto the Far East (Japanese B encepha-litis, scrub typhus, snail fever and

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Oriental cholera) provides eloquentproof of the excellent job being doneby these research soldiers.

Since the Army is called upon toserve in all parts of the world, troopsget the chance to travel in strange andinteresting foreign countries. The ad-venturous life, which is a part of everysoldier’s career, is in your instance theOrient. The soldier operating on theFar East front is an important link inthe Occupation effort. As good healthand strong combat effectiveness are in-separable, the medics do all that theycan to keep the soldier healthy and onthe job. However, if the soldier doesget ill—and wherever he may be whenthat happens it is well to rememberthat he, at all times, is under'the pro-tective care of the medics of the FarEast Command.

TIPSGLOSSARY

• Abide: to stand to; to hold to;to stick to.

• Abuse: improper treatment;to mistreat.

• Bellows: an instrument,utensil, or machine, which, byalternate expansion and contraction,or by the rise and fall of the topdraws in air through a tube,

• Consultant; one who givesprofessional advice or services re-garding matters in the field of hisspecial knowledge or training.

• Isolated: separated; detached.• Residual: remaining,• Respirator: a device used for

artificial respiration.• Sparsely: thinly scattered.• Status: the state or condition

of a person, place or thing.• Succumbed: yielded; ■ gave

way, aho used to mean dying.• Visual acuity: sharpness of

vision.

How aro emorgoncios handled?• Specialists in various medical

fields are stationed in Tokyo, as-signed to the Office of the Surgeon,FEC.

• Although stationed in Tokyo,they are available wherever they maybe needed; if the patient is too sickto go to the specialist, the specialistwill come to the patient, by planeif necessary.

What is the mission of the Glmedics 7

• “GI” medics are highly skilledtechnicians; the school for enlistedtechnicians has graduated many sur-gical, medical, pharmacy, laboratoryand X-Ray technicians.

What is the part of women inthe medics?

• Many women serve in theMedical Corps as nurses, dietitians,physical therapists, psychologists andtechnicians.

• Specially trained indigenousnurses are employed by the medicalservices as nurses in hospitals, toassist Army nurses in makingpatients more comfortable.

What conclusions may be drawnfrom this discussion?

• American servicemen overseasoften are stationed in areas that areextremely hazardous to health,

• The preventive measures de-vised and applied by the MedicalCorps maintain the health of service-men on a level that compares favor-ably with conditions at home.

• If in spite of preventive medi-cine servicemen do become ill, thefinest medical care in the world isavailable to them.

INTRODUCTION• Complete medical care is avail-

able to all servicemen in the FarEast Command.

• Unit medical personnel areconstantly on duty for the treatmentof minor illnesses; patients withserious ailments are flown to thenearest hospital, or if too sick tobe moved, specialist teams arc flownto the patient.

Why are “shots” necessary?• “Shots” are preventive mea-

sures which build up an immunityagainst certain diseases common tothe country in which the servicemanis stationed.

• Preventive medicine is an im-portant part of Army medical care,which aims at preventing sickness,rather than curing it after a service-man becomes ill.

What preventable factors causemany sick cases?

• Drinking local liquors, someof which are made from methylalcohol, sometimes results in deathor blindness.

Why should indigenous foods beavoided 7

• Local foods (meats, seafoods,vegetables, fruits) are usually con-taminated with diseases common tothe Far East.

• Local populations have builtup an immunity against such dis-eases through generations of ex-posure.

• Americans exposed to suchdiseases may become seriously ill,and in addition may start an epide-mic among other Americans in thearea.

DISCUSSION GUIDE

TIPS to theDISCUSSION LEADER

*TiHE practice of military medicinein the Armed Forces of the United

States has made great progress sincethe days of the Revolutionary War.The military surgeons appointed by theContinental Congress gave way to thecontract surgeons, who in turn werereplaced by our present Army medicalcorps.

In 1775 there were no women servingas nurses, and the only “nursing” wasgiven by untrained men detailed fromline units for the job. Preventive medi-cine (and even the cause of most dis-eases) was unknown, and there wereno sanitation officers to enforce sanitaryregulations.

General Washington himself wasoften shocked by the dirty and unsani-tary conditions found in camp, buthis repeated orders met with little suc-cess in eliminating the conditions con-tributing to the epidemics that sweptthrough the Continental armies.

Today the prevention of disease playsa large part in maintaining the healthof American servicemen. Unsanitaryconditions are corrected by sanitationofficers, and a constant educationalcampaign keeps servicemen informedof health hazards in their areas, andhow to avoid or minimize them.

If, in spite of all preventive measures,illnesses do occur, a highly trained andsmoothly functioning organizationswings into action to bring every re-source of modern science to the taskof restoring the sick to health.

Discussion leaders should emphasizethe following points:

• A sick soldier is a liability tohimself, his family, and his country.

• The application of sanitationmeasures is often a personal and indiv-

idual responsibility, and failure to heedthe rules will inevitably bring about itsown punishment—sickness in one formor another.

• The United States is spendinghuge sums foi the prevention of diseaseand care of the sick. It is up to theindividual to utilize the informationand services made available to him.

It is suggested that a medical officer,assisted by one or two enlisted tech-nicians be asked to conduct this dis-cussion. A part of the hour mightprofitably be devoted to a discussionof personally observed cases from theirexperience which would illustrate thetopic.

Allow plenty of time for discussionfollowing the presentation. Keep thediscussion general in nature, withoutover-emphasis on venereal disease.DISCUSSION AIDS

Don’t forget touse your “TIPSDiscussion Guideto help you presentyour topic. Use thevisual aid corres-ponding to thetopic, especiallywhen summing up.

Questions to aiddiscussion:• Why are

Americans moresusceptible to Ori-ental diseases thanthe native popula-tion?

• What is me-thyl alcohol andhow does it differfrom potable alco-hol?

• What assign-ments are given towomen in theMedical Corps?

• Why are in-digenous nursesemployed by theArmy?

REFERENCESTIPS references: “Penicillin,” 19

September 1949,READING TIPS

The September Army InformationDigest contains the following mate-rial:

The Secretary of Defense and theChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffdiscuss the Military AssistanceProgram.

General Bradley as Chief of Staff isdiscussed in an article by his aide,Captain Ramsey.

The undersea phase of defensivewarfare is carefully analyzed by theAssistant Chief of Naval Operationsfor undersea warfare.

Major General Devine, formerCommander of the UMT Experimen-tal Unit, clears up some misconcep-tions of the Army in his article, “WhatIs A Tough Soldier?”

MAKE IT INTERESTINGA bare recital of facts is invariably doll. Spice it up ! An appro-

priate story or two, and illustrations borrowed from your own orothers’ experience will help make the dullest subject interesting.

The most common fault is lack of preparation. You must knowwhat you are going to talk about, and you must prepare your talkwell in advance. Read your TIPS carefully until you feel you havea good grasp of the subject. Then outline the entire presentation.Use TIPS “Discussion Guide,” and “TIPS to the Discussion Leader’’when making your outline. Supplement TIPS with additional read-ing if this is available.

Go over your talk until you know what you are going to say andhow you are going to say it. Remember, there is no excuse for adull TIPS hour. If it happens to you, accept the blame, and nexttime be prepared.