“The Emergency Medical Services”*
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01681.x |
| Date | 01 June 1953 |
| Published date | 01 June 1953 |
bc
The
Emergency Medical Services
”*
A Book Review by JOHN
MOSS,
C.B.E.
HIS bookis one of the volumes of the official medical history of the war
T
and describes in Part
I
the administration, evolution and work
of
these
services during the period of the war in England and Wales, while Part
I1
contains special chapters on the provision of Medical Personnel, the Ancillary
Hospital Services, the Ambulance Services and the Civil Defence Casualty
Services. There is also a Volume
I1
(not reviewed here) divided into three
parts: Parts
I
and
I1
dealing with the Emergency Medical Services in
Scotland and Northern Ireland; Part
I11
describing the working
of
the
Emergency Medical Services in London and other large industrial areas in
the United Kingdom under the strain of intensive raids. Lieut.-Colonel
C. L. Dunn, C.I.E., I.M.S. (ret.), who edited both volumes, had practical
experience of the Service as a Regional Hospital Officer. He was aided by
a number
of
collaborators with special experience of their individual subjects.
This volume starts with a historical review of the position from 1923
to March, 1935, and then refers to the early steps taken to create a casualty
organisation and describes the expansion of the Emergency Medical Services
first during the period from October, 1938, to September, 1939, and then
during the further period to April, 1940. The last three chapters of Part
I
deal with the period of active operations in Britain from May, 1940, to June,
1941
;
the period of consolidation and improvement from July, 1941, to
December, 1943
;
and the period of active operations from January, 1944,
to the end of hostilities. In order to present
a
readable account of the inception
and growth
of
the Services and the functions they fulfilled the story is told
more or less chronologically. Up to June, 1938, the provision of casualty
clearing hospitals in the event of war had been the concern of Local Authorities
as part
of
their
air
raid precautions schemes, while the cost of providing base
hospitals was to be borne solely by the Exchequer. The Ministry of Health
then assumed responsibility for the organisation of an emergency hospital
scheme in England and Wales, and the Department of Health for Scotland
and the finistry of Home Affairs in Northern Ireland assumed similar
responsibilities for their countries. A casualty scheme for London had
been drawn up as long ago as in 1926, but the necessary inquiries were
undertaken under a strict rule of secrecy. They did, however, indicate
various directions in which considerable extension would be essential. For
instance
it
was ascertained that there were then in the London area only
twenty-five L.C.C. and eighty-seven Metropolitan Asylums Board ambulances,
and five ambulance steamers with a carrying capacity of 160 cot cases, and
that by drawing on the ambulances belonging to the Joint Council of the
British Red Cross and the St. John Ambulance Brigade, a total of
150
vehicles
could be mobilised in twenty-four hours. There were also
110
ambulances
belonging to other authorities which could be regarded as a reserve. One
difficulty was the lack of uniformity of design which would prevent stretchers
being interchangeable.
It
was thought that 225 ambulances would be
-*Emergency Medical Services,
Vol.
I.
Edited
by
C.
L. Dunn.
H.M.
Stationery
Office,
157
London,
pp.
470.
Price
50s.
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