Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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There were tvvo reasons for organizing and equipping Base Hospitals in time of peace. In the Hrst place no government not at War has ever been Willing to spend the money to pm- vide completely and store the enormous amount of equipment and supplies necessary for the number of Base Hospitals fe- quired by a large army. To procure these after War is de- clared entails delays that result not only in needless deaths and great suffering among the wounded, but also in a lessen- ing of the number of effectives that are returned to the front, thereby seriously impairing the efficiency of the combatant troops. Therefore it was of prime importance to amass such equipment before it was urgently needed. ln the next place, first-class medical and surgical specialists and Well-trained nurses accustomed to Work together, make a more effective professional personnel than a group of physicians and nurses hurriedly gotten together from all parts of the country. Hence, While there was yet time, the medical officers and nurses for these Base Hospitals had to be carefully selected from various institutions so that a well co-ordinated body of skilled Workers would be immediately available whenever required. The far-sighted wisdom of those who conceived and car- ried out the early organization of these hospitals has been amply justified by subsequent events. . VVhen once the Base Hospital project became well known, many of the great civil hospitals throughout the country en- thusiastically undertook the organization of these units, usu- ally With the financial aid of some local chapter of the Amer- ican Red Cross. ln every instance the civil hospital, known as the 'mother institution, was of sullieient size to furnish the professional and nursing personnel for the Base Hospital. and at the same time to retain an adequate statl' for its own proper conduct. ln this wav, it was argued, the civilian popll- lation would not be neglected for the army. OS

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U. S. Army Base Hospital No. 20 CU. of PJ Napoleon said that an army marches on its stomach. Today it may be asserted With equal truth that an army fights on the efliciency of its sanitary personnel. On every hand the his- tory of modern Warfare bears out this statement. Were it not for the conservation of human life Wrought by preventive med- icine, improved methods of camp sanitation, and recent ad- vances in reconstructive surgery and the treatment of Wounds, long ere this disease and pestilence Would have terminated the present World-Wide struggle that for nearly four years has defied 'man's most destructive efforts. The vital role that the medical forces of an army play in the successful conduct of campaigns was fully appreciated by those in charge of the Medical Department of the United States Army. Long before the entrance of this nation into the present struggle this branch of the Army had organized a reserve and Was vigorously striving to perfect plans for the adequate and efficient care of our righting forces should the occasion arise. It,is not surprising, therefore, that when in the spring of 1916, Dr. George Crile, that distinguished surgeon fresh from the Western battle front, proposed the organization of the so-called Red Cross Base Hospitals as a preparedness measure in time of peace, his plan received the hearty approval and support of the Surgeon-General's office. However, it re- mained for Col. Jefferson R. Kean, as Director-General of the Department of Military Relief of the American Red Cross, to put Dr. Crile's plan into practical operation. Colonel Kean pushed this great project with such enthusiasm that by the autumn of 1916 a number of both Army and Navy Base Hospitals had been organized throughout the United States, and when this country declared War on Germany a consider- ably greater number of these units Was available. 67

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The physicians assigned to these Base Hospital units are commissioned as oflicers in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army. One of their number is appointed Director. Upon this oflicer devolves the duty of selecting and organizing the personnel, as well as the task of purchas- ing and accounting for the vast amount of varied equipment required for one of these hospitals, which are organized on a basis of SOO bedsf The money for the purchase of equip- ment and all surgical supplies and dressings is supposed to be and in most instances has been provided by the local Red Cross Chapters. So long as a Base Hospital unit is not in active service it is under the jurisdiction of the American Red Cross. The moment, however, one of these units is mobilized and taken over by the government, it becomes a part of the Medical Department of the Army, subject absolutely to the orders of the Surgeon-General. VVhen the organization of a Base Hospital is assured its existence is authorized by the War Department and the hospital is given a number by which it is known thereafter. The Base Hospitals are numbered in the order of their authorization. Each Army Base Hospital has a commissioned personnel consisting of twenty-two physicians and surgeons, two den- tists, and a chaplain. When a hospital is ordered into active service the War Department puts it under the command of a regular army medical oHicer,.and also assigns to it an officer of the Quartermastefs Corps. ln addition to these oflicers there are with every Army Base Hospital, sixty-Hve nurses, one hundred and Hfty-three enlisted men, who belong to the enlisted reserve corps of the medical department, and six civilian employees. A corps of Hnurses' aids, twenty-five to fifty in number, have also been authorized for each Base Hos- pital unit. They represent an auxiliary nursing force, a re- serve to be called into service as occasion requires. Once on active duty, the conduct and administration of one of these 69