Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/288

HOSPITAL. 248 HOSPITAL CORPS. stricted to the army and navy, including ofTioors of the revenue-cutter service and of the inarine- hoNpital 8erice, and lioiiorably disehHr).'ed sol- diers and sailors of the ri'jrular and volunteer army and navy, in the following order of prefer- ence: (1) Ollicers and enlisted men of the army, navy, and marine corps on the active lists, and cadets at the military and naval academies; ('2) ollicers and enlisted men of the same serice on the retired lists; (3) odicers of the revenue- cutter service and of the marine-hospital serv- ice; (4) honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of the regular and volunteer army and navy may he admitted by authority of the Surgeon-General wlien there are vacant lieds. The general hospi- tal at Kort Hayard, X. M.. is set apart as a sanitarium for the treatment of oflicers and en- listed men of the army suffering from pulmonary tuln-rculosis. In the regular hospital service of the l"nited States a limited number of women are employed as hospital matrons at posts and arsenals, and also as nurses in numbers fi.xed by the Surgeon-General, as described below. Field hoxpitnlx are organized according to the needs and character of llie campaign, the theatre of operations, climate, and season of the year — the primary object being to evacuate the front of sick and disabled troops without interfering with (he mobility of the comliatants. In connec- tion with field hospitals there is always present the transport difliculty. consequently every effort is made to lighten the total weight of equipment carried. Bearer and ambulance companies and field hospitals are essentially mobile units — their equipment usually consisting of a few small tents without beds. In (lie Hril ish-Hoer War of ISnit the Knglish field hospital weighed about eight tons, accommodated 100 patients, and could 1k" {)itehed or struck and packed on wagons in an lour's time. Stationary hospitals are usually rest camps on long lines of communication. (Icncrnl honpitals are places to which all sick and wounded are ultimately sent; where all im- portant surgical and medical treatment, not im- jieratively urgent, is carried out : and where it is determined whether the patient shall be returned to civil life or active service. In every army rpccial corps of men are enlisted and trained during time of peace; the lieldhospilal section during tbe great annual army manoeuvres of Europe receiving vcr.v practical instruction. While all eiviliz<'d countries are quick to avail themselves of needed improvements, France is usually in the lead. Hospital Thai.n.s. Modern wars of Continen- tal Europe have developed a phase of hospital service peculiar to themselves and known as hos- pital trains, of which there are three distinct types — permanent, improvised, and ordinary. The first named will ser'e as an illustration. They are constructed .so as to contain kitchen, storeroom, and compartments for the sick, who are invariably lying-down patients, demanding Tonstant attention. There is through communica- tion from the front to rear. In Germany they are known as Lnzarel-Zuf/e, and consist of 41 carriages, with an average total capacity of 300 patients: the Trnins-f^nnitairrs-Prrmancnts of the French have 23 coaches, with a capacity of 128; the .Austrian Eiftenbahn Sanitiila-ZiUic. 19 car- riages and 104 sick-berths; and the Italian Treni Ospcdnli. ranging from 10 to 24 carriages, with accommodations for about 200. There are also similar trains belonging to the ."sociftf- Francaise, and the Austro-llungarian Knights of iMalta. Hospital trains are conspicuously marked with the badge of the Geneva Society, but arc so ar- langed internally that distinctions of rank and caste are rigorously maintained in the accommo- dations s<'t apart for sulferers, utterly regardless of the necessities or circumstances of the case. The . .iY Nir.sk C'oRrs is an auxiliary branch of the medical department. In accord- ance with an army bill passed February 2. 1901, it was ordered that army nurses should be as- signed to duty at military hospitals, and at hos- jiitals where more than one nurse is serving one will be assigned to duty as chief. They are ap- pointed for three J'cars, two years of which period nuist be served without the limit of the United States. The pay and allowance of a nurse on ac- tive service is .'?4(l jht month, when on duty in the I'nited States and abroad, fhief nurses receive $.5 e.tra, except where there are live or more inirses under them, when they receive $10 extra, and .$25 extra when they have charge of ten or more subordinates. Nurses are retired on reach- ing the age of fortj'-live years, or if they cease for five years to practice their profession, or if they become pernnmently incapacitated, from ill- ness or other good or sullicient reason. The uni- form of the corps consists of a waist and skirt of suitable white material, adjustalilc white cud's. bishop collar, white apron, and cap. The badge of the corps is the cross of the medical depart- nient and hospital corps, in green enamel with gilt edge, pinned on the left side of the collar of the uniform, or on a corresponding part of the nurse's dress when she is not in tmiform. See JIeuioai, DErABTMENT; and Suboeby, JIii.itakv. HOSPITAL CORPS, U.mted States. In the Initeil .'■^liitcs Kciuits arc enlisted for the Hos- pital t'orps. and permanently attached to the ^tedical Department; and in time of war perform the necessary ambulance service under such officers of the Medical Department and assistants as may be detailed for that duty. They arc not required to perform any military duties other than those pertaining to their corps; receiving instruction in such drills, both foot and mounted, as are necessary for their efficiency. Their equipment consists of canteen complete, waist-bclti and plate, one-half shelter tent complete, and in the case of privates, pouch and litter-sling. At every permanent military post there is at least one noncommissioned officer of the IIos|iital Corps, and an additional one for every additional four privates of the corps. Special instructions in the duties of litter-bearer and the methods of ren- dering first aid to the siek and wounded are given to all enlisted men of the line of the army by their company officers, for at least four hours in each month, except in the case of the sea- coast artillery, which is limited to one hour per month, post surgeons under the direction of post commanders being responsible for the professional instruction of the company officers. In field service troops are accompanied by de- tachments of the Hospital Corps, each medical officer, on the march, being attended by a mount- ed private of the hospital corps. Members are not permitted to earri' arms except under cir- cumstances where their rights as non-combatant.'!, imder the Geneva Convention, are not likely to b& recognized. ,