Also available with Wipe Clean Nylon Base £22.75 nc VAT & carr age
IDEAL FOR - Industry The St. John Ambula.nce Association, British Red Cross Society Schools Colleges Sport Centres, Race Meetings, etc PHOENIX WORLD REPRODUCTIONS IF
Phoenix World Reproductions are proud to announce the first of a series of pewter figurines created exc lusi vely for St. John. We have commissioned Buckingham Pewter renowned for their expertise in pewter craftsmanship, who with traditional skills and the latest casting machinery have produced a figure in the highest quality English Pewter , cast from the original hand sculpture and bearing the Associat on of British Pewter Craftsmen touch mark Send crossed cheque P O for above stating Re No SJ100. Overseas orders includes Surfa ce Mail add 10% Air Mail o:
F. W. EGUIPMENT CO. LTC. 389, Valley Drive, Gravesend, Kent DA 12 5TA Tel: Gravesend (474) 65511 Hanworth Road, Low Moor, Bradfo rd, West Yorks BD12 OSG Tel (0274) 6Q1121
SLIDESETS & TAPES
The Camera T a lk s Package Dea c om es fu lly eq ui pped with a mini projector and cassette rep l ay unit. The smart carrying case c an hold up to eighteen f lmstr ips (of your own choice) whi c h a re c h arged You may a lso purchase filmstrips p us tapes or slide sound p r esentations sepa rat ely If you possess your own equip m e n t. B elow is a li s of relev ant subjects. Pleas e mark the programmes o f Inte r es t to you , with 0 or without 0 the Pa c kage De a l. I prefer s lid es 0 or film s trip s 0
Life Sa ving First Aid 1-3 (children) 0
Th e Role of Oxygen in the Body 0 Wha t Wou ld You Do 1 - 2 0
B as c Fir s t Aid 1 - 7 0
First Aid o r Fr actures 1 - 6 0
Health & Safety at Work 1-2 0
Fir st Aid for Road Use r s 1 - 3 0
Advanced Fir s t A d 1- 5 0
Res uscit ation 0
Treatment o f M nor Injur ies 1 - 2 0
Fir st Aid in Ind ustry 1 - 8 0
The Package D ea is available on approva 0 purchase 0
M ar k hi s a nd return it to.
CAMERA TALKS LIM ITE D 31 North Row , London ,W 1R2EN T e l : 01 - 493 276 1
Name
Add r ess
T ele phon e Position D a t e SJ J
ST. JOHN
REVIEW
THE JOURNAL OF ST JOHN
Volume 53 No 1
Contents
At Random, by Watkin W Williams p.1
Adventure in Wales p.2
Snow and then pA
Overseas Seminar in Barbados p 7
Around and About by the Editor p,8
Cadet Chat, by Jim p,12
Exercise Landslide p,13
Order Investiture Nov , 22 p 14
Making and using cheap non-projected visual aids , part 2 by C, V, Han c ock p 16
Readers Views p 1 8
See you at Mytchett p.1 9
News from Scotland - Wales - N Ireland p 20
National FA Comp - Gas Industry p 21
News from Divisions/ Centres p 22
EDITORIAL and ADVE RTI SEM ENTS
Edited and produced for the Ord er of St John by Dr isco ll Pr oduc ti ons Wood Cottag e , High Corner Su tley Nr Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 30F.
Phone Orford (Std
from Review Sales 51. John Ambulan ce. 1 !Jrosvenor Cr escent, London SWl X 7EF COVER
The point of an exercise is to get the feel' of the real th ng To find out how you will react to a set of given circumstances To familiar se yourself with unusual problems
'HEARD two shots at about 23.45 last night, followed by much barking of dogs, but all was soon quiet and I quickly went to sleep. Woke at 6.30 and had really good wash in bath of tepid water. Pawpaw for breakfast - rather insipid without lemon juice, but that would be expecting too much!'
Reading , two months later, that scribbled entry in m¥ diary brought home to me the extent to which the perspective of someone on the spot differs from that of one who hears of the same events at a distance of some thousands of miles away. Those two shots were my sole experience of the 'frightening and disturbing sounds of gunfue' that I'd been told I should hear in Kampala during the hours of darkness. Far more important seemed the fact that when I turned on a tap in the morning , not only did water flow for the fust time in two days , but it was actually warm! And breakfast provided me with my favourite start to an African day - a luscious slice of pawpaw Uganda had quite definitely not let me down!
My hosts were detennined that I should not only see St. John but something of their lovely country. My police driver and 'combi' arrived soon after 8.30am and , again accompanied by Dr. Kit yo, Mrs. Katende , Mr. Kitarnirike and John Kintu , I set off for the 50-mile drive to Jinja , a lovely town on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. There were noticeably more young Tanzanian soldiers on duty in the streets of Kampala than I'd seen on the two previous days, and a number of road-blocks en route ; but the soldiers were businesslike , well behaved and often smiling , and (apart from one lengthy hold-up after we'd reached Jinja) we were almost invariably waved straight through. I was told that the soldiers were more in evidence than usual because President Binaisa , who had just returned from addressing the United Nations, was coming into Kampala from State House that morning. continued
PROGRAMME
(su bject to alteration)
The Royal Navy Inter-Port Field Gun Competition
The world's toughest trial of strength and split second timing. Two teams race against the clock to manhandle two field guns over walls and across ravines. A real show stopper to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Tri-Service Massed Bands
To mark the Centenary the Massed Bands will be supplied by the Royal Marines, the Foot Guards and The Royal Air Force.
The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery
Thrill to this family favourite and see the split-second timing of their popular Musical Drive.
King's Squad Royal Marines
A display of precision drill by The Royal Marines. An act that first appeared at the Royal Tournament in 1919.
Household Cavalry Quadrille
A performance of equestrian skill and traditional pageantry by riders and horses of The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals
Combined Services Physical Training Display
All three Services combine to give a panorama of physical training from its inception to the superb agility and fitness achieved today.
Royal Air Force Police Dogs
The work of this team of highly trained dogs displays remarkable trust and understanding between animal and master.
Kenya Army Band and Gymnasts
A superb display from East Africa - it's exciting, stirring and, without question, there's no other act quite like it at the show.
Special Events
Every performance will include either a Tug of War Competition , a Mounted Event or a specially invited display.
The Royal Air Force Motorcycle Competition
Roaring into action on high-powered motorcycles, the Royal Air Force provide a display unmatched for thrills and skills.
Finale
This grand-scale Finale depicts the hundred year history of this most colourful of military shows.
PERFORMANCES
Opening performance 7.30 p.m. July 9th. Two performances daily 2.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. There are no matinees on Monday and no performances on Sundays. Show ends Saturday July 26th.
DISPLAY STANDS
The display stands showing present day equipment and life in the Armed Forces will be open to the public from 12 noon (ex c ept Mondays) and from 6.00 p . m. for the evening performances . Performances end 5.00p m. and 10.00 p.m.
SEAT PRICES
Party rates at 10% discount are available for groups of 10 or more. This discount is NOT available on Royal Enclosure seats or for any seats on Friday evening and Saturday performances.
Normal Price Group Rate
£7.50 (Royal Enclosure) £ 7 50
£5.00
£4.00
£3.00
£4 . 50
£3.60
£2.70
£2 00 £ l.80
Unreserved seats are on sale at the Box Office 3 hours before each performance, price £l.00.
BOX OFFICE
Until March 19th
From March 19th (closed 3rd/4th July)
The Royal Tournament Horse Guards, Whitehall London SW1A 2AX Tel 01 -930 7148
The Royal Tournament Earls Court Exhibition Centre London SW5 9TA Tel. 01-371 8141
By underground - to Earls Court Station (District a nd Piccadilly) . By car - National Car Parks provide ample accommodation in the Ea rls Cou rt Ca r Pa rk. By bus - Nos. 30, 31, 74.
ARENA
1st choice 2nd choice
tR OYAL ENCLOSURE
Send to: The Box Office Manager, The Royal Tournament, Earls Court Exhibition Building, London SW5 9TA.
NOTES
1) Please include stamped addressed envelope for ticket despatch.
2) Please indicate with an "X" on the arena plan, the preferred area for your seat.
3) Fllease make cheques payable to " Royal Tournam ent".
4) You may pay by Barclaycard, Access or American Exp
FRONT STALLS
Winching techniques for rescue work a Whirlwind helicopter from RAF Brawdy came to Glanusk Park to show the cadets how it s done
ADVENTURE IN WALES
ONE of the most ambitious SJA training days held in Wales enjoyed glorious autumn weather when some 160 ambulance and nursing cadets from Mid and West Wales met at Glanusk Park CrickhoweII during September.
The highlight of the day , which was organised b y The Hon. Mrs Shan LeggeBourke , the Cadet Training Officer for Breconshire was a vivid demonstration of winching techniques , by Flight Lieutenant Jon P l umle y and his Whirlwind heljcopter crew frol1] R A.F Brawdy almost over the heads of the assembled cadets
The Crick howell Fire Brigade produced a splendid teaching exhibition which included sawing a car in half and extinguishing fires.
R A.F St. Athan Mountain Rescue Team gave radio communications instruction and used the famous Tower Brigade over the Usk as a cliff to lower both cadets and instructors down its walls, while physical training instructors provided both equipment and practical advice on the trampoline and judo.
Instructors of the British Canoe Union many of whom have taken part in the Usk Willte Water Races , introduced cadets to the pleasures and danger s of canoeing.
Parents of those taking part were relieved to know that no cadets were burned, dropped from 40 feet to the ground, drowned karate chopped, or electrocuted.
The idea was to teach them what to do if they found others in such a position.
160 young people, aged from 9 to 19, went home very tired after a long but memorable day.
How to look after yourself I nst ructors from t he Prince of Wales s Division show cadets the fine arts of judo
Let's have a good look at how it works .' There s noth ing like a fire-engine (sorry tender) to attract yo un gs ers
Photos: D. Williams
canoeing in struction
( Right) The RAF mountain rescue team lower a cadet down the famous Tower Bridge wall over the R ver Usk ( Lower picture ) Another cadet coming down steadily (Photos : B Pryce
Seaton sea front breached by the sea
THIS TIME last year Britain was steeped in of the coldest winters in living memory and throughout the country divisions were busy helping to cope with the Arctic conditions as well as carry out their regular programmes. In Devon, for instance, the Seaton, Beer and Axmouth Combined Division was using their ambulance to deliver meals-on-wheels because of the snow and freezing conditions, plans were afootfor the annual dinner and skittles competition on Frebuary 13, when the superintendent Ron Pavey (it was also his birthday, hence there were some secret plans for the 13th) was to be presented with a framed special vellum on becomong a Serving Brother, and then there were the regular weekly meetings.
The local A ssociation members were also fully involved in most of these goings-on.
We now move on to February 12, with the hard weather still continuing, and Transport Member Mrs. Pamela Evett takes up the story of what happened in Seaton
The previous day I had spent some time preparing surprises for the 'do,', and after J washed my hair, pressed my dress, and made sure there was nothing else to do , I turned in early, well pleased with myself. As usual I slept well despite the roar of the sea; there was a ground sea running, but having lived on the sea front for about twelve years
I was used to the moods of the sea, sometimes screaming and -rushing up the beach all night, and then to awake and find it all calm and blue and sparkling in the morning. must tell you that I live in a house on the Esplanade, facing the sea; I occupy the ground floor flat, sharing a common corridor that leads from the front door to the flat above me; my front door to the flat leads from this corridor; there is a kitchen door at 4
happening to me, my neighbours, mostly elderly and alone, must also be in danger. I went to the back door to let the water out of the flat and was horrified at the devastation in the car park at the rear of my flat, and to see my next door neighbours frantically sweeping water out of their kitchen. I struggled in the half light to reach my telephone and called the Superintendent, apologising for the early call. It was now 0615 hours and suggested that we put our 'Disaster Plan' into operation, the magnitude of the situation was now obvious.
While speaking to Mr Pavey the baywindow fell in and I bade a hasty farewell. I gathered up my rugs and anything low lying and dumped them on the bed then realising that the old chap next door, who was alone, may be needing help. I couldn't get out of the front door so I went with the water out of the back and into the garden. I
the back of my flat which opens on to a garden and a pathway to the first lateral road Harbour Road, behind the sea road, which runs for most of the length of the Promenade.
At about 0555 hours on Tuesday February 13 I was awakened by an almighty thud on the front door of the house. I sleepily put the light on walked barefoot to the bedroom door , grabbed my dressing gown and stumbled into the hall of my flat; the soles of my feet felt damp and I groaned , realising that the tide was extra high and some sea water had come into the house. I entered the main corridor and opened the front door, and after peering into pitch blackness and, in retrospect, an uncanny quietness I shut the door frrmly and returned to my flat. I found some old towels and put them down to mop up the water on the hall carpet , decided I would have a cuppa and filled the kettle, which alas was never to boil in Beach House again Suddenly there was a noise that sounded like an explosion and it seemed that aU hell was let loose. I raced into the hall to find sea water pouring in under the flat door I opened the door and was met by a wall of water and the main front door which disappeared up the stairs, leaving shattered glass and splintered wood in its wake.
Hasty retreat
I beat a hasty retreat to the bedroom followed by the water threw on slacks and a sweater by this time I was alarmed as waves swept into the flat, bringing all sorts of debris - bricks, glass, plants and shingle from the beach Wide awake now and realising the seriousness of the situation, all the lights went out. I knew that if this was
SNOW and then FLOOD
Suddenly there was a noise like an explosion and then all hell was let loose
reached the garden gate in safety, but had a struggle to open it as there was so much rubble behind it, including two cars and a garden wall, also the side wall of the garage.
I eventually arrived next door and had another struggle to get into his flat. The water pressure was terrific on the door and I had to hang on for dear life as the water rushed away down the path. I found the old chap in his underpants gazing in utter confusion at the blue smoke coming from his fridge I grabbed him and sat him on some stairs and dared him to move until I could find help. At the back of the house I found a Fireman and asked for his help for the old chap.
I waded towards my flat again, desperately trying to keep my balance in the debris laden swirling water. It was now quite
light and I could see the extent of the flooding was frightening. I entered my flat again to be met in the hall by my Superintendent. I burst into tears and cried Ron I couldn 't stop it, I'm sorry .' The sight of a very wet and tearful nursing member jolted him back into life I then learned that in trying to reach me he had twice been swept off his feet and dragged down an adjacent road He had fortunately been able to grab at a garden gate and pull himself to his feet and when he finally reached me he was suffering from shock. On the strength of that we both had a stiff rum and blackcurrant - not the recognised treatment for shock , but it certainly helped. We then assessed the general situation. The Police and the Fire Brigade were aware of the St. John presence
and some of our ambulance members had been sent along to an elderly lady on the sea front.
Before long the nu rsing members appeared, having first warmed our St. John Hall and arranged blankets and tea should the need arise. The nursing membe rs took charge and I was soon finding boxes and newspapers to wrap my belongings , ornaments , etc, which were taken upstairs and put into the empty holiday flat. When the men returned some of the furniture was shifted. All this time the sea was still entering the house. Some of the members left to go to work and the others continued to help me A steaming jug of tea appeared and we had bread and jam with it. Until then no one had anything to eat or drink other than the rum and blackcurrant. We continued
throughout the day remembering to say Happy Birthda y to our Ron. We had fish and chips for lunch and about 5pm we decided to call a halt as we were due to catch the coach at 6.15pm to journey to the prearranged dinner at Upottery.
To return
To return to the early morning. but elsewhere in Seaton. Pamela Evett telephoned the Superintendent at 0615 Mr. Pavey immediately telephoned 999 and was put in touch with the Exmouth Police who were already aware of what was happen ing in Seaton. The Police asked Mr. Pave y for whatever assistance he and his Di vision could give , whereupon Mr. Pavey initiated his Disaster Plan. Divisional Officer Mrs. Joy Pavey telephoned the Brigade members. Mrs Sutton the Secreta ry rang the
Members helping Mrs Evett clear up her flat
Supt. Ron Pa vey at the fence th at saved his life
SNOW and then FLOOD
continued
Associate members and by 0630 the hall was open and the kettle was on for tea.
Making his way to the sea front, Ron Pavey was astonished to find the sea road blocked by the shattered remains of the sea wall and a mass of shingle. He drove down the Harbour Road but after about fifty yards had to stop because of the sea water.
The Seaton Fire Brigade was already on the spot and doing a rme job of work under the capable leadership of Mr. Garney Miller. The Seaton Fire Service is held in the highest regard locally.
Making his "way up Beach Road, Ron Pavey made to cross over towards Mrs. Evett's flat when a huge wave, reaching up to his chest, washed .him back down Beach Road Swallowing some sea water, he regained his feet and returning to the Promenade he was again knocked down by a wave that carried him on his back down Beach Road. Not deterred by th@ sea , Ron got as far as the house where Mrs. Evett lived and was knocked against the side of the hous@ by another wave. The next carried him into the house and up the stairs Returning to the hall he encountered Mrs. Evett in tears. The remainder has already been told by Pam Evett.
Soon two ambulance members arrived at the flat, Fred Charters and Ron Stocks. They were given instructions by the Superintendent to search the houses along the Promenade and see if anyone needed first aid or h@lp of any kind. A lady was found to be in a state of shock and treated, others were escorted to safety by helping them upstairs to the higher flats. One lady said she had never seen anything like it in all the 66 years she had lived there. The water just poured through the garage, the bathroom , the living room and the kitchenette - the worst flood in living memory soon became the opinion
One shop in Harbour Road used a garage in the rear of the premises to store goods; this was flooded to a depth of four feet, creating about £ 10,000 of damage. A garage with showrooms and new workshops was flooded, with cars bobbing about like corks.
One of the first to realise that the town had a major crisis was busman Mr. Francis Warren, on duty early at the Harbour Road Depot. He saw an empty Ford Cortina floating down Beach Road, and dustbins going down Harbour Road one after another. 'It was like a river'. To raise the alarm, the busmen lined up their buses, switched on their headlights and hooted their 6
horns. The lights that were switched on in the bedrooms of the houses opposite proved that they had succeeded. The force of the water broke the french-window in a house near the depot two children , Tina and Brian Chaplin, aged 8 and 9, had been sleeping in the room.
Their screams for help awoke their parents, John and Shirley Chaplin Mr Chaplin tried to open the children's door and found to his horror that the pressure of the water the other side was so great that this was impossible. With the help of a large axe and a friend, Robin Long, from the garage next door, he broke down the door of the children's room The two men were swept off their feet by the torrent.
Inside the room one child was standing on the bed and the other was crouching on the wardrobe The water was four feet high. A brick wall then collapsed in the depot next door and water gushed in. The side panels of a bus were smashed in. Paving stones were torn up, heavy concrete garden walls were smashed to bits, pieces of masonry, some as heavy as a quarter of a ton, were thrown about in streets and gardens.
Subsidence in the main road on the sea front exposed a large section of gas piping , telephones went out of action in the houses on the fro!!t, much of the damage was similar to the blitz gaping holes in the streets, doors ripped off their hinges, windows smashed. Help came fast. The Seaton Red Cross did a wonderful job under the leadership of their Commander, Miss Eileen Mutter.
At 0715 hours Superintendent Pavey reported to the Police that as far as he was aware no-one had been hurt, just the one woman treated for shock The Police Superintendent thanked Mr. Pavey and asked him to continue helping where he could. Mr. Pavey then detailed Ambulance Member Mr. Fred Charters to go to the St. John Hall and tell all members to report to him on the front as the Hall would not now be needed. Twenty minutes later and all Brigade members were slushing through sea water up to their knees. Then, while the Association Members were calling at houses along the front offering their services to help where needed, the Brigade Members were helping Mrs. Evett to salvage what she could from the flood.
Members worked hard all that day
Pamela Evett, Ron Pavey, the other members and many other people in the De von town oj Seaton worked hard all thaI day. B y late afternoon a semblance oj order had been restored to those living on the Promenade. But what about the annual dinner, skittles, the presentation?
The evening tide was not so high, so the programme went on. The dinner party lifted flagging spirits; the vellum signed by {he Grand Prior was presented to the Superintendent, together with a signed tankard; toasts were toasted; and skittles was won by the Pavey team
This is just one story of a division's goings-on - time las t y ear.
FIRST AIDER OF THE YEAR
Overseas Seminar in Barbados
THE second St. John Ambulance Overseas Regional Seminar took place in Barbados on November 13 to 15 in the Government Convention Centre. The seminar was primarily intended for countries in the Caribbean area and the following were represented: Antigua, Barbados , Bermuda , Canada, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica , Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and the United Kingdom (acting in a co-ordinating capacity).
Countries invited but unable to participate were: Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent.
The St. John National Council in Barbados was first approached in March 1978 and generously agreed to host the seminar, providing much invaluable assistance with the administrative arrangements and planning.
This regional seminar , in common with the previous one held in Singapore in 1978, was again made possible by the Trustees of the Commonwealth Foundation who funded the major part of the seminar expenses. Also of great assistance financially was the generosity of the Minister of Civil Aviation & Tourism in Barbados who, in recognition of the charitable nature of the work of S1. John Ambulance, agreed to waive all charges for the use of the Government Convention Centre which wo uld otherwise have amounted to a considerable sum.
(L to R) Sir Leslie Monson, Dir Overseas Relat ion s; Lady Brecknock Ch ief President Mr C A. Blackman V-Chairman SJ Council, Barbados Mr. P A. Lingard. OiL-General Gp Cap t. John Siessor Sec. Overseas Re lations; MajGen. Peter Leuchars C- inC and Major R Daniel, Commissioner Barbados
In an attempt to provide some statistical background for discussions a synopsis was prepared and circulated in advance showing a breakdown of Government legislation on First Aid in industry at present in force in participating countries and some figures on working populations and industrial accident rates in the case of those countries who provided such information to the International Labour Organisat ion.
The aim of the seminar was to assist participating countries in the furtherance of first aid coverage for all people in their p l aces of work and in their efforts to promote a safe and healthy work environment. Such terms as 'industrial' or 'occupational' first aid were therefore deliberately avoided , since the intention was to include not only those working in factories and the like but also every category of white collar' worker in such places as offices and schools.
To this end the seminar agreed the following definition of first aid: First aid is the immediate and temporary care and management of an injured or ill person up to the time he or she is handed over to expert medical care. The teaching of first aid appropriate to the work sit uat ion should include basic information on the
Dowager Countess of 8essborough
THE Dowager Countess of Bessborough , who died in London on November 22 was the widow of the ninth earl, who was Governor General of Canada, 1931 -35. Of her wide public service, she was an active worker for S1. John Ambulance, being Sussex County President from 1940 to 60 a member of the Ladies' Guild of the Ophthalmic Hospital, and became a Dame Grand Cross of the Order in 1974.
This devotion to St. John continues through her daughter, Lady Moyra Browne , our Superintendent-in -Chief.
D.R. writes in the Times: Roberte Bessborough will be mourned and remembered for many reasons; her
beauty, her charm and genuine kindness were notable in themselves. But perhaps her two rarer qualities were the rigid standards of excellence she imposed on every facet of her life, and even more unusually , her capacity for combining plain -s peak ing with her gift of friendship As her friends knew, her candour was never bestowed as wounding criticism but always as a symptom of her deep affection.
During her long life she bore many personal sorrows with fortitude and dignity: in the death of two beloved and promising sons she was sustained by deep but seldom mentioned religious conviction. She excelled in many roles , particularly as a
prevention of injuries and ill health ; and the promotion of a safe and healthy work environment.
At the conclusion of the discussions it was quite evidently the opinion of all delegates that the seminar had been highly constructive and most successful in every way. Not only were the deliberations in plenary sessions of great value but also were the more informal discussions and contacts which took place outside the conference room, providing a unique opportunity to share views and to learn from each other how best to deal with mutual problems It was interesting to note how in common with the previous seminar in Singapore , the same difficulties seem to be experienced by almost all countries and consequently a meeting such as this one must be considered valuabl e in contributing towards the overcoming of such difficulties.
Again it must be said that the goodwill and sense of common purpose engendered by delegates talking to one another as devotees of our common cause - In the Service of Mankind - was very much in evidence throughout the entire period of the seminar , and contributed greatly to its acknowledged success
support to her husband , not only when he was Governor -General of Canada, but also in his other careers in politics and big business in many countries.
7
Sir Leslie Monson Director Overseas Relat ions
50 YEARS APIECE
London Northern Area Commissioner Harold Mulligan and his wife Doris, who is Area Nursing Superintendent - they live at Great Warley, Essex - both celebrated 50 years with the Brigade at the end of 1979. To cap this, at an i nvestiture at St. James's Palace during December Harold became a Knight and Doris a Dame of Order.
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Mulligan.
MEET .
The new Warden - Dr. Geoffrey Bis ley
AROUND and ABOUT
GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ST. JOHN
BY TH E EDITOR
The newly appointed Warden and Chief Surgeon of the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem , Dr. Geoffrey Bisley , OBE, MRCS, LRCP , DTM & H, DO , took up his duties on November 12. We hope he will have a very happy term of office.
Dr. Bisley born May 23 1915 and educated at King's College School
Wimbledon, King's College London and King's College Hospital, qualified as a doctor in 1940. After resident hospital posts, he volunteered for the RAFVR, where he first worked as Squadron Medical Officer to various Fighter Squadrons on the South East Coast of England. He was subsequently posted to Aden.
Cadet Sargeant Christopher Smith receives his Gr and Prior Certificate from the Grand Prior the Duke of Glo ucester who was in Carlis le for a Service of Dedication for SJA Cumbria and presentation of certificates. (Photo: Carlisle Newspapers)
In 1946, he joined the Colonial Medical Service and was appointed Medical Officer in Kenya and during the next eight years he was consecutively Medical Officer in charge of District Hospitals at Narok Nyeri and Meru, gaining wide experience in general medicine and surgery.
In 1954 and 1955 he had a period of study leave which he took at Moorfield Eye Hospital London obtaining the Diploma of Ophthalmology and later was appointed as Specialist Ophthalmologist in Keyna In 1965 he became Senior Ophthalmic Consultant at the Kenyatta National
Hospital Nairobi and also Adviser i n Ophthalmology to the Ministry of Health Kenya , from which posts he retired early 1979.
He received the OBE in the Birthday Honours List of 1974 in connection with his work as an eye specialist in Kenya.
He is married with two grown-up children and his wife , a State Registered Nurse, did her training at King's College Hospital.
With his wide experience in the practice of ophthalmic medicine and surgery overseas and his experience in administration , he should make a worthy successor to Dr. Keith Batten. We wish him well.
SWIMMERS
London Eastern Area's swimming gala on November 10 was won for the flfst time by C70 Chadwell Heath Cadet Division , with a healthy lead of 23 points over second place.
IN AFRICA
I hear that Dr. Tudor Powell Jones, member of the SJ A Medical Board , has been lecturing on 'Better Instruction in St. John in Mombasa and at the St. John HQ Nairobi during the autumn
AIRPORT HOLD-UP
SJA Jersey , I hear , went to the aid of 10,000 passengers stranded at the island's airport because of fog one weekend during the height of the holiday season la st summer. Unable to go back to their hotels because ferries were bringing in more holiday makers , the homeward-bound passengers were marooned at the airport for two days.
Within an hour of the call for help from the airport, 47 members were there, setting up two first aid posts, and eventually treating 216 cases. People were fainting through lac k of food, boredom and heat. Other s had packed prescribed medications in their luggage , which had to be retrieved. There were heart attacks , gastro enteritis and crushed fingers. There were the c hildren , some very yo ung the elderly - all living in the ter minal for 48 hours.
Everyone from the SJA County Staff, IOcluding the County Surgeon , Dr. D. Pope, to cadets, who did a marvellous job
E: 100 Brigade members were present when Miss M E. (Betty) Dean, OBE. Commander StJ retiring Cty Supt with 46 years service, received gifts at this surprise presentat
collecting and wash ing beakers and helping distressed people, was on the duty.
Numerous letters from thankful passengers later appeared in the Jersey press.
THANKS TERRY
In their efforts to raise money for a mobile first aid unit, I hear that Cranleigh Division, has had great support from the local Three Horseshoes public house. Manager Terry Bias and five 'regulars' set off on an October weekend to make a sponsored 270-mile cycle ride to Land s End.
The road from Kampala to Jinja runs eastwards through undulating country at about 4,000 ft. above sea level, with glorious views of sugar, tea and coffee plantations interspersed with patches of forest and less dense 'bush', and ribboned with occasional villages and a couple of small towns. For the past 8 years the plantations have become sadly derelict, but there are already signs of the recultivation so vital to the country's economy. On reaching Jinja we went to the Town Hall and were most warmly welcomed by the Mayor, Mr. J. B. Lubandi, supported by the Town Clerk. After sitting for half an hour consuming 'coke' and biscuits and discussing St. John redevelopment we went
They made good progress on the Saturday , reaching Yeovil some 110 miles of pedalling. But on the Sunday disaster struck. On the Exeter by-pass one of the team was hit by a motorcycle and taken to hospital - fortunately only suffering from bruises. He returned by train. By the Tuesday the rest of the riders reached a very wet and windy Land s End , from where after a night's rest they also returned by train.
The whole venture was organised by auxiliary member Terry. B & B and food along the route was supplied by one sponsor while another lent a car and driver to
AT RANDOM
cont. from p.l
outside to pose for photographs. Then, accompanied by the Town Clerk, we set off to see the source of the Nile and the Owen Falls Dam, both of which are unforgettably impressive sights Today, owing to the pressing demand for hydroelectric power, the Nile appears to emerge 'full grown' from Lake but that is an artificial situation created by the building of the Owen Falls Dam a mile or so further downstream, and as the dam releases the pent up waters
member of the Owen Falls Dam Management Board, and that from childhood he had been a friend and near neighbour of John Kintu's father!
We were still running behind time, and had to make our grateful farewells to the Mayor and the Town Clerk without too much delay. Just as we were about to start I noticed John talking to a tall and handsome young lady whom he brought towards me saying 'I want to introduce you to my sister , who happens also to be married to the Town Clerk!' I knew that John had lived at Jinja, as a child but I'd no idea that he still had such close connections with the town. No wonder that the Town Clerk is a certificated fir staider!
A new mob ile first aid u n it plus a Ford Capr i 2000 to tow it. we re p resented t o London Distri c t s Associat on Bran ch dur ng November b y the Reckitt and
The un which is fitted o u as a
ai
room and also carr es e m er gency equipmen t. will be u sed in adv sing ind u str y o n occupat onal health uni t s so necessary under the Health and Safety at Work Act London s
SJA Commander Col. He x al Lewi s (2nd from left) receiv ed the keys of the un from Reckitt and Colma n' s d irec tor of medica serv ces D r Bill Ha rc us (left
accompany the team. Local businesses and individuals sponsored the riders Terry hopes to have raised £1 300 for the Division, bringing the total so far fo r the mobile unit to £2,000.
Terry is obviously the sort o f auxiliar y that every division should get on their book s. Thanks , Terry - and your mates.
MIND BENDERS (answers)
from above they thunder down in clouds of spray and pursue their course northwards in a swirling flood, eventually to reach the Mediterranean more than 4,000 miles away.
The delay at a road - block to which I've already referred made us late in reaching the Crested Crane hotel (named after Uganda's national emblem), where the Mayor most generously entertained us to a luncheon party at which we also met Mr. Mugabba (Corps Supt. of the Jinja Corps) and Mr. Mabwa of the Nytil Works Division). During conversation at lunch I discovered that the Mayor had lived and worked for several years in England, mostly in Cheshire, that he had been an original
We then drove to the Nytil Textile Works in the industrial area on the west side of the Nile bridge , where we found nearly 50 Brigade members (including at least 10 women) drawn up on parade. I was taken round the ranks and shook hands and said a quick word to each , and then sat with others at a table under an awning while reports were given on the activities of the Nyt il Division and the Jinja Corps and all officers and NCOs present were brought forward to be introduced.
I was delighted to hear that the Corps has 4 adult divisions totalling 159 members and a Combined Cadet Division of 38 members -I believe the only one in the country to ha ve sur vived The General Manager then made a speech in which the firm 's determination to rede velop and extend S1. John train ing and membership rang out very clear. This was followed b y a fa s cinatin g performance of dances and songs by the Ny til dancers and drummers; and finally each member of the vi s iting party was presented with a gift parcel of beautiful N yti fabri cs .
The Jinja Corps , though sadly short of equipment and totally lacking in transport must undoubtedly be the s trongest centre of St. John activity outside Kampala , and I felt it entirely appropriate to refer to them as the ginger group -a perhaps rather obvious pun which quite a number of those present clearly appreciated
On our way back to Kampala we made brief stops to visit (a) the Bishop Tucker Theological College in a beautifully peaceful setting at Mukono where Dr. Kit yo had been trained for ordination (b) the shrines at Namugongo where the Ugandan martyrs , both Anglican and Roman Catholic were burnt alive in 1886 , and (c) the Anglican Cathedral of Namirembe, built in a commanding position on one of the seven hills overlooking the city of Kampala. It had been a truly wonderful day, but I was anxious that my companions should get back to their homes before dark, and I felt relieved when we reached Makerere soon after 6pm. Mr. Luyombya presently called to
Ph o os E K. W Kitami r ike
(Below ) Watkin W lliams
the J nja
at Ny til It gave them confiden c e and hope to renew thei r services o the cause of the Order ,' one
say goodbye on behalf of his wife and himself, and kindly offered to stay on and take John home by car , so the three of us were able to spend nearly an hour on various S1. John matters that still needed to be discus s ed . I did most of my packing overnight and as the water was off again , went to bed unwashed and slept like a log. I woke early and , though still perforce unwashed and unshaved was all read y to start by 6.45am when the staff had kindly said the y would give me a cup of tea. Better than their word , they produced an excellent breakfas of pawpaws , toast and butter and superb Ugandan coffee , at which I was joined by Dr. Kit yo M y WPC dri ver and combi arrived at 7.15 with my faithful companions Mrs. Katende and Mr. Kitamirike and John , and we reached Entebbe air port within an hour.
My flight took off 45 minutes late which caused some anxiety to Mrs. Chadwick who had been ' assured that we were on time and had been wa iting at Nairobi airport for an hour before I arrived. I still had a further 8 days in Nairobi , during which I not only had the great pleasure of seeing a number of St. John and other friends but was also able to make enquiries about getting a reliable second -hand vehicle for Kampala and to arrange for the forwarding of other supplies and equipment.
Uganda is not yet a place where I would recommend anyone to go for a holiday ; but still less would I ' advise anyone to stay away if by going he could help the country to return to normality. And I would most earnestly entreat you to believe that the occasional horrific tales of terrorism that
have appeared in our paper s gi ve a t ot all y unbalanced picture of the dail y life of the people.
It ma y be argued tha t in t hree da ys I had little chance to assess the situa t ion ; but I sa w enough to form positi ve impress ions. In Kampala , nothing has been done fo r 8 years to restore damaged build in gs o r repair ro a d s; the main shopping street ha s bee n a shambles ever since the As ians were expelled in 19.72 ; much o f the trading is in open-air markets or at pavement stalls ; s upp li es of food are adequate but ver y expens iv e and many of the commonest commod ities are unobtainable.
I saw no demonstrations r ot s or o ther lapses from the normal rule of a w and order ; people go safel y about the ir business during the daytime , and a t night t he y are careful to obser ve the curfew ; man y schoo ls and hospitals are working , though short of supplies and staff; churches are well cared for and are packed to the do o r s o n Sunda y s by a deeply Christian popUlation. The people most earnestl y desire a return to stability , both political and fmanci al but they need all the help that they can be given If we stand aside and let them get on with it, that desire will remain unsatisfied. But the y will not be the only losers , for we oursel ves will lose something infin itely prec iou s -a chance to take our share in the restora tion of one of the loveliest countries and most charming of peoples in the whole of Afr ica . To Uganda and my friends there I say a most heartfelt thank you for their kindness and hospitality And to this I would add au revoir ', for I shall hope to visit them ag ain in happier times, even if not in an offic ial St. John capacity.
(Right ) Outside Jinja town hall : (L. ro R) the Town Clerk
Dr. G M. Kit yo Watkin Williams the Mayor. John Kintu and Mrs L Katende
inspecting
SJA Corps
Who cares for animals 1
I RECENTLY received information about useful resource packs about animal welfare which have been distributed nationally. They consist of an information booklet, four information cards giving background details, four work cards which suggest various projects for the children , as well as two illustrated discussion cards An accompanying poster completes the pack to help maintain interest.
Designed for young people of cadet age, the pack aims at directly involving them in project work concerning animals so that their natural affection for animals can be developed into a caring attitude and a respect for living things. A valuable item for the Divisional resource bank, they are available from the R.S.P.C.A., Causeway , Horsham, West Sussex RH12 IHG.
Games, Games, Games
This month, with plenty of time to fIll on .cold dark nights, I thought the following games would be of interest. My thanks to D I O Dennis Capel, from Tring , who sent details of the game Cadet Squares which his Division and the adult Division use.
Cadet Squares
This game is based on Celebrity Squares except instead of picking a celebrity to answer the question you pick a number.
You start with a metal board divided into 9 squares and 9 magnetic strips labelled with the chosen subjects. Subjects can include nursing anatomy, wounds and bleeding injuries to bones, breathing, history of the Order , burns and scalds, Brigade Regulations and Pot Luck. Each team in turn selects a subject depending on the square they require. A correct answer is awarded by an 0 or X in the square of that subject. Although in this case do not use O 's and X's but cut out ambulance and nursing cadet fIgures As in noughts and crosses , the winner is any straight line of 30's or X's. At the end of each game the subjects are reallocated to different squares on the board and away you go again.
Of course a magnetic board is not essential. It can be made out of any suitable materials.
Kim's Games
A letter from K. Harrison, from Dagenham, reminds me of the test of skill used to develop various senses. The normal game is familiar to everyone , namely revealing a tray of various objects and then, after a short while, asking teams or individuals to recall what they saw. Other ideas include a blindfold game in which cadets have to feel various objects. This can also be varied with tasting and smelling objects. Another good idea would be to tape record various sounds, including some familiar and others not so familiar.
CADET CHAT by JIM
Another good bit of fun is a message game. Send messages fairly complicated , by ' word of mouth relay fashion. Find the winners by the accuracy of the final message.
A Game of Chance 1
Make up a series of cards with various first aid or nursing activities , allocating each one a score depending on difficulty and time needed. Place these in a pile Then each member of the team takes the top card and has to complete the activity , points being awarded according to the score on the card and ' how well the task is This could be a good way to revise training topics and have fun at the same time
And Finally Maureen Upton , from Meir Heath, Stoke on Trent sent the following quiz. Why not try it with the cadets?
Hidden in the following sentences are the names of British cities and towns. Can you spot them?
1. Mabel fastens a rose in her hair.
2. Immediately discard if faults are seen to develop.
3. How can you hide a lantern in the dark?
4. I have a light proof box for drying films and prints.
5. He is kind, unselftsh and a good man in every way.
6 Bob right on his game, won six and four.
7. When you get back from Peshawar , ring Tony at his new address.
You may remember that in November I told you of a game which could help with map reading. This month I have been looking through two books that I obtained from Supplies Department. They are Scout Camping by Tony Kemp & Jerem y SuttonPratt and Enjoy Camping b y Doug Mountford. The first is a manual of good camping practice which contains all the information that you need for setting up a camp. The second book is written for young campers and lays Qut in an easily readable way the basis for good camping and includes a large numb er of useful diagrams s howing how to set up camp. There are also details of activities that you can undertake at camp. Although Scout orientated, these books are really well worth reading and I recommend them to every Division that is involved in camping, and those cadets who are doing the camping proficiency subject should obtain a copy
Funny Road Signs
The first batch of road signs has been sent to me from the C70 Chadwell Heath Division who held a competition among members. Some are shown on this page. Can your Division think up some more?
Cheerio!
Contributions to this column are always welcome. Can you suggest a game, a training idea or an activity which you have tried? If so please send it to 'Jim', 57 Morgan Crescent Theydon Bois, Epping Essex CM167DU.
Road signs seen in Chadwell Heath
Landslide
VOLUNTEER emergency teams raced to a major inci dent in Br istol last month as reports came in of a landslide which had hurled 30 hikers into a ravine. The 'inci dent ' in Stoke Leigh Woods - a Forestry Commission beauty spot between Bristol and Por tis he ad - was a full scale exercise to test the manpower and mobile resources of the Avon St. John Ambulance and to ensure that ambulance teams could cope with a situation where a relatively large number of people had been injured.
Taking part were WR VS members, who supplied food and drink during the rescue, Raynet , who kept radio contact and members of Casualties Union, who supplied realistic patients.
Screams for help were heard as ambulances from SJ A Bristol N ailsea and Chipping Sod bury arrived at the scene.
Spurred on by a hysterical woman the crews quickly spread out to find the trapped and injured in the densely wooded area. Several walking casualties, including a 'pregnant' woman, were helped from the scene and taken to the casualty clearing station
Stretcher cases which followed included unconscious patients and those suffering from spinal injuries , varied fractures and cuts and bruises
The exercise, which was supported by two mobile first aid units, provided v ital experience for the teams in call-out response, communication and rescue work in a realistic situation. Myra Meredith
Coping with 30 'casualties in woodlands
EXERCISE
(Above) A leg fracture is treated by ASO Colin Knight and
D/ Supt. Peter Satherley. (Right ) Casualties Union membe rs awaiting 'rescue and treatment'
Photos : Jack Garland (Right ) Not the easiest place to treat a casualty
ORDER INVESTITURE
Officer (Sister)
Shelia , The Hon. Lady Douglas Pennant ( Hant s).
Gp. Officer Margaret Mary O'Connor , RR C (Londo n).
Lily Hilda Maud Mrs . C hapman (Londo n
Beryl, Mrs Kimberley (Wes t Midland s).
Gwendo line J oan, Mrs Di gby (Norfo lk ).
Margaret Hilda Mrs. Bax (Essex). Barbara
(Meryside). Joan
(Surrey).
LRCP, JP (West Mi dl an d s) Raymond Joseph Donaldson. OBE MB Ch B FFCM , DPH (Surrey). Lt Col. Robert Ba rnab es Readhead, DSO, DL (Surre y).
Commander (Sister)
Pamela Estelle MQRS Drury Lowe (Guernsey). Ursula. Lady Westbury (Yorks h re).
Associate Commaoder (Sister) Marianne Dr Neumann (Dublin).
Officer Brother)
Charles Jim W hi ehead, OBE ( London)
Brian Molloy QPM (Nort h Humberside).
Phillip George G o llop (Bristol).
Jo hn William Brown (North Devon)
Harry Ho u gh (West Mid la nds H arold Leece Lanes).
Leonard John Kibb le (London).
Robert Re gi nald Jame Chaney ( H ants).
Barnett Sh ine (London).
Raymond Reid (Manchester).
John R obinson Turner. MRCS, LR C P (West Yorks).
Brigadier R ic hard Peter Body (London).
Ronald Sydney Edwa rd Cu tciitTe, MRCS. LR CP, DPH, MFCM (Me yside).
Lt Col George Frederick Woo lnough, MC (Wilts)
Leslie William Edward Zoller (London).
William Henry Jarvi s ( Kent)
Anthony Fr a ncis Myc roft Beeley Wilt s)
Philip J ohn Player ( Herts)
H ar ry Gillis (West Yorkshire)
J ohn Bamford (Midd esex).
Arthur William Seward (Warks).
Louis Hal s te ad Lancs ). Go rdon Re uben Haro ld J enner We s Midland s).
Harry George JetTs MB BS. MRCGP ( Kent ).
Ca pt. Robert Matth ew Festing (Northumberland)
(Essex).
SJ A BA N D S - new federation formed
THE inaugural meeting of the Federation of St. John Ambulance Bands was held at the West Midlands Headquarters on October 27th 1979
Following lengthy negotiations between the bands study group and Headquarters it was clearly desirable to form this Federation to achieve some standardisation of uniforms and procedures which would be acceptable both to the bands and to the Brigade.
At the request of the Commissioner -inChief I undertook this task and with the assistance of Sgt. Major Minney of the Southwark Corps of Drums the meeting was arranged. An agenda was circulated to all bands with copies of the proposed constitution and with the names of the area representatives willing to serve on the Committee.
The meeting was well attended with representatives from each area and with a minor amendment the constitution was adopted.
The following officers were elected:
Chairman , Da vi d Minney (Southwark ); Vice-Chairman Miss Brenda Knight (St. Audries) ; Treasurer G. Munro ( Chief Accountant , SJA ); Secretar y D. Minney.
Area Representatives: (N) L. D McLachlan (Southport ); ( N) R. Lawrence (Blackpool) ; (S) D Tyle r (Surrey ); (S) R. Gill ain (Southwark); (C) K Robinson (Rushden ); (C) Miss S. Wood (W est Midlands)
The meeting approved slight changes that had been made in Brigade Regulations to help band members and the suggested uniform that had been approved by the Brigade.
It may come as a surprise to man y in the Brigade how widespread the movement has become , but it should be appreciated that traditionally in the Services the role of bandsmen has always been to be stretcher bearers well trained in first aid
I believe Brigade bands can be of great service to St. John in projecting our public image and that the disciplines imposed on band formations can help to improve our
The
Paper and card
THE CHOICE of whether to use paper or card as a medium for presenting an illustration really depends on the extent of use. For a quick, simple and possibly expendable illustration a cheap white paper is usually adequate. Newsprint or lining paper can be purchased in cut sheets or rolls and is useful for this type of throw-away or single use chart.
Where it is necessary to produce charts which will be in regular use for a long period the best material on which to work is white card This is available in a variety of cards and boards of various sizes and thicknesses, colours and surface fmishes. A suitable kind of moderately priced card is available , size 52 x 64 cms, 380 microns thicic
Lettering
Lettering poses problems for most nonartistic chart producers and the addition of a few badly sized, spaced and drawn words even on a professionally drawn chart can ruin the general effect. In general, the graphic diagram should have primary place on the chart and wording should be kept to an absolute minimum.
Words can however be added in a variety of ways:
a. By enlarging by the use of an episcope and tracing with a felt pen.
b. By the use of various sized stencils.
c. By lettering systems such as Letraset.
d. By drawing freehand or with instruments.
Whichever method is being used care should be taken to obtain the correct size of lettering for readability by the class and to locate the words so that they do not obscure the drawing being presented
When using the methods a, b , and d it is worthwhile outlining the words in pencil first, then having checked for size, accuracy and general effect line them in with a felt pen. When using method c place a guide line in pencil on the chart at the point where the word is required.
Making and using cheap non-projected aids
by C. V. HANCOCK, MSc, FIOB,
Some of the materials which can be used are:
a. Felt tipped pens offer a variety of brilliant colours and the tips may be rounded or wedge shaped. The wedge shape gives the bolder line which is often required for teaching charts. All types usually dry out rapidly and are not thus easily smudged.
b. Fibre-writers are useful for detail work or small sized lettering but in general the line produced is too fine for chart work for class teaching
c. Stencil pens are used in conjunction with stencil sets of various types. Some of these pens have steel nibs of varying widths, the nibs being more or less of traditional type. Other pens use tubular nibs of varying widths fed from an ink reservoir. The use of Indian Ink with these pens gives a dense, even line for chart work but requires a degree of accuracy and skill in their use.
For anyone not used to using pen s and stencils the dry lettering sets obtainable in a wide range of sizes and lettering styles , such as Letraset, offer a relatively easy but more expensive method of producing professional looking lettering.
Colouring charts
The careful use of colour can greatly increase the graphic impact of a chart and there are a number of ways of achieving this effect.
Fig 8 (left) Fig 9
Some of the methods are as follows:
a. Poster paints: These paints, in powder, paste, or solid form, offer a range of brilliant colours which are quick drying and often waterproof when dry. Brushes are usually of a flat type designed for poster work.
b. Water colour paints: These can be used on charts but their colours are naturally more transparent and delicate than poster paints and large areas of colour are difficult to apply in a wash without some experience
c. Adhesive films: Where large areas of even colour are required and the producer is unsure' of his skill in handling paint , then self- adhesive coloured films may be used. These are obtainable in large sheets from which the required shape may be cut. The protective backing is then removed and the foil fixed to the chart. Some makes of such film offer a wide range of shading effects which substitute for hand shading. Transpaseal and Plastitone are examples of such film.
d. Fluorescent paper: This is obtainable in sheets of about half imperial size in a range of very bright colours. The shape can be drawn on to the paper then cut out. The cut out sec tion can then be fixed tc the poster by the use of adhesive paste thus producing a vivid and even coloured area on the chart
Display boards
The advantage of using display rather than blackb oards or charts lies in the greater degree of flexibility of presentation. Complex illustratio ns can be built up in stages, at a speed which suits the class, so that they can see how parts of the illustration are related. Since the illustrations have been prepared outside the class period the instructor is free t o concentrate on presentation rather than on the skill of drawing on the chalkboard.
The illustrations are permanent and can therefore be used repeatedly and can be quickly re-assembled if there is a need to recapitulate du ring a lesson.
There are three main types of display board:
a. Teaze/gr aph Board: This consists of a background of brushed nylon cloth stretched over a hardboard or chipboard backing of a size suitab le to the class size and cut out or real objects , to the back of which is affixed pieces of Velcro, the plastic substitute for zip fasteners When the Velcro makes contact with the brushed nylon cloth , the tiny nylon hooks in the Velcro adhere very firmly to the cloth In this way even heavy components weighing 5 to 10 Ibs. can be displayed
Fig. 9 shows an example of such a board on which are displayed some light objects as well as the heavy electric iron. The drawback of the system lies in the fact that in order to move the objects they have to be pulled apart and re -located. They cannot be slid across the board. This is a disadvantage where one wishes to assemble a complex diagram.
b. Plastigraph Board: Plastigraph di s play boards are made out of brightly coloured sheets of flexible and glossy PVC. Since the PVC sheet is thin it is readily cut to the shape required. Using a sheet of rigid but glossy plastic as a background the cut out pieces can be smoothed on to the background. Due to the close contact between the smooth surfaces air is excluded and atmospheric pressure (14 7 psi) holds the cut out PVC securely in position. The cut
FURTHER INFORMATION
outs can easily be removed and replaced and, because the pieces are very light in weight, the overlaying of one piece on another
be achieved and composite diagrams built up.
An example of such a diagram, showing the parts of a heart being exposed in an overlay, is shown in Fig. 10, using a black plastic sheet as a background. There are some six pieces in the illustration
Additional words or diagrams can be added by means of coloured chinagraph wax pencils This work can be removed with a damp cloth.
The main drawback of this material lies in its glossy surface, which reflects light and produces 'hot spots', obscuring the illustration. Also there is a tendency , due to the electro -static build up between the two plastic surfaces, for dust to be picked up by the surface. This reduces the adhesion between the surfaces , which could result in some of the cut out curling away from the backing or falling off. This effect can to s ome extent be reduced by spraying the
plastic with an anti-static aerosol. Cut out material should be kept in folders to reduce the acc umulation of dust.
c. Magnetic Board: The background of these boards has to be of sheet steel or iron
The cheapest type of background is black iron sheet. This can be flXed to a wall and painted with blackboard paint, or a gloss or matt paint, depending on the use one wishes to make of it. Alternatively, as illustrated in Fig 8, a sheet of steel can be affixed to the side of a chart case for use as a portable magnetic board. If the boards are painted with blackboard paint they may be used both as magnetic and chalkboard.
Cut out illustrations can be made of card, hardboard, or sheet plastic. Card and hardboard can be poster or gloss painted as desired or laminated with clear film to avoid finger marks. The cut outs adhere to the steel sheet by the use of either small steel magnets afftxed to the back of the cut outs or selfadhesive magnetic tape.
There is no doubt that the magne ti c display board offers the greatest flexibility of any display board system. There is no problem of light reflection, no dust or electro static problems, the initial and operating costs are low and a wide range of material off cuts can be used as cut out material s.
Fig. 11 shows a fourteen-piece cut out of some of the chief organs in the body , words being supplied on caption cards This produces a much more profess i onal look ing presentation than is possible on t he chalkboard and of course t can be used repeatedly.
The cut outs themselves and the graphic illustrations are produced by the use of the episcope , as with chart production
The non-projected aids briefl y described in this article are not difficult to make and in view of the help they give to the learner a re well worth the effort used to produce them.
BEXHILL CAMP 1980
from Brigadier R. F. Semple. ChiBf Officer Cadets (designate)
For a variety of reasons which need not be enlarged upon in this letter, in 1980 Bexhill Camp will once more become a Cadet Camp only
During last summer I visited numerous camps throughout the country and have come away with the definite impression that Cadets are happiest when worked virtually from sun -up to sundown. For this reason I wish to introduce at Bexhill a wider range of activities for cadet divisions and cadets attending the camp.
Some of the activ ities I am considering are orienteering , overnight bivouacking with camp fire cooking , canoeing, sailing and more sport s and games.
The success of this venture will be dependent on fmding sufficient adult members with suitable qualifications who will volunteer to act as instructors at the camp which opens on 19 July and closes on 23 August 1980.
I w ould be most grateful if any ambulance or nursing member who is prepared to help for one , two , or three weeks , would wr ite to me direct a t 1 Grosvenor Crescent, giving details of their qualifications and dates a v ailable to come to Bexhill. If you are in doubt about your qualifications still write as I am planning an Instructors Training Weekend a Bexhill from 27 to 29 June 1980
Details of how to apply to attend Bexhill Camp are contained in Brigade Orders for January 1980.
Headquarters R. F. Semple
SAFETY IN UNIFORM
from D R. Hooper. Ambulance Member
At this time of the year many members have to travel to or fr om dutie s during the hours o f darkne s s and especially in countr y areas , m a y ha ve to carry out those du ties in conditions of poor visibility. Our black uniforms would defmitel y not win any awards in the interests of road safet y , so s everal members of this Divis ion have been experimenting with the use of Day-glow jackets , slipo vers Sam Browns , etc. As a motorcyclist, I've been very impressed by the effectiveness of the retro-reflective Sam Brown but , like all the other devices tested , the y are expensive and an additional item to be carried.
I've been looking for a reasonably priced alternativ e which could be easily carried by any member on duty , be effect ive , and not radicall y change our un iform image I believe that the answer lies in a slight modification to our much maligned white haversack. I machined a double wi dth strip of retro-reflective tape the full length of the strap , and it reall y does stand out in the dark The mo st effec t ive v sual contra s is obtained by using the pale yellow tape available from most motor c y cle dealer s Do not use the self adhesive v arie ty as this will crack in use , and I could not guarantee the durabilit y of the iron-on t y pe.
Before anyone starts quoting Dress Regulations , let me explain that the strap is revers ible For a neat fmish I used white thread on the bobbin and yellow thread on the needle, so that the stitching is not visible. For normal duty wear the strap is worn white side outwards but can be revers ed to show the reflective surface should the condition s warrant it. The cost of the tape (twice the length of the strap) was £2.10p , less than the cost of the cheapest slipover more effective smarter , and always on hand wh il e in uniform. Now we're looking for a similar device that can be worn by the ladies.
Lincoln D. R. Hooper
SPECIAL SERVICE SHIELD
from A. G. P. Holder
I would like to comment on two letters in the October Review. The wearing of the Special Service Shield on adult uniforms. I can agree with the suggestion that it 'would encourage more cadets to give their services to the public.' In our cadet division it is a point of honour with the cadets that they fmish their Shield work before joining the adult division If this were allowed, what we do about cadets who don't gain the a ward? 18
I believe the members should be presented with certificates for their Special Service Shields. At the moment the cadet must undertake 1,000 hours. If a boy or girl joins on their 11 th birthday a nd transfer s to the adults at 16 , they must average 200 hours a year. This is impo s sible in some area s My second commen t is on At Random , a highl y info rmative a nd enjo y able article But there is one point it is s ugge st ed that r efre sh er training be held for both the inspection (w hi c h I fully a gree with a s these should be a shop window of the Brigade) and th e Re -ex am If some of our members need a refresher the wee k before an e xam o bring them up to standard , then the super n t end e nt shou ld be working on th ese members all the ye ar round not just the w eek befor e t he reexam.
London A. G. P H old er
1877 HALF CROWN?
from S. C. Bishop. Area Staff Officer
Attached is a photograph of a 188 7 Qu e en Victoria ha lf-cr ow n, th e year the St. John Ambulance Brigade w as form ed. I wo nder if an yo n e T
c
n has an 1877 half-cro wn , the y ear the St. John Ambul a n c e A sso ci ati o n was formed ?
I would be glad to hear from an yone who ma y ha ve one t o sell a t a reasonable price
12 Bateman s Acre S. C. Bishop Coundon. Coventry CV6 lBE.
COMP TRAVEL COSTS
from Mrs. M. Smailes. Divisional Superintendent (e)
With regard to the National First Aid Competitions - would it not be better if the Channel Islands sent the best team in each section from the Islands straight to the finals, rather than having the expense o f sending several teams to the regionals three years running when they are held in Kent, Surrey and Sussex and the winning team s from Kent , Surrey and Sussex having to go to the Channel Islands in the fourth year?
It is very nice to be able to meet our friends from the Islands , but with the cost of travelling rising so much every year it does seem to me to be an expense that can be avoided. Our hospital in Jerusalem is
ap pe aling for money and many other organisations are in need of help. I k now our competition training is very necessary but I am sure we do not have to travel so far to obtain it I dread to t hink what the cost will be in April 1980 to send 8 teams plus officer s and various officials to the C hannel Islands.
But a point about ambulance s t hat I would ra ise is t hat there appear s to be no national Brigade s tandard regard in g am bulances generally , especially in what con s ti t ute s a nece ss ar y equip me n t level for a vehicle which may be u sed for emergenc y w ork I know it has been writt en abou t man y time s before, b u wh at a bout having a
GTR . MANCHES TER
ON AUG UST 9 1980, d e eg at es age d between 17 an d 25 years , from a ll over th e world an d t he U ni te d King d o m , wi ll converge o n th e R oyal Arm y Med ical Cor p s Training C ent re at My tc he tt , ne a r A lde r sh o t, to atten d the fo u rth In ernat ional Traini n g Convention of S t. J o hn A mbul ance. The aim of th e con ve nti o n is to e n a ble members of the Br igad e from all co un tr ies to exchange ideas, a nd t o furthe r t h e s e n se of dedication an d friend ship w hi ch al read y exists with in th e Orde r of St. J o hn
The prog r a mme wi ll in cl ud e, n a ddi on t o training se ssions , a numbe r o f visit s to pla ces of h istori cal , cul t ural and educ a ti o n a l interest. A n o pport uni ty w il l al so be give n for shopp ing and vi si ts to a se aside r esort. So me hi ghlight s o f the programme are give n below .
H a vi ng s orted th e msel ves o ut on a rri val on Saturd a y afternoon , the del egates will be welc omed by the Commis s ioner -in -Chief and here will be a Gett ing -to -Know -You so ci al function in the evening. Immedi a te y afte r the Church Ser v ice on Sunda y mo rn ing , group photographs will be t a ken , an d co aches will be standing b y t o take dele gates to a seaside resort for sight -s eeing , an d swimming for the more hard y.
On Monday , the first week will get r eally under way , with the time devoted to work in syn dicates on a variety of nursing and first See you at
aid t op ic s I f t her e is a d eman d , on e s y ndicate wi ll un d ert ake a short 'Metho d s of Instruction c our se In th e m idd le of the week one da y will be spe n t o n a t our in London including lunch at St. l o hn ' s Gate , and visits t o he Tow e r and th e Houses of Parliament. Other visits will also be m a d e during the week to Winchester ; Br oad lands , the home of the late E arl M ountbatte n o f Burma ; and Windsor C a stle The latter being followed by an evening c ruise on the R iv er Thames
The weekend will s ee no let -up ! O n Saturday , delegates will be in vol ved i n a major incident exercise which wi ll in cl ud e first aid ca s ualt y evacuation and nur sin g. Following the second Sunda y Ser v ic e the re will be an introduction to and p ra c tic al work on , casualt y simulation.
A coach drive to the un iv er s ity cit y of Oxford opens the second week on Monda y
A u g ust 18. Here the deleg a tes will have the o pp ort unity to visit some of the colleges , and t o observe an interesting programme pres e n t e d by St. John Ambulance , O xford shire.
The remainder of the week will be gi ven over to staging, running and judging competition s , c ulminating on Thursday afterno o n with a series of individual and team comp e titions. Friday afternoon will be Op en D ay', to which High Commissioners and Am b assadors of the overseas countries , and Commissioners from the UK will be invi ted t o meet their r epresentatives and to se e w h at has bee n ac hieved during the c o n vention. The afternoon will end with a concert giv e n b y the B and of the Welsh Gu a r ds.
The gra nd finale will be the dinner / dance on F ri da y. On Saturday delegates ,will depar t from My c hett wit h memories of new f riendsh ips and having ben efitt ed from the exchange o f ideas wi thin the world -wide co mmunity of The O r d er o f St. lohn.
In vi tati o n s t o Myt chett h a ve already been sent t o al m o s t t hir ty overseas co untries. invi in g t hem to send a total of about ninety de lega tes By t he time you rea d this, a letter will ha ve gon e to all Commissioners asking for th e names o f young m e mbers who have been sel e c te d t o represe n t t he United K ingdom
NEWS from SCOTLAND
THE St. John Nursing Home in Aberdeen continues its good work and although it will consider raising its charges after April 1, 1980, they will still be the lowest for such services in the United Kingdom.
Mountain rescue
The Order in Scotland is extending its interest in mountain rescue to the more
WALES
A first for North W Sies
Doctor Brian Price, the Chief Commissioner for Wales , has announced the appointment of the ftrst lady County Commissioner in Wales and indeed the United Kingdom.
She is Mrs. E. A. (Betty) Jones, who lives at Portdinorwic , Gwynedd, and will take up her appointment in November, replacing Doctor Noel Roberts. She will be in charge of the 52 St. John Ambulance units throughout Gwynedd and will co-ordinate all activities of the organisation throughout the County.
A District Nurse, Mrs. Jones has been a member of St. John Ambulance for 25 years, starting as a cadet.
The Chief Commissioner , Dr. Brian Price, said there has never been any discrimination in the St. John Ambulance Brigade and he was pleased to sanction the promotion.
Adventure Day
During September an adventure day was organised for cadets of West Glamorgan.
The site was Afan Argoed Country Park, Near Port Talbot, a truly beautiful setting in the forestry section of the park : The course was some 5 Y2 miles, rising to about 1200ft. at one point. At six points ftrst aid incidents had been set up. There were two casualties at each point, and injuries included fractured clavical, simple faint, ftsh hook in ftnger, snake bite, and concussion, etc. A u dge was at each incident point to ensure that the treatments given were of a good standard. We were very fortunate to have the services of our own St. John Casualties Simulation team and a local contingent of Army cadets acted as casualties.
The Cadets arrived at the park at noon and were placed into 16 teams of 7 cadets
20
remote area of Assynt where, through the generosity of a member of Priory Chapter, a new and fully-equipped Land Rover has been made available.
Glasgow
Glasgow Branch held an at home in the palatial banqueting hall in Glasgow City Chambers on October 24. Not only was it a happy occasion for the 300 people who attended, but £2,600 was realised for the funds.
Dumfries and Galloway Branch entertained about 40 young girls from the St. John Ambulance Brigade, Northern Ireland , while they were staying at Cairn Ryan. An interesting series of lectures has been
given during the winter term at Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities on the history of the Order of St. John, and the invention of heraldry. The lecturers were Mr. Charles J. Burnett, OStJ Limner to the Priory of Scotland, and Mr. W. R. M. Adams of the Department of the Environment.
The Priory Secretary of Scotland was guest at the biennial conference of Yorkshire and Humberside St. John Ambulance at Harrogate on October 27 and 28 , and greatly enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many active members of the Brigade and Association, and to learn more of the work done by the Order in England.
N.M.B.
Over 100 West Glamorgan cadets on their 5 Y2- mile adventure day course involv ing first aid incidents See story ADVENTURE DAY
(mixed) each, It had been decided that the teams should comprise members from different divisions so that they would get to know each other. This was a great success.
The majority of cadets were given the opportunity to eat their lunches before proceeding on their long, arduous walk The teams set off at 10 minute intervals, with a map of the course to assist them. The
afternoon s exerc is e was a great success , despite losing two or three teams for Y2 hour to 1Y2 hours , but this was part of the adventure and the y were all eventually found well and cheerful.
We had at our disposal an Arm y Land Rover and a pri v ate Land Rover patroll ing the course in case cadets wished to give up and return to base They also tran s ported
jud ges, casualties and stewards around the course. Another organisation we managed to secure was Raynet, a voluntary radio communication organisation, who assisted gre atly by providing radio links all round the site, relaying information to our base control on how the exercise was progressing.
A t the end of our Adventure Day cadets
were provided with refreshments and then assembled at base where cadets and adults who had attended were presented with a certiftcate of attendance by the County Commissioner Mr. L. R. Harris.
In conclusion I must say that the help I received from my committee and many St. John officers and members was invaluable
NORTHERN IRELAND
and certainly made the day reaU y enjoyable and succes s ful.
112 cadets from the following divisions attended: Aberdulais , Briton Ferr y, Croserw , Cwmavon K i llay Nea t h , Resolven , Skenen, Swansea , Taibach and Port Talbot.
L y nford Brunt
News from Divisions/Centres
running of the nose. (7) 33. Folds of peritoneum supporting the s m a ll intest ine . ( 9). 3 4. Ta s e o f blood, sweat , and tears. ( 5).
Down:
1. More mites produ c ing abdomi n al di s t e ntion due to in te s tin a l g a ses.
(9). 2. Hint for a billiards pla y er. ( 3). 3 Fatty secretion pr o duced b y glands in the skin ( 5). 4. A rest but n ot for th e r e sp ir a tor y syst em ? (8). 5 Swelling due to ex tra va sation of fluid in to th e tiss ues ( 6). 6. Wild part y held by s enior gynaecologis t. (4 ). 7. Spa c e c o nt a in ng the cerebro-spinal fluid (11 ). 8 Bone in vit al use . (5 ) 12 Buc ca l s ig n diagnostic of m e a sles . ( 6.5) 15 Man of valour is noth ng t o her. (4 ).
17 Blood - sucking insect has 150 for example. (4 ). 18 Fit to be pa id now. (3). 20 The art and science of pregnanc y and labour. (9 ). 22. The whole (8) 25 Part of ear containing the auditory o s sicles . (6 ). 2 6. The female brea s t. (5) 2 8. In fe ctiv e agen in in fluen za, p o liom ye li t is, and smallpox ( 5). 29 One of the excretory organ s. (4 ) 32 Unhea thy heart of 28 Across (3 )
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 12 (79) Across:
1. M.aimed; 4 Dried out ; 10 Systole 12 Abs ce s s; 13. Pot 14. Unit ; 15 F.is.t ; 16 Nitre; 18 SO S. ; 19 Trance ; 20. C o liti s; 22. Nun ; 24. Sigmoid; 25. Cardia; 27. Bun ; 28 Minds ; 30 Root 31. Peak ; 32. Fig ; 33 Tapping ; 35. Enlarge; 36 Catching ; 37. Patent. Down:
£3.24 * STANDARD CHARGE PER 100 PENS * FOR V A.T. PAl D * POST & PACKI NG BOp SA M PL ES 2 x 9p
Lifting the injured is now an open and shut case
F. W. Equipment's unique orthopaedic scoop stretcher -a far reaching advance in emergency patient handling. Designed to help cope with a large variety of difficult emergency situations. Patients may be x-rayed while on the stretcher.
MOD[L 65
SCOOP STRETCHER
Available in model numbers 65 and 66. Both adjustable in length. Permits the patient to be picked up and moved in the position found. In addition model 66 folds for compact stowage.
"Truly professional equipment."
MODEL 66 FOLDI NG SCOOP STRETCHER
HER MAJESTY ' S New Year Honours List includes the names of four Brigade members who were honoured for their out s tanding service to the community a s member s o f St. John Ambulance , and to all of them w e offer our most sincere congratulations. Mr. H. A. Barlow (Di vis ional Superintendent (R ), Henley-on -Thames Ambulance Division , Bucks) and Mrs. D. M. Edwards _(Area Commissioner , Northern Area , Humber si de ) ha ve each received the MBE, while two awards of t he BEM ha ve been made to Mr. H. Brown (Sergeant, Wh itb y Ambulance Division , North Yorks. ) and Mr. D. Connolly (Ambulance Member , Newport Division , Gwen t Prior y for Wales ).
Mr. Barlow, who received his award for ser vices (including St. John Ambulance ) to the Henle y commun it y . joined t he Henley Ambulance Di visi on in 192 7 an d for a number of years ser ved as di vi sional secretar y and w as in due course promoted to sergeant; he was further promoted to divisional officer in 1952 and to superintendent in 1962. Throughout these years he was active in strengthen ing a close relationship between the Brigade and the town o f Henley, and developing the involvement of St. John members in the role of community care. Transferring to the Brigade Reserve in 1971 he continued to work untiringly in support of a local day -centre for elderl y citizens and -in arranging summer seaside holida y s for them at Eastbourne, and a couple of years ago he recei ved from Henley Town Council the unprecedented honour of a Presentation Medal in recognition of his long and devoted services to the peop le of the town.
Mrs. Edwards joined the Brigade as a nursing cadet in 1942 and was promoted to adult membership of the Haworth Nursing Division in 1946. She was appointed divisional officer of the Haworth Nursing Cadet Di vision in 1950 and became superintendent in 1952 and successfully ' developed great enthusiasm for competition work. In 1955 she became a county staff officer in the former East Riding of Yorkshire and served in that capacity for 18 yeaTS , ftrst as organiser of NHSR activities, then as co u nty PRO and latterly as assistant co n inued on p.35
9.
6.
4.
I.
2.
5.
6.
Gran d Prior' s Trophy
WINNER
THE 1979 competitions, at whic h the trophies were presented by S ir Peter Parker , chairman of the British Railways Board, were held on December 11 at a new venue - the West Centre Hotel, Fulham, London.
The Gas Industry made a fine showing, with their men's team finis hing first, and so taking the championship trophy, and their women's team finishing third.
The Police women's Metropolitan' A ' team repeated their win of last year.
St. John Ambulance men's team, third last year, moved up to second this year.
A new award, two Wilkinson Sword Trophies, for the highest individual scores for men and women, were presented this year.
IT IS generally accepted that an ideal ambulance , like an ideal wife or husband does not exist. Vehicles such as the Ford Transit , Bedford CF and Leyland Sherpa may be fine for transporting goods , but there is a vast difference between that and carrying a patient who may be hovering between life and death. And it is ironical that a corpse en route to the cemetry receives a far more comfortab le ride than the a v erage ambulance can give. An ideal ambulance design would include such features as front wheel drive and ver y lo w loading height , but this is not possible with the present range of vehicles available.
The vehicle manufacturer cannot be blamed. The ambulance market is so li mited (no more than 950 new vehicles a year in Britain) t hat it would not be viable for a manufacturer to develop the ideal chassis. A number of specially built vehicles have been attempted but for economic reaso n s all h av e been dropped A c o mpromise h as to b e reached an d most manufac urers o ffer a range of op ti ons (some of w hich are compulsor y o n the ambulance c hassis) whiGh makes the commerci al veh icle more suitable for ambulance use.
One of the differences of the normal commercial chassis is the length of the wheelbase. To a sack of potatoes it matters little whether the best ride is over or between the axles but for a patient the most comfortable ride is alwa y s between the a x les.
The Mark 1 Ford Transit had the option of a long wheelbase , but this option was dropped when the range was r evised in 1978. The Bedford CF is still available with t he long wheelbase , whi c h does impro ve pa t ien t com fort, as the patient is able t o ride bet ween axles Thi s impro vemen t in pati ent comfort c o nflict s with the original design and results in hea vier steering and a re duc ed laden capac it y.
In this coun t r y conventional ambulances have alwa y s been based on a l ight commercial vehicle chassis Other countries ha ve developed estate cars and most of the European countries use vehicles smaller than our own. The standard of care v aries in these countries and the vast range of equipment to comply with the DHSS specification could not be accommodated within an e state car.
Some of the Continent a l ambulances carry little more than a stretcher and a first aid bag. The Americans originally u sed large estate cars but , as in Great Britain , the concept of an ambulance has altered.
Originally crews received only basic traif1ing and an ambulance was considered to be only a means of transport to the treatment centre. Crews are now better trained so that a limited range of treatment can be given en route to the hospital. Th is demands a greater range of equipment and suitable headroom. The Americans have developed the concept of care en route still 28
You'll never find the ideal ambulance
says BRIAN ROCKELL
But here are some points to look for - and to avoid - when planning to invest in mobility
further wi th t heir Para-Medical train ng. The exten siv e r a nge of equipment which is carried demands much larger vehicles and the trend has mo ved awa y from estate cars to commercial vehicles often even larger than those in use in the UK.
The choice o f design in the UK is limi t ed.
The specialist coach builders offer the option o f a vail c on ver si on or a composite bod y based on a chassi s co wl or a chassis c ab. The van conversion in its simplest form is a complete van wi h the in ferior trimmed , and fitted with s eat s and s tretcher. A conver s ion of thi s nature ha s the disad v antage of severel y li mi ted headroom (mo st vans have a height of u n d e r 5ft. floor to ceiling ). Man y con versions are based on a complete van with the roof c ut off and re placed b y a glass fibre ex t e nsion o incr e ase the headroom The major ad v antage of a v an conversion is cost.
The con version is considerabl y cheaper than the composite b o d y, but there are a n umber of di sad va n tages. Th e inter io r of a va n
co nv e rsi o n does no t ha ve the qualit y o f t r im possi bl e w it h the c o m posite bod y and s rarel y s o well insula ted from noise and t he effec ts of temperature And the width of t he vehicle will be li mited by the original width of the van.
The compo s ite bod y is produced on a bar e chass is supplied b y the manufacturer. Thi s ch as s is compri ses the engine and cab and a metal framework on which the bod y builder builds hi s finished product. The body is normall y produced in GRP (glass fibre reinforced pla sti c s - also known as fib re glass ). The body builder moulds the panels individually and assembles the vehicle on the chas sis. T hi s allo w s for greater flexibility in design a s the fini shed product is influenced b y the de s ign of the moulds in which , in theory, there c ould be infinite variation. In the event of an accident the panels can be individu a lly replaced. GRP is a very versatile material. It is durable and will not rust. It can be colour so that the fini shed colour is produced in the mould ( a voiding the necessity for spraying the body after completion).
In long term use it does lose its original
a nd in German y it s upp o rt s t he c oncep t th at a t a major incident the bod y can be removed for use as a fir st a id post while t he cha ss is ret urn s for a not h er empty bod y . G iven t he lim ta tio ns imp ose d by th e ch a ss is it is wit h in t he realm s of poss ib ility for a wide r a nge of designs t o be pr o du ce d . I n pract ice t he body builde rs p ro du c e their vehic les fo r t he maj or use rs - t he A r ea Hea lth A u ho riti es. It is only five years s in ce a mbul ance se r vices ceased to b e a C o un ty Cou n ci respo nsibili ty A m b ulanc e serv ices a r e now contro ll ed b y t h e DH SS an d are t he responsibi li ty of he Area Hea lt h A ut ho ri ty (altho ugh in some Metro po li tan Areas t he Regiona l Health A u ho r ity).
gloss (but perhap s no wor se than a s p r a yed finish) ; it does show scrat c h m ar ks ve ry rapidly ; and areas of st ress (for exampl e door hinges) can cr a z e o r s ho w a ser ies of small fractures re sembling a sp id er s we b
The bod y is usuall y con s tructed of dou b le skinned GRP , whi c h can be in s ul at ed between skins ( van c on ver si o n s with a si n gle skin are mu c h mor e prone t o cond ensation problems ) The s kin s are re in fo rced b y wood or metal bet ween the ski n s which a ll ows th e interior equipment to be bol t ed to s ub st a nti al s upports ( not alw a y s readil y po ss ible with van conversions )
The n t erior s k i n is a lso c olo ur impregnat ed and can be a differe nt co lo ur to the exterior Althou g h mos t veh ic le s ha ve a white interior , blue or g r een is not u nk nown and is be lie ved o be a more soo thi ng col our by some authoritie s . GRP is a n ideal int e r ior fmish as it is easil y cleaned
The bodi es ha ve b een d eve loped progr essi vely o ver a number of years to the poin t a t w hi c h th e body now exceed s the cost of the c h ass is a nd will out ast it. It is intere sting t o note th at a numb er of cou ntries ha ve de velop ed bodie s w hi ch can be easily di s mounted fr o m th e cha ssis I n t he U n ited States , for instance , this allows the lon ger lasting bod y to be mounted on a ne w chas sis A Leyland Sherpa van conversion
When services we r e co ntr o ll ed by County Councils there were widely di verge n t desig n s and very litt le sta nda rd isation. I n pr actice this often resu lted in adjacent cou n ties having tota ll y differe nt sta nd ards of ve hi cle and equipment. Since integration wit h the Health Service, there has bee n a deg r ee of standardisation although there is still not a common vehicle for all of t he Authorities. Although the vehicles are not standardised they serve similar roles t hroughout the Health Se r vice. The vehicles operate a dual role They act as emergency vehicles and serve as transport for the increasing demands made upon the service for outpatients day centres , etc. Only 10 % of the workload of an ambulance involves emergency journeys. The remaining 90% comprises these ancilliary roles. The ambulance service has been discussing for some time the separation of these two roles into two services, a two tier ambulance service, in other words. Until such time as t his change occurs a vehicle has to serve more than one master and it can on ly do so b y compromise While special sitting case
ve h icl es are ava ila ble, a vehic le d esigned a s an e m erge n cy a m bu l a nc e s till h as to undertakje these du a l ro les It is t he anc ill ia ry wo rk w hi c h has expanded in rec e nt yea r s at t he ex pe nse of t h e vehic le's eme r gency ro le
A n e me r gency ve h icle is usua ll y designe d to ca rr y two stretche r patients, but the acco m modation p rovided has to be s uffici e ntl y a d aptab le to allow up to eight s itti ng cases to be transported. Neither sol u t io n is anyw he re nea r t h e ideal. Wh en o nly one stre t c h er pa t ie nt is being c ar ried t he atte n dant has to nu rse the patient by sitting on the stretcher on the opposite side of the vehicle and leaning across , or if the ve hicl e is so equipped, by sitting on a detachab le seat which clips temporarily to t he side of the patient's stretcher. If the former is adopted the attendant cannot nurse the patient and ride in comfort by leani ng across the expanse of the gangway. O n a long jouney this becomes even less satisfactory A dismountable seat brings the attendant closer to the patient but this seat has no support for the attendant and is little more than a stool. The attendant cannot lean back and to nurse from one of these seats is only suited to a short journey. An attendant s hou ld be adequately restrained by a seat be l and neither type of seating lends itself to adequate securement. In the United States , where an emergency ve hicle does not fulfil a dural role , the vehicle is designed for only one stretcher patient with the attendant seated close to the head of the patient in a comfortable adjustable chair which can have built-in safety restraints. When an emergency vehicle is used in its alternative role - transporting sitting patients - they are not comfortable sitting sideways which causes nausea in many patients
of such stretcher an d seating arrangements is more than offset by the greater difficulty that crews experience loading a vehicle
Composite bodies based on the Ford Transit Note the differen ces on these two v ehicles, which are based on the same cha ssis but produced by different coachbuilders (Left) Wadham Str!nger (Rig ht) Hanlon
You'll never find the ideal ambulance (cont.)
are a significant factor in the purchase of St. John vehicles and equipment. Whatever ones requirements may be for an ideal vehicle, coach builders design and build primarily for their biggest market, the Health ServiCe. This restricts St. John Ambulance to the standards and designs used within the Health Service, modified by the options available from the coachbuilder.
A Division wishing to purchase a new vehiCle should firstly determine the use for the vehicle. All new vehicles are very expensive and if it is to be used only a few times a )lear at a public duty, it is doubtful that it will provide a sensible return on an investment of £10,000 upwards.
If a vehicle attends 30 public duties a year in a fifteen year lifespan (an optimistic estimate of lifespan), each duty will have cost around £25 in depreciation alone. Under such circumstances it may be more prudent to consider the purchase of an ex-Health Authority vehicle and replace it more regularly. If it is to be used for wheelchair patients it must be a fairly large vehicle with adequate means of restraining the chairs. If it is to be used for long journeys (eg to the coast with patients, etc), then an estate car type may be a suitable alternative. Having determined its use, a decision must be made on the chasis for the proposed vehicle.
The most suitable chassis may be influenced by a number of factors. If there is a _ local dealer for a particu.lar vehicle who is prepared to offer a discount on a chassis or offer preferential servicing arrangements, then this will give a strong bias in the choice. Where the choice remains open the following notes may be of help.
Ford
The Transit is a popular choice Some ambulances have been based on the larger A series, but I do not recommend its use in preference to the Transit. The Transit is a well tried design and available with a larger engine than competitor, the Bedford CF. It is available as manual or automatic.
Bedford CF
Less powerful than the larger engined Transit (although no more economical on fuel, but maybe cheaper to insure). Available with a long wheelbase option as a manual or automatic. The engine is less accessible for routine maintenance. Most coach builders have a common body which can be mounted on the Transit or CF.
Leyland Sherpa
A smaller vehicle than the CF or Transit and likely to be more economical. Available only as a van conversion which has limited width.
Range Rover
Very expensive to buy and run, but does have a four-wheel drive. Limited in size as an ambulance. (If four-wheel drive is a major consideration, it is possible to convert a Bedford CF to four-wheel drive).
Volkswagen
Uncommon at present but gruJllTIg in popularity as a result of one coachbuilder's range of conversions. Reasonably priced conversion but lacks the finish of the composite body.
CUPBOARD SPACE
Infinite variation of interior cupboards is possible. Here are three alternatives on the same vehicle. Such interior design detail can make the world of difference to the user.
Chrysler
The Commer Van , available as a van conversion only, has limited room, but is economical to run
Citroen!Peugeot!Mercedes
All are available as ambulances but have limited room for the relatively high cost. Should be considered if an estate car type ambulance is a choice, although the larger Ford and Vauxhall estates are just as suitable and more likely to have local dealers.
The final decision will be influenced by the design available from the coachbuilder and all the relevant coachbuilders should be contacted. Study the brochures carefully, as the number of options and body styles make the choice somewhat complicated. Some bodies may already be fitted with options detailed separately in their list of options. Care must be taken in deciding the options required , as fitments may conflict and it may not be possible to fit every option in the finished vehicle.
A vehicle used extensively for public duties may benefit from a sink in the saloon. A vehicle used for long journeys may benefit from different seats in the cab. If only one stretcher is needed the opposite side of the vehicle does not have to be similarly equipped. A seat/storage box may be installed or a face forward seat can be fitted, Before making the final choice it is worth visiting the coach builder to see vehicles in the final state of completion. Also a demonstration vehicle may be available to tryout. The visit is essential to ensure that the best possible design has been chosen and also may prompt further changes in detail.
It is most important to plan well aheadas delivery from the date of order can be as much as a year.
Good luck in your ambulance planning
PH CONFEHEN·CE
FIFTY County PROs and HQ Press Office staff, headed by Director of Public Affairs Geoffrey Meek, flew to Berne, the capital of Switzerland, for the annual St. John Public Relations conference over the weekend Nov. 24/25 - at the invitation of SOS Talisman. When SOS Talisman became involved with St. John Ambulance in 1977, it was a success for both organisations. This was the first time St. John had ever been invo lved in the promotion of a commercial product and, similar ly, this was SOS Talisman's first venture into the English market.
So it was appropriate that Ivor Freedman, UK Director of Talisman, spoke first on the Saturda y morning on 'S OS Talisman: The Concept and the Realisation.' The Talisman life -saving range of jewellery has been in existence for over ten years. Originally the brainchild of a Swiss called Zbinden, the design marketing and growth of the product subsequentl y passed to another Swiss, Edmond Graber, through whose generosity this conference had been made possible.
The information contained on the nonsoluble paper strip inside a piece of Talisman jewellery is used as a practical expedient in case of accident or injury for fit people as well as those who are unwell. Thus the association of ideas between St. John Ambulance and SOS Talisman was obvious and for SJA the first year of trading, 1978, was highly lucrative. £67,000 was the St. John share of the cake. Success is likely to continue if SOS Talisman begins dealing directly with County Offices which in turn can order the goods from 'local stockists: Thus profits on sales would go direct to County/Divisional funds and marketing in the UK would be streamlined. The concept has yet to be ratified at national St. John but Geoffrey Meek thought agreement mIght be swift.
Philip Adams, the HQ visual aids expert, s poke next of the 'Uses and Misuses of Visual Aids.' There is little doubt that visual aids have an important part to play in
in Britain about six years ago, one of its underlying themes was to make broadcasting less formal and more approachable - the cliched people's radio, if you like. The experiment worked. You can now switch to 19 commercial radio stations and be regaled by the torrid, details of the announcer's everyday life. Surprisingly, this doesn't detract from the programme content; it personalises it, which according to individual taste is a good or bad thing. If you want to make use of your local radio station, get to know the people who work there. If you want news items to appear in your local newspaper, learn how to write in the paper's style and format. And for more of Colin Turner's useful hints on the communications business - wait for the end of this article.
SJA PROs - after Gruyere cheese and wine, educational technology. When used to good effect, in the context of accident prevention for instance, film, voice, colour, movement and speech are invaluable teaching aids, The whole of St. John Ambulance should now be aware that 1980 is the Year of Nursing. Geoffrey Meek briefly reiterated the main aims of the Year - to improve nursing training within the Brigade and to encourage more members of the public to take nursing courses. Support in every direction - finance, media coverage and sponsorship - is vital if the Year is to be a success. So far the portents are good. The press conference to launch the Year nationally went well, and the Royal Ball in London was a resounding success,
As the new Press and Information Officer, this conference gave me the opportunity to look back over the past ten months at HQ and draw some hopefully relevant conclusions. I feel that SJ A needs to be projected and sold, as we PROs are trying to do, as a corporate whole not in a piece-meal fashion. St. John and many other Voluntary Aid Societies are vital to the maintenance of the Health Service in this country. As such, we should not allow ourselves to be relegated to cinemas and football grounds in the hearts and minds of most British people. St. John is so much more than that and, if we can't alter that image and present a more accurate picture of the work of this vast organisation, then we have only ourselves to blame.
In the afternoon we were taken by coach to Gruyere , to see and taste - washed down with white wine - the world famous cheese that is made there. And then on to the factory at Fribourg where the range of SOS Talisman life-saving jewellery is made.
On the Sunday morning Colin Turner talked to us about Commercial Radioand how to make use of it. In an engaging Irish brogue, he began his talk by letting us know in an offhand way exactly what he had been doing the night before. Relevant? Yes, very; because when commercial radio began
Walter Hoadley, PRO for London District, spoke on 'Fund raising for a new Headquarters', The HQ in question was the new building scheduled for London District. The present HQ in Weymouth Street is leased to the Order. But now a freehold property, St. Mary's School, York Street, London WI, has come on the market and the Order has made a down payment on it. It is hoped that the building will be ready for use next May, but before then it has to be paid for.
As Mr. Hoadley pointed out, when mounting a fund-raising campaign, there are only a very limited number of revenue sources available. Also there is only a certain amount of money in private coffers and elsewhere for charitable organisations, And naturally each organisation wants as large a slice of the cake as possible. Why not look for alternatives in the fund-raising game, asked Mr. Hoadley. What about the trade u nions and their increasingly affluent membership, or Corporate Trusts?
As usual the open forum, which concluded the conference, did not last long enough. But one point of agreement that came through loud and clear was that County PROs would like to deal with Talisman's local stockists and buy and sell direct. Another project that received unanimous support was that in pursuit of the Year of Nursing, Nursing Officers should try to visit schools in their areas to spread the word and encourage recruitment. Not long ago the Chief Nursing Officer, Rosemary Bailey , made the suggestion that trained nurses should get permission to take a St. John nursing member around with them on their day's work. Nearly everyone thought this would be a useful PR exercise.
I found conference immensely useful. To come back to Colin Turner's exciting fund-raising and PR suggestions, I'm afraid they'll have to remain under wraps for the time being someone might pinch 'em.
Teresa
Wellesley Cunllah, HQ
UP-DATING
The Chief Commander, Sir Maurice Dorman, was at Teddington Combined Division's HQ during December for the dedication by the Divisional Vice-President, the Rev. Theo Valentine, of the division's new ambulance. £2,500 towards the cost of the vehicle was donated by the local engineering firm of Grundy. Their old vehicle is to be sent to Ceylon.
Sir Maurice said many voluntary organisations collected money which was spent on full-time paid help. In St. John, however, the results of fund-raising could be seen from the divisions' equipment and ambulances.
Six weeks earlier local businessesparticularly Barclay's Bank - came forward with donations to re-equip the division with lightweight radio telephones.
HOW'S THAT?
AN IDEA? says 1-year-old Katharine Weekes. after taking a fancy to grand-ma's (Area Supt (N) Mrs. Monica Belfield of Purley) hat. Grand-ma s hand is about to retrie ve. This was no pose - just dress sense
Do you hold a cadet flag party competition, as Northern Area Northants? An annual event, six divisions entered teams for their latest contest which was held in October.
Each team had to demonstrate the quick and the slow march, the flag bearer to dip the flag for the Royal Salute, both for fine and wet weather, and also for a march past when Royalty are present. Marks were also awarded for smartness, correct uniform and the condition of the Cadet Flag.
Winner of the competition was Thrapston Nursing Cadets, 89 points, followed closely by Cytringan Nursing Cagets, 86 points, Others taking part were Desborough A/N Cadets and Corby A/N Cadets.
What about trying it for your division?
EEC CAROLS
I hear that some 20 cadets of S & W Yorkshire's W orsbrough Combined Division have been putting in some overtime on their singing. With their officers and members of the Parents Association, they visited an old
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ST. JOHN
BY THE EDITOR
5000th FOR HAZEL
The SJ Civil Aviation Centre formed in 1971, ssues its 5 000t h first aid certificate. The Hospitaller of the Order, Mr Keith Lyle, hands it to Monarch Airlines stewardess Hazel Doig people's home and a local hospital (mainly for geriatric patients) the Sunday before Christmas to sing carols with a difference
As well as the well -known favouriteswhich just come naturally at that time of year - the programme included Come All Ye Faithful, in Latin, Silent Night, in German and a jolly French carol Entre les Boeuf (between the oxen, not bring on the beef, as my warped mind first read it) - in French, of course. This - EEC could we call it? - variation was due to the tuition of
The following were invested by HRH The Duke of Gloucester the Grand Prior, at St. James 's Palace on December 5: Chaplain
H is Excellency The Most Re ve rend Bruno Bernard Heim DD Bailiff Grand Cross
Sir Maurice Henry Dorman, GCMG , GCVO Knights and Dames of Justice and Knights an<N)ames of Grace
Who have received the Accolade of the Realm and are Members of
Chapter-General:
General Sir Rodney Moore
GCVO , KCB CBE, DSO
Sir Stephen James Hamil to n Miller, KCVO
Wh.o have not received the Accolade of (he Realm and are Members of Chapter-General
Peter Anthon y L inga rd , CBE TD Major-General Peter Raymond Leuchars, CBE
Conrad Marshall John Fisher Swan, MVO
William Archibald Park Jack
James Claverhouse Graham
John [an Tanner CBE
Who h.ave received the Accolade of the Realm and are not Members of Chapter-General:
S r Robert Mark , CBE, QPM
Who have not received the Accolade
their divisional officer, Mrs. Kathleen Freeman: a carolliguist she. Next year - Russian?
YEAR OF NURSING
A large number of enquiries are bein g received from volunteers for training project s during the Year of Nursing who need to know whether they have been selected in order to obtain lea ve from their employers
Therefore the Superintendent-in - Chief decided to close all lists in January although
ROYAL INVESTITURE
of the Realm and are not Members of the Chapfer-General:
Mer vyn William Denn iso n CBE, MC
Sir Joshua Francis Rowley. Bt Lieutenant-Colonel Robert A rnold
Arthur Morgan Rees, CBE QPM.DL William George Thomas
James Creech, MBE Walter William Cashmore, OBE Sidney John Ma ya ll , MBE John Frederick George Co es. MBE , QPM
CB, CBE,
OFF
...
The first SJA Year-ofNursing tra in'ing team left London on Dec. 20 for 2 weeks at the St. John Oph tha lmi c Hospital Jerusalem. They are (front) Mrs C. J Brown SEN from Londonderry and Mrs
CHEUUES
The Marquess of Tavistock
the pipeline will be taken into account.
There may well be further new projects in Israel and Italy. We have a great many volunteers for the Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem and La Magliana in Rome, so these new projects wi ll be offered initially to members who asked for but are not selected for serials 5 or 9.
FAREWELL, MARY
Wherever you go - they all know Mary. She has done an immense amount of work for St. John.'
So said Group Captain G. H. Pirie at a farewell party for Miss Mary Groom MBE , District Secretary at the London District HQ on Dec 3.
Mary has been with me for 20 years,' he went on , 'first when I was Commissioner, then Commander, and now as Chairman of Council. Throughout she has always been the one who knows the answers.'
What more co uld be said of a Secretary?
The D is trict s new Vice - President Mr. Eri c Stit c her MB E who joined the Brigade n 1930 and is a n Offi ce of the Order receives his warrant of appointment (with Mrs Stitcher) from the D ist ri c Preside nt , Lord Napier and Ettri c k.
LONDON
Can
Raymond were imprisoned by the Japanese in 1942? They survived the war and returned to the UK. Mr. Ray.mond became a Serving Brother in 1937 and an Officer in 1941. Anyone who may have a photograph or information, please contact Mr. Matthew E. Taylor, 11 Horselethill Road, Kirklee, Glasgow G 12 9LX.
TO LOURDES
SJA has once again been asked to assist our confrere in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta at their Lourdes pilgrimage from May 2 to 8. Any volunteers to help with the cases of the sick will be very welcome. If you would like to join the party please contact Alan McKay at Brigade HQ, who will send all details.
TO HONG KONG
Dr. p. J. J. Wren, Commissioner for Lancashire, writes:
The B.M.A. decided to hold their 1979 Annual Conference in Hong Kong, and since I was attending as a delegate I thought it would be a good idea to contact St. John personnel on the island. I wrote to the Chairman of the Council saying I would be coming to the conference in November 1979 and by return of post he sent me a pressing invitation to meet them and assured me of a warm welcome.
Hong Kong is made up of three parts, Kowloon, the Island and the New Territories, the most important being the island. From thousands of feet up it is a 'group of small and scattered islands off the shore of China. As the plane descends to land, the view is breath taking, not only the panoramic view but the terrifying angle the plane assumes as it lines up for the approach
to the runway.
The lasting memory of the island is when you look back at night from the sea to the hundreds of illuminated skyscrapers silhouetted against the back-cloth of the mountains - no wonder it is called New York of the East. Another impression is the continuous bustle of millions of people coming and going from early morning to late at night; the Hong Kongese are happy, smiling, courteous people.
One of my first actions on arriving at my hotel was to contact St. John Headquarters and speak to J. Mitchell, Executive Director and Secretary to the Council. His response was immediate: When was I available? Where could we meet? Within an hour an official lunch had been laid on by the Commissioner for Mrs. Wren and myself. As luck would have it, Mr. and Mrs J. Mitchell had been invited to an official reception that evening, so we were able to have a long and friendly chat about St. John and in the process get to know one another.
The lunch was typical of Chinese hospitality, and followed the pattern of Chinese food at its very best. The rest of the company consisted of the retired Commissioner and the Area Commissioners for Kowloon and the New Territories. Our confrere were eager hear what we in Lancashire were doing and proudly told me
CATCHING ...
of their own work and aspirations. From this meeting, my curiosity was aroused to see for myself how St. John in this part of the world was coming to terms with the 80s and what they had to offer. If I expected to see an exact facsimile of St. John in England, then I was in for a pleasant surprise. S1. John in Hong Kong has adapted itself to the needs and demands of a rich and progressive people who have neither the cushioning nor the safeguards of a National Health Service
An invitation to a first aid competition had to be declined but I visited a first aid post run completely by Cadets for the Child of the Year Fair at Star Ferry Pier. Their efficiency, the neatness of their uniforms and the pleasure they showed at being of service were obvious for all to see.
The next day I was conducted round th e Headquarters and saw an Industrial First Aid Course being given to a class of workers. One department at Headquarter s which made me sit up and take notice wa s the fully equipped and modern dental operating room - St. John in Hong Kon g has their Dental Officers who train ambulance and nursing members as dental nurses to help them to offer a free service which most people need but few can afford. The other outstanding help the Brigade offers to the people of Hong Kong is thei r dozen ambulances, which, along with som e Just had to find spa c e for this p i cture of the g r s of th e East Midla n ds Gas team - with Sir Peter Parkerwho fin shed 3rd in the Grand Prior s com p etition Catching aren't they?
from the Red Cross and a few from the Army, are the only means of the sick and injured to and from the hospital. Except for a few paid drivers, 80% of the work load is undertaken by St. John Ambulance personnel and runs into many thousands of hours voluntary service.
My visit to St. John in Hong Kong made me feel proud of being a member of an organisation which was giving so much for the less fortunate in a part of the world that cries out for help. To the Commissioner, Mr. Leonard K. P. Chiu, and his Area county secretary. With the reorganisation of local government in 1974 she had a short spell as assistant county superintendent of the new county of Cleveland before accepting appointment as Area Commissioner of the Northern Area of the new county of Humberside - an assignment inevitably presenting many problems of readjustment which she solved with unfailing tact and determination, and in so doing she has succeeded in making an outstanding contribution to the service given by the Order and the Ambulance Foundation to the Humberside community, Mr Brown, having joined the ARP organisation in Whitby in 1937, became a member of the Brigade in 1940 and from that day to this he has with immense dedication and modesty devoted his time and energies to the welfare of his local community, mainly but not exclusively through his St. John membership. He became secretary of the Whitby Ambulance Division in 1963 and was appointed to the rank of sergeant in the same year , and he has over a long period organised many successful fund -raising events on behalf of his very active division. While he was performing voluntary duty at the YMCA Hall in Whitby in 1941 the building was destroyed by enemy action and he was severely wounded in the back and legs. Undaunted, he later volunteered for service as a hospital porter at the Rokeby Hall (Joint Red Cross and St. John) Auxiliary Hospital at Barnard Castle, where he served for 4 years and organised concert parties for the patients. For 25 years from 1948 to 1973 he worked on the staff of St. Hilda s Geriatric Hosptial , Whitby again organising regular entertainment for the patients in his leisure time - he has been singing in choirs for over 50 years and since 1961 has been secretary and treasurer of the Eskdale and Skinningrove Male Voice Choir. Throughout the past 40 years his St. John service has been outstanding and he has been justly described as the corner-stone of his division. Mr Connolly joined the Alex1andra Dock Ambulance· Division, Newport in 1924, and throughout the past 55 years (except for a period of war service in the Royal Engineers) he has with unfailing regularity performed
Commissioners, to Jack Mitchell, and fmally to Colonel Henry de Barros Botelho, I offer my sincere thanks fQr their hospitality and kindness - and extend to them as warm a welcome whenever they come to Lancashire.
LlVI N G WITH PETS
The Domestos Hygiene Advisory Service has produced an attractive full colour wall poster with the major areas of ri s k where regular pet hygiene routines are essential. Subjects covered include grooming, feeding and how to deal with those little
voluntary duties at least 3 times a week during evenings and at weekends at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport. On retiring from regular employment with British Rail he took on a part-time job as 'Lollipop man which has still further enhanced the affection and respect in which he is held by children and adults alike While cycling to work a few years ago he was involved in an accident in which, though he himsel f mercifully e s caped serious injury his bic y cle was damaged beyond repair and members of the local community spontaneousl y clubbed together a nd presented h m with a new machine This was but a small indication of the high esteem in which his long and utterl y dedicated St. John service is held by all who have known him.
Others
The names of a number of other members of our Order and of the Ambulance Foundation have also appeared in the Honours List in recognition of service s rendered mainly or wholly in othe r fields. and to these too I must express the very sincere congratulations of all our readers : Earl St. Aldwyn (Chancellor o f the Order) has been created a GBE in recognition of his political and public ser v ices Mr. Richard Posnett (a Knight of St. John and until ver y lately British High Commiss i oner in Kampala ) has been created a KBE; MajorGeneral F. W. E. Fursdon ( a Deputy Director of Ceremonies of the Order) has become a CB in recognition of distinguished service in the Army; the MVO (4th class) has been awarded to Lord Napier and Ettrick (District President. St. John Ambulance Greater London ); the OBE has been awarded to Dr E. R. Dingley (Chief of Staff, Special Duties , St. John Ambulance Malaysia) for his services to medicine and to the British community in Sabah , and to Mr. E. M. Watson (Chairman of St. John Associatjon, Hong Kong) for his services as
'accidents' that can happen especially to puppies who are in the process of mastering the skills of house training.
The poster is available free of charge by sending a 9ins. x 6ins s.a.e. to: Dept. PP Domestos Hygiene Advisory Service , 51 Green Street, London WI Y 4BT.
DR TUDOR POWELL
Last month I incorrectly said that Dr Tudor Powell is a member of the Medical Boardmy apologies.
Director of the Hong Kong Fire Service; and the MBE to Miss M. E. Cory (VicePresident Ascot Ambulance & Nursing Division and Treasurer of the Ascot Combi'ned Cadet Division , Berks) for her services to the community in Ascot and d strict which have included money -raising efforts for the new St. John HQ at bo t h Ascot and Windsor
There may well be other members of t he St. John family whose names appeared in the Honours List but have so far escaped our notice ; if so , I hope their friends will inform the Editor so that they may be suitabl y congratulated in a later issue
Cold Comfort
Man y a wise word has been spoken in jest, and I must confess to hav ing on the ad v ice of that incomparable jester Jack Point. a weakness for winno wing humorous verse and extracting from it no t mere ly the f un but also the wisdom that it often contains So in reminding y ou to protect y our elderl y friends , relations and neighbours from the dangers of hypothermia during the most treacherous part of th e winter season that s now upon us , let me commend to you th is limer ickal gem b y Hilaire Belloc: I ha ve often been credibly t old That when people are awfull y old Though cigars are a curse And strong waters ar e worse There is nothing so fatal as cold Belloc knew someth i ng too , o f the importance of roof insulation even in his beloved Sussex , for n his poem Th e S o uth Country he wrote:
If I ever become a rich man, Or if ever I grow to be old. I will build a house with deep thatc h To shelter me from the cold. And there shall the Sussex songs be sung And the story of Sussex told To descend. maybe, from the sublime to the ridiculous. have you ever heard the stor y (which may be apocryphal. but has a ver useful lesson for first-aiders) of the old lady who passed out in the supermarket and on examination was found to have nicked a chicken joint from the freezer and secreted it in the crown of her hat?
SURREY: (Above)
D S Mrs. D. Prothero, of the newly-formed Robertsbridge Combined Division (welcome), receives a tent to help with duties from the Battle Round Tablers chairman, John Sarling, % Roy Carter (left) and ASO W. Prothero.
(Right) Crawley Nursing Division won the Brooke Hitching Trophy at the Southampton Open FA Comp , the first time since it began in 1948 that the trophy has left Hants.
ACHILLES, son of Peleus and Thetis; the bravest, handsomest and swiftest of the army of Agamemnon was the outstanding hero of the battle of Troy.
When an infant it is said that his mother held him upside down in the River Styx to give him immortality. His whole body became invulnerable except for the heel by which he was suspended. He was later to die from a wound in that heel which was pierced by an arrow guided by Apollo.
This mythical figure gives his name to the heel of vulnerability and to the tendon which raises it from the ground. The tendon of Achilles, more commonly known as the tendo calcaneus, is the thickest and strongest in the body. It transmits the pull of the two muscles of the calf, the gastrocnemius and the soleus to the heel bone, the Calcaneum. The action of these two powerful muscles is to plantarflex the foot on the ankle joint so that in walking they raise the heel from the ground allowing the opposite leg to be swung forward. They together with the gluteus maximus muscle, which extends the hip, and the quadriceps muscle of the thigh, which extends the knee, maintain posture against gravity. The calf muscles in particular add a spring to the gait and play an important part in standing, walking, running, dancing and jumping, counter-balancing the pull of the muscles of the auterior-tibial group.
The tendon is a prominent feature at the back of the lower leg, lying in an exposed position and covered only by skin and superficial tissues. It is ensheathed in a delicate envelope of soft tissue and fascia known as the paratenon.
Rupture of the tendon gives a characteristic hobbled gait. It was a custom to cut the tendons of galley slaves so as to prevent them running away when released on land. Therapeutically a surgeon may cut or lengthen the tendon for shortening or spasticity which is causing a deformity of the ankle. The calf muscles and the tendon calcaneous have a very important part to play in athletic pursuits so that their efficient function is essenti'al if a high standard is to be achieved.
It is not surprising that a minor degree of injury or mal-function can play havoc with top level physical prowess.
It is as well to know the causes of trouble and the different types of injury that can occur. A kilOwledge of the characterstic clinical syndrome of each will help in diagnosis which is frequently far from simple.
Types of injury
(a) Complete rupture
(b) Musculo tendinous rupture
(c) Fibre retraction
(d) Foot slogger's nodule
(e) Sever's disease
36
THE TENDON
OF ACHILLES
by PHILIP NEWMAN CBE, DSO, MC, FRCS Chairman of the Medical Board
Complete rupture
Complete rupture of the tendon occurs almost invariably at a level between 2 and 3 centimeters above its insertion into the calcaneum. It is here that the tendon narrows down before expanding out for its insertion. Rupture is caused by a sudden overstretching of the tendon when the foot is forced into extreme dorsiflexion at a time when the knee is extended. It can occur in cross country running, especially downhill on rough ground when the heel sinks into a hole It occurs on the squash court when the foot is forced up against a wall or in skiing w hen the foot is levered into dorsiflexion by the ski turning up ward against resistance.
Fortunately the tendon of the fit and young can withstand a great deal of tension so that complete rupture in such people is not common. Rupture is more liable to occur during strenuous, unaccustomed activity a little later in life. Owing to arterial degeneration or old trauma the blood supply of the tendon may be deficient and the limb may have lost suppleness through lack of exercise so that it is less able to withstand severe tension. It is wrong for such a person
o OR r; I PLAN7A R FLE>< ION
That heel that can give
so much trouble
to indulge in unusual activity without a raise to the heel.
A common picture is of a middle aged man, persuaded to play by the young on the beach or an imperfect tennis court, turns out with bare feet or heeless plimsolls. During the rigour of t his challenge his heel sinks into a hole while the knee is extended and the tendon, unable to cope with moderate overstretch, snaps.
So severe and sudden can the pain be that he shouts out and accuses his playmates of throwing a stone or of hitting him in the calf with something hard He realises that nothing of the sort has happened, hobbles off the court and sits down to feel his painful leg.
The injured person walks with a severe limp and cannot stand on his toes, examination of the tendon with the patient lying prone reveals a gap in its continuity a few centimetres above its insertion The lesion is tender to pressure and the power of active plantar flexion of the ankle is diminished. If the patient turns over into the supine position it will be noticeable that the foot can be forced further into dorsiflexion than on the normal side.
When the lesion is not quite complete in that there are some remaining fibres bridging the gap, or if examined a few days after injury when the gap is filled with organising blood clot, the lesion is not so easily felt and may be missed although functionally and mechanically there is a complete interruption. If no action is taken the person will have a permanently lengthened and weak tendo calcaneus with loss of spring and efficient physical function.
A person suspected of having a rupture of the tendon should be referred forthwith for a surgical opinion. It is the responsibility of th e surgeon to decide whether the injury to the tendon is such that will give mechanical insufficiency and if so to institute repair by open surgery. There is an old saying among
surgeons that there is no such thing as a partial rupture, meaning. tha.t a lesion feels partially bridged WIth mtact fibres WIll convert to a complete rupture if left untreated. A minority of surgeons will choose to treat a complete rupture conservatively by immobilising the leg in a below knee plaster with the foot positioned in full plantar flexion owing to the difficulty sometimes of getting the skin to heal. Delayed healing of the skin is a major problem but can be avoided by keeping the leg elevated and the patient continually in bed until sound healing of the skin has occurred. The mechanical result of surgical repair is superior to natural bridging of the gap which necessitates a long period in plaster. Complete ruptures are frequently missed either because the injured person does not seek proper advice or because the person examining the tendon is not properly aware of the pitfalls of diagnosis.
The result is that many such cases have a retracted upper end of tendon with a large intervening gap making a much more difficult problem for the surgeon.
In such cases the gap has to be repaired with tendon taken from elsewhere or a foreign material, and convalescence includes a lon g period of immobilisation in plaster.
Musculo tendinous rupture
Sudden severe tension on the calf muscle and tendon may cause damage at another site, the junction of the muscular and tendinous fibres of the gastrocnemius. It occurs under much the same circumstances as complete rupture of the tendon but there may be some subtle difTerence in the nature of t he injuring force which is not known. The res ult as regards diagnosis and treatment is quite different. The muscle tear gives acute
pain, followed by discomfort , local swelling and tenderness about midcalf level, more noticeable on the lateral side.
The lesion is mechanically stable, and will heal perfectly well without surgical repair or immobilisation in plaster. The patient needs reassurance about this and should be encouraged to walk, in spite of pain and limp , with the aid of a walking stick and a one centimeter raise on the heel of the shoe. The swelling and bruising can be treated with gentle massage and later on as the tenderness subsides by rehabilitation exercises.
It was this injury, where on examination there was very little to feel which was traditionally thought to be a rupture of the plantaris muscle It is a catchy term for a diagnosis and as so often happens tends to persist in spite of modern knowledge, indicating that it is not correct. The plantari s is a small muscle in the upper calf lying deep to the soleus muscle which has a long slender tendon extending downwards to the heel bone. It is a remnant of a much larger muscle in animals and seems to have very little function in man. It has never as far as I know , been found ruptured , but its tendon is often used by the surgeon for repairing large gaps in the tendon of Achilles. It seems that it can be excised with impunity.
Fibre retraction
Extreme stress on the tendon in the notso-young tends to cause complete rupture but in the young and athletic the tendon withstands far greater stress and s eldom ruptures but a few fibres may give-way. These are apt to retract and curl up causing a roughening on the smooth glistening surface of the tendon which runs inside the paratenon sheath. The tendon remains mechanc i ally sound and the athlete continues with normal activity but there may be some discomfort and slight swelling. A mild vibration or what is known as a silken crepitus may be felt by the hand over the tendon as the foot is moved up and down. The discomfort can be temporarily relieved by an injection of hydrocortisone around the tendon without harm but it should never be injected into the substance of the tendon. Hydrocortisone delays healing and in doing so can cause permanent weakness and liability to rupture. The trouble will pass with time but strenuous activity should be avoided and the heel of the shoe raised until the symptoms settle down.
Foot s)ogger's nodule
During the years of the last war when civilians, who had never previously worn boots, were drafted into the services to spend
(Below) The tendon is a prominent feature at the back of the lower leg.
Rig ht) Types of injury A
much of the early period of training route marching, their feet were apt to suffer in various ways. It was customary to have a foot inspection after each march to deal with any trouble.
A few, after many days of marching, developed a sore swelling of the achilles tendon at the top of the boot level. It was called a foot slogger's nodule and thought to be caused by friction from the top of the back of the boot. Closer examination showed no inflammation of the skin and that the swelling was of the whole tendon not just the surface which would be exposed to friction. It was realised that marching in boots postured the ankle joint at a right angle much more so than in shoes and that this gave an excessive repeated stress of the tendon. The response was a thickening of the tendon at its weakest point some 2 to 3 centimetres above its insertion which
corresponds to the level of the top of the boot. This trouble is seen very little in civilian life but occasio'nally a person will wear boots for a walking or climbing holiday and return with a painful swelling of the tendon. Its nature should be explained and the person told that it may take as long as three months to settle down. Excessive exercise and weaung boots should be avoided and the heel of the shoe raised by one centimeter.
Sever'"S disease
As the heel bone grows a separate centre of ossification develops in the part of the bone to which the achilles tendon is attached. This constitutes a potential mechanical weakness during the growing period. Excessive strain can cause a mild degree of dislodgement of the osseocartilaginous cap on the underlying bone.
This gives rise to a painful heel and radiologically it may be seen that the separate ossicle is in a slightly different position to the normal side.
A raise to the heel is all that is necessary and of course elimination of strenuous exercise, running and jumping in particular. If the pain persists a plaster of paris cast can be applied for a short period.
The term Achilles heel is well applied to the chink in the physical armour of the competitive athlete which the mechanism of the tendon and the heel bone supplies.
A knowledge of the upsets that can occur should help prevention of such trouble and assist in instituting the correct treatment should the necessity arise.
For the person in later life who indulges in unusually strenuous activity it is important that footwear with a heel should be used especially on an uneven surface.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme
Restructured - especially for SJA - for the 1980s
SKILLS: (To encourage the discovery and development of personal interests, and social and practical skills)
This is a new section, designed to bring together the best aspects of the Interests and Design for Living sections which no longer exist under the new structure. All the physical subjects contained in these two sections are transferred to the Physical Recreation section. The skill requirements remain the same, but the conditions emphasise the social and cultural, as well as the practical aspects of the activity being followed.
Subjects from this Skills section can often lead into the planning and undertaking of an exploration At the end of this article an explanation is given of how some Grand Prior's Proficiency Badge Subjects can further progress in this Scheme .
PHYSICAL RECREA TION: (To encourage participation in physical recreation and improvement of performance)
RESIDENTIAL PROJECT: (To broaden experience through involvement in a residential setting)
Although this comes under a separate heading and is an additional requirement for the Gold Award, it is closely linked with the concept of Service. This section has been formed by marrying the best from Residential Qualifications and Worthwhile Projects which no longer exist as such under the revised structure.
Despite the setting of minimum standards at all levels of the A ward and through all the sections, it is hoped that everyone taking part will aim for a little more , thus deriving personal satisfaction, and benefitting from finding their own hidden talents
Edinburgh's ' Beginners Programme s.' They may also be currently appl ied to the Design for Living and Interests sections. Remember , under the new Scheme, Proficiency Badge qualifications gained before entry into the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme may not count.
Full details of the Proficienc y Subjects approved, and the conditions for their use together with guidelines on the requirements and conditions of the restructured Du ke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, have been sent to all counties and participa ting divisions. Copies may be obtained from the Cadet Office at Headquarters.
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S Award Scheme has been restructured to meet the challenge of the Eighties without changing its original purpose and aims. Basically, the overall revision presents three underlying objectives:
a) to remove a number of anomalies uncertainties by introducing a clear-cut mandatory Four Section Scheme;
b) to offer a number of different activities within a balanced programme, giving equal opportunities and challenges at all
A ward levels, to girls and boys alike;
c) to present a flexible structure which will meet the demands of the Eighties without altering the requirements, conditions and aims of the Scheme.
"In the UK these new conditions will be permissable from March 1 1980 for new entrants into the Scheme, and for those starting a higher Award. They will be MANDATORY for new entrants and those starting a higher Award, from September 1 1980. There will, however, be no time limit (other t6an age) for those working under the present conditions, until they start a higher Award. "
Quotation: Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme
The three awards, Bronze, Silver and Gold remain. All who take part at each level must fulfill the requirements and conditions of the four Sections which are, SERVICE, EXPEDITIONS , SKILLS, PHYSICAL RECREATION. The following is a brief summary of the sections highlighting the changes:
SERVICE: (To encourage service to others)
Retrospective qualifications are discontinued. In future , all who enter the Scheme must qualify, where appropriate , in the chosen subject after entry and will not be allowed to count qualifications previously obtained. Greater emphasis is given to forms of practical service to the community The various forms of service are divided into three groups to facilitate choice between subjects and standards, and are open for choice at all levels.
Group 1. Service with a substantial element of practical involvement.
Group 2. Service requiring courses of specialised training.
Group 3. Service requiring specific qualifications to the standards of the governing body concerned.
EXPEDITIONS: (To encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery)
All ventures involve journeying in the countryside, on waterways or at sea, conceived with a purpose and undertaken on
It seems appropriate to describe the revised Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme in outline, in the Review, not only for those already committed, but also to attract new entrants.
foot or by cycle, in canoes, sailing boats or on horseback. There are three ty pes of venture which should all be undertaken without motorised assistance, as follows:
a. Expeditions which have journeying as their pr inci pal component.
b. Explorations which involve less journeying and a greater proportion of the time spent on app ro ved investigations or other spec ifie d activities.
c. Other adventurous projects which are of an equally or more demanding nature.
The requirements at the various levels are :
a. At Bronze - an expedition lasting 2 days with one night away.
b At S i lver - an expedition or exploration lasting 3 days with 2 night s away
c. At Gold - an expedition or explbration lasting 4 days and three nights away
Other forms of adventurous projects of the same or longer duration may be chosen provided the approval of the National A ward Office has bee n obtained, at least three months in advance, via the Operating Authority.
For safety reasons none of these venture s may be undertaken individually and clo se supervision must be exercised. Famil y customs may require the presence of a chaperone whose duty is one of supervisio n only.
The underlying principle of this section is to encourage and develop self-reliance an d co -operation among those taking part, with shared responsibility for venture leadershi p from within the group.
This section contains a wider choice of activities, but recognises that not all people are equally geared to physical recreation. A points scoring system will enable the les s gifted to qualify on a par with the natural athlete. Subjects have been set out in two groups; one group requ ires certified or measurable standards, while the other asks no more than participation but in both groups, instructors must be able to verify improvement of perfomance over a period of not less than six weeks. As a mandatory section, this is not as awe-inspiring as it may see m from the title.
Since one of the basic reasons for restructuring the Duke of Edinburgh 's Award Scheme is to give equal opportunities it seemed reasonable that those who enter through St. John Ambulance should have equal opportunities with Youth Organi sations which have long benefitted by concessions, from the National Award Office, on their internal badge requirements. Therefore , over the past year, agreement has been reached between officers of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and St. John Ambulance on the use which can be made of eighteen of o ur Proficiency Subjects by cadets and yo ung members who are working for their Grand Prior s Badge to help them to achieve Awards in the Duke of Edinburgh s Scheme too. These subjects are in the 'General' and 'Crafts and Hobbies groups of our Proficiency Scheme, and are eligible for use in the Skills sect ion of the Duke of
The importance of both the Duke of Edinburgh s Award and our own Grand Prior 's Badge is recognised and held in high esteem in commerce and industry , as well as other national organisations, and the holder of both is more likely to be recognised as a person of character and ability. They are not similar awards, but complementary to each other. A holder of both awards will find them useful and valuable assets as they meet the challenge of life in the Eighties when competition and standards are going to be even more demanding than they are now.
The two schemes , the Duke of Edinburgh s Award and the Grand Prior 's Badge present a double challenge not only to the cadets and y oung members who part ic ipate, but even more so to the dedicated officers and members who have the responsibility for encouraging and guiding them towards these final objectives.
Greater Manchester
Mrs. Elsie Axon of Ashton-underLy ne (here with the Mayor of Tameside Cllr. W. Meredith and CSO Angus Stevenson, staff officer to the Commander) who has been promoted Officer Sister of the Order for outstanding service to SJ A.
Joining the Aston Nursing Division in 1933, Mrs. Axon helped to staff an ARP first -aid post at a local hospital during the She became DI O of the Nursing DIVISion in 1947 and Superintendent six years later.
Mrs. Axon holds the Brigade's long
service medal with three gilt bars for her 45 years service and was presented with a 45 year certificate last November at a service to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Mossley Quad. Division.
A former Corps Superintendent since 1976 in the Ashton Division, Mrs. Axon has now enlisted with the County Pool. She retired from work, as a nurse with two local dentists and 12 years at a school clinic, in 1967. Her ambition is to visit Malta which as she says is connected so much with the St. John organisation.'
MEET
Victoria Bee vo r A dministrati ve Officer ( Cadets)
Sergeant G J. Joyce NCO in charge of Mossley Quad. D ivi sion receiving his Serv ng Brother medal from Area
Walms ey DstJ at the 70th
service of the Division
Cadet Chat by JIM
PASSPORT to Adventure is the title of a very interesting film which is available on free loan from the Youth Hostels Association. The film visits a number of hostels and shows they are always in or near places of interest. There are 250 youth hostels in England and Wales. They range from a Norman castle to a lead miner's cottage and they offer overnight accommodation at a reasonable cost to members. A good way of introducing young people to hostelling is to make use of the Leader Card scheme. The Leader Card is issued to members of 18 years and over and entitles them to introduce to youth hostels, for not more than three nights , a party of young people who are not members and who have not used youth hostels before. Youth hostels make ideal bases for many varied activities and there is always a friendly atmosphere. Further information and film bookings can be obtained from the Youth Hostels Association, Trevelyan House, St. Albans, Herts.
More adventure?
Those interested in caving, potholing, fell craft and field and countryside studiesand want instruction in these subjectsshould find the Whernside Cave and Fell Centre interesting. The location of the centre, in the Cumbria section of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, is ideal for exploring the superb fell and dale scenery and the hundreds of caves within a 25 kilometre radius. Details are available from The Principal, Yorkshire Dales National Park , Whernside Ca ve and Fell Centre, Dent, Sedbergh, Cumbria LAlO 5RE. Save and recycle
old newspapers or silver paper has been a useful way of raising funds. At the same time there are a nd ....:._ ..J_ number of pitfalls in Save a I C\.. such schemes I, for one , remember when I was left with a garage stacked to overflowing with newspapers when' the price of waste paper fell and nobody would buy it from us! The National Anti Waste Programme has produced a booklet entitled 'A Guide to Voluntary Waste Collection' which offers useful advice and information to would be fund-raisers. The booklet is free and available from The National Anti Waste Programme , Freepost, London SW1E 6BR.
40
Ten little
You might remember the rhyme which I started in September. The following contribution has been sent in. Any more rhymes , please?
T
One
What do you think 7
I was speaking the other day to Brigadier Fergie Semple, our new Chief Officer Cadets (Des ignate) , and he was telling me some of
his thoughts on the Grand Prior's Badge. He considers that as a eadet badge it should be gained by cadets while still serving in their Cadet Divisions. Only in very special circumstances would members be allowed to continue to work on cadet proficienc y subjects once they had been promoted to an Adult Division.
The advantages of this scheme, he explained , would be:
a. It would encourage cadets to remain in Cadet Divisions until they were almost 18 , when they would be more acceptable in an Adult Division.
b. All Adult Divisions are not geared to undertake training in cadet proficiency subjects.
c. It would allow a cadet on promotion to adult membership to be fully identified with their new Division and perhaps help to do away with the present 'we and them feeling which may exist if the cadet is still working on subjects not applicable to adults.
He also emphasised that there would be no change in the rule permitting cadets to
SAFETY This quiz, given to me at a Reg io nal Cadet Conference in Cambr idge, could be QUIZ duplicated so that each Cadet has an individual copy or put onto large sheets of card for teams to complete.
A!ways turn the handles of these away from the front of a cooker
These should be locked away from children
Measure carefully to avoid thi s
Keep these away from children, they can
cause suffocation
The Kitemark shows the article has been. by the British Standards Institution
Do no use inflammab le decorations at this time
Always turn these off before cleanin'g them
Avoid this by ta kin g care
Old medicines should be '"
This equipment should not be handled
with wet hands
Wrap broken glass in this
These should never be le ft lying on the stairs or floor
These should be positioned within easy reach
If more care was taken many of these could be avoided
Edges of these should be turned under if j j small children are about
More accidents happen here than anywhere else
These should a ways be filled out of door,S
Never han g these over fireplaces
These should be properly stored and regularly serviced during the summer
wear the Grand Prior's Badge during the rest of their adult service.
I have an open mind on this. What do you think?
What a body?
This quiz, which comes from Auckland, New Zealand, will appear in the next three issues. The clues refer to parts of the body. For example, clue: Ammunition. Answer: Arms, Clue: Receptacle. Answer: Chest. Answers to this month 's ten clues will be given next month, with a further ten clues.
CLUES: 1 Two tall trees; 2 Employees ; 3 Holiday requisite; 4 Shell fish; 5 Salt water fish; 6 Ships; 7 A deer; 8 Found in marble ; 9 Two berries; 10 Extravagance.
The Cerebral Palsied Child: The use of Furniture
Parts 1 and 2. Tape/ slide presentation
Camera Talks Ltd ., 31 North Row , London WI R 2EN
Contents: This presentation shows furniture both commercially produced and made by craftsmen and self-help that enables such unfortunate children to have the quality of their lives improved.
Appraisal: This presentation addressed to a specialised audience is a salutary reminder of how fortunate normal people are and is also an examp le of the power of audio-visual material it is a straightforward account of how specialised furniture has been developed, and if not a vailab le for purchase how plans may be obtained so that self-help manufacture many be instituted.
Recommended
Audience: Specialised yet at the same time universal.
Price: £308. £39 Hire for 1 day. £61 Hire for 2 weeks. Plu s VA T and Carriage.
Content: The captain and sailors on a sinking ship are rescued and sur vive, in contrast with another boat that sinks. Water safety and rescue procedure.
This is an excellent training film , clear , dramatic and Informative The film is made for naval audiences but obviously would of great value to those who use rivers and seas. It extols the value of di scipline and routine in emergency ; medically speaking it is absolutely correct in its teaching.
Audience: St. John Ambulance River Divisions and those concerned with the sea will price this film of the utmost value. Strongly recommended
When Fire Starts - 16mm film. 23 minutes.
Distributed by: Millbank Films Ltd., Thames House North Millbank London SW1P 40G. ' ,
Price: £205 plus V AT. £35 Hire fee.
In indu strial settings, advice how to stop small fires becoming I.t portrays the rapid spread of fire and lack of knowledge of those In lmmediate contact.
Appraisal: This training film is clear and dramatically presented It would be of g t I hi rea va ue Wit n a fire prevention programme' it shows causes of fire, how they spread and precautions that should be taken.
Thanks
My thanks to Keith Dunn of Newport Gwent, for sending copies of his Divisional newsletter. This is a very useful way of getting information across to members. Does your Division have a newsletter? If so, please send me a copy Thanks also to Chadwell Heath for further examples of St. John road signs. Can anyone in your division make up some St. John road signs? I would also like to hear if you have a good idea for a game, or have used adventure centres that others might like to hear about or indeed anything to do with Cadets. COME ON, LET'S HERE FROM YOUI Send your contribution to ' Jim 57 Morgan Crescent, Theydon Bois Epping, Essex CM16 7DU.
The SJA Multi-Media Appraisal Panel, which comprises docrors , nurses , jirsraiders and visual aid experts, is one 0/ !he offiCially appoinred panels 0/ !he British Medical ASSOCiation, [ts reviews are also published in rhe BMA 'In/ormation '.
Although portrayed In an industrial situation the lesson in the film applies universally,
Recommended
Audience: This film is of general interest - specifically to St. John Cadets within the Fire Fighting Syllabus,
Putting The Pieces Together - 16mm film. 26 minutes.
Distributed by: Central F ilm Library, Go vernment Buildings. Bromyard A venue, Acton, London W3. Price: £ 186.30 (including VAT), Free Loan
Content: The mentally handicapped : showing the professional skill. patience and devotion and satisfaction of doctor s and nurses. Shows training of community nurses and their work with these people Patients tell of their illness and the help and encouragement rece ived from doctors and nurses.
AppraisaJ: In general terms there seems a paucity of audio-visual material under the general title of 'N ursing '; it is pleasant therefore to welcome a new flim dealing with the work of the Communit y Nursing Service This is a general purpose documentary that publicises the work of psychiatric nursing services by employing actual nurses iind patients to talk of their experiences. The swing from hospital treatment to treatment in the home is a new concept well brought out.
Audience: Inasmuch as the Foundation is concerned with community welfare this film has universal application. Useful for training nights bearing in mind it's for nothing!
Recommended
First Aid - Tape / slide. 27 trans ., 25 minutes
Part I - The Principals and Practice of First Aid by Dr. Roger Evans
Distributed by: Graves Medical Audio-Visual Library, Holly House. New London Road Chelmsford Essex CM2 9BJ
Price: £ 17.77
AppraisaJ: This is a well-produced tape / slide presentation that eiTectively covers the principle and practice of first aid specificall y in a motorway asci dent situation. The speaker is authoratitive.
Recommended
Audience: Universal. Would specifically be valuable in the emergenc first aid cOl.lfSe.
WHO IS THERE?
from R. F. McLellan. Divisional Officer
Reading the letter (Nov. Review) about SJA members playing a big part in the film Hospitals Don't Burn Down, prompts me to write of another SJ A role of which members may be unaware.
I work as a senior port officer of the Automobile Association, the world's largest motoring organisation with over 5 million members
A bout 150,000 of these members take their cars to the Continent every year and one of the services offered them is a 'get-yo u -home' cover. This can include the use of an air ambulance for someone seriously ill. Who, apart from the pilot, mans this service? You ve guessed it - St. John personnel!
Last year the service carried out some 185 hours of emergency flying. And I feel proud, when I see the AA brochure describing the service, with on its front cover a photograph of the ambulance plane and the SJ A personnel smartly lined up in front of it. Also when an AA member is brought home by ferry, who transports him to home or hospital? Once again it is the SJ A escort service. It gives me pleasure, when I go down to the ship on behalf of the AA, to see the efficient manner in whic h these ambulance crews handle their patient.
When an emminent organisation such as the AA calls on the services of St. John to help run its 'get-you-home' service, it is something to be pround of indeed.
Blowing our own trumpet? Yes - and why not? I feel every member of SJA has something to be proud of merely by belonging!
Folkestone R. G. McLellan
BRtGADE AMBULANCES
from Tom Quinn
Supt. English's letter (Nov. Review ) on loading ambulances made me think: Are Brigade vehicles of a high enough standard to give the proper service to patients en route to hospital?
In my experience many SJA ambulances are very unsatisfactory in their layout. Are there no guide lines as to what constitutes an ambulance which is beneficial (o r at least not harmful) to the patient?
The average transport officer is a mechanic or 'someone who knows something about engines.' Should they not be given some training in ambulances? Should there not be an Order publication on the role of the transport officer as there is for the Secretary, the D / Sup1. , etc? I have in mind a booklet.
Do transport officers and Supts. 'viewing' a vehicle before buying it look at the following factors:
Is sound-proofing effective, shielding the patient and attendant from the blast of vehicles' horns?
Is the heating adequate?
Is the lighting adequate for the attendant to be able to distinguish colour changes, etc., and to make other observations of the patient?
Is the suspension of the ambulance apd stretchers liable to bring about , or prevent a deterioration of the patient's condition?
I feel it would be better for Brigade units to consider updating the efficiency of their vehicles rather than forking out hundreds of pounds on sophisticated equipment which can be substituted by les s costly materials, which are easier to use and lighter to carry.
This is one man's view, of course. Or is it?
Bath Tom Quinn
OUR NEW DIVISION
from A. P. Oldroyd. Divisional Superintendent
Attached are photographs of our Cadets of the Year - Carol Adams and Carolyn Wibberley, both 14 - at ther ecent presentation evening of the newly-formed Horbury Combined Cadet Di\lision S & W Yorks.
I started this division at Horbury, a small town near O ssett, after being D /Sup1. of the Ossett Cadet Division (I was delighted to see them on the front cover of the Nov. Review). It's the first division in Horbury for 20 years and we have 35 very keen cadets. Our awards
42
Horbury Combined Cadet Divis on s cadets of the year: Caro Adams and Carolyn Wibberly See OU R NEW DIVISION by the way, were presented by Ossett Di visio nal Nursing O fficer F. Osborn.
Horbury A. P. Oldroyd
PEARLY ROYALTY
from G J Grimster-Shepherd
It interested me to see the photo (Nov Re view ) of the Pearly King, Queen and Princess of the Isle of Dogs.
I have been in St. John for 11 years and also ha ve the h onour of being a member of the original Pearl y Kings a nd Queens Association
My grandparents were the original Pearl y King and Queen of th e Royal Borough of Kensington. Since moving to the provi n ces , my family has adopted Oxfordshire and I now hold the tit le of Pe a r ly Prince of Oxfordshire
We still remain active Pearlies , carrying on th e t radition s sta rt ed by my grandparents in the 1900s for St. John and man y other c h ar ities.
It may interest you to know that m y fa tller has written a book on the history of our family (as yet unpublished ) and travels a round Oxfordshire and beyond giving a condensed version in talks for local societies.
HMS Colling woo d G.1. Grimster-Shepherd
CADET BANDS
from Henry Baxby. County Staff Officer (R)
The letter Another Cadet Band (Nov. Review) prompts m e to w rit e about a division in the Derwent Area Derbyshir e, that has a splendid cadet band
In January 1937 , in conjuction with the Div/ Supt. of t he se ni or division, the Dronfield A / C Division was formed and I was appo inted officer -in -charge. As a musician I was determined to form a drum a nd bugle band , so with a few secondhand instruments I taught drummer s and buglers sufficient marches for the church parade that Easter Sunday for senior and cadet divisions.
Since its formation 40 years ago, the Dronfield band has practi sed once a week throughout the year. I always insisted on a high s tandar d of discipline which is still maintained and was rewarded thi s year
(1979) when the Dronfield Cadet Division won the county drill competition.
As the years went by they were able to acquire new instruments and increase the band to its present 30 members.
Tht! band is very much in demand at carnivals, parades, etc. , as well as SJA functions. At a Sheffield band competition in 1978 they gained 2nd place in their class , and 2nd place overall seniors and juniors . They played in the S1. John's Day parade to S1. Paul s Cathedral and afterwards gave a demonstration at which the C -i n -C and the Supt-inC congratulated them on their performance.
T he band has already been asked by Headquarters to lead the p ar ade to St. Paul s oh St. John 's Day 1980. And their engagement book is just about full for this year. Since their formation the band has played the Last Post and Reveille every year on Armistice Day.
IDENTITY CARDS
from M. E. Durbin. Storekeeper
After reading the letter Identity Cards (Oct. Review) I was so impressed by the idea that I put it to my D / Supt. and officer s at a divisional meeting. They were also very interested and we decided to discuss it at next district cadet officers meeting. They too we r e keen on the idea So hopefully in the new year these cards may be printed by headquarters in Cardiff.
In answer to the reply on this subject in the December Re v ie w: If a person terminated membership of their division and did not ret urn their membership book , they could produce it and possibl y administer the wrong treatment at an accident. Therefore I would s ugge s t a card system with the member's photograph included , together wi th the date issued and expiry.
turn of the century
IT IS only in recent years that the care of photographs in museum collections has been considered and there are man y problems in achieving a su itable system for their storage and display which wi ll preserve the image for as long as possible. In the Museum at St. John s Gate we ha ve a large number of nineteenth and early twentieth century photographs of places associated with the history of the Order of S1. John and also a good collection of photographs of early St. John Amb ulance which are of increasing importance. This collec ti o n is a ugment ed almost eve ry week by dona tio ns from presen t members and relatives of the early mem bers
Most of these print s are in a reasonable condition and can simply be rephotographed (the easiest method of pr ese rving the image) but som e ha ve 'silvered' or faded so much that they cannot be copied by using a normal film
Last year the museum acquired several r olls of photographs belonging to William Church Brasier, one of the prime in the formation of the Brigade. They consisted of small photographs stuck onto long strip s canvas about five foot long by three foot had been rolled up and left in a sohCItor s office for a considerable time befo re they were handed over to us as part of a They were in an extremely poor condItion; the paper had become brittle and
MUSEUM NOTES
all the print s wer e y ellow and faded, in so me cases the image had virt uall y d is appeared
The photographs w ere- a v aluable record of early St. John Ambulance an d depicted ac t ivi ties s u c h as re vi ews , camps, demonstrations and competItIons; we wondered what we could do to save them fro m va nishing altogether. Fortunately a new y pe of film has just been developed especially to copy old photographs and it was tried out on the se. The experiment was a success, the images appeared almost as good as new and certainly better than the originals This film will enable us to preserve images that before we had thought were condemned to fade without trace. All the Church Brasier photographs are now on new negatives and we hope to use some of them to illustrate the objects ill the St. John Ambulance collection.
Illuminated album
A notable recent acquisition of the museum is a bound illuminated photograph album presented to Mr. W. H. Morgan in 1912. It was made to commemorate his resignation
Illuminated photograph a bum presented to w H Morga n in 19 12
as Assistant Commissioner of No. 1. D istrict to become Assistant Commis sio ner for St. John Ambulance Brigade O ve r seas. The album contains four pages of very fille illumination including a picture of St. John's Gate encircled by S t. John s wort. Foliage and small flowers painted in gold, pink. blue and orange decorate the commemorative inscnptions while the remaining pages contain photographs of leading members of No. 1 District Lieutenant Co lon el LeesHaJJ , Major General Dalton and Lady Perrot among others.
W. H. Morgan was S to re Keeper at St. John ' s Gate and became Direct or of Stores in 1916. He r emained Ass i stant Commissioner for SJAB O ver seas until 1917 when he became Chief Staff Offi cer. After the First World War he w as awarded an OBE and was made an Officer of the Order n 1926 We have no record of t he precise date of his death but it was probably in 1928.
The album remains a beautiful tribute to a man dedicated to the work of St. John Ambulance and we are grateful to Mr. James Alder of Northumbria for giving it to the museum. It is on temporary display in the New Museum at St. John 's Gate and can be viewed from 10 to 6 on Tuesdays Fridays and Saturdays
St ella Dyer
Assistant CUra lO,.
DronJield Henry Baxby Mid Glamorgan
M. E. Du rbin
One 'saved photograph
Demonstration of a bicycle- itter (w th casualty on litte r') just after t he
NEWS from SCOTLAND
New Chancellor
FOLLOWING the death of Sir Andrew Murray, Chancellor of the Priory of Scotland, in March 1977, Colonel James Haldane Calder MacLeod, OBE, KStJ, TD, was installed as Chancellor of the Priory of Scotland in St. John's Kirk, Perth, on St. John's day, 1977. At a special meeting of Priory Chapter in January he submitted his resignation, having almost completed the three years in office which in view of his age, he had set himself as a maximum.
To succeed him as Chancellor the Prior, His Grace the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, has nominated Mr. William A. P. Jack, CBE, KStJ , the Lord Dean of Guild of the Merchants House of Glasgow and well known in business circles as head of a firm of architects.
WEST GLAMORGAN
DURING November over 200 members and friends from West Glamorgan met in Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, for a special presentation at which the County President HM Lieutenant, Col. J. Vaughan Williams, presided.
Major G. Roberts, chairman of the county's St. John Council, welcomed the guests who included Lord Heycock, Alderman Sam John, chairman W. Glamorgan County Council, and Mr. D. J. McDougall, Principal Secretary, Priory for Wales.
Mr. McDougall spoke of the Order and its tradition for serving wherever and whenever there was human need; and the service given by Brigade members today, stressing the need for financial support as well as more people to be involved in first aid work.
Among the awards were: Serving Brother ..:.....- Mr. A. G. Goss and Mr. L. Wilcox; Serving Sister - Mrs. E. M Isaacs and Mrs. E. J. Morgan; Long Service Medals45 years, DIS R. C. Richards; 30 years, CSO T. H. W. Pitman. 44
Colonel MacLeod's deep interest in and wide knowledge of the Order will continue to enrich Priory Chapter on which he will serve as a representative Knight. Mr. Jack recently transferred from being a Knight of Grace to being a Knight of Justice. He is a member of Chapter General.
Association Branch. Since the Order in Scotland cannot serve the public by providing ambulance and first aid facilities local branches of the Association play an important part in support of regional branches of the Order by raising funds and organising projects 'pro Utilitate Hominum.'
DUNBAR TONSHIRE branch, established in 1977, has already developed sub-branches in Helensburgh and Bearsden, where cheese and wine parties have raised funds, and in Clydebank, where personal
service has made possible visits to the lonely and the sick and support for the local Health Centre.
STRA THKEL VIN branch, established only in May 1979, held a successful dinnerdance in conjunction with its first Annual General Meeting.
TORPHICHEN branch held its annual carol service in December and has presented three colour TV sets to Bangour Hospital.
In FIFE the schools have been made aware of the St John Cadet movement in Scotland and a new group of cadets has been started at Dalgety Bay where first aid instruction is given by an instructor from the S1. Andrew's Ambulance Brigade.
CENTRAL branch raised over £2,000 at its Farm Fayre in September and the Sir Andrew Murray Home for the Blind at Strathyre is already being appreciated by various groups of guests who have used it.
NORTHERN IRELAND
OVERSEAS
WALES
The Principal Secretary for the Priory for Wales Mr. D. J McDougall presents the insignia of Serving Sister of the Orde r to Mrs. E J Morga
people were evacuated, including four hospitals and a number of nursing homes.
NEAR HOLOCAUST IN · CANADA
A general SJ A alert had been put into effect that morning and all available units were dispatched to back - up the Provincial and Municipal Ambulance Services , which in Ontario are responsible for transporting the sick and injured.
S1. John personnel were detailed to establish first aid posts in evacuation centres and to assist generally in the overall programme. This was a rather difficult and intricate task , as the centres were relocated as the threat of an explosion increased. Some of the evacuees were moved as many as four times, Eventually, by first light Monday , the situation had stabilised.
S1. John members were involved in the operation of seven centres, ranging from the establishment of first aid posts to the complete operation including registration. and maintenance of others. The y also provided assistance to the staffs of nursing homes overcrowded by the in flux from homes in the danger area. Over the five days of the emergenc y, St. John maintained a strength of over 200 members and operated 25 mobile units. A maximum turnout of units was requested and fulfilled when patients were returned to their hospitals when the emergenc y en ded This involved members from five of Ontario s seven areas, and 15 of the 25 Corps
The holocaust did not materialise, But SJA was ready Good work, SJA Canadafrom all of us.
News from Divisions/Centres
OBITUARY
The risk is not worth taking THE motorists who try to " save time " b y driving fast and tak ng other r isks do not really gain many minutes and often in fact lose time.
In a test carried out in the Federal German Republic
for a j ourne y of 1 600 Km (1,000 miles ) two identical cars were equipped with intruments which registered every detail of the way in which each wa s driven. One driver was told to drive as fast as he could and make the journ€y in the shortest possible time the other was told to make the journey in a relaxed manner , not running any risks and not exceeding the speed of the general flow of the traffic The fast driver fmished onl y 31 minu t es ahead of the other ; he had used his brake s 1 , 339 times ( including four emergenc y stops) The steady driver only used his brakes 652 times and did not have to make a single emergenc y stop. The speed y driver used 38 litres (10 gallons) more petrol and the brake-lin ings , suspension eng ne and REVIEW CROSSWORD No. 2(80)
:
transmiSSIOn of his vehicle suffered greater deterioration. Without any doubt he also suffered greater deterioration of his nervous s y stem.
The judges came to the conclusion that reducing the speed is better both for you and your car , and you will only take a few minutes longer even on a long journey Moreover , driving at high speeds is one of the main causes of death and injury on the roads.
So the attempt to save time may well pro ve ver y costly Misuse of petrol
In Oregon recently three women were using petrol to clean a kitchen floor when the refrigerator sw it ched on, igniting the petrol fumes. One of the women was killed and the other two badly burned. Fire officials warn against the use of petrol as a cleaning agent.
Is this the cause of cardiac attacks?
Doctors tell us that cardiac attacks are caused by an obstruction to the flo w o f blood in th e coronary arteries. But wha t causes this occlusion ? A team of Italian doctors has produced ev idence purporting to show that a spasm of an artery carr y ing blood to heart tissue could be a contributor y cause In t he Uni v er s i ty of Pi s a the
investigators examined most carefully 76 patients suffering from angina pectoris (pain in the chest due to blood not reaching th e heart in adequate amount to its need s in current bodily activity) It was found tha t coagulations (thrombuses) occurred onl y after a spasm had b e en experienced and tha t these coagulations were situated exactl y where the artery spasms had occurred As a result of these findings different methods to prevent cardiac attacks were initiated , including the use of medicaments to preve nt the spasms Moreover , the doctor s came to the conclu si on that the spasm occurred , in practicall y every in s tanc e, in an arter y already hardened and deteriorated
The re ce n t findings of an investigator in Penns y lvania (USA ) have provided furth er links which tie smoking with hardening and general h a rdening of the small ar ter ies. Th is doctor conclude s that smoking damag es these arteries in particular and harden s th eir w alls F rom this cause , w hen a puls a t ion of blood reaches t he blo o d vesse l it is unable to dilate and ac co mmodat e the passage of t h e pressure wav e. Th is occur s in evit abl y in very o ld people but it h a ppen s in m any m ore ca ses and at mu c h earlier age s a mon gst heavy s m o kers.
med icine s (6 ) 23 Sho u ld be u sed e ve n b y g randm o ther in b andag ing w ork. (4. 4 ). 26 Ever y one con s idered indi v idu al ly has an u nu sua l ache. (4 ) 28. Concuss slightl y (4 ). 29. A sh ru b fo r sw eepin g. (5). 3 I. Drug dispenser has more than a thou s and n ch es t. (7). 32 Bre atJ:..e. (7). 33 They determine whether the foetus will b e male or fem a le. (3 11 ).
Down:
1. Sigh a bo y is able to see (7) 2. A s t a ll ion pr o du ces em b r yoni c structure forming the placenta. ( 9) 3 Liftin g m ac hi ne is in ho t en vironment. (5 ) 4. Made of wood : no glue is used in h e c o n st ruct ion. (8). 5. Transparent anterior part of sclerotic coat. ( 6). 6. Headgear with point is part of nurse s un iform. (4) 7 Apperidage of t h e soft p alate. (5). 8. Dog for the orthopaedic surg e on? (6) 14 It turns ve r y loud in a slight quarrel. (4) 16 Erupted violentl y las t ye ar. (4 ). 17 Sp o il a fractured arm . ( 3) 19 Process of dura mater be t ween c ereb ell um and 21 Down. (9 ) 21 Organ occup yi ng almo st all the v ault o f t he cranium . ( 8) 22. Thoroughly wet a large draught o f medi c in e (6 ) 24
Mitigates states of the mind . ( 7). 25 Incrustation forming on t he teeth (6). 27. Material used for bandages requ ired to gi ve s upport. (5 ) 29 Fundamental principle of sailor returning with little s is ter. (5). 30 Spinal structure is in United States federal territory. (4).
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No.1 (80)
Across:
1. Mucus ; 4. Biologist; 9 Tremble ; 10 Digital 11. Oakum ; 13. To.mb; 14 Pass; 16. Imp.acted; 19 New.ham; 21. Rue ; 23. M aim. ed ; 24. Enforced; 26. Base 27. M.in.i 28. Vi.lli ; 30. Shocked 31. Err.hine ; 33. Mesentery; 34. Salty. Across:
1. Bacterium causing boils and other suppurative lesions (14). 9. Pig lung mixture for swallowing in large draughts (7). 10. Burst abdominal hernia (7). 11. Palindromic dogma. (5). 12. Receptacle for water found in sewerage. (4). 13. Verruca. (4). 15. Section of small intestine between pylorus and jejunum. (8) 18 Engineer in improved physical condition. (6). 20. Anatomical pouch. (3). 22 Do sing giving
A total service for industrial surgery requirements.
Philip Harris Medical Ltd are the specialists in supplying industrial surgeries with all modern medical requirements
We take great professional pride in keeping up with current developments and you can be assured that our products represent the latest and best available
We offer prompt delivery of ethical proprietaries, drugs, dressings and instruments. Also essential industrial surgery furniturechai rs , cabi nets , d ressi ng trolleys etc.
Tel: Gravesend (474) 65511
Centres p 70
EDITORIAL and ADVERTISEMENTS
LAST WEEK I had the exhausting but most enjoyable experience of attending an intensive 2-day refresher course for industrial first aiders, followed by a re-exam, at the Association HQ training centre in Grosvenor Crescent. Concentrating very hard, and without a minute wasted, on listening , watching and practising for 2 days from 9 to 5, knowing that you're going to be put to the test at the end of it all , is a mentally and physically exhausting exercise at any time , but no less so 'when you re over 70 and have spent all your working life facing the opposite direction in the classroom! But I enjoyed every minute of it , for the quality of the teaching (or reminding!) was so superb that the re-exam at the end seemed almost an anti-climax. I'm afraid all this will strike horror into the heart of A G. P. Holder (surely a non-de-plume ?), who took me to task (J anuary Readers' Views), though in a charmingly complimentary context, for having dared to suggest (November At Random) that some time for revision should be included in the divisional programme during the week before the annual re-exam. But I'm quite unrepentant , and I feel this to be a matter of such immense importance that I want to tell him (and others) the reason why.
In the most perfect of all worlds there would of course be no need for Brigade members to brush up their basics before their annual re-exam, because they would have them all at their finger-tips, But in the less perfect world in which we live and work and may at any unexpected moment have to do life-saving first aid, do we really have every detail of the syllabus (both theory and practice) at our finger-tips? Let's be honest and admit that the answer is 'no'. And let's remember that the subject is far too important for us to be satisfied with a lucky pass; it's the questions that we're glad we weren't asked in the re -exam
Venture Ahoy!
SJA Outward Bound courses have been stepped up to TWO WEEKS for 1980
YOUNG up-and-at-'em members - who really want to be stretched physically - are invited to apply as soon as possible to their Commissioners, through the appropri ate channels, for nomination to attend a 2-week Outward Bound course this summer. Det ails of fees are available from your County HQ and all applications must reach the C adet Office, National Headquarters, by May 30. So hurry! Successful applicants will rec eive personal notificatjon and instructions from National HQ as soon as possible after Ma y 30.
Only those who will enjoy having so me really interesting chaJlenges thrown at th em over two weeks of sustained physical acti vity should apply. But please be sure that the dates do not clash with holidays or othe r activities which take priority.
Eskdale Mountain School, Cumbria, Jul y 12-26: 50 Ambulance and Nur sing personnel who will be accommodated un der canvas.
Age Group: over 16Y2 and under 26 ye ars on July 30 1980.
Aberdovey, West Wales (2 Courses): 25 Ambulance and Nursing Cadets, August 2· 16. 25 Ambulance and Nursing Cad ets, August 16-30. All Cadets will be accommodated in one of the school's hou ses.
Age Group: 14-16Y2 years on August 30, 1980.
Not long enough
It has become obvious during our two year participation in these courses that one week is no long enough to assess the true potential of each candidate, nor does it all ow them sufficient time to enjoy and fully benefit from their experiences under exp ert instruct on. With the generous help of the Outward Bound Trust, we are now able to test the advantages of a two-week course at each of their schools. To get the fair est H igh flying cadets. (Top) Half way down the
ment of this test, those selected will be aueu mend ed on their St. John service and recom potential
The best form of advertising comes from per sonal recommendation, so the follo,:ing extra cts from some of the letter s we received after last year's Outward Bound courses will indicate how much they were enjoyed and appr eciated.
N/C Nicola Scarlott, Suffolk: On behalf of the cadets I would like to thank you for ar ranging the Outward Bound course in Abe rdovey for us. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and have only one co mplaint: the course was too short. We all wish that we could go next year, but we realise that other cadets must be gi ven the same opportunities as ourselves. Once again, many thanks for all the hard work which made the course possible.
N/M Carole Dixon, Nottingham: I am writing on behalf of myself and Miss Walker of Ollerton Division, Nottinghamshire , to th ank you for the arrangements that were made on the Outward Bound course to Eskda le. It was a marvellous experience and we both had a very enjoyable time. Hoping th at any further ventures will be as su ccessful as this one has been.
Ne ver forgotten
AIC Robert Turner: . . am writing to th ank you and St. John for giving me the ch ance of a wonderful holiday at Aberdovey Outward Bound Centre. The work, fun and fr iends I made will never be forgotten. Many th anks again to the organisers of the course.
AlC Timothy Hirst, Hants: I had a great time at the Aberdovey Outward Bound Centre. We did a ll sorts of intere st ing things, and certainly had no time to become in the le ast bit bored
In the morning we went sailing in a twomas ted ketch and in the afternoon in di nghies. In the evening we did the 'zip wire', whic h entailed going up a rope bridge to a platform on a pine tree about eighty feet above ground level. Once on the platform , a safety rope was immediately clipped to us. T hen we put our hands through two loops attached to a free running pulley, onto which th e safety rope was also clipped. The pulley ran on a wire about two hundred yards long which was fastened to the ground at one end and to the tree at the other. All I had to do was - jump! I did, and it was a great experience.
O n Cader Idris
On Tuesday, we started on our expedition which took us over Cader Idris. We camped ou t for the night and took all our necessary water from the mountain lakes
On Friday we went rock climbing, and that was really great. First we climbed a craggy face, then climbed back down again Then we climbed a fairly sheer face. After tills
we illd some more abseiling. We went down about ten feet and then ove r a ledge and slowly slid down a rope in the same way that you abseil , on ly without a rock face. We had intentionally abseiled into a cave. Then we squeezed through a very tight gap and had to jump over a gap about five feet wide, with boulders to land on if you failed the jump. It was a difficult decision to make but I managed to bring myself to do it. Those who didn't want to do it were no t fo rced to.
I had a really great time that week and wouldn't have missed it for anything. I made lots of new friends. To show how much I enjoyed it, I didn't want to come home on the last day. I wa nted to stay another week.
Well , thanks again for all the help you have given me, 1 really have had a great time. I enjoyed every minute of the course a nd feel it was a very worthwhile experience
Jim s Cadet Chat of this issue contains letters from Christine, Wendy a n d
Christopher, all from the Isle of Man. who had less idea of what lay ahead when they set out on an Outward Bound course. How does one explain. for instance. a 'Grot Pot' and a 'Nightline' to young people who do not have such strange things on their home island? See Cadet Chat for their reactions. Finally, from one of the Officer Leaders who travelled with the group from London and helped the Outward Bound Trust instructors:
In conclusion 1 feel that the week's course was a tremendous succe s. both in terms of providing new and in some cases unique challenges. and also an indicator of the direction St. John must go if we are to improve the quality of our membership. It is a tribute to the in tructors at the Outward Bound School Aberdovey that all who attended were sorry to leave and only wi hed that it could have been a two week cour e. Given the chance I would go again tomorrow what about YOU?
(Above) Cadets canoeing at Es kdale Outward Boun d Centre , and (Below) some tricky stretcher handling for these cadets
IT WAS a night of freezing fog when we (3 other girls and myself) took off from BrizeNorton in a VC 10 of RAF Transport Command at 4 am on Dec 5 and J B.S (John Blashford-Snell) was there to see us off. We made stops at Gander and Washington and finall y arrived at Belize (British Honduras) about 20 hours later. We were taken to a hotel and entertained by the British Forces while awaiting our onward flight two days later. 4 girls among all those men - we were treated like VIPs! The first person I met in the mess was Howard Sheriff, an RAF doctor from Ely whom I worked with in Cambridge - what a small world it is! We were taken to see all the local sights. It was just like the films of the tropics - houses on stilts, palm trees and br ight ly coloured tropical plants eve ryw here - and it was hot and sticky too.
We finally reached Panama City late on Dec. 9, but Immigration wouldn't le t us through because we had no return flight tickets. After chatting them up for an hour or so, our female charm got us through ! But it was then after midnight and no hotel was keen to take in 4 girls at that time of night and nobody spoke English. We finally got a room (I single bed , 1 double bed and one on the floor). Next morning we reported to 'Drake House' and moved in there
Medical supplies
The d iving team and some scientists then arrived and we had various meetings. The container with medical supplies was late and so was the doctor from on board 'Eye of the Wind'. So I was delegated to draw up a minimum requirement list for first aid and anti-venom serum, etc for one week for 30 people and went off to the U.S. Army base to see what they could do for us They were 52
Roun the Worl
SJA's Claire is a nurse with Operation Drake's young explorers
To celebrate Francis Drake's historic circumnavigation oj (he globe betll'een 15 77 a nd 1580, Britain's Operation Drake is a unique round-the- wo rld journey oj aa'\ le lll ureJor young explorers. Using a 150-ton brigantin e 'Eye oj (he Wind' (abol'e) as a base -ship, the voyage is divided into nine separare 3-month phas es and rh e whole I'e ntllre is sponsored by commerce, industries, charities , individuals and rhe armed sen'ices oj countries throughout the world. The groups oJyoung people selecled Jor Ihe adrellfure are carrying out a number oj scientific and community projec!s ill Oll! oj !he I\'ay places. Among them is CLAIRE BERTSCHINGER SRN, oj Bish ops Slorljord, Q' nursing member oj Harlow Combined Di vision. Lt.Col. John Bla shJord Snell is !he leader oJOperation Drake. We shall be publishingJurrh er reports q{ h er adl'el1lll res
very helpful and gave me all I needed , including drugs like morphine.
We all spent one day at the U.S. Army survival school, and now I know how to skin a monkey make a shelter with branche s and leaves, get fresh water from a banana tree and which wild fruit to eat.
All was very busy at Drake House and we girls took it in turn to do t he cooking for the whole party. We were invited to the Am bass ad or's residence for tea and swimming; they said we could go anytime.
By gunboat
On December 12 we were told that we were leaving that night at 23.00 for Colon, the port at the other end of the Panama Canal, and on to Caledonia Bay by gunboat - which caused great excitement among the party.
It was dark by the time we arrived in Colon, where we marched into the docks in our jungle uniforms, our new boots creaking at every step. Armed guards were all around and some shone torches into the faces of us 2 girls of the party. We walked past fish ing boats with their families lying in hammocks , quietly smoking. They looked at us curiously 'Americanos?' they asked. 'No', we replied , British!' Then we saw the dim outline of the gunboat silhouetted against the
night sky - a 65ft vessel belonging to the Guardia Nationale. There were no li ght around, and we stumbled down the gangw ay and onto the greasy deck Surroundin g t he deck was a flim sy wire held by po s t s only about 2ft high, some of which had collaps ed. We stowed our luggage as best we could In any nook and cranny and looked for a pla ce to sit. There was hardly any room and we 2 girls perched ourselves on a shelf near the lifeboat. The only lifeboat was very small and t here appeared to be only 2 lifebe lt s and no lifejacket s. Oh well, we could alwa} s swim! Little did we know that we were to s pend 14 hours on this boat and that th ere were no loo s.
We were off
Then the e ngine coughed into action and we were off. A coo l breeze blew in our faces and swept away the stale smell of sweat and grime and the f ume s of the engi ne. We sat on our perch and watched the of Col on disappear as we m ade our way up lhe channel towards the open sea . I munched on a sandwich and took a m a rzine (sea s ickn ess pill) ju st in case. As we approached t he mouth of the channel I could see the wav es breaking over the rock s and decided th at it might be a bit choppy out there. So I pu t on my anorak.
Once clear of the channel and into the open sea, the wind became stronger and the waves started br eaking over the boat. We hung on to anyt hing that didn t move - and more of the guardrai posts collapsed. The sea heaved and we were tossed about like a plastic duck. It was pitch dark , 2 am, and the deck was treacherous to walk but somehow we had to get to a safer place. I managed to make my way to the back of the boat and sat on the rear deck with my legs over the side of the hold, my feet around some iron pipes. At least I was still in the fresh air, but the waves kept breaking over the side and the water rushed down the deck and sometimes] got a bucketful in my face and down my neck. decided to move down into the shallow luggage hold and wedged myself between some boxes, using a bag of soggy sa ndwiches as a pillow. The marzine was taki ng effect and I felt drowsy. Up on the deck, ju st above me, I co uld see people being sick. I felt awful and took another marzi ne - kill or cure, I thought, and tr ied to sett le drowsily into my corner between the boxes. Whenever .1 opened one eye and looked up I always saw the sea. Suddenly the boxes gave way and J went spraWling Now I had to make up m y mind e ither to go back up and the sight of others being sick and maybe get washed overboard, or I could try to lie down somewhere in the cabin-cum-engineroom down below. I went below and crawled into the arms of a friendly warrant officer called Mark , a member of t he expedit ion. We clung together as the boat pitched and tossed and although I was wet and cold I managed to slip into oblivion - I don't mind dying like this , I thought! Suddenly 1 woke up; the engine had faltered and stopped and it was still pitch dark outside. There was silence for some time and then the engine started again, running faultily, and soon we were on our
(Above) Claire a work. (Righ t) With friend -a boa const icto r, which was kept n cam p for a week as a pet and then eaten. Very tasty reports Claire. Maybe he felt the same about her way again and I dropped off to sleep. When I awoke the sea was calmer. It was daylight and the sun was shining - ah! we had got thro ugh at last and it wasn't so bad after all.
Mark and I jumped up and rushed on deck.
We saw land, a jetty - and other boatsCaledonia Bay? No, we were back in Colon because of engine trouble!
Finally we made it, but there was no sign yet of the 'Eye of the Wind' with the young explorers and the doctor. So we all helped to set up Base Camp, about 200 yds from shore through the mangrove swamp. Nine small marquees for sleeping and stores - all fitted w ith mosquito nets. They keep the mosquitos out all ri ght, but not the sand flies! All exposed parts of the body get bitten and we lo ok as though we 'v e had measles - it's agony!
Airstrip
The first major job is to clear the ground for an airstrip (can ' t wait for the young explorers). Get up at 06.00 and Caroline (entomologist) and I prepare breakfast while the others start the work.
Breakfa st at 07.30 a nd then we all go back to clearing the ground. Very rough grass which is burnt off, and then the hummock s have to be chopped off and levelled. Very hard and tir ing work and we get covered in soot. The only water to wash in is sea water, for clothes as well. We work till 16.30, when we prepare evening meal, which is finished by 18.30. Then conference and bed - dead tired.
Had free half day and went swimming
over the coral reef with mask and snorkel.
Thousands of tropical fish. all very beautiful. Coral is treacherous and we have to wear shoes. Go across the bay in large inflatable boat to walk an idyllic beach. Still the airst rip clearing goes on. Then there's a tropical rainstorm and we all rush to collect the rainwater off the tents - freshwater. it's marvellous and precious. At last we can wash properly. A bucket full will do - first the body. then the hair. and lastly the clothes! What luxury! Always ready for sleep at night, but dread going to bed because of sandflies
Fresh water
Go four miles up the coast in small inflatable boat to fill 27 jerry cans with fresh water from a water hole. Go for swim over coral reef and collect coral to make a garden outside medical centre. Return to camp as sun is setting - very beautiful.
The airstrip is nGw complete and the first plane is expected tomorrow with J.B.S. on board. We hope the landing goes OK!
So far we've settled down very well -a jolly party - only the sandflies are a menace and we can t get away from them. It's a bit of a mad world really. rve just taken a dozen sea-urchin spikes out of someone's hand - Oh, the language! Bu t I got a kiss at the end!
Claire Bertschinger is at present in PapuaNew Guinea with Operation Drake
Englefield Green and Egham Combined
LOOKING back over 1979 the year was v e ry successful for Englefield Green and E gham Combined Division , Surrey.
Our run of luck began in March , when the D ivi sion w as asked to pro v ide first-aid cover at a local gymkhana While on the duty one of our members , A / M Andrew Silver, entered his red setter for a dog show that w as being held in one of the arenas.
A lth ough hi s dog onl y became a runner -up it attr a c t ed the attention of a reporter from our local newspaper who approached
An dre w and s oon became interested in the work of S t. Joh n Ambulance as well as the dog.
A t the ti me our Di vis on was in the process of rai sing funds to replace one of its tw o a mbulances and to equip the vehicles to t he s tand a rd r e comm e nd ed by the D H S S
A f e r m ee ng and talking to some o f our me m ber s, t he repor t er wrote a ver y good report of the Di v is ion and SJ A in the local p a per and the re s pon s e from thi s art icle was re ma rkable.
F ir s t , w e w ere approached b y the local
To wns w omen 's Guild, who were holding their an nual E a ster Fair. After reading the ar t i cle, t he y decided that all mone y raised f rom the fai r w as to go to St. John
A m b ulanc e o help u s buy much needed equipment. After a very s uccessfu da y, the ladie s pre s ented the Divi s ion with enough m o n ey o equ ip both our vehicles with new blanket s, as pirator s, first aid satchels and li g ht weight s tretchers.
O u r next stroke of luck was when the local Schroder Char ity told the Di v ision that th ey would donate £3 , 500 to replace our ambulanc e. After w eeks of searching and viewi ng v ariou s v eh icles we selected a Ford
Tr a n s it w hich had been u s ed by a private ambulance company and was in exce ll ent condition.
T he onl y problem was that the vehicle had o be collected from Ipswich , Suffolk. So one F rida y e ven ing in Jul y, three members and
Aren't people marvellous!
say t hese Divisio ns
myself set off on the 3 Y2- hour journ ey to collect the vehicle
Over the ne x t three weeks o ur memb e r s were in volved in getting the vehicle rea d y for the official presentation - w hi ch includ e d a thorough cleaning , polishing , si g n wr it in g and a genera l overhaul.
We had scarcel y recovered from r ec ei v ng this generous gif w hen the Di v ision w as again approached - thi s tim e b y th e oc al Heart and Stroke Found at ion Th ey t oo h a d heard o f our work a nd sa id the y wo u ld like to help in some w a y Ar e n t pe o pl e mar vellous! So it w a s agreed t hat t h ey bu y us t w o B.O.C. Fl y nn oxygen re s u s citator s
So in less than 12 month s - aft e r a member had entered h s dog in a s h ow and attracted the attention o f a reporter -o ur Divi s ion became the proud owner s o f t wo fully equ i pped ambulances , bot h o f w hi c h are now very muc h in demand. The power of the pre s s A .l. Wicken s D / G
Stamford Combined
THE RESULT of a rame for a large handmade Easter Egg was the start of a fantastic year (1979) for the St a mford Combined Di vision Organised b y the local branch of the Kiwanis over £80 was rai sed , which provided the Di v ision with mu c h needed teaching aids.
A member of the Stamford Exeter Townswomen' s Gui ld, Mrs Vi Baxter, successfu lly took an adult first aid cour se with the Division early in the year and a s a result persuaded the Guild to donate part of the proceeds from their Autumn Fayre to the
D ivis ion. T h is gift of £ 150 was used to purc h ase two folding stretchers and a dr ess in gs case. Due to the generosity of the s up pl ie r s, F.W. Equipment Ltd, who pr ovi d e d an ex-demonstration unit, the ba l a n ce o f the Guild's gift was increased and sp en t o n filling t he case with supplies.
T h roug h out the year, the Licensed V ic tua lle r s Associatio n of the town and s urroun di n g area ran a weekly tote. In Nove mb e r t he profits are distributed amon g loca c h arities and from this the Division wa s a bl e to p ur chase a resuscitation manikin to r ep ace their ail ing (leaky) overworked Ann e. Rep o r ts f r om the members, who attended t he p r ese n tatio n ceremony in the White Swa n pub , abo u t the quality of the dem o n strat io n give n by their S uperi n tenden t s h o uld n ot be be lieved... Anyway, it r es ult e d in he ocal Red Cross Detac h ment d ecidin g to u se their gift from the L. V.A. to o b ain a si mil a r unit for themselves
In Nove mb er, h e Kiwanis ran a firework
di s pl ay a t w hi c h t he D ivision prov id ed first aid cove rag e £ 40 r aised at the eve n was g iven to the D iv isio n to e n ab le th em to purch as e a water h ea t er fo r their headq u a rter s
D ec emb e r st ar te d w ith news tha t th e local Lions Club wo ul d b e orga ni sin g a s reet collection in t h e sh o pp ing preci n ct o n the S at urd ay before C hr ist m as. T he m oney would g o t o th eir ta r ge t of £35 0with whi c h t he y w ould purcha se tw o twoway radio set s
ir water
jostling event earlier in the year. It is hoped that this radio equipment. the fi r st in SJ A Lincolnshire will be operational before you read this.
Our 'clanger came afte r success in t h e County Ambulance Competition, held on December 2 in Boston. The Division entered two teams. The B team, A Ms Tony Hazell
YEAR OF NURSING
THE WINNERS of the St. J ohn Ambu l ance nursing bursaries, which are to b e awar d ed annually - one for the professiona l nurse, one fo!, the nurse working in occupational health, and one for the non - profess iona nurse - are:
Miss W. R. Pollard. SR N, R N T (profeSS ional); Mr. H. C Gowa n s A RRC SRN, OHNC (occupat io n a l h ea lth): a nd Miss J. L. Eaves (non- p rofess iona ).
The bursar es are part of t he 19 80 S t. John Ambula n ce Year of N u rs in g. T h e recipi en ts h ave to b e wo r ki n g in t h e Bri ga d e as vo lu nteers an d t h e bur sa r ies h ave t o be used fo r a spec ifi e d nu rsi n g pr oj e ct durin g the year
M iss Poll a rd fr o m Ley ton , London , will be addi ng he r £25 0 to £ 1,750 her s hare of the 1980 F l ore n ce Ni ghtin ga le Aw a rd , t o fina nce a tri p t o Ca n a d a Th ere s he will stud y he joint St. J o hn Ambulanc e/R e d
For Stamford Division (Above)
Two stretchers and a dressings case packed With supplies from the Townswomen s Guild. (Right) T eaching a ds from the loca Kiwanis. And (left) Stam ford's teams who brought home Castle s Clanger ( Ph otos: Stamford Mercury)
(d river) and Pet e r Howie (attendant), came first w ith 188 ma r ks. The A team, Les B arf iel d ( d r ver) a n d Ra y mond Jib b (atte nd a n t), c am e fo u rt h with 177. The tea m s we re judged o n their ability to handle a rout ine amb ul a nce transport assignment - moving a h a nd ic a p ped person from an upstairs bed r oo m of one house to that of
At the gala night for the Year of Nursing held at the Go lden Lane Theatre London on January 9 , Princess Helena Mountafian
M BE O S tJ - a tireless worker for SJA - receives flowers from D S Mrs Norma Healey of Bowes Park N / C Division with three London Northern Area girls ( Photo : Keystone)
C ro ss th ree-year m ult i- med ia research progr a mme c alled The r e s No P ace Like H om e fo r Heal th Care', d es igned to teach the public b as ic nur sin g skill s. M iss Pollard w orks as a nu rse t ut o r at St. B artho lomews
H os pit al, Lo nd o n.
Mr. Go w a n s, wh o r uns t h e O cc u pational Health Medical C entr e for the M in istry of De fenc e Heli c opter Rep air In d u stry. Hampshire wi ll us e hi s bur sa r y for t h e pr e p ar ation o f a new Occup a ti o n al Health Nursi ng C o urse a im ed a t help i n g St. Johntrained nu r sin g and fir st aid per son nel in
another. They were unde r observation throughout the test, with a judge travelling with the patient in the ambulance
The competition, held annually , is for a trophy known as Castle s Clanger. an ambulance bell mounted on a plinth and named after its maker, Stamford s Superintendent Peter Castle.
The measure of support given to the Division at every level by the local community is amply illustrated by the fact that the photographs accompanying this article were donated by the loca l weekly newspaper, The Stamford Mercury. Thanks everyone for your support. industry.
Miss Eaves, BA, MA from Preston. Lancs, will use her bursary to select. design and produce teaching learning packages suitable for educating 8-to-eleven-year old children in the basic principles of nursing. All three nursing bursaries will be presented by Her Majesty The Queen Mother, during an eveni n g rece p tion at St. James's Palace on Marc h 20.
The bursaries are sponsore d by Smith & Nephew Ltd and the National Federation of 18 Plus Groups of Grea B ritain
MERCY FLIGHT
I hear that two SJ A Air Wing pilots, Errol Elsdon of Barnet and Graham Colover of Elstree, played an important part in the dramatic heart transplant operation which took place at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, on January 29.
Their mission, late at night, was to pick up Dr. Terence English, who had already performed three heart transplants, and two other surgeons from USRAF Alconbury and take them to Leicester. From the airport, the team was driven to a city hospital where they operated to remove the heart and kidneys from a girl patient who had been fatally injured in a road accident. The 16-year-old girl was carrying a donor card expressing a wish that if anything should happen to her, her body should be used for spare part surgery.
Two and a half hours later, the surgeons rejoined the aircraft and were flown back to Alconbury. Terence English and his team worked through the night to perform the transplant on 35-year-old Nigel Olney , father of two.
Money for the operation was provided by the National Heart Research Fund, started 12 years ago by its director Ro bert Sharp.
The mission was the Air Wing's third this year and 409th since its formation in February 1972.
CLAIRE
RETURNS
Bovington (Herts) Combined Division s Claire Colman was born 19 years ago in St. Paul's Wing of Hemel Hempstead General Hospital- 12 weeks prematurely following a fall by her mother, For three months, Claire survived in an incubator , having weighed only 2lbs. Il0zs. at birth. Several times her heart stopped beating and she had to be revived. Slowly, she grew to five pounds , the required weight needed to leave hospital, and was finally allowed home just before Christmas
Today Claire, who has been an auxiliary nurse for 18 months, is going back to S1.
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ST. JOHN
Sympo 80, held at the Hendon Police College on January 26 , was attended b y about 100 members of the Metropolita n Special Constabulary and 250 SJA member s - many from the Home Counties.
Opening the symposium , Assistan t Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Joh n Gerrard said the idea behind the get -together was 'to make everyone better informed The programme included The manager of Heathrow Airpor t's animal quarantine centre , who spoke abou t rabies and its steady advance across th e Continent towards the UK Airport fire services , explained b y Bo b Webster , Heathrow s operational omcer for 23 years.
Before showing the la test police film Police Station which sho ws what ca n happen over a 24 -hour per iod in a poli ce station , the meet ing w a s told ho w b y mea ns of a fast-freez ing food process , the police c an handle catering on a vas t sc a le. City of London P o li c e Sgt. Br ia n Fi s her spoke of the le s son s learned f rom th e Moorgate tube disaster in 19 75
As District Comm iss io ner Derek Fen ton said : These Lond o n Distr ict s ymposium s create a greater understand in g between th e Police and the Bri g ad e.'
NO DEREK?
All seven members o f the Bookham fa mil y of Bri s to belong to the Hartciiffe Di v is ion and at the recen t pre s entation evening ther e was something for each of them -e xc ept one
BY THE EDITOR
MIND BENDERS
I. Rui n te nt m a erial unle ss rearranged (8.8).
2. Catc h hold o f and str ke wit h t h e hand. (6.3.4)
3. R ail cu e o he hea rt (7).
4. Frie nd owa rd a th o usa nd (4 ).
Answe r s. Upside dow n -are at the bo tt o m of page 58.
The youn gest, Paul , 10 recei v ed a shield as the bes t J u nior ; a nd hi s brother David ]4 a profic ie nc y certifica t e in preliminar y hygiene,
Thei r fa ther Geor ge and m o ther Eileen rece ive d t he ir fir s t a id certificate s; eldest son 16-year-old Graham , w as promoted to the adu lt divis ion ; and an ot her son Kevin , a 15yea r-old c a det , go t hi s c orpor a l s tr ipe s.
But miss in g fro m the c elebrat io n s w as t h e one to who m much of t he creclit is due - 12year -old D e rek. He w as the first of the famil y to o in SJ A and his en t husiam spilled over at ho me and prompted th e rest of the Bookha m fa mil y t o join too. H e was aw ay at schoo a t th e ime of the pre se ntation s ( and for our p hot o g raph )
Never m ind , Der e k - it's s om e tim es better to be he pow er behind t he hr one.
A REMI NDER
The Sec r eta ry Ge neral of the Order re c ei ved a lette r t he o th e r day from Mrs Marian St uar t Nicholson , of Silverton Devon sayi ng that as s he is now 93 and finds the steps o f St. P a ul 's and the s tanding during the O rde r An nual Service ju s t oo much fo r her - s he re g r ets she can t attend thi s ye ar , althoug h she still v sit s London
T he lette r wa s written in the form of a farewe ll. Mr s. Nicholson - we hope this is not a farewell in any shape or form but more of a reminder to us younger ones who moan and g rown oc c asionally about our
SU PPLYING T HEIR OWN
SOME CHEQUE
aches and pains - who wait for a liftwho are perhaps sometimes pessimistic about the future - who do not look at life and say: I am alive; this is for living; to live to the full.
Thank you, Mrs. Nicholson, for your reminder.
FLOOD
I hear that 25 elderly and ill people were rescued by 20 Brigade members early January in floods at Elmbridge and taken to temporary accommodation at Esher , Surrey.
Six teams from SJ A Molesey, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham and Richmond were on call for nine hours between Friday night and Saturday morning.
The DIS Teddington Division Peter Howard, said the operation went smoothly.
MED CONFERENCE
I hear that , under the chairmanship of Dr. Paddy Donaldson, plans for the SJA Medical Conference 1980 got off to a good start and all of the application forms were with District and County Secretaries well before Christmas.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Donald Coggan, the Prelate of the Order, has consented to give the address on the Sunday morning, April 20. I am sure that anything Dr. Coggan says will be of the greatest interest to members of St. John.
Among the eminent speakers are Dr. Charlotte Kratz, who will give a paper on the philosophy of the nursing process and Dr. Ian F. M. Saint-Yves, who will talk about the GP's viewpoint to teamwork in primary care
On the Saturday afternoon, there is a somewhat novel approach as the whole conference will be divided into four to take part in seminars on topical issues. These are as follows:
a) The value of textbooks St. John Ambulance education.
b) The Role of the Nursing Officer in First Aid Teaching.
c) Future of First Aid at work.
d) Public Duties - where are our priorities?
I can foresee some very useful discussion arising from these issues - and I do not envy the task of the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Dr. Donaldson , in handling the talk back seminars on Saturday evening!
The Health and Safety Executive document is occupying St. John's attention at this specific moment and I am sure that both Dr. K. P. Duncan and Mrs. D. M. Radwanski, who are giving papers on the medical and nursing aspects of occupational health, will be received with rapt attention.
I am sorry to hear that this will be the last Medical Conference for the Secretary, Philip Adams - alas, age creeps up with us all! No-one will believe this, but he will be well over the retirement age when the Medical Conference takes place. (At least, so he tells me ).
If any reader is unable to get in touch with their District and County Secretaries, I am sure Philip Adams at Headquarters will be able to provide application forms for the conference.
LONGEST SERVICE?
ASO Leonard Kemp, of Eastern Area, Surrey , writes:
Have we lost our longest serving member of all time? I was prompted to reflect on this question by a ceremony held at Redhill Headquarters last November when a Chairman's chair and table were handed over to the Brigade in memory of Area Staff MIND BENDERS (answers) 'W111d 'J:? ';lI:JunV .£ ·.un:J pUll JllIlO:,) ·z 'lllIJ;llIlW lU;llJlnN
th are the critically important ones. We m;ght have been asked them, and it might h ve been better for us (and for those to we may have to render first aid) if we had been, even if the result had been the temporary setback of a failure. WE can recover from that setback, and will be all the better first aiders in consequence; but if we're satisfied with merely 'scraping through', the recovery of the casualties that we treat tomorrow may be less well assured.
ASO A. C. Holman. of Surrey being invested as an Officer. See story LONGES T SERVICE?
Officer A. C Holman by his family and friends.
ASO Holman joined the Brigade on May 30 1923 as a private in the Reigat e Ambulance Division. He was 15-years-old at the time, having advanced his age in order to comply with regulations He was in th e Divisional competition team very early in hi s service and was leader of the team for some 21 years, during which they had many successes at local , county and regional levels.
He was promoted to corporal and in ] 932 to sergeant. He was made Divisional Officer of the Reigate Ambulance Division in Jul y 1956 , and three years later Staff Officer of Reigate Corps. When the Corps was disbanded in 1961 he was transferred to the staff of Surrey Eastern Area, and became Area Training Officer. As a lay instructor he trained members of the public as well as Brigade personnel. He was extremely valuable as a competition judge and always very active in organising competitions at all levels.
In 1964 Fred, as he was known. was invested as Serving Brother of the Order and in 1973 promoted to Officer Brother (photo above).
His active service with the Brigade ended when he officially retired in March 1978 , but this did not stop him working for St. ] ohn. With his friend and colleague of many years ASO T. Dumaresq he continued to instruct the public in mouth to mouth resuscitatio n and cardiac massage. It is estimated that jointly, they trained over 4 000 people in emergency cardiac resuscitation under a scheme organised by a local doctor. The y also continued normal first aid training for organisations such as Gatwick Airpor t Police, Laker Airways, local authorities and large companies. 1923 to 1978 - 55 years. I believe n o other member can claim longer adult service in the Brigade.
I wonder how many Brigade members sutTer from cold feet while awaiting their turn to be re-examined? I would like to hope they all do, for a mild attack of cold feet is quite a healthy symptom in examinees. But if the unfortunate chap (or girl) knows that there's some detail (even if only quite a small one) that he's forgotten, and he hasn't managed to look it up or ask some reliable friend the answer or, where appropriate, practise it , then his feet will be positively frozen and that's not so good. So do give him a chance to solve his problem in advance.
As a Divisional Superintendent for 19 years I always gave my division the chance to revise before the re-exam, and I always found it was a great help to those present, including myself. And I hope I shan't sound either loud -mouthed or big-headed if I add that, though I passed my first Association exam for an adult FA certificate more than half a century ago and hold currently valid certificates both as a lay instructor and as a lay lecturer (overseas), I regard it as vital to attend, about once every 3 years, either a full course of lectures in first aid (and nursing, for that matter) or an intensive refresher course, and I never fail to learn something from it. Nowadays I prefer the latter alternative where possible, so that I'm working with people who are unaware that I'm not a 'second-timer' like most of themselves. And as to cold feet, well. I still sutTer from them, and the only thing 1 worry about is lest the day should ever come when I don't, for that will be the day to watch out for.
So , in conclusion, may I sum up my personal advice to all Divisional Su perintendents:
1. DO give your members at least a brief chance for revision before every annual reexam, if only to provide a little warmth fo r their cold feet.
2. DO encourage them to attend a full course of lectures and practical work about once every 3 years.
3. But if your division organises an annual Association course for the public , DO give them some alternative to attending the whole Course every year; they'll only get browned off unless they have a specific job as helpers on the Course, and the remainder will be better employed facing the challenge of a well -planned programme of more advanced training in another room (and sometimes out of doors).
endangered by (a) asphyxia (b) severe bleeding, or (c) further injury which could be averted by instant removal of either the cause or the casualty
Who does what?
Despite the guidance given in BGR 107 , Brigade members attending public duties are often uncertain or ignorant about 'who is supposed to do what'. This particularly appUes to large public duties covering a wide area, where a carefully planned scheme of devolution of duties is essential.
In all public duties , from the largest to the smallest, there must always of course be an officer or member in charge; and if a Surgeon is present (or, in the absence of a Surgeon, a Nursing Officer), he will have overall responsibility for all medical matters and the Officer-in-charge will act under his instructions on the medical treatment of casualties. In large public duties the Officerin-charge will appoint an assistant in charge of each first aid post, and others in charge of various special departments of duty such as radio communications and ambulance transport. He may also allocate to certain members the responsibility for quite a wide variety of other ancillary tasks, such as looking after a rest room for the elderly and infirm, taking care of lost children manning a public information post providing tea or hot soup and sandwiches for Brigade members, police and other officials on duty , and possibly selling cups of tea to the public.
The majority of members (including cadets) on duty will be d irectly concerned with rendering first aid where necessar y, and will either be stationed at a first aid post or a potential danger spot (e.g at races), or patrolling the area in pairs and back to a first aid post at regular intervals.
But whatever task an individual member has been given, the smooth and efficient running of the whole public duty structure depends on his being at the right place to carry out his allotted task when required and this particularly applies to those involved for example, in radio communications , ambulance transport and the permanent manning of each first aid post; only in cases of life -saving emergency should he abandon that task and do something different.
But such cases of life-saving emergency do sometimes occur during the course of a public duty; and when they do, the nearest first aider at hand must be ready to use his initiative and act. It is all a question of priorities, and the top priority for all of us is the immediate saving of life when it is
That is a responsibility which lies with each one of us in moments of crisis, no matter what less urgent job we may have been given to do, no matter whether we are 'top brass' or the youngest cadet on duty, no matter whether we are officially on duty at all, or in uniform at all; but if we are in public, and in uniform we have if possible an even greater responsibility, because we are seen and recognised by the public to be there for the very purpose of rendering first aid. That is why, since about 5 years ago, all male officers attending a public duty in uniform , from the Commissioner-in-Ch ief down to the most recently appointed Grade VI officer, are required to carry a properly stocked white first aid haversack (female officers always carry a personal FA kit anyway). And I hope it is common knowledge that both the Commissioner-inChief and the Superintendent-in -Chief have on a number of occasions whether in uniform or not, set a fine example to all the rest of us by their personal involvement in rendering first aid when an emergency has occurred.
One important last word: none of the above suggestions are intended to alter or unsettle the well-established and satisfactory public duty arrangements that already exist in many divisions, corps, areas and districts or counties. They are offered for three reasons: (a) to help those who may be planning public duty arrangements for the first time ; (b) to clear the minds of those who attend public duties but are perhaps a little hazy about the priorities of their personal involvement; and (c) if there should alas be any first aider who thinks that in any sudden emergency he should count any duty as of higher priority than that of attempting to save life (having first, where appropriate. reduced the risk of further danger to a minimum). to challenge him.)o think again.
STOP PRESS
Year. of Nursing
The application list for training projects closed on January 31 and selecrion for all 10 projects is now completed. Everyone who applied wi/! recez'l'e a letter from Headquarters either to give rhem the good news of a vacancy or (Q offer them a place on the reserve lisr for a projecr of their choice.
Cry from Headquarters Nursing Branch: Ijyou telephone with al7)' query, please give Iour County - there are 400 applicanrs filed by counries.
(Left) Bucks: At the Northern Area review Major J. D. Young KStJ Lord Lieutenant and President of the St. John Council accompanied by Area Supt. (N) Mrs J. Mylam and Area Pres. Sir Philip Duncombe chatting to Divisional NO Mrs M. Woodroffe
PANTYHOSE
your first aid ki t
Ar m sl in g (l e ft )
T he tr u nk of the pantyhose is place under the forearm, ensuring that the wrist is supported One leg s ake n around the person s neck and tied to the other on the injured side in the notch above the clavic e A safety pin is necessary to hold the pantyhose secure.
T o ret a in a d r e s s ing on th e h e ad
THE AIDS we use in pro viding firs t aid care are becoming more sophisticated and costly - so why not look for something that is more readil y availabl e and less expensive? Something around the hom e, for instance.
I've found that clean old pantyhose can be t urne d to many uses before they're relegated to the dustbinas a temporary fan belt , a clothes line , as handles for a school bag , as a strap to prev e nt a bulging suitc ase from bursting open AND as various types of sli ng and bandages. These photographs show a few of th e ways pantyhose can be used in first aid so that th e princip les of treatment are achieved.
Monica Gre en, SR N Victoria, Austra lia
T he trunk of the garm ent is placed around the head , ensuring the leg s are place d
and
If you must dine AND dance ... BEWARE
Young Helll ), Jone s , afriend of mine,
Once took a girl to dance and dine;
And when s he heard the saxophones
She turned at once 10 Henry Jon es
A nd, laughing, dragged him to hisfeel.
His mouth was filled with saumon-truite
A nd also pommes de lerre au beurre
(o rflsh and chips, if yo u prefel),
And as the)' circled, cheek to cheek,
His mouth, alas! too full to speak,
He could not with becoming grace
Keep chewing in his partner'sface
So tried to swa low, at one gulp,
The scarcely masticated pulp!
A h me! W h ile he was act ing thus,
Firmly in his oesophagus
A fish-bone (so it is alleged)
Became inex t ricably wedged!
He choked! He cease d to breathe at all!
His partner then began to call
For doctors, and, I understand,
No less thanfour were close at hand
IflVe include upon our list
A !Veil known osteologist
While four physicians scraped and bowed,
Each begging he might be allowed
To let his colleague take the case ,
Poor Jones grew blacker in theface,
Alld seemed the symptoms to evince
Of some expiring Indian prince!
For hours the cjoctors argued hard
(the Bone -setter, of course, was barred)
Before they could at last agree
Hall best to split the patient'sfee.
By then poor H enry Jones had tired
Of the discussion, and expired!
The moral, at a single glance, Is this: If you MUST dine and dance, Make sure theflsh upon your plate
Is totally invertebrate;
Jj),OLl decide to dance and dille
See that you r salmon has no spine !
But, better sti{{ you've got it made' MAKE SURE YOUR PARTNER LEAR S FIRST AID.
Area Surgeon. S. Staffs
A. F. Handley.
IN THE EARLY hours (2am) of Tuesday, September 18, I was awoken by the phone; it was SJA s Aeromedical HQ. Could I go to Berlin with a patient that very day?
At 9am I was on my way by inter-city train from South Wales to Reading arriving at Heathrow Airport at 1.lSpm. The desk clerk had no idea what I was talking about. Patient - what patient? It took two hours to sort it out. The patient was at Gatwick airport - in the police cells. He had arrived at Gatwick the previous day from Berlin , having frightened the passengers and crew of the plane when he produced a knife. Then he locked himself in the toilet until they had landed and the police had come aboard and arrested him. The airport medical officer reported he was schizophren ic
He was an American serviceman serving in Berlin and was coming to Britain for a holiday. The police brought him from Gatwick to London Airport, where I was waiting
He arrived IS minutes before our plane was due to take-off and the police were surprised that I was alone; I explained that I was a psychiatric nurse and had experience of these sorts of patients before I was handed our flight tickets and his passport and we were esco r ted to the plane.
The flight crew had been briefed and we were given the rear seat; four rows in front of us were left empty. I started chatting to my patient , introducing myself again, saying I was a nurse and to call me Bill. He said he was Mike. We are getting along.
We took off and still we chatted, almost throughout the flight. Then IS minutes before landing he started to become agitated, waving his arms and shouting at the other
At the station a senior police offic er explained that this h ad been fo r m y protection and then offered me some snap s.
My patient had been led away under escort. I was then taken to a British Airwa ys official , who thanked me for looking after the patient so well. There was a car waiting to take me to an hotel in the centre of the cit y, everything to be paid for by British Airwa ys.
The driver was told to take me the ong wa y round, to show me the city s ights.
We arrived in Berlin at 7pm and I arriv ed at the hotel at 11.30pm.
The next morning I was awoken by the phone at 9am ; it was British Airways sayin g they had booked me on the 1 pm flight for London. I did some shopping and sightseeing during the morning and was surprised how many people stopped me to ask about my uniform and how friendly the y were.
Back at the airport I was met by a policeman who asked me to go to the airpor t police station. What have I done now? I asked myself. But all was well. The senio r officer of the night before was there, shook my hand , and said: 'I'm off dut y toda ybut I just had to come and say goodbye.' He went on to say I had done a good jo b - the patient had gone beserk after I left the airport, smashing windows and chair s: asking if they could get me back to stay with him until the US military police arrived to take him to a military hospital. But the German police told him I had left the airport. I hadn't, it so happened, I was with Br itish Airways. I'd have been quite happ y to do as he suggested But it was too late now. So I boarded the plane for London. the same plane and crew as on the way outand t hey made me very welcome , the captai n coming back for a chat. The flight out with the patient was easy; coming back all hell let loose. Soon after take-ofT a fierce gale hit us and we had to land at Hanover - after being battered by the pl ane falling int o massive air pockets.
I got away from Hanover at 4.30pm arriving back at Heathrow at 7.30pm. I was escorted to the VIP s lounge , bypassin g customs and immigration, and met by a British Airways official.
Can you go to Berlin today?
passengers. I told him to grow up and behave himself. He did. The plane touched down taxied, and came to a stop , the doors opening Three German policemen carrying guns, entered by the front door and three more from the rear. They surrounded us, and proceeded to put handcuffs on my patient, to which I protested unsuccessfully We were marched off the plane. Then marched to the airport police station, escorted by the six gun-toting police.
I arrived home at midnight - very tired , of course , but happy happy to have given a bit of service for the best organisation in the world: St. John Ambulance Aero Medic al Service. And I hope I can give a lot more If you're a doctor , or a State Registered Nurse , and would like to be involved in this sort help-to-others as a member of St. John - I know somebody who'd like to hear from your: The Aero Medical Services , I Grosvenor Crescent , London SW 1. Just ri ng them on 235-S231.
Content: This film shows treatment for the incontin.ent patient.
J\ rai saI: This is a straight forward drug promotional film but It IS a pp h d hit ni cely produced little production With t. at oes e p 0 under stan d feelings of those who suffer from Incontmence; naturally, there is an insufficiency of nursing aids for better personal use that are available but nonetheless it is a decent enough little film.
Audience: Would be useful within the context of community health nursing, although primarily it is addressed to general practitioners.
FIRST AID (Part 2) - Anatomy and Physiology
Tape/s lide presentation. 80 by Dr.. Roger Evans.
Distributed by: Graves Medical AudiOVisual Library, P.O. Box 99 , Chelmsford, Essex CM2. Pri ce: £33.00.
Appraisal: This is an excellent presentation that covers anatomy and physiology lucidly. The fact t hat there are no le ss than transparencies means that it is a long programme With a lot of in it but unfortunately in modern days it is somewhat expensive. However, it might be preferable if this programme were split into two and show n as two halves. The commentary is absolutely clear and all in all this is a very good pre sentation that would be very useful in those s ituations where no competent doctor is available to give these lectures.
Strongly recommended.
LA RAGE (Rabies) - 16mm film.
Distributed by: Central Film Library, Government Buildings. Bromyard Avenue, Acton. London W3 Hire fee £7.50 first day, £l a day extra up to 7 days.
Content: The dangers that exist and precautions that must be taken aga inst this disease.
Appraisal: This film of French origin although it now has an English commentary. The film is authoritative, accurate and up-to -da te; it might be thought a shade long and a little too technical but, nonetheless , has wide interest.
Recommended.
Audience: Universal.
OUR HEALTH IS NOT FOR SALE - 16mm film.
Distributed by: National Film Board of Canada, 1 Grosvenor Square. London W I X OAB. Price £ 146.
ADOPTION. a Camera Talks slide product ion in 4 parts (Below) Part 3 Adoptive Parents The adopted child. Theresa is brought to the infant welfare clinic for a check-up. (Right) Part 2. A schoolgirl mother:
The SJA Multi -Media Appraisal Panel which comprises doc(ors, nurses,firsaiders and visual aid expe rt s, is one of (he ofJicially appointed panels of the Brit is h Medical Association. li S reviews are also published in Ihe BMA '/I?forma tio n '.
WHO WILL I SENTENCE NOW - 16mm film.
Distributed by: National Film Board of Canada. Price £ 171. The Panel considered these two ftlms to be of interest but inasmuch as the background of the UK and Canada differ so widely in re spect of trade union and management relations the film will be of no interest to St. John Ambulance.
Appraisal: Although produced recently this presentation contains technical nursing errors and portrays treatments that are now considered out-dated. However , even with faults providing a nursing officer is present, this programme could be screened to St. John nursing members.
AIR TO BREATHE 16mm film. 20 minutes.
Distributed by: Millbank Films. Thames Hove orth, Millbank, London. Price: £20S.00 plus VAT. Hire 3 days. £35.00 plus VAT: 7 days, £40 00 plus VAT.
Content: Training film on use and how to wear breathing apparatus in confined spaces. Two men are overcome by carbon monoxide fumes; a rescue team go in to save them from a ship's engine room and demonstrate the importance of using the breathing equipment properly, to avoid being overcome themselves.
Appraisal: This is an excellent example of a training film; it is straight forward - has a definite objective sums up at the end and would be of great interest to trainees. It emphasises the absolute im portance of sticking to the drill , the narrator is obviously a man of experience and all in all this is a very useful production
Strongly recommended
Audience: Training officers, safety officers, firefighting personnel. industrial rescue and any first-aiders lik ely to employ breathing equipment or air sets.
SANITARY NEEDS - Tape/ slide programme.
Distributed by: Audio Visual urse Train i ng Price £47.S0.
Content: Shows care of patients and equipment.
Appraisal: This is an excellent presentation that in a non-mealymouthed manner deals with urination and defecati ve needs of hospital patients both bed and ambulatory. Inasmuch as this is a subject that can cause embarrassment between instructors and learners this presentation will have great va lue.
Recommended.
Audience: All undergoing nursing training.
CARPENTRY AND JOINERY
HOME MANAGEMENT
A complete, practical guid e t o happ y li v ing in all ir s bran ch es. Every thing from the old " dome s tic s cience" to p sy cholo gy, from the de v elopment of s elf- e xpre ss ion to th e treatment o f a f eve ri s h c o ld . The whole work, from cover [0 cover, has been compiled by a panel of foremos t writers on contempo r ar y l iving.
2 Beautifully bound Volumes in Presentation Case. 1,528 Pages 1,837 Practical Dlustrations 96 Pages of Colour Plates Set weighs over lb
Hundr eds o/pa Res o/Coo k ery R ec ip es from Hors - D'Oeuvre to Special Occasion Cakes: Wines & Cocktai ls: Carving: Cookery Terms: Pests: Stains: Choosing Pottery: 60-page Garden Section: ABC of Dressmaking, Embroidery, Knitting & Crochet: Love & Marriage: Mother & Baby Section: Heating: Making Eiderdowns & Rugs: Furnishing: Parties: Etiquette: Slimming & Increasing Weight: Horne Handyman: First - Aid & Home Treaanent: Law & Your Horne: Pets: Hire - Purchase: Antique Collecting, etc
Cadet Chat by JIM
AS I SAT DOWN to write this month's column I realised that this will be my seventh for the Review. By now readers should have some idea of what I have been trying to offer through the column, which I hope has been of value. However I would be grateful to hear readers' comments on the column and suggestions as to how it can be improved. My post bag is getting fuller every day and I look forward to contributions and offer s from anyone who would like to be a regular contributor to the column. Just drop me a line at the address on the neXL page.
Sponsored walks
The Rambler's Association and the National Farmers Union have collaborated in the production of a special code and handbook for organisers of sponsored walks in the countryside.
The authors stress the need for a detailed plan of action and a sample is given in the booklet. Advice is given on the central organisation, choice of route, paperwork and pUblicity - in fact all you need to know.
The Sponsored Walk Code summarises adviGe to organisers and encourages respect for the countryside for those taking part.
Sponsored Walks in the Countryside: a Guide for Organisers is available, price 30p , from the Ramblers Association, 1-5 Wandsworth Road, London SWB 2LJ. The Sponsored Walk Code is free.
Money, money, money!
Have you any ideas that you would share with other divisions for fund raising? If so, send me the details and I will run a special issue.
The Shell Better Britain Competition
The Shell Better Britain Competition, sponsored by the Nature Conservancy Council, the Civic Trust and Shell to encourage interest in the conservation and improvement of the environment, this year celebrates its tenth anniversary. The event has become increasingly popular over the years and more than 25,000 young people have taken part. Since the launch of the competition in May 1970, more than 1,000 enquiries have already been received from youth groups, schools and colleges allover the United Kingdom.
When the competition was started a decade ago, its emphasis was very much on rural conservation but there is a growing awareness that environmental conservation and concern for the community is important in towns as it is in the countryside. Improvement of inner-city areas is a vital task and the sponsors are this time considering making special awards in order to encourage the interest and participation of young people in such areas.
The range of projects is tremendous; in previous years groups have cleared weedridden lakes and ponds, created nature reserves made stretches of river and canal navigable, built adventure playgrounds and so on.
The closing date for entries for the tenth anniversary of the Shell Better Britain Competition is 30th April, 1980, and project material and information must be submitted by 31st July, 1980. Prizes amounting to more than £3,000 will be shared among the regional and national finalists. Each regional winning entry will receive £250 and the
ST. JOH N ROAD SIGNS from Anglesey
rrom Catherine Tariing, or Ti!bury
runners-up will also receive a prize. At the National Final, the winning team will be awarded a further £750 , and two oint runners-up will each receive a further £25 0 If interested in this competition , for application forms and further informat io n to: The Shell Better Britain Competit ion, Nature Conservancy Council, PO Box 6 Godwin House , George Str e et , HUNTINGDON Cambridgeshire P E 18 6BU.
This competition would be of interes to older cadets who wish to help further in th eir community.
Programme ideas
Thanks again to Kathleen Little from Chadwell Heath, for these ideas. Have yo u any?
1. Rig a small, closed area or room wi t h door ajar - this is then a lift' (elevat or) Brief two or more casualties with story li ne :
The lift has stuck and casualty in there has heart attack, fit or diabetic emergency. Or, when lift jolted to stop, people in it were injured. Make sure the casualties are well versed in signs and symptoms of chosen injuries, or use make-up.
Place casualties in lift without cadets seeing them. Cadets then come in, either singly or in pairs, and by calling out to those in lift they have to get history, diagnose and treat casualties. Casualties should have with them a scarf, handkerchief and tissues, to be used if told to do so by the first-aider.
Kathleen Little says she has used this several times with very good results.
2. Idea for Kim's (observation) game (1 2 members or more). Sitting in a circle one c adet covers eyes. The others then change places while one cadet leaves the room. When all is set , the cadet is told to uncover eyes and say - within 30 seconds - who is missi ng. Kathleen thought this was an easy g am e at first , but soon found how difficult so me c adets found it.
3. Feeding an incapable patient. Makeu p t he bed with one pillow and make sure th at e ver yt hing on it is protected. Cadets take it in turn to be patient in prone position while nurse feeds them. Last time Chadwell
MAN Y MEMBERS of the Brigade find little t ime for hobbies Those who do often tend o ke ep them apart from their ' service to mank ind ', feeling that the y need s ome time o th e m s el ves. But in S t. Albans. Hert ford s hire , local handicapped people have fo und a member who is enriching their lives by sharing her hobby with them.
Twe lve y ears ago Mrs Lillian Olney then supe rintendent of St Albans Nursing Cadet Divisi on , helped to inaugurate a day care cen tre for the elderl y housebound. With other me mber s of the nursing division she atte nd ed ever y fortnight to help with the gene ral care and give first aid where neces sar y.
F rom the start it was a great success , and Li llian was kept busy one way and another wit h a full programme of Brigade work and ru nn ing her home.
Bu t about nine years ago she started to go to art classes and a whole new world opened up for her. Although she had only the usual a rt lessons at senior school, and had done no thing since , she suddenly found she could draw and paint landscapes and especially flowers , in oils, water colours and pastels.
This quickened her interest in the work of t he art therapist Mrs. Rachel Willson who came to the centre twice a month. When she for further studies, Lillian kept the class gomg until someone else could be found.
Most of the class had suffered strokes were confused and had little use of thei; , hands. By watching, having a little explained and then with a bit of help in guiding their
Heath practised this, they used jelly brown bread and butter , and water from a feeding cup. In this way cadets learn about the 'feel of being fed: too fast, slow, roughly - or 'drowned' with feeding cup.
Try these ideas.
Competition winners
You will remember that before Christmas I asked cadets to send in as many words as possible that could be made from HAPPY CHRISTMAS. I had a good response and the winner of the gift token is: Helen Wright, of Sutton Coldfield.
Runners up, who will receive a Cadet Chat badge as soon as they arrive from the manufacturer, are: Wendy Bunce of Amersham; Lynne Smailes of Folkestone; Patricia Keats of Felixstow; Simon Weale of Leigh -on-Sea; Tanya Finch, Julie Houghton, Michelle Ward and Heather Ward, all from Kettering.
Not many cadets from the North here , are there ? Where are you cadet s f r om t h e northern counties? Can y ou hear r:ne ?
What a body?
Answers to last month s clues : 1 Palms 2 Hands 3 Trunk, 4 Muscles , 5 Sole s , 6
CARING IS SHARING
How a hobby just grew and grew - to help others
hands , the y progre s sed and loved e ve ry minute of it.
One member confined to a whe e lchair could not manage much bu t she taught h im how to write a little , wh ich was a gre at thrill for him after years of not being able to wr ite at all.
Lillian draws pictures of all kinds for t hem to colour and the bright paints cheer them up. Some of the pictures she has fr a med for exhibition.
Last summer, Mrs Olney was v isiting a Brigade member at St. Albans City Hospital when she passed the newly opened rehabiliation unit where Mrs Willson was taking a painting class She was introduced to the class and Mrs Willson suggested she showed them how to paint flowers, Mrs Willson admitted was not her strong point.
Lillian quickly painted a colourful rose bay willow herb, which was much admired They asked her to come again sometime and help , an invitation which proved irresistible.
Not long after she was asked to take over the class to release Mrs Willson for other
Vessels , 7 Heart , 8 Veins 9 Hips , 10 Waist.
This month's clues to parts of the body : 1 What a plumber has to deal with; 2 A measurement; 3 Parts of a chair 4 The young animals; 5 Sacred building ; 6 Mos t buildings have one; 7 iviusical instrument 8 Fruit; 9 Scholars; 10 Personal pronoun Answers next month , together with the final 10 clues
Outward Bound and Sail Training cruises
Details of the s e cour s e s, which are offered to members at special rates , have been sen t to counties. If you are interested contact y our coun t y office through the u s ual channel s. The course s are good f u n, v
St. John road signs
Thank s to J. O William s, o f Angle s e
AMBULANCE COURSE
from R. J. Goldfinch, Ambulance Member
I agree with David Bouchard (Jan. Review) about ambulance standardisation and an ambulance aid course.
It is commendable to leave room for local i.nitiative and variation according to demand, but at the moment these seem to be taken as the only criteria. To arrange training is difficult enough without having to write the book first. As soon as one steps beyond the standard first aid and nursing manuals, this is what one has to do. While most divisions probably have help from professional ambulance personnel for ambulance training, any form of written guidelines are very difficult to obtain.
When we have relatively complex dress regulations governing the appearance of members on duty, should we · not at least have recommendations on equipment for various types of vehicle, and a comprehensive ambulance aid manual?
There was no comment from HQ to Mr. Bouchard's letter. (Ed: I decided it better to 'float' the idea). I am sure he is right in thinking hundreds of divisions would welcome these moves and an explanation of policy would be helpful.
Wingham, Kent R J. Goldfinch
PIN ART
from D. A. layzell, Divisional Superintendent
D S Layzell and son Michael show what can be done with pins and thread - plus patience
Attached is a photograph of my son, Cadet Cpl. Michael, and myself with an example of our pin art. It is made of chipboard, 60cm by 70cm, covered with black felt, with moulding pins driven into the board an eighth-of-an-inch apart. The pins stand about half-a n-inch proud and silver thread is intertwined around each pin in herringbone fashion - so creating the design.
In this design there are 2468 pins and 100 metres of thread. It took about 40 hours to make. We raised £30, at 5p-a-go guessing the number of pins used , for our building appeal. The design will be in our new headquarters when it is built.
Honiton, Devon D. A. Layzell
WARTIME CRASHES
from A. Robin Hood
The Devon Aircraft Research and Recovery Team (a voluntary organisation) has for many years been making a detailed study of the many aircraft that crashed in the two counties during the last war.
During our investigations we recover reUcs from sites for our future museum , together with recording in detail the effect each crash had on the community
We would be grateful to hear from anyone who served in St . John Ambulance or other rescue services who had , however brief, experiences of attending aircraft crashes in Devon or Cornwall.
One particular site that is causing some difficulty in researching is a Focke- Wulf 190 that crashed at Maidencombe, near Torquay in May 1943. Although the aircraft was not salvaged, a section of wing was however recovered by the Territorial Army under the supervision of the ARP during 1944-46. The recovery was for a St. John Ambulance exercise on Haytor Down, in the parish of I1sington, on Dartmoor. All enquiries concerning the exercise have drawn blanks.
I wonder, therefore , if any of your readers could help us with either this or other crash locality incidents?
31 Church Rd, Barton, Torquay A. Robin Hood , Chairman
FORGOTIEN?
from W. E. Street. Divisional Officer
Relaxing after Christmas lunch with my family, I wondered if all old comrades of St. John throughout the country who are now seni or citizens like myself were having such a happy Xmas, as no doub t many of them live on their own.
Then it occurred to me, why couldn't all divisions arrange ea ch Xmas for a small dinner , or evening meal, for their ex-members o ver 60 or 65 who hold the service medal, just to remind them that they a re not forgotten?
Divisions which have never had a high membership, and therefor e their old members are too few for a dinner could make up a parcel o wish the ex-member a happy Christmas. This could come und er 'W elfare '.
Exmouth W. E. Street
BARROW-IN-FU RN ESS
from Alex Crawford, County PRO
The Association Branch at Barrow -in-Furness was founded in 18 80 and as the brand-new county train ing organiser and PRO for Cumbr ia I have been asked to help B arrow members with t heir centenar y celebrations this year. Barrow was, of course, part of the Lancashir e Association.
Would anyone who can help u s with old photographs or information about the history of Barrow Association please get in touch with me?
County HQ, St. John Centre, Calegate Rd, Carlisle, Phone 28684 A {ex Crallior d
Pam shows the way
MRS. PAM RIDGERS has been a regular visitor to the Channel Island of Guernsey over the past ten years. On a visit in March 1979, she called on the Guernsey Ambulance Service for assistance and promised that she would return to undertake a sponsored swim in aid of their funds.
The most remarkable thing about this ofTer was that Pam - who is 40 years of age - has been severely disabled since sutTering an attack of polio some 19 years ago. Her disability is such that she has only 25 per cent lung capacity and the use of only her arms.
True to her promise, Pam returned to the island last September and thrilled everyone, not least herself, by swimming a total of 17 lengths of the pool, at Guernsey's Leisure Centre, Beau Sejour - a distance of 425 metres.
There was a marvellous response to Pam's efTorts; cash flowed in for two months and eventually reached £526.37 With this money the Ambulance and Rescue Service bought, after consultation with her a Resusci Anne, 4 Ambu bags 2 ox;gen flowmeters and gauges, and a Portogen oxygen set.
A staunch member of the Salvation Army, Pam lives in Millwall, South-East London, and over several years has raised over £21,000 for various charities. She runs two old people's clubs in her home area. To help her with everyday tasks such as the telephone and switching on hghts or television, she has installed in her home a highly sophisticated electronic called Possum. Developed by the BntJsh Polio Fellowship, this equipment enables such electrical appliances to be operated by remote control , with gentle
Helping others helps yourself
mouth suction and/or pressure down a tube. Pam also uses a typewriter operated by Possum, with a 'joystick' control, to deal
BOOKS
First Aid for Hill Walkers and Climbers
By Jane Renouf & Stewart Hulse
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd. 75p.
THIS small pocket-fitting book is designed to introduce the subject of first aid to the beginner on the hills and rocks and therefore has a specialist element which is bound to be particularly interesting for those of us in Divisions situated in the more hilly parts of the country. It is well written and the diagrams though few are clear and to the point. The content gives first class hints on the clothing, footwear, equipment and first aid kit necessary for the climber and walker, then a section on what to do in the event of an accident and how rescue is car.ried out on the hills
The larger part of the book is set out like a dictionary of first aid, under various headings are given the pr iorities, what to do and what not to do all explained in simple terms free from technical jargon. This is an excellent little book both for the novice and the old hand.
S.B.
) with all the telephone calls and paperwork required of her many activities
Thank you, Pam, for your wonderful help! Principle Drugs. An Alphabetic Guide by S. J. Hopkins, FPS. Foreward: Prof. C. A. Keele FRCP
Publisher: Faber & Faber , 1980. £1.75. All doctors and nurses must, at one time or another, have asked w hat is this drug that is be ing referred to ' , Now we have the answer in this pocket sized booklet. It not only gives the usual trade names and chemical names but also the main usage of the drugs listed It cannot fail to be of help to everyone in this pill conscious society as a quick help to identify a particular medicine.
Obesity and Anorexia Nervosa. A Question of Shape by Dr. Peter Dally and Dr. Joan Gomez
As the industrialised nations of the world slide into obesity from the plain fact of not using , physically, all the food they consume, it is a startling fact that may be as high as one girl in a hundred is so revolted by the thought of getting fat that she diets to such an extent as to damage her health and even endanger her life This book gives a fascinating and clear account of both these problems and should be read by everyone.
NEWS from SCOTLAND
A WINDOW in memory of the late Lady Scicluna was unveiled in St. Mary's Church, Haddington, on Sunday, October 28, 1979 at a service attended by Sir Hannibal Scicluna, who celebrated his hundredth birthday in February, and the Chancellor of th€ Scottish Priory.
The Snomobile motorised sledge presented by the Priory of Scotland to Glenshee Ski Rescue Association a year ago proved its usefulness on January 2 when a 16-year-old skier hurt himself badly in a collision with a fence post. The little halftrack vehicle took the rescu€rs quickly to the scene and helped to bring the injured boy to the helicopter that whisked him off to the Royal Infirmary, Dundee.
On January 9 the Chancellor, Colonel J. H. C. MacLeod, and Mr. Ian Laird , CStJ, visited Inverness where th€ Chancellor presented a Certificate of Honour to WPC Mhairi Munro in recognition of her courage and resourcefulness in helping to apprehend a man who was subsequently sent to prison for 6 years on a charge of robbery and rape.
On the same morning Mr. Laird presented a personal gift -a new Land-Rover fully equipped for mountain rescue work - to the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team.
Dunbartonshire St. John Association showed commendable comradeship with the British Red Cross when they presented a lay dummy for practice in first -aid work to the local branch of the Red Cross.
The AG M of the Fife St. John Association took place in the Crown Hotel, Thornton, on January 17 when the Limner to the Priory , Mr. Charles Burnett , OStJ gave an interesting talk on Heraldry and the Order of St. John. An enjoyable supper completed a very pleasant social evening.
The Central Branch of the st. John Association held its AGM on January 30 when the meeting was followed by a formal dinner at which the principal speaker was the new Lord Lieutenant of the county, MajorGeneral F. C. C. Graham, CB, DSO.
At a special meeting of Priory Chapter held on January 11 the Prior of Scotland, His Grace the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, regretfully concurred with the wish of Colonel J. H : Ca lder MacLeod to retire from the office of Chancellor on his 75th birthday, and thanked him for his devoted services to the Order in Scotland over many years. Colonel MacLeod remains a member
Dr. William Macfarlane Gray , Receiver Genera of the Priory, presenting the
to the Glenshee Ski Rescue Association in January 1979. (Photo: Cooper & Co Perth)
51. John in Pembrokeshire was recently presented with this Bedford CF ambulance. which had been used on the Milford Haven refinery, having covered only some 5,000 miles by Amoco UK) Ltd. At present SJA has six ambu lances in the county. Thi s one will go to the Haverfordwest Division. Here, the company's refining d ire
The Chancellor p resents a Certificate of Honour to ;u: WPC Munro - with (L to R) Chief Constable Donald Henderson , Mrs Margare t Fraser. Chairman Highland Assoc SJ and Capt. Wm Dobson KStJ Chairman Highland Commit ee SJ. (Photo: Aberdeen Press)
SJ,AjBRCS gift. Chairman of Dunbartonshire Association, Albert Cr ic ht on presents practice dummy to Commandant BR s Mrs. H D Dav dson (Photo: Helensburgh Advertiser ) of Priory Chapter and of Chapter General. The Grand Prior has now confirmed the appointment of Mr Wm A P Jack CBE, KStJ , FRIBA, FRIAS, as Chancellor o f the Prior y of Scotland. Mr. Jack is
NORTHERN IRELAND
Commemoration at Canterbury
THE YEAR 1975 was an important year for co-operation, both in first aid and in worship, between the Most Venerable Order of St. John and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; it deserves to take its place beside 1963, the year our two Orders signed a declaration of mutual respect and esteem. ending long years of misunderstanding. It was also a Holy Year of the Roman Catholic Church. and St. John Ambulance, at the invitation of the Order of Malta. covered first aid in St. Peter's Square in Rome for nine of the hottest and busiest weeks of that summer week by week their Grand Master, the F.·:nce Fra Angelo di Mojana, visited each team at the first aid post. Several members went from Kent. In October of that year our Order held a service of rededication in Canterbury Cathedra l. In recent years we have usually had Knights of the Order of Malta at our services, but this time the Grand Master came himself. Not only was this the first time a Grand Master had come to England since de L'Isle Adam in 1528, but the first time ever that a Grand Master had worshipped in an Anglican, or indeed any other reformed churc h, Naturally, members of the Brigade in Kent wished to celebrate this historic occasio n. Our first plan was for a bronze plate in the Quire, near where the Grand Master had sat. But the Cathedral has many plaques and tablets. Eventually, we heard that he C h apel of St. Gregory was to be resto r ed in memory of Archb is h op Fisher. Now he had been Prelate of our Order, a n d the first A rchbi shop of Canterbury to visit a Pope since the Reformation, so that hi s aims had been ve r y much of the sort we wished to
commemorate. Clearly nothing could be more gracious or acceptable , alike to the Cathedral, to the Fisher family, and to ourselves, than a cross and candlesticks fo r the altar, These would be costly. and it did not seem suitable to mount a wide appeal for money for such a purpose. But the then Chairman of the St. John Council for Kent, Robert Houchin, CStJ, County Vice-President. Ambulance Cadets, generally offered to give the cross, and four members of the Brigade clubbed together for the candlesticks,
HIDDEN BONES-result
The Review Christmas puzzle was won by Mrs. D. Staff, 36 Heading le y Road, Rushden, Northants, who receives a year's fr ee sub cription to the S1. John Re\ iew.
The 39 hidden bones are:
After the service Donors of the gifts (L to R Mrs. Agnes Lawrence , Miss Audre y Emerton Dr , Alex
After various inquiries, which included a short tour of cathedrals and churches to study the question, we chose Robert Welch. MBE, the silversmith from Chipping Campden. Gloucestershire, to design it. Sketches began to appear: there were countless difficulties and delays. which will be understood by those with experience of s uc h matters, but eventually a beautiful design was agreed by all, and put in hand, Meanwhile Robert Houchin had died: he had suffered a lot of ill health. but had resolutely kept his St. John activities going until a week or two before the end. His wife Iris. an Officer Sister of the Order and VicePresident. ursing Cadets, carried on his interest with equal enthusiasm. The S1. John badge let into the base of the cross was Mr. Houchin's badge as Commander in the Ord er of S1. John.
The dedication, on September 15. 1979. was conducted by Dr. Donald Coggan. Archbishop of Canterbury and the present Pre late of our Order. in the presence of Mrs. Iris Houchin and the other donors. the Viscountess Monckton, who is a Dame of the Order of Malta and County President. and of num e r o us B riga de members. The Qu ire was full of visitors, many from overseas, and there were numer ous questions asked about t he Bri gade s activities.
Snomobile
Chalmers , Mrs Iris Houch in and Mr. Robert Percival. (Photo: M rway , Ashford)
News from Divisions/Centres
CLUB
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
PILCHER-GREENE
54 years of experience have given us a world wide reputation for the building of AMBULANCES and MEDICAL VEHICLES. An achievement we are justly proud of.
Over 50 years of experience have gone into the designing, building and furnishing of our specialist Ambulances, PILCHER-GREENE Vehicles are CUSTOM BUILT to withstand the most rugged conditions , and our continuing export achievements are proof enough of ou r past success.
Suppliers to: AREA HEALTH BOARDS, LOCAL AUTHORITIES, FACTORIES CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES , VOLUNTARY & WELFARE ORGANISATIONS.
PILCH ER GREENE LIMITED. Vic t or ia Gardens. Burg ess Hill, W. Sussex,England RH1 5 9NA. Telephone: FORD TRANSIT 160 Burgess Hill 5707/9 Telex : 877102 Telegrams: Ambulap,Burgess Hill
(4 ). 14 Ba d co lds for a nagging woman. (S). 16. Lymph dUCl opening int o h e left s ubcl av ian vein (8). 19. It might be the colour of a c y ano s ed patie n t w it h jaundice. (S). 21. Entirely in callus. (3). 22.
C ol our of s un -t anned skin. (S). 23 Br eak up 6 Down with a heav y w ei gh in t h e fr a m ewo r k of th e b ody. (8). 2S Approaches a sense organ bet w ee n po es. (S). 27. A lu minium, therefore, as well. (4). 29.
Co nti ne nt is ba ck in motor in g o r ganisation. (4). 31. Musc ul ar rin g
closi n g an o r ifice of t h e body (9). 32. Part of head and tooth. (S). 33.
O ffe n s ive in c ru stat ion formi n g on lips n prolo n ged severe illn ess. (6).
34. Disea s e occ urrin g as w id es p read, iso ated cases. (8).
Down:
1. Although s le e ping he d is t urbs the othe r patients. (6). 2. Depressed
d ue t o climatic c on di tion? ( S. 3.7). 3. After initia l fi r st aid, sapper
m akes fo o d. (4 ) 4 S tim u ates the fi r st c r anial nerve. (S). 6. Culinar y v egetable s from Wales? (S) 7. P ro te in -ri ch p art of d ie t. (11A). 8. C o mmandin g Offi c e r, Med iterranea n , adds one bl ack head (8). 9.
S m all pr o min e nce o n t h e rib s and so m e ot her b o n es. (8). I S. Set by nur s e for a li g ht meal or minor pr oce dur e. (4). 17 . H ospita l d e p artment
often vis it e d b y acc id ent. (8). 18. T h e same m ilky hea r t. (3). 19
D is mal matte r of th e b ra in. (4 ) 2 0 Patho logica l narrowing of a duct or orifice of th e bod y. ( 8). 24. Tin ca n for a n ast rin ge nt ac id (6) 26.
Facult y for a b ilit y t o m ak e a so u n d jud ge m ent. (5). 28. Su gar y preparation used o a dmini s te r or al dru gs. (5). 3 0 R e m ind e r of wo u nd burn , or ulcer . (4 )
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO. 2(80)
Across: 1. St a ph ly ococcu s; 9. Gulpin g; 10. Rup t u re; 11. T e net ; 12. E wer; 13. Wart ; 15 Duodenum ; 18 F itter ; 2 0
Reef
33.
ST. JOHN HOUSE CLUB
MAKING IT CLEAR
If you're planning, charting, lecturing, teaching, training, controlling, programming, or just doodling, make it clear - with Magiboards.
Only Magiboards offer the visual aid versatility of whiteboards, chalkboards, mobile stands, year planners, graph boards, flipcharts, pinboards,' marker pens, magnetic displays, even music teaching boards.
We make ordering clear too A simple-to-usemail order catalogue, illustrated in colour, makes everything clear. Send for your free copy today.
I ALMOST blush to tell you , but I'm not sure whether it 's with pr ide or shame , that this the lOOth consecuti ve monthl y instalment of ' At Random ' . I can ' t help feeling pleased (rather than proud) that I've been able to tr a vel s o far , and for such a long time , with my readers along a road t h at I once thought I should be lucky to pursue for a y ear , a nd s till more grateful for the encouragement that y ou 'v e gi ven me t o car ry on; but I did make a secret v ow , about a couple of y ear s ago , never to let At Random ' reach its centur y, and I feel rather ashamed that that good intention should ha v e become y et another of hell s pa ving-stone s Ho we ve r, I promised faithfull y that I shan ' t let it reach a nyw h ere ne ar it s second centur y.
At Random started as the result of an unguarded re mar k tha t I m a de in November 1971 at m y rust meeting as a member of the Review Management Board. We were discussing whether the Revie w could do more to impro ve commun ications between HQ and the ' ordinar y' Brigade member. Having never learnt to keep my neck in , or to open m y mou th without put ting my foot in it , I said that w hat we needed most was a regular monthl y feature , written b y someone at HQ , to show our fellow-members who are doing such splendid work in many distant parts of the country , and indeed of the world , that Gros venor Crescent wasn t really im ivory tower inhabited by a strange race of mortals called Them ', who neither understood nor even spoke the same language as those working in the field , known as ' Us . The horrified look on the faces of those present was not so much one of disapproval of my suggestion as of the fear of being asked to carry it out! After a moment ' s silence , Lady Brecknock (at that time chairman of the Review) turned to me and said 'Right, will you do it?' I then realised exactly where I' d put my foot , and that I could do no less than agree to make the attempt.
ONE of the first-aider's highest priorities is the state of unconsciousness it requires immediate action on his part. So conditions which cause such a state should be of interest to him. The list is a very long one including diabetes, epilepsy fainting head injury, heart attack and many other conditions. But there is one that may well be new to the majority of first-aiders, is certainly uncommon in this country (though not in many others) and is of increasing concern and importance. This cause is the most common and important of all tropical diseases - malaria.
Those resident in Britain are probably accustomed to think of malaria if they think of it at all as an exotic disease which only affects those who go to faraway hot places.
Yet in Britain last year more than 1 ,9 00 cases of malaria were reported. The number of cases reported ha s been rising steadily year by year. Of course, all of these cases acquired the infection overseas and brought it back with them. Malaria does not now occur in Britain. It did in the Middle Ages: indeed it was quite common. It is said that Oliver Cromwell died of it and, under the old name of Ague, there are many references to it in the works of Shakespeare However, it died out, due to extension of farming and drainage of marshes and fen-land and now is entirely an imported disease. What is important to realise is just how much of it is being imported at the present time and how serious it can be. There are deaths from it in Britain every year (9 last year) and it is a common cause of death in many tropical countries.
Life-cycle
Malaria is caused by a microscopic singlecelled animal called Plasmodium of which there are four species which cause malaria in man. It has a complicated life -cycle, using both man and the females of a certain type of mosquito, Anopheles, as hosts at various stages. The infection is acquired when an infected female anopheles mosquito bites man and in so doing injects the parasite. The mosquito acquires the infection originally by feeding on the blood of a malaria patient ie a person who has malaria parasites in his red blood cells. So the cycle goes on: manmosquito - man. Only the female mosquito sucks blood; the male is a vegetarian. One species, Plasmodium falciparum, is particularly deadly and causes almost all the serious cases and deaths. The malaria it caused used to be called malignant tertian fever, and malignant it certainly was and still is. It is now more commonly termed falciparum malaria.
The important sign of this disease is fever. For a day or two before, the patient may complain of general malaise, some headache, etc. Then the temperature begins to rise, often abruptly , with a feeling of intense
AN OTH ER cause of UNCONSCIOUSNES
With 1900 cases in Britain last year, it takes little time to acquirejust the time it takes a mosquito to bite
by Dr. D. M. MACKAY, london Deputy District Surgeon
coldness and shivering. These shivers, called rigors , are pronounced and the patient at times may literally be bouncing on his bed. This is succeeded after a short time by a hot phase in which the patient feels very hot and his skin is hot to the touch and dry He is very uncomfortable. Then after a few hours the temperature begins to drop and there is profuse sweating, so much so that the patient 's night clothes, the bed clothes and even the mattress may be soaked with sweat. At the end of aU this the patient feels better but very weak. After an interval, the length of which varies with the species of malaria parasite causing the infection, another episode of fever occurs and this succession of bouts of fever can go on for weeks or months. If the fever recurs at intervals of 48 hours, it is a tertian fever. If the interval is 72 hours it is a quartan fever. Sometimes a patient is infected with two varieties and then he can have fever every day - a quotidian fever. In most cases, the temperature co mes down to normal between bouts ie, it is a remittent fever.
Serious attack
What has been written above describes a typical malaria attack of any of the species of plasmodium except the serious one falciparum. This can be a dangerous and deceptive disease simply because it often does not follow the usual malaria pattern. Sometimes it does and gives rise to a tertian remittent fever, but more often it does not. It tends to give rise to a continuous fever without remissions. In this, it mimics other diseases and leads to difficulty in diagnosis It can resemble influenza very closely, or typhoid Therein lies its danger, for it may be mistaken for influenza at an early stage; then the patient receives only symptomatic treatment until he is seriously ill.
One of the complications of falciparum
had disembarked for an hour or so. All the first-aider needs to know to arouse his suspicions is that the case has been outside of Europe recently. People who have been travelling and develop fever after they return should report it to the doctor immediately , telling hime where they have been and when. Then treatment can be instituted early and some serious cases could be avoided.
The way to avoid getting malaria is to take an anti - malanal drug during the time of expos ure and for a few weeks after return. There are several such prophylactic drugs and advice about them is readily available. They should be taken regularly and consienti ously. This is good advice for the
first - aider himself or herself, if contemplating a holiday or a business trip to tropical or sub-tropical areas where malaria exists. It is important to continue to take them for at least 4 weeks after return ing. These antimalarials do not give guaranteed total protection: breakthroughs do occur. They do however give a high level of protection and it is rare to have serious malaria in a pa tie nt who has conscientiously taken prophylactics.
People are travelling more these days than ever before in history , and they are travelling farther afield. They are also travelling faster in this jet age. This is why these 'tropical diseases , especially ma l ar ia, are now
malaria in fact the one which gives rise to the title of this article, is the occurrence of unconsciousness This is termed cerebr al malaria, and is due to affection of the brai n. The small capillaries of the beco me blocked by masses of red cells containing th e parasites. The patient is now gravely ill an d will die unless he obtains skilled emergenc y treatment. In fact this is the way in whic h most cases of falciparum malaria do di e, especially children , in whom the cerebr al complication is very deadly. So the fir staider may one day be confronted with a n unconscious case, probably with fever. H is first thought should be to enq uire: 'Has th is person been overseas recently?' If he ha s, then malaria s hould be assumed to be th e diagnosis until it is proved otherwise, and th e case is an urgent medical emergenc y.
Falciparum malaria u s ually appears with in two weeks or so of return from overseas b ut this period could be prolonged if the patie nt had been taking so me anti-malarial drugs
To hospital
All the first - aide rs can do is the usual car e of the unconscious patient but, in particul ar he must do everyt hin g possible to exped ite removal to hospital if he sus pects the ca se might be one of cerebral malaria, for time is crucial. This is the reason why it is important for the first -a ider to know something of malaria and to be able at least to suspect it. It alerts him to the gravity of the situati on and the need for urgent action.
Falciparum malaria is the comm on malaria of nearly the whole of Africa, but it also occurs in Asia and Central and Sou th Amer ica It does not occur in Europe. It takes very little time to acquire it, just the time it takes a mosquito to bite. So someo ne travelling between two non-malario us countries , eg, U.K. and Australia, cou ld contract it at an airport in between, if th ey
A TRAINING DAY which marked the start oj A von SJA's involvement in the Year of Nu rsing looked at communit y help, espe cially for the handicapped. 50 am bulance and nurSing members attended the event ar the County HQ organised by CS O(NC) Miss Joan Frieze, SRN. Speakers included, Mrs Pat Jones, who ou tlined the problems of life in a wheelchair; Mr. Wilf Parfilt , who described how to cope wit h blindness with the aid of his guide dog I ke; and Mr. A/an Mah y, Supt. Bristol S o uth A mbulance Division who demonstrated sign language and how h e
Year of Nursing starts in Avon
taught a group of deaf Guidesfirsl aid.
The latest aids available Jor the handicapped and the elderly were on display , so that St John personnel could familiarise themselves for future home nursing situations
M y ra Meredith
becoming more and more seen in this country. This tendency will probably continue. The lessons of malaria for the firstaider are then these:
1. to suspect malaria in unconscious cases who have fever and who have been recently overseas;
2. to advise friends and patients who have developed a fever after being overseas to see their doctor immediately;
3. to take, if they go overseas themselves, a malaria prophylactic drug, and to advise their friends and relatives to do this also.
THE ADVANCE party began to think that the camp was perhaps not meant to be, for the marquee, booked for Friday, still had not arrived by Saturday lunch. But they tried hard not to think about it for the time being, as they tucked into their thick gammon steaks and waited eagerly for the main party to arrive.
Two trips were made into Whitby to pick up the Suffolk girls, but they proved to be evasive. The first time they must have missed their train; and the second, having been told the next train arrived at 3.05 we found it didn't arrive until4pm.
Finally the long awaited marquee did arrive, but minus pegs. And the wash tent canvas proved too big for the poles. Frantic telephone calls were made, and within the hour all was well - camp was established, dinner was cooking in the kitchen and even the showers were operative.
The evening game of charades in the marquee proved as hilarious as ever, with certain filins like 'Lemon Popsicle' and 'Virgin Soldiers' providing immense entertainment to all. Of course, the staff team won.
Sunday
A few campers chickened out of the early morning swim, although it did not prove all that cold.
Geoff Alvis' session on Emergency Training just about managed to keep everyone awake, particularly at the end, when practising the various types of knots while others lost patience trying to demonstrate to Mihn (our Vietnamese visitor for the week, who spoke little English) how it was done.
Max Maughan's session on survival theory to prepare the adventurers for the thrills of sleeping rough, brought trepidation into everyone's heart. Of course, when the time came to prepare the bivouacs it poured with rain. Craig, who was brave to even think of participating with his broken leg, struggled back to camp to have his damage pot-repaired. Derek (camp nurse) and Dave (Commandant) did an expert job of replastering and poor Craig didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
As for the bivouacs, we found Becky and Cheryl perched precariously over a drop , consequently they dared not move all night. Colin looked as though he'd just dropped over a precipice and landed with a 'thud' down below. Paul looked like one of the historical catapults about to be used in battle. Jim was OK so long as no one slipped on the path and 'dropped in' on him. How he managed to retrieve his trousers from the high bough in the morning without embarrassing Alison, sleeping nearby, we'll never know. Tim, Dawn and Wendy looked like an advert for a holiday chalet. David looked as if he'd been so tired that he'd just flopped down at the side of the track.
Derbyshire's by Carol Drew CSO
Adventure Cam
SJA Derbyshire's 1979 one week youth adventure camp i n Yorkshire included young members from N. Yorks, Shropshire , Suffolk and Warwickshire, as well as from the home county There was also Lu Minh, a young Vietnamese recently arrived i n the UK, who is not a SJA member; the BBC had asked if he coul d Join them.
The staff, who came down later to check that all were safe and tucked in ', got down some of the banks faster than anticipated, with Dave at the rear slipping as he descended.
Monday
We went down early to check on the cooking of the survival breakfast and what sights met our eyes! Many couldn't even manage a fire and we later discovered that some of the boys had been helped out by the girls. The toast was burned , many of the sausages were grass or dust flavoured and the fires were almost extinguished by the wobbly can of water for tea. A couple had the ingenious idea of mixing all their ingredients in the can for a scrambled egg mix which was most successful.
After several unsuccessful attempts , some decided to go hungry , as we had to return to camp to prepare for our assault on part of the Cleveland Way. We set off for Runswick Bay , stopping on the way for a swim (those of us brave enough that is). The best comment over lunch came from Mick who referred to Geoff's legs (which admittedly hadn't seen any sun recentl y) as 'wh itewashed milk bottles '. Geoff and Dave returned to camp , together with one or two suffering blisters , headaches , etc, to pick up the Landrovers. The rest of the party headed on to Staithes,
from where they were picked up in the la te afternoon.
Back in camp there was time for dinn er before smartening ourselves up for the evening at the Opera House with Ken Dod d
Once again Doddy proved excelle nt particularly when he decided to questi on Dawn Being a little shy Max shouted up on her behalf with the result that Dod dy repeated her name several times in Ma x's very deep voice. We got quite a mention at the end of the show , with the add ed comment , 'I hope they ll get the ad ventu re they hoped for!'
We returned to camp ve ry tired only to ha ve to re-erect or find new bivouacs befor e sett ling down. For although it had been dr y in Scarborough it had poured in Whitby.
Tuesday
The campers didn t need telling twice th at this morning , after taking down the bivoua c s for good breakfast would be taken in cam p as it was much too wet to cook 's urviv al style. A launderette visit was essent ial and then off to Burniston Barrack s, Scarborough , for a morning 's exercise on th e assault course.
The faces of some of the campers whe n confronted with the 12ft-high wall were a picture. But it was a great test o f perseverance as they performed in groups of four for the fastest time over it. I was tol d
not to forget to mention Colin, who looked absolute picture on the rope. As expected, an f J the staff team, with the assistance 0 1m, won The photos show the determination, exasperation and will-power displayed by everyo ne on the assault course.
Scarborough was duly explored with lunch on the beach swims for the bravest, and even a ride on the donkeys for some.
After an exhausting day it was back to camp for dinner and the Max's session on 'How not to lose yourself on the moors at midnig ht!' The comments from some of the campers when questioned as to where they were proved gems. I'm glad they weren't out on their own as some would never have made it back to camp.
We dnesday
Unfort unately I was Duty Officer today, so I missed all the excitement of cliff rescue tec hniques with members of the Coastguard from Whitby. However, the photo of the cliffs being descended by Tim gives some idea of the event. Later in the morning, our Commandant (Dave) was strapped into a Neil Robertson stretcher and carefully lowered over the rocks to the beach.
The so-called afternoon rest session as usual proved hectic with preparations for our 42-mile walk along the White Rose Wal k the following day Thu rsday
Wha t a st ruggle to get everyone up at about 3am, particularly as it was still pouring with rain.
But off we set , not exactly bright and cheer ful but in good spirit inside, to tackle the W hite Ros e Walk. But we couldn t have time d it better , for it was almost as though Rosebe rry Topping knew what honoured guest s we were; on reaching her summit the rain sto pped and out came the sun. From then on it was a lovely day , which led to shedd ing layer upon layer of clothing, until in some cases even undies were on show.
The walk itself provided some beautiful view s, although it was somewhat disco ncerting to see Roseberry Topping still looming up in the distance long after we had left it behind. It was a view that remained with us for the whole of the circular walk As usual it was Oh, this is definite ly the steepest climb, there won't be any worse than this from Max - until we reached the next steep sectio n.
Bac k at camp one very kind member
We ndy, who had to give up the walk after 20 miles because of ill health , bathed feet and uttere d words of comfort to those who weren' t sure whether they had done the right thing in continuing. Damaged feet were ten ded by Camp Nurse Derek , when we co uld bring ourselves to walk as far as the hos pital tent.
Out of 25 who started, 22 completed the wal k.
(Above) De rbyshire s Tim Deakin going down a cliff face at Whitby under guidance of Coastgua rd members ( Rig ht ) S uffolk's Tina Winter getting to grips with ropework o n th e assa ult course at Sca rbo rough s Burn iston Bar racks
Photos: SJA s Ri chard Eato n of Glossop
Lu Minh , from Vietnam , leads Joanne Ashwel l. from SJA Suffo lk down from Ros eberry T opping
Friday
What an anti-climax! The w alker s got up with difficulty , to face theoretical exams. Still, all went well. Last minute shopping for the formal dinner was completed and the camp site was prepared for the inspection. Once again the Inspecting Officer seemed very impressed and , with his wife and special guests , joined us for the evening meal. Our adventure campers of the year were presented with their trophies , there were speeches, and everyone had another late night.
Saturday
Theoretical exams had to be completed and then camp left spick and span for the County Cadet Camp which Dave was again to Commandant the following week. Goodbyes were quite earl y to some with long distances to travel home. It was a sad morning for all for during that week we had worked and lived together , sharing troubles and laughs understanding pe rsonaliti es , achieving much and once again pro ving that Adventure Camp is hard bu extremely enjoyable.
Peter Scott Conservation Award Scheme
THIS SCHEME has been originated by the Wildlife Youth Service to enable young people to learn more of the natural world of which we are a part by observation, recording, study at first hand and practical experience. It has been designed to appeal to a wide range of young people from the age of 10-18 years old with different interests, abilities and background.
The scheme consists of three ·stagesBronze, Gold and Silver - and on the successful completion of any stage the participant is awarded a certificate and badge. To gain the · Award, candidates undertake a variety of projects which could include compiling a scrapbook on British mammals, 'inspecting' and reporting on a zoo or wildlife park, or studying birds and trees in gardens.
Most cadets should' be busy with the Grand Prior's Award, of course, but those with a particular interest in the wildlife field would find tills of interest.
Further details can be obtained from Cyril Littlewood MBE, Wildlife Youth Service, Marston Court, 98 Manor Road, Wallington, Surrey SM6 ODN.
Woodlark camps
I have received details of the Woodlarks Camps which are organised to enable physically handicapped youngsters to enjoy camping holidays where they are helped to overcome their handicaps, taking part as far as possible in games, hikes, swimming, archery, and other activities. The camps are held in weekly periods from May to September near Farnham, Surrey, and are run by voluntary helpers.
Help is always needed from young people with some practical camping experience and if there are · any older cadets who are interested they should send their name, address, age, interests and any other relevant information to Mrs. D. S. Lewis, Kathleen Marshall House, Woodlarks Camp, Tilford Road, Lower Bourne, Farnham, Surrey GU 10 3RN. I would like to hear from anyone who takes part in one of these camps, so please write to me.
Outward bound?
I have received copies of some very interesting reports about the Outward Bound courses which were held last year and it would seem that a great time was had by all. Details of the 1980 courses were announced last month in the Review and I hope that those interested have contacted their County Offices and got their applications in!
Hints on life in the Great Outdoors
A number of your Grand Prior subjects now involve out-of-door activities. Details of training for each subject are written on the cards, but there are some important common
78
For everyone interested in Cadets
Cadet Chat . by JIM
points which each cadet needs to know and will help to make it easier to enjoy the activities. This month I am including a few brief notes to help you with What to we ar.
On your feet
Shoes (or boots) need to be big enough for comfort (you should be able to wriggle you toes freely), but not too big or they will rub blisters. They should be low healed , stout soled and preferably laced. It is NOT a good idea to borrow walking shoes because they become 'shaped to fit the feet on which they are worn If you buy new boots or walking shoes , be sure to try them on over the socks you intend to wear with them. With socks it is better to wear a thin
Cadets out Walking ...
Ten little Cadets set out n we ather fine , One did not dress for wet and cold, so the n there we re nine.
Nine little Cadets who failed to shut the gate, One was gored by a large bull, so then there were eight.
Eight little Cadets walking gazing up to heaven , One walked right over the clifJ edge so then the re were seven.
Seven little Cadets makingjires with slicks. One leant too far over, so then there were s ix.
Six lillie Cadets each practising a di ve, One failed to test the water's depth, so then there werefive
Five lillie Cadets crossed a boggy moor, One ignored a notice, so then there werefour.
Four little Cadets climbed a dy ing tree One went too far along a branch, so then there were three.
Three lillie Cadets, one pretended that he knew Ho w to read a compass, so then there we re two.
Two little Cadets walked on in blazing sun, One wore no protection, so then there was one.
One little Cadet is still struggling on, But unless he gets himself prepared, there will be none.
absorbent pair next to your feet and a thick woollen or wool and nylon pair over them
On you body
Wear a few layers of clothing of lightweight material under a poloneck type wool jumper in cold weather. Trousers should be comfortably fitting and of a material whic h does not cling to the skin when wet. (Jean s alone are not a good idea) A pair of thin pyjama trousers under walking trouser s helps to reduce chafing. A jacket should be wind proof and always remember to carr y a lightweight waterproof covering, eg, kago ol top and waterproof trousers. Gloves are essential when hands are exposed for long periods in cold weather.
On your head
In very cold and very hot weather a hea d cover is essential. Some jackets have hood s, and these are useful but can be restricting. In cold weather woollen hats are the best ; in hot , sunny weather a light coloured , Lightweight material hat , preferably with a brim.
REMEMBER , NEVER WEAR NYLO N DIRECTLY NEXT TO YOUR SKIN ; it is non -absorben t and as you sweat you will soon begin to feel damp and uncomfortable
REMEMBER ALWAYS TO OBSERV E THE COUNTR Y CODE and use commo n sense ; a little rhyme about some cadets wh o did not is published on this page.
REMEMBER , SINGING HELPS TO SHORTEN A JOURNEY; I want to compile a St. John Camp Song Book so let me have those camp fire type songs which you enjoy singing. Try to make up some of your own to popular tunes, and we will see if we can find a winner worthy of a prize.
Cadet Chat badges will be sent to ever y contributor.
Fund raising
In February I mentioned that I wa s interested to hear from readers abo ut methods of fund raising. Replies are comin g in but I still need more so that I can produ ce a good article. In the meantime have be en told about THE GREAT LEAP which is a method of fund raising be ing organised by Headquarters and is a sponsore d LEAPFROG! The idea seems good fun an d worthwhile and if you are interested yo u should write to Leaping for St. Joh n Ambulance I Grosvenor Crescent, London SW IX 7EF for further details.
What a body
A nswers to last month's clues: 1 jOints 2 foot, 3 legs, 4 calves, 5 temple, 6 roof, 7 drums, 8 Adams apple, 9 pupils, 10 eye
This month's clues: 1 Covers, 2 Used to cross a river, 3Negatives, 4 Boat propellor, 5 Part of a hill, 6 Part of a saw, 7 Essentials of a carpenter's outfit, 8 Two flowers, 10 Thi s is where you stick. Answers next month.
competition
As we shall soon be comlDg to a busy tlme for Public Duties, I thought it would be an 'dea to run a competition connected with Many cadets perform public duties and find them interesting. For th is competitio n I would like cadets to write a short acco unt of NOT MORE THEN 500 words about EITHER their first public duty
and what they thought of it, OR the most exciting public duty they have been involved with.
The judges will be looking for the most original and interesting account and will award a prize to the winner in two age groups, namely 11 - 13 and 14- 16 years. Entries should be sent to the address below , clearly marked with the entrant's name,
Year of Nursing
TWO WEEKS IN JERUSALEM
The first SJA party go to the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital , by ASO Mrs. P. R. Morris, of Sunbury
WHILE attached to the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem we were made most welcom e in every way. Rasin, the hospital driver, and Nazar Bannayan met us at Tel Aviv airport on Decem ber 20 after a wonderful flight and dro ve us to Jerusalem where we arrived at about 10.30pm
Early next morning the Matron Mrs. R. Parks, came to the doctor s flat where we were comfortably accommodated and we began our visit with a tour of the hospital , meeti ng the new Warden Dr. G Bisley , who had been there for only a month After coffee with t he st atT we went to work on the wards. Hospit al du tie s were varied - we helped make beds and feed patients. The Outpa t ients Department seemed particularly busy, for entire families (and sometimes their prize animals ) accompany each patient on a visit. Some of our members w.ere able to watc h cataract operations in the theatre (I was allowed to bring one back as a souvenir) and we all observed the eye dressings afterw ards In the children's ward, the mot hers are allowed to stay (they are given a bed but must pay for their food) and are taug ht to tend their children. The children are inclined to take off the dressings almost as soo n as they are put on and the mothers learn to make sure tills does not happen.
I spent some time in the Central Sterilising Supply Department, which was most interes ting, helping to prepare eye trays of shi elds , dressing and swabs. The shields are made of steel with holes in them, so they can be sterilised and used again. The trays are then sealed into brown bags with special tape which changes colour when it comes out of the autoclave. There was also the care of the opera ting instruments, which are all placed in their own racks after being sterilised. Spe cial attention is paid to looking for marks
address, age and Division and arrive NOT LATER THAN September 1. Cadet Chat
Badges will be awarded to the runner up in each section.
Contributions
Contributions to the column are always welcome and should be sent to 'Jim' 57 Morgan Crescent, Theydon Bois, Epping Essex CM16 7DU.
on the instruments which are removed with a special aerosol spray.
As well as helping at the Ophthalmic Hospital , we visite d St. Joseph 's, a private general hospital run by nuns. Here we gave a hand by making beds, changing dressings , and assisting with bed baths - to which one patient , who had had a stroke , didn't take too kindly! Other duties included helping with a glucose drip , measuring blood pressure and giving enemas.
It was most interesting to visit Ramalla , the West Bank clinic, where we saw the camps for the Arab refugees who had to leave their homes during the 1967 war. The camps take care of these people who live in what used to be a part of Jordan but is now in Israel. The United Nations Refugee Agency willch looks after them do a wonderful job both medically and in welfare But the living conditions of the refugees are terrible Only a few hospital beds are available for the people at these camps, so cillidren are born at home - homes willch are very primitive, some without light or heat, for they live in extreme poverty , even after so long. But the Government gives financial grants to families in need of hospital treatment in a country where there is no national health service.
Apart from our hospital work Matron arranged a wonderful programme for us to visit the holy places On our fIrst afternoon of sight -seeing we were taken for a tour of the old walled city of Jerusalem , where we saw Arabs begging - a strange sight for us - and selling fruit and other things. On Christmas Eve we went to Bethlehem - its square a mass of lights, the town packed with visitors, many of whom had slept out for the night to hear the carols drifting across tills revered cradle of Christianity. An
intoxicating, memorable evening
Other excursions - and how could one be in such a country without making countless excursions (thanks for the thought) - included the Garden of Gethsemane , the Mount of Olives and Mount Zion : names which conjured up piquant moments of childhood teachings . We also saw the Pool of Bethesda, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , which is the site of the Crucifixion , the burial and the resurrection of Our Lord. But not all was a pilgrimage. We enjoyed a picnic and a swim in the Sea of Galilee. We saw the originals of the Ten Commandments , some of the Books of the Bible, and the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
The hospital statT made us very welcome in every way. We often joined them for coffee and a chat about their life and work. We challenged them to table tennis the honour of our team being upbeld with a score 6-3. We had Christmas dinner with Dr. and Mrs. Bisley a real traditional English dinner. And we received gifts of fruit and roses from the statT.
On our last day Mrs. Brown , of Londonderry presented a cheque to Matron for the hospital from Northern Ireland ' s contribution to the International Year of the Child. Our party gave Matron a potted plant. For Dr. Bisley there was a St. John Ambulance tie from Londonderry. It was then our turn - we each received a present of the Hospital's badge.
We had a really wonderful two weeks at the St. John Ophthalmic Hospitalthankyou, everyone - and our flight arrived home to typical English winter weathercold and rain. But we did not feel it. After such an experience we all felt very warm where it matters - inside. 79
COMPETITION DATES
The British Ports Association competitions: now to be held April 30 (one day earlier); place changed to Porchester Hall, Queensway , London W2.
The Grand Prior ' s Trophy competitions: takes place November 27 at The Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, Derbyshire.
100 NOT OUT
Congratulations to Sir Hannibal Sciciuna, the distinguished archivist and historian, especially of Malta and of the Order of St. John who celebrated his 100th birthday in Malta on February 15.
Besides being a Knight of Grace of our Most Venerable Order , Sir Hannibal is a Knight Grand Cross of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Military Order and holds many other decorations. He undoubtedly knows more about the history of the Order of St. John than any other living person and we are given to understand that he s almost certainly the only Knight of St. John to have ev er reached his century.
His recreations are given in Who s Who as travel ; formerly football (Associaton) riding tennis , swimming , boating'
You may have read in last month's News from Scotland that Sir Hannibal was in Scotland during the autumn, so he still ' travels well And no doubt he's still tempted to take a dip and get afloat occasionally in Malta s lovely climate, which, I'm sure, has played a major part in his longevity
I'm always telling my wife that we should retire in Malta (having thoroughly enjoyed myself there as a youngster in the Navy) if she wants me around for a long time But somehow she never seems to get around to answering
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ST. JOHN
BYTHE EDITOR
GREATER LONDON
Best wishes, Sir Hannibal. I envy you your abode. LIFE SAVING AWARDS
Congratulations to Angela Colledge and Joanne Brymer , both 17, of South Hetton Combined Division Co Durham , who have both been awarded the Royal Humane Society s Certificate of Commendation for
attempting to rescue a man from the se a while on duty at Crimdon , Hartlepool , la st summer. With very strong tides running and th e bathing warning flags flying the man go t into difficulties while swimming oIT th e beach. Our two girls immediately went int o the sea fully clothed , and s wam towards him but found the current too much for them an d had to return to the beach The man was retrieved - dead - by Lifeguards and th e lifeboat.
Our two members , and A I M Gordo n Fallows of the same Division , who was al so involved in the attempt , ha v e also receive d the SJA Meritoriou s Service Certificate. And The Royal Humane Society 's Resuscitation Certificate has been awarde d to A I M Terence Watson of Farsle y
MIND BENDERS
F nd the first aid word or word s in the clue. The number of letters in the answer is giv en
1. RAF rank , th e Qu een with a T ed (9)
2. Insect is eptic (10)
3. Sounds like , turn it all into a garden with some force (7 8 4 Bird and church s tart
(6)
Answ
Com bined Division, S & W Yorkshire , for savin g the life of a 4 V2- year-old girl.
Th e girl Liane Hough , was on the beach a Skegness last summer with her s ix -yearold sister and their father when a sudden viole nt electrical storm knocked them to the gro und Liane was found to be unconscious and not breathing by the time her father crawl ed to her and started mouth -to -mouth resusc itation. A I M Watson also got to her and gave cardiac massage. After a while Liane started to breathe again Her sister Louis e 6, who was also struck by the lightn ing and was attended b y other s, d id not s ur vi ve
STA RTING A DIVISION
Wick ford, Essex , I hear has started its own Divisi on Over the past 20 years th is town has developed from a small vil lage to a co mmunity approaching 30 ,000 people. Obv iousl y an opportunit y here for SJ A servi ce.
T he Wickford Division was established in early 1979, after 18 months of initial plan ning, by three Brigade members who mad e this their new home
and
d es S Alba n s D ivision and S ecretary Le ce s ter Appeals Committee sta n ds b y in case anyth ng goes w r o n g as President of Leicester Magic Circle Roy Vicke s, prepares to saw his daughter n half in prac t ice or the Circle s gala night of magi c at Leicester s Haymarket T heatre T he nigh was a ull-house rais ng £ 70 0 for Leics Council o f the O rder (Photo : Peter Jackson)
But starting a Division from scratch , Wickford tells me , is far from ea sy and the y still have obstacles to overcome. At t mes , they continue , there seem s to be nobod y around w ho can advise on the detail s invol ved and the y are learning by mistakes made on the wa y, But one thing the Division can take pleasure in is the encouragement recei ved from its Area and Count y statT officers a nd from the people of the town itself
THANKS
(Left) M anaging Di rector of h e K en t M esse n ger Edwi n Boo rman w h o has be e n a me m ber of the Ken t SJ Council since 19 66 r eceives a vote o th a n ks f ro m SJ A Comma nd er Col Geo r ge Ma l er- Howa t. ( Ph oto So ut h Easte n N ewspape rs ). R gh t) M s A g ne s L aw r e n ce. pro mot ed D a me of Gr ace of th e Order las t year was prese nt e d w ith h e M a ntl e from the B r g ade in K ent by Comm i ssio ne r Rob ert Pe c va
There are now 24 members , male and female , the majority of whom had no previous SJA experience. But they do have lots of enthus iasm - which is about the best way I know of gaining experience All no w hold their first aid and initial nursing certificate. Well done men. Well done all of SJA Wickford. And good luck!
SJA FESTIVAL
A SJA festi v al - including dog shows motorcycle and lifesaving displays stalls and mus c - is being held by SJ A Cambridge at H itchingbrooke Park , Huntingdon , on Sunday , June 22. The special event will be stretcher-carrying which will include a police cadet team intent on breaking the world record of the Guinness Book.
The title came from a passage in the novel Random Harvest, by James Hilton: ' We missed our ways years ago and found a wide , comfortable road , fine for sleepwalkers , but it had the major drawback of wandering just anywhere, at random.' And in my first article I promised to attempt the task of patroUing that wide , comfortable road , and to provide a rescue service for those who had missed their way and guide them back onto the less comfortable but more adventurous trail that leads to our St. John objectives
None of these articles have in fact been written at Grosvenor Crescent but (all but five) in the seclusion of my little work-den at home where I thump out a first draft on my typewritter and leave it to simmer in my mind; then the next day I rearrange it, prune it (often quite drastically) and finally re-type it and send it to the Editor Very occasionally , when I've been pushed for time , I've taken the draft up to HQ to be re -
y ; but I always prefer
AMBULANCE FOR SALE
D / S Martin Newlan , of Caterham Ambulance Division has a problem. His Division wants to sell its Land-Rover ambulance in the summer to make way for a new vehicle , but the y need the proceeds of the sale to complete the new purcha s e AND the old veh icle until the very last moment for dut ies they are committed to cover
So if any division is interested in bu y ing the Land -Rover on these conditions (pay first, collect later) , I suggest they get in touch with Martin at 6 Greenacres , Oxted Surrey (Oxted 5142 ) , The anticipated change -o ver is end July , early August ; but of course the vehicle can be inspected an y time and would be taken for viewing to any d ivis ion with in a reasonable distance of London. So , ge t together,
to re-type it myself if possible (e ven t hough the result looks less neat), becau s e quite often the right word or phrase for which I'v e groped in vain comes to me while I' m doing this , and ma k es the final version ju s t that little bit crisper than it w ould otherw is e have been
The remaining five were written in fascinating far -away places whose names breathe an air of romance and adventureNongoma in Zululand (Oct. 1973) , Connema r a on the far we s t coast of E ire ( Sept. 1974 ), Kathmandu (April 1975 ), Nairobi (Oct. 1975) and Ndola in Zamb ia (Oct. 1976) - and air -ma iled home to meet the Editor's deadline, But these were a mere handful of the places overseas to which my random patrolling of the St. John trail has led me , and on m y return I've always tried to tell you about the places that I've been to and the people that I've met and the work they are doing in the service of mankindnot merely because I hope it encourages them to find that they ' ve been ' brought into the picture', but because so much that they are doing can be a challenge and an inspiration to us, and by thus sharing each other s experiences we can learn from one another and strengthen the bonds of fellowship throughout our worldwide family.
Cadet Leader David King , of High Wycombe AlC Division who helped to save the life of a friend s father after a heart attack, receives a letter of commendation from the Lord Lieutenant of Bucks Major J. D. Young
TANZAN I A
The acti n g Assistant General Manager (T an za ni a) of the East African Railways and H a rbour s - who was also the first Brigade C o mmi ss i oner appointed wit h in the
They keep mo vin g A glan ce a t the HQ engagements diary for Fe bruar y and March shows that within these tw o mon ths a number of HQ officers (i ncludin g the Chief P r esident, the DirectorGeneral , th e Com m issioner-in-Chief, the Surgeon -in -C hi ef an d the Chief Nursing Officer ) a r e atte n d in g 14 Association or Brig a d e e ve nt s in t h e 12 counties of Surrey (2 ), Esse x, Devon, West Midlan d s, Bu cks , South and West Yo r ks, Derbyshire (2), Berks B e d fordshire, Cheshire, Cambridge s h ir e an d H u mbe r side - and that s with o ut co unti ng events held in Greater London , Within t h e same period, the Assistant C- in -C sp e n t a fo rtni g h t in early February on a S t. Joh n visi t o Sing ap ore and Hong Kon g; t h e Lo r d Prior h a s sp ent ten days i n Jeru salem and Jor d an in connection w i t h t h e H o s p it al ; the Commissioner-in- C h ief se t o ff on Mar ch 3 for a month 's visit t o St. J o hn in K enya, Uganda , Tan z ani a and th e - Seych eUe s; the Chief Command e r , having bee n a w a y for a month as an official observer o f t h e Zimbabwe elections, is due to se t o ff again with the Ch ie f Secr e tar y on March 22 fo r a three weeks vi s it to S t. John i n Jamai ca, Trinidad and Tobago , an d Bermuda ; wh il e HRH The Gr a nd Pr ior dur ing th e cours e of
Railways C o rp o r at io n - M r N d ugu L. K. Bak un ame 55 died at t h e Mu hi m bili Medica l C entre last D ece mber.
LUNC H AND CARPET
St. Jo hn Hou se Clu b, 5 0 E aton Place, London S W I , re m e m be r he a d d r esswhich is now d o in g an excell ent Su n day lunch for £ 1. 50 by the way - needs a 12ft by 15ft ca rp et, preferably with a beige background, for which they'd be happy to pay a reaso n able price. Director of Services Dick Made ey, at Hea dquarters, is the man
MIND BENDERS (answe r s) 4:l U ;)JM 'v ;)JnsS;)Jd Illl!lilO .£ :lpd;)sl1uV '( P;)lIlJ;):llll '1
an official visit t o Kenya in March will invest President Danie l arap Moi as a Knight of Grace of h e Order. With a family as large and as widespread as ours it takes some time for its senior members to get round and see them all, b ut these details will at least show you that, betwee n the m , they really do keep moving!
Dull or not1
'Daddy, it 's so deadly du ll !' Do you remember m y sto r y (A p ril 1977) of the young N/M w h o, n spired by her father's St. John mem b er s hip, decided to join a nursing division an d ca me to t h is sad conclusion?
Her ex p e ri enc e is alas not exceptional, for the nu mb er o f o ld e r c adets and young adult membe r s th a t we los e e ve r y yea r th r o u gh sheer bo red o m is s impl y tragic, especia ll y when yo u co nsider our urg en t need for more Briga de members o sa ti sfy t h e everincreasi n g d e man d s that w e receive to meet the sti mul a ti n g c hallenge of voluntary service to the commun t y t h ro ug h first aid, nursi ng and welfare.
I'm all for s teppin g up recr ui t ment , b u t
I'm c onvinced that we must sta rt by st e ppin g up th e qualit y of inspired a n d i m ag inat ive leader ship especi a lly at di v ision al leve l, and then t he recruits will c om e flood in g inand sta y with us - a s in jact they already
Lancelot) and Mrs -, Dot Cooper, local publican's wife r organised and took part in two charity walks, present a cheque (for the ambulance) to DI S Steve Smith , Weybridge Combined Division
Cheshire s Eastern Area Comm Alber) Smith accepting a new ambulance for Sandbach Divisions from Sandbach Round Table chairman, Mr John Edney. Thanks, Tablers
o contact if you h a ve s uc h a ca rp et yo u wa n t to get r id of. It' ll b e put to goo d use.
T WO D G s hear that at t h e AGM of the Assoc ation's East Essex Centre on Febr uary 6, S ir Phili p Southwell relinquished the presidency of the Centre and Mr N. F. Marsh was elected in his stead In thanking Sir Philip for his services to the Cent r e, and welcoming Mr Marsh o n tak ing h is new appointment, the County Director for Essex, Mr J Bird, remarked that East Essex must s u rely be unique among Centres. Since its foundation in 1975 it had had two past Directors General as Presidents, (Sir Philip was Director General from 1958 t o 1968 and Mr Nevill Marsh from 1972 to 1976).
do in divisions where that leadership exists. Fortunately, such divisions are not rare, but they're not nearly common enough yet. We often publish news about them in the Review, and you may remember reading about at least three of them last month, two in the feature' Aren't people marvellous! (pp. 54-5) and one in 'News from Divisions' (p. 70). If you missed them or have forgotten, have another look.
The other day I heard from a friend whose daughter, a young N / M and ex-cadet, most certainly doesn't find St. John 'deadly d u ll', Katie's mother told me that in April she's off with a party of Brigade members on a 'disabled course', climbing and canoei n g w ith h e handicapped; in May, she's off again for a 2-week ST A co u rse o n the 'Malco lm Miller'; while in J u ne she will be one of a party who are d ue to be presented with their Grand P r ior's Badge certificates by the Duke of Gloucester who happens to be visiting t h eir county.
No do u bt you' ll say how lucky Kat ie is; an d I'm s u re t h at s h e h e r self wi ll ag r ee. But I maint a in t h at t h e o nl y r ea l luck' was the cha n ce of rece iv in g h e r G P Ba dg e cer tifica te fr o m the G r an d P r io r in p erso n Everyt hi n g e s e (in c lu ding h er above-average record of publi c dut y hour s) r e s ul ts fr om t wo qu a it ies
(Below) N M Janet Allen 7 years w it h Falmouth Combined Div sion , Cornwall (and a Cub mistress}, leaves church as Mrs
YOU WON T believe it, but we've been complimented! Caroline (the entomologist) and I , that is , on how we two girls mucked in with all the hard work of setting up base camp and preparing the aircraft runway and putting up with the ver y primitive li v ing conditions , etc. Levelling everyone out , they called it!
The Panamanian Young Explorers have now arrived and Base Camp is filling up slow ly It looks like a scene from 'MASH' and I'm called kiddo or ' medic b y the Guardia Nationale who can t get over the fact that I look after the health and medical" requiremen t s of the expedition. They all stand around and watch while I give injections and treat the minor casualtie s. And one of them , the guide and tracker even b r ings me presents from the j unglecoconuts and a beautifully co oured woodpecker (dead of course)!
Promoted
I' v e been promoted to chief camp hairdresser and have been given all the necessary kit. I've done a dozen people already , even the QM with his beautif]ll crop of red hair and handlebar moustache!
It s been rather cloudy lately, and the wind has got up and there have been some high Spring tide s The boat run has become very treacherous in fairly high seas , tr y ing to dodge the coral reefs in a swamped boat. I often go on the run and we frequently nearly capsize. If you fell overboard you'd get torn to shreds on the coral.
Tomorrow the engineers and scientist s leave to go into t he jungle to start building th e aer ial walkway at tree-top level. They 84
SJA's CLAIRE BERTSCHINGER, nurse with Operation Drake, goes into the jungle .
Roun the World
will then be able to s tud y the animal , bird and insect life at forest canopy level. So m y closest friends , Mike and Des , the en g ineers , Caroline the e ntomologist and Pete , the ornithologist , w ill be leaving and I' ll mis s the fun we al w a ys ha ve toge ther. But I'll ha ve plenty t o do because all th e y oung e x plorers from 'E y e of the Wind arri ve by air tomorro w, plus lot s of equipment from the s hip
Aircraft arrive
Well our runwa y w as certa nly put to good use W e had 4 planes and 1 helicopter land one after the other - the dust wa s shoc k ing. Now all the y oung explorers ar e wi t h us and Nigel the doctor and the edge of the runway is piled with equipment. And we have fresh egg s and bread and fruit - what luxurie s
The helicopter loads up equipment to be dropped in clearings in the jungle for the walkwa y; it drops them in the wrong p ace and so 8 young explorers are taken out to help Mike and his engineers hump the stuff to the jungle walkwa y camp site I listen to their radio call ever y da y and wish I could be out there w ith them; I'm d y ing for the adventure!
Well , I've done it! George Thurston , our present leader, took me and 2 Gurkhas blazing a larger t r ail through swamps and thick jungle up to the walkway camp , to bring back the young explorers who had done the humping. We came back the same da y And now today ' s radio call says they ve had minor casualties with block and tackle and I've been told that I can go up there with the next supply train to help with the work
and is promot ed chief camp barb er and o ok a ft er a n y c a s ualti es. -Wh at a pri
The h ike up here to
wa s prett y
ugh
30lb s
back s. U p steep ste e p hills , through a n kle deep mud a nd t hi g h d e ep w a ter , wea r in g jun gle b oo t s lo ng trou se rs a nd long s leev ed s h rts My s hirt ha s a Red Cro ss on it an d I carr y round m y neck m y whistle ( fr o m Colin) m y c o mp ass and an ampoul e of omnop o n ju s t in ca se We all carr y on ou r b e lts a w ate r- bottle a machette and a fi r st field dres s ing One of the part y coll a psed w ith heat exhaust ion but J m a nag e d to b rin g him round f a ir l y quickl y and he comple te d t he march OK
Plenty of .
The jun g le camp site is on the high ba n k of a fairl y wide r iver. There are plent y of frogs , lizard s, beetle s and gian t grasshopp e rs a round ; a few sandflies but lots of giant an ts whose sting is awful. Luckil y most of th e snakes and scorpions seem to have bee n fr ightened a way from our site We sleep in hammock s, all fairly close together , strun g up between tree s with a mackintosh o r ground -s heet rigged up over the top to keep off the r a in ; it ' s very cosy The forest ri ses 100 - 150ft above us and when the sun shines very little reaches the forest floor. We ar e a small group of about 12 people and a few
member s o f the Guardia N ationa le. C ark , the tracke r a n d g u d e, is o n e of th em. H e wak es us u p at 6am p la y ing R eveille ' b y blowing down the barrel of his rifle - h e re all y gets a tune that wa y ! I ' m work n g with the enginee r s o n buildin g th e wa lk w ay a bout 500 y ards awa y fro m t he camp. The wa kwa y platform is abo ut 80ft hi g h and th e walkw a y itse lf stretches about 150 feet between r ees sus pend e d on pol y p r opelene rope. It is 16 inc hes wide made from 12ft long Dexion ang led metal strip s bolted tog et her. T he floo r of the wa lkw ay is expanded metal cu t to size and ha s r azo r s harp edge s. P lenty of lacerat ions and t o rn c lothing! Everything goes up by rope pulle y s y stem with sa n dbags or log s as a counterbalance. The last 2 days I have bee n t h e 'g ofa ', se n di n g th e stufT u p a nd watc hi ng my head as n uts a n d bolts and scr ewdrive r s, etc , come fa lling 80ft a n d mo re , to bury themselves deep in the floor o f the jungle. I'm go n na get me a t in hat!
Badly c ut The re -s uppl y p a r ty came today, but I mi ssed th e m so yo u ll h ave to w ai t a bit lon ge r fo r t his le t te r. Yeste rday , M ik e c ut t he pa lm of h is h a nd pr etty b a dl y w hil e wor king up o n th e wa lkway I co ul d see h a t he wo u d need stit c hin g bu t he wa n ted t o fini s h t h e jo b a nd so pu t on a tem po r a r y d ressi n g.
W hen he eve ntu a ll y ca me d ow n 3 hou rs la t er we had our e ve nin g me al an d t he n I b o il e d my in s trum e n ts. I did 5 bea utiful s utur es in t he palm of h is h a nd.
I'm workin g a ll t he hour s of d ay light and then have s ur ge r y afte r supp er w h e n it 's dark. I' m lo vin g e ve r y mi n ute of it!
I' m s itting b y t he fir e a ft e r s upper and th e pan o f t e a is s imm erin g q u ietly , as it alw ays
d oes un til the last p e r son goes to bed More
w a ter is a d ded a nd t gets weaker a nd
we a ker as the ni g ht dr aws on Bu t it still
ta s te s d eli c o us w ith the choco late I've sa yed from lun c htim e. I' m ver y ver y t ir ed be cause as i t is Sund ay a n d a f re e da y, Mike and I de c id e d w e ' d go on a h ike up t he r iver. We ca rri ed o ur p ac k s a n d a dd e d ext r a tin s of cam p o ra t ion s t o a d d weig h t. Yo u see I min traini n g b eca u se I w a n to get on t he M e mbrillo Tr a il proj e ct. I a m a lr eady s h ort listed a nd w ill prob a bl y be t he o n ly fe ma le in the part y Mike and I w al k ed up th e river fo r 2 12 hours ; it is
The floa tin g base fo r Operat on Drak e - the 150 ton brigant ne Ey e of th e W ind Photo: Oper ati on Drak e )
stand quite still you'll hear this humming sound getting louder and louder. You turn around slowly and see this tiny bird hovering beside you with its wings spinning like a helicopter.
Each day now I help on the walkway; the first is completed and we've started on the second. The other day, when George Thurston came to pay us a visit, he found me hanging over the side of the 16-inch-wide walkway, 80ft ofT the ground, putting extra strengthening girders underneath. He thought I was quite mad! The other day I was up a tree on my own, about 110ft up.
There was no platform or anything on it yet, just a hoisting cable, and had to climb the last lOft to a branch by clinging on to the creepers. Of course I was clipped to a safety line. The view from up there was marvellous and I could just get a glimpse of our camp site by the river about 500yds away. As I worked down again I slipped and fell about 12 feet before being caught by the safety line - wow! what a feeling. I'd broken ofT quite a bit of dead wood in my fall and shouts were coming from below. l3ut I got down on my own, holding most of the weight of my body with my arms, and finally sliding down the trunk.
Large python
The Guardia N ationale caught a large python the other day and are keeping it as a pet. They catch other animals for us to eat - alligators, snakes, and agouti, (something
like a small beaver or large rat) - very tasty! Anyway, it's the only fresh meat we get. It's January 30 and seems to have been raining on and ofT for days and it's the dry season! The natives say that we've angered the Gods by building a bridge in the sky.
Burns' Night
What do you think? It was Burns' night on January 25 and we had heard that they were having a big celebration in Caledonia Bay base camp. So 6 of us decided to go down and join in the party. We had planned to leave at 14.00hrs but at 13.30 Mike let out a loud screech; he had been stung by a scorpion! I applied a torniquet and gave Piriton, etc, and as there was only minor reaction after an hour, we decided to start on our way. We hadn't got halfway before 2 of us were attacked by a swarm of bees and had to dive into the river. That delayed us again and we ran the last few miles, mostly down hill. Everyone came out eager to greet us the 'jungle bunnies ; as so far we are the only group living in the forest. Then plane loads of VIPs arrived to join in the celebrations; officials from the British Consulate and headquarters of the Guardia Nationale in Panama City. The celebrations went on until well into the night. We ate haggis and the bagpipes played and we did Scottish dances until 2am when all were feeling a bit worse for wear Luckily, I had stuck to J.J. (Orange juice from the stores!)
It poured with rain the next morning and
we had a mud slinging match and a swim in the sea. Then at 13.00hrs we six set ofT back to our camp in the jungle, our packs loaded with extra campo rations and a few goodies. The walk back was rather hair-raising. The rain had made the track very slippery and the rivers had flooded in places. Back at camp we found that the river had risen 10ft in 20 minutes and our stores had to be moved further up the river bank. All our hammocks and part of our kit had got soaked and only today did we have some sun to dry out a bit! Of course, the work goes on regardless.
On February 18,1979, news was received in London that Claire had been sent to a hospital in Panama suffering from fever due to a virus infection.
YEAR OF NURSING
Training projects
Urgent plea from Headquarters
If you find you will not be able to undertake the project for which you have been accepted, please inform Miss Puckle PAO(N) IMMEDIATELY (Tel: 01-2355231).
Someone else wants your vacancy!
SOUTH AMERICA
Darien wished to make it the trading bridge across the isthmus between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was a desperate effort to bring wealth and trade to Scotland after a century of famine and despair.
The Company of Scotland was formed in 1697 and ships full of Scots men and women sailed to Darien in hope of wealth and a new future. However, many died en-route. Ships sailing to Darien found that they could not take on provisions or arms or receive help from any English colonies Parliament had ordered that no assistance was to be given to the Darien -bound Scots. Those Scots who eventually landed at Darien were greeted by angry Spaniards who felt that the Scots had no right to settle on their land. Hungry and with few rations, they set about to build a rampart for their protection, which they later called Fort St. Andrew. There was also the 'town' of New Edinburgh - a series of huts - and most poignant of all, a large cemetery.
Why explore CALEDONIA BAY?
Because it has a fascinating Scottish connection
FOR the first time ever, the 17th Century Scots colony of Darien in Caledonia Bay has been investigated archaeologically. William Patterson, a Scotsman, on hearing of a paradise land called
The archaeological work executed by the Young Explorers was to attempt to locate and excavate these three places, built by men who, on meagre rations, found it difficult to do a full day's work The paradise turned out to be impenetrable jungle where ·food was difficult to come by. Fever abounded in the settlement which they called New Caledonia. Over a thousand Scots lost their lives.
The colony was abandoned in ] 698, but a second expedition set out from Scotland, unaware of what had become of the first. Then, on August 12 ] 700, ],700 Scots pulled out completely, lea ving six men behind who were too feeble from famine and deprivation to crawl to the ships. The attempt to found the colony of Darien was the last great trading endeavour of Scotland as an independent nation.
I WAS horrified the other day when an exceedingly nice chap from a County said that he had purchased a print of 'Don't Let Him Die' from Messrs Guild Sound & Vision. The whole point of this is that I have a very good relationship with the distributors of the fIlm whereby St. John Ambulance gets prints at a concessional rate - the officer concerned had bought the film at about 25% above the going rate. It always behoves us in a voluntary organisation to take care of the pennies and I am sorry to see those few pounds going down the drain.
It is also a source of continual astonishment to me that people are unaware of the existence of the Secretary, Visual Aids, unaware of the Visual Aids Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B. G. Lucas and at times unaware that Headquarters itsel f exists!
Before any action is taken on audio visual aids it could well be advantageous to any St. John member to take advice, indeed the ex pertise , of those at Headq uarters.
F actory prices
I had a chat the other day with my friend Mr. Eason of Kodak, who has kindly a rranged that the excellent Kodak Carousel sh all be available to members of St. John Ambulance at trade (factory!) prices. I was de lighted to hear that not a few members had tak en ad v antage of the facility that he gives whereby we may obtain the excellent 'e quipment at special discount rates. I see from the Trade Press that there is a new K odak SA V out and I suggest that before a n y body thinks of purchasing a slide projector they take advantage of this m agnificent opportunity to obtain the equipment at trade prices
I was delighted to go down to Hampshire re cently and talk to a session of lay in s tructors on audio visual aids. U nfortunately, Hampshire was so demanding that I gave up some of my audio vi sual equipment at secondhand rates - my friend, Peter Jones, was a little too pressing! However there is always secondhand equipment available at these Headquarters and anybody who writes in will obtain most excellent bargains - one contact, who shall be nameless, has promised me six OHP projectors: first come, first served.
Appraisal panel
The St. John Ambulance Multi-Media Appraisal Panel is getting to grips again with its task - it's rather like those fables one reads about in mythology: it will never be complete.
However, the Graves Medical Library has produced a new series of tape/slides on first aid by Dr. Evans and these are currently being appraised. Without prejudging what the Appraisal Panel will say, these seem fair enough. If you would like to have details of
AUDIO VISUAL AIDS
by Philip Adams
these, I suggest you write to me or indeed to Fay Fontana at the Graves Medical Audio Visual Library, P.O. Box 99, Chelmsford CM29BJ.
Incidentally Mr. Peter London, who is a member of our Medical Board, has arranged with the Graves Medical Library to produce a series of teaching slides (these are without cassettes and teaching notes) but are the most magnificent series of Erst aid injury photographs. I think some of our lay instructors will love to have them.
Kitty Marshall of the National Coal Board tells me that organisation has produced a new tape/slides series on first aid entitled 'FLrst Aid Refresher Course' Kitty tells me that this course of programmes covers instructional first aid procedures fully, but it assumes a certain knowledge of the make-up and working of the human body. It is suitable for revision and where background teaching is not necessary. The programmes have been produced in slides, accompanied by commentaries in standard cassettes. Transcripts of the commentaries are included. The ten programmes are at top of next column and the prices in this day and
The Chairman of the
Committee, Dr. B. G. Lucas has a ver y good idea of producing a series of o verhead projection transparencies on Erst aid If anybody feels they would like to ha ve these would appreciate a note. It has occurred to me when I go around the coun t ies that our lay instructors would benefit from a ser ies coverLng the entire First Aid Course.
Mr. Cyril Hancock of the Bol t on College of Education Technolog y has ver y kind ly produced on behalf of the V isual Aids Committee an excellent paper on chalkboard working This is for free and an y bod y who would like a copy , jus t drop me a note for a re-print. It will be published in the Re v iew shortly.
Caledonia Bay the site of Operation Drake s camp is on Panama's north coast
Commander (Brother)
John Campbell Moberley , CMG (London)
Major Mervyn James Malcolm TD (Devon)
Commander Axel Stanley Mortenson, RN , Rtd. (Notts).
Major James Michael Catterall, TD, JP, DL (Co. Durham)
Arthur James Gatcum (Essex).
Albert Robert George Martin (Dorset).
Colonel Patrick Arthur Adams (London).
Noel Taylor (Cheshire).
Major William John Martin Greener (Dorset).
Sir Dennis Rooke, CBE, FRS (London).
Officer (Brother)
Anthony Stedman Till MA, MCh FRCS , JP (Oxon).
C eon White , MB ChB , DIH MFCM (West Midlands).
Martin Luther Perrett (B istol).
Maj or Dennis Henry Small BDS DPD (Shropshire).
Charles Robert Forrester (Merseyside).
George Charles Storer (Middlesex).
Frank Ernest Evans (W. Yorks).
John Harold Joslin (Kent).
Stanle y Henr y Meech CHants)
ClifTord Fran cis Seath, ERD, FSCA (Surrey)
John Noel Cruttenden, MBE (Kent).
ClifTord Halsall (Meryside).
Officer (Sister)
Vera Rose Marjorie, Mrs. Usherwood (W. Midlands).
Sarah Frances, Miss Dommett (Lanes).
Sybil Lilian, Mrs. Newman.
Serving Brother
George William James Bullimore (Norfolk).
Erne st Leonard Eames (Hants).
George Wilson Johnson (Middlesex).
Roy Herbert Clevely (Birmin gham).
Eric Coop (W. Yorks).
Brian Graham Sapsford , BSc, CEng, MIEE (Essex ).
George James Porter Baker SEAN (Norfolk)
John Abbott CW. Yorks).
Edward Joseph Quy (West Sussex ).
Gilbert Ernest Nicholls ( Bir mingham).
John Ashley Lewis (Hants).
Albert William Almond (Essex)
Cyril Humphrey Edgar Edge (Norfolk).
Commander Cornelius Mulvihull. QPM (Essex).
ORDER INVESTITURES
by the Lord Prior: Lord Caccia, London, Feb, 14
Doris Mrs. Pilkington, SRN, DN, SCM (Lanes).
Ivy Maud , Mrs. Errington (London).
Eileen Mar y, Mrs. Popplewell (York).
J oyce Mary Mrs. Roberts (Surrey).
Christine Hilda , Miss Bachelor SRN, SCM (W. Midlands).
Patricia Claire, Mrs. Parker ( Kent).
Ann, Miss Robinson (Leicester).
Gwendol ine Marion , Mrs Drewett (Kent).
Grace Blanche Mrs. Brent (SufTolk).
Devon County Director, Ma jor
Mervyn Malcolm , is invested
Commander of the Order by the
Lord Prior
ClifTord Senior (West Yorks)
Francis Horace Nash (W. Midlands).
GeofTrey Harvey Badminton (Hants)
Terence Albert Cooper (Essex)
Thomas William Marlow (Norfolk).
Albert William Osborne (Herts).
Peter John Bennion Staffs).
Harr y Hastings Davey (W. Midlands).
Kenneth William Loosely (Lo ndon).
Albert Charles Dewhurst Barwick (Norfolk).
Joh n Victor Robinson (Surrey).
Lt-Col. John Edward Stanes Chamberlayne Oxford ).
Michael John Sayer (Middlesex).
Dona ld Thomas McLellan (Herts).
Stanley Hyde (Birmingham).
Albert Caston, BEM (Norfolk).
William George Porter SRN SEN (Somerset).
Ha y Frederick Fraser (West Sussex)
John Atkinson (Middlesex)
James Alan Burton MB, ChB, MRCGP, MRCP S Yorks ).
Edward Pickle s Chadwick (C umbria ).
Charley Martin (Hereford).
Harold Arthur Slatter (Oxford).
Raymond Da vi d Lusted (Hants).
Robert Willie Capon (Kent).
Thomas Henry Holt (Birmingham).
Albert Dacre Lennard (Bristol).
John Edward Blatch (Surrey)
Francis J o hn Eastell (Norfolk).
Alec John Bouche r (Wolverhampton)
Cecil James Amoore (Essex).
William Cooper Dickson (Bristol).
Leslie Arthur Bugh (Cheshire).
Alan Barker (Birmingham).
William John Millard (Sussex).
Leonard Herbert Berry (Kent).
John Appleton (Herts).
Fram Patuck MRCP LRCP, MRCGP (Herts).
Thomas Leslie Sibley (W. Midlands).
Stanley Barnes ( Essex).
Commander George William Rushbrook (Middlesex).
Serving Sister
Beryl Margaret Miss Parkinson ( London).
Phyllis Edith, Mrs. Palmer (SufTolk).
Violet Ann , Miss Peters (Surrey).
June Eileen , Miss Pollard (Essex).
(Left) Col. Pat Adams, who retires this month from Headquarters, where he has been Chief Officer Brigade Training and
Ch ief Offi cer Cadets becomes a Commander ( Right ) Mrs. Sybil Newham , of Forest Row a member of the St. John/Red Cross Joint Committee , w ith 35 years service, becomes an Officer of the Order
Molly, Mrs. Brain (Herts).
Amelia Hannah Mrs. Short (Jerse y).
Joan Mrs. Smith (Salop).
Christine Anne. Mrs. Rand London )
Georgiana Beatrice Maria Josepha, Mis s Smit h (Sussex).
Audre y Ellen, Mrs Francis (Northants).
Marjory Peggy, Mrs Smith (Surrey).
Joan Winifred, Mrs. Barwell (W Midlands)
Kathleen Mar y. Mr s. Bensberg (Surrey).
Doreen Grace. Miss Cooper (London).
Ber yl, Mrs Wade (SufTolk ).
Stell a, Miss P opp leton (Me r Yside).
vy, Mrs. Eld ridge (Kent).
June Gladys We stgate, Mrs Main, SRN SCM (Sur rey ).
Eileen R ose, Mrs. Robert s (No rfolk ).
R osemary, Mrs. Wright (La n es).
Ph y lli s, Mr s. Hall, SEN (Nor th Yorks).
Maisie, Mrs. Miller (St afTs).
Phyllis Mar y, Mrs Summers (Wilts).
Edna May , Mrs. Corner (S t afTs).
Associate Serving Sister Hett y, Mrs. Berman (London).
Esquire
Re ar-Admi ral Royer Dick BailifT Grand Cross, presented his Personal Esquire, Thomas Richar d
Troubridge of London S W I I, to the Lord Prior by the Chancellor, Earl St. Aldwyn: London, Oct. 4 1979
Commander (Brother)
Br ig adier Simon Patrick Martin Kent. CBE (Wi lt s).
Derek Lyster Robinson, MA, MB , BcH. BAO FRCS! (Dublin).
J ack Frances K in gman (London).
Daniel Strachan, OBE (Renfrewshire).
Commander (Sister)
Davina , Lady Barnard ( Co. Durham).
D orothy Margaret Mrs. Edwards ( Humber side).
Phyllis Sybil, Miss Rookb y, SRN. SCM , AMRSH ( Be rks).
Ruth Bes sie, Mrs. T arling (Herts)
Patri cia Margaret Poy ner Mrs. Batten (Avo n)
Officer (Brother)
The Very Rev. Alfred Jowett CBE MA (Ma n c hester).
Lt -Col. Michael Stephen Owen -Smith , MS , MB, BS FRCS, LRCP (Surrey).
Le slie John A vis (Essex)
John English QPM (Tyne and Wear ).
Kenneth George Bolton , MCSP (Sussex).
Colone David Hamilton , MB , BChir FRCP ( N. Yorks).
Percy William Sti ll (Avon).
Walter James D enholm Muir, MB, ChB (Essex).
Edwin Roy Pratt Boorman (Kent).
Thomas Joseph Clarke Warriner, MA, MD. BCh, BAO (West Sussex).
Colin Edward Nutter Myers, MBE MRCS LRCP (Midd lesex).
CPO Medical Assistant. Anthony Webster ( London ).
Frederick Henry Robottom (West Midlands).
Lieut-Colonel Richard Webb (Devon).
Colin Edward Seager (Middlesex )
Arthur Glyn Tudgay (Glamorgan)
Gordon Samuel Parker (Notts).
Surg. Lt-Cdr. George Ha rriso n Grant McMillan, M B, Chb, MSc. (Devon).
Joseph Henry Nicklin (West Midlands).
Joseph Henry Russell (Kent).
Dennis Colby (Northants).
Kenneth Harold Godfrey (No tt s).
Neil Dixon Griffiths (Wes Yorks).
(Left) Lady Barnard , President of County Durham since 1963 , being investe d as Commander by the Chancellor on Oct. 4 (R ight) Mrs Dorothy Edwards of Hull who became a Nursing Cadet 33 years ago and is now Humberside Northern Area Commissioner, becomes a Commander
Jack Peter Garland (Surrey).
Henry Edward Nelson (Cleveland).
Arthur Frank Harry Sadler (West Midlands).
Kenneth Edward Dix (Me rseyside).
Sidney Arthur Benton (Nolts).
Ronald George Reynolds ( Wilts)
Peter Edwin Parker (Essex).
Ernest Hanson (Cleveland).
Thomas Eaton (Cheshire).
Medical Technician William Manley (Devon ).
Alfred George Ditchfield (West Midlands)
Freder ick R oy Gash (Manches ter).
Henry Walden (Hants).
Charles Roy Thickett. MB. ChB , MRCGP. (West Yorks)
Lt. -Cdr Dudley Malcolm Charles Pope MRSH. MRIH Hants).
Vivian Charles Williams (Glamorgan).
Forbes Wood (London).
William Edward Geobey (West Midlands)
Phillip Brantingham MB BS (Northumberland).
Laurence George Tarr (Middlesex).
Douglas Courtney White (Hants).
Leslie James Dean (Cheshire).
Francis Crozier ( N Yorks
John Hackett Arrowsmith (West M idlands ).
Kenneth Ernest Carpenter (Surrey).
Ivan Thompso n MB ChB, MRCGP (Co. Durham).
Charles Edward Thomas (Shropshire).
Cyril Hocking (N. Yorks).
Kenneth William Radcliffe (Staffs).
Alan Leonard Johnson (Clwyd).
Gl yn Reeve (Wilts). (Left) Thomas Eaton. of Winsford with 40 years service - as divisional officer , lay instructor and now
Northwich
(
(Warwicks).
GRAND PRIOR'S BADGE
from Alan E. Grigg. Area Staff Officer (Training)
In reply to Cadet Chat 'W hat do you think?' about the Grand Prior's Badge (Feb. Review), the regulations should not be changed for the following reasons:
a. Cadets would not remain in a Cadet Division until 18 years old just to obtain the Grand Prior's Badge. Is it a good idea to train juniors of 8 years and 'adults' of 18 in the same Division? This age range, at this time, is much more critical than a difference of 10 years between an 18-year-old and a 28-year-old, or even a 28-year-old and a 58-yearold. The Adult Division should cope more adequately with its officers and NCOs than a Cadet Division with, often , only one officer.
b. If an Adult Division is not geared to undertake training in nursing for example, does that mean that the members are not so trained? Surely it is the responsibility of the Divisional staff to ensure that a programme of training exists for all members and hence the more experienced members should be training the newer members in all subjects, including the proficiency subjects, even more so now that the range of subjects has been increased. How many adult Divisions know about the subjects available?
c. The 'w e and them feeling can be eliminated if the ex-cadets AND the members work together, the former for their badge, the latter for an interest. This is also an argument for Combined Cadet Adult Divisions and for Quadrilateral Divisions where all sections work together.
Cadets should be encouraged to be promoted to the Adult Division at 16 ye ars as they have been throughout the history of our Order. I believe that to keep our Cadets in St. John the adult training should be more akin to that of the Cadet movement, ie, a range of subjects and plent y of practical work. Jack becomes a dull boy through onl y 'listening' to others ; doing' relieves his boredom.
Sutton Coldfield Alan E. Grigg
THE TENDON ACHillES
from It. Col. R. B. Robinson. Commissioner
I was interested to read the Chairman of the Medical Board's article (Feb. Review) , and more particularly his account of Musculo Tendinous Rupture
My father , a GP (trained at George's) always called this injury the Monkey Muscle rupture - when speaking to laymen anyway This, of course, refers to what the author now reveals as a myth that it is a rupture of the plantaris muscle , on the basis that the muscle is functional in the monkey though not in man. Also, I think he called the tendon the Tendon Achilles, not 'of'.
The statement that the injury occurs under much the same circumstances as complete rupture of the tendon implies that the typical occasion is the middle-aged man playing tennis on an imperfect court. I remember more than one occurrence of this injury in my boyhood on our tennis court at myoid home This court was renowned for its very high quality , a perfectly even surface , fast and true. The story was the typical one of the ' victim believing he had been hit by a stone or an airgun pellet.
mE ST 10Il;N AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION AND BRIGADE
This is to Certify
Name
Address ; __ , :
is a member of the St. Johb Ambulance witJrlti, the United Kingdom.
Date of Birth
That this rupture is not confined to men is borne out by it s occurrence in this neighbourhood in a middle -aged woman , and that the victim is not necessarily middle-aged by t he fact that my wife suffered it (on the tennis court, as usual) in her lo wer thirtie s.
Interesting too, is the debunking of the plantaris myth , the first tim e I have heard this denied I betray , no doubt my gross ignorance wh en I ask how one detects, other than post mortem , whether this inaccessible muscle is injured, becaue I had supposed that injury to a muscle is not re vealed by X-ray, the point of whi ch is, surely, that it sees through the flesh and shows the hard fea tures such as bone , ligament and tendon
Pewsey, Wilts
Bob Robinson
The author, Mr. Philip Newman, repli es to th e final paragraph: Ther e is no way of telling short of surgical exposure.
IDENTITY CARDS
from A P Oldroyd, Divisional Superintendent
Having just read the Februar y Re view, I note with interest M. E. Durbin 's letter on identity cards and I tho ugh t readers may be interested in the identity cards we ha ve used since 1972 (See photo s below).
I designed the certificates and wallet on th e lines of the adult first aid and nursing certificates , and then had the wallet made with extra compartments for the certificates. These identity wallets are very useful for members on public duties who do n ot possess uniforms. The certificate and the passport photograph are changed every year when the member pays his annual membership fee.
These identity cards are in use wit h O ssett Division, my Division and Wakefield Cadet Division Horbury Combined Cadet Division, S & W Yorks
BRIGADE AMBULANCES
from Brian Rockell A. P. Oldroyd
Mr . Quinn s letter on Brigade Ambulan ces appeared in the St. John Review in the same edition (Feb.) as my article on ambulance design
and this may have answered some of the points which he raises concerning the standards of vehicles.
Certainly Mr. Quinn is correct that the standards of la yo ut differ widely and at least part of the reason for this is because man y St. John units are unable to afford the very high cost of equipment wh ic h would be necessary to cover all of the range of functions for which a vehicle may be used.
Mr. Quinn suggests a book on the role of the Transport Officer , but any book would need to include guidance for ambulance crews as well as the Transport Officer Such a book would need to be comprehensive and that which we are using in East Berksh ire is already a 100 page manual and expanding rapidly.
Unfortunately a Superintendent viewing a replacement vehicle will have little choice on the design aspect s men tioned in Mr. Quinn 's letter. The design limitations result in compromises which could not be easi ly or inexpensively solved There is no vehicle which is adequately insula ted against the sound of alternating horns , and any warning syste m which is audible at long distances is likely to have a degree of sou nd penetration into the vehicle. The heating can never be ideal. Mos t systems operate from the vehicle cooling system, which takes a while to warm up , and as soon as the door s are thrown open to load a patien t most of the heat will escape. The most modern vehicles have fluoresce nt lighting and provided tha the tubes are in good condition this should be adequate for the lighting of patients. However, older vehicl es wit h tungsten filament interior lighting may be inadequate in streng th. I f a Superintendent only purch ases a vehicle when it satisfies all of these design criteria, then he may have a very long wait to replac e his present vehicle, especially as brand new vehicles cannot be perfec in each of these matters.
London Brian Rockel!
COME TO OUR COMP
from Mrs A. Merrill Competition Secretary
Through the Re view, Ashton -under - Lyne Centre would like to extend an invita tion to all St John members to compete in a first aid com petition to be held at West End County Secondary School, Asht on-under - Lyne on Saturd ay, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 4 1980.
This is the 25th year of our competition and there will be a chance to win s pecial trophies and individual prizes App lication forms are available from me.
33 Sandy Lane, A. Merrill (Mrs) Dukinjield, Cheshire
BRIG ADE FINALS
from J. E Smith, Area Staff Officer
It does all of us good to occasionally visit this annual event, whether as a hel per or a spectator, to see an d talk to people from other parts of the country. When you see competi tions staged so well as the Finals are, there is no doubt that this training aid does a lot to improve stan dards of first aid Some of the first aid given sometimes comes under criticism from judges , but it ma y b e that we are not getting the best first -aiders of the country at the final competitions. I think there are many lurking in divisions who never go in for competitions because they feel they are not good enough It would really be a final if all divis ions made the effort to enter the first round and with teamwork trai ning other good flfst - aiders could well find themselves at the top, whic h may be a stimulating experience.
I t is a pity in competitions that we have a wide range of methods of jU dging. The running commentary from teams still lu rks in some co mpetitors. Some find it difficult to decide what is a question to a judge or speaking out aloud what you see. Some judges will only ob serve (from a distance) and will not get involved in conversation wi th a team This type of jUdging brings out the best in the first-aider, but relies on a high standard of casualty acting and simulation , which is difficult to obtain in many areas
ASO J. E. Smith, who writes on Brigad e Fina ls. a Iso sent us this photo of Surrey Cadet transport
One often hears from members that competitions are not realistic; but it should be remembered that these types of exercises must be better than incidents put on qu ickly at divisional meetings, and if we could increase the numbers of Casualties Union or our St. John makeup groups we could get the maximum of realism.
At last yea r 's Finals, a few ambulance cadets appeared in the old shirt uniform. If they are good enought to reach the Finals, why was it that the people who sent them did not think it worthwhile to kit them out with up-to-date uniforms? One other point is the general appearance and bearing of some teams when they go on stage to receive prizes. It is always on the cards that your team might win, so why not practise for this occasion too?
Betchworth, Surrey J. E. Smith
QUIZ QUESTIONS WANTED
from Nigel Wilkins. Divisional Nurs ing Officer
I would be interested to hear from any readers who could help me collect a large quantity of quiz questions for a large forthcoming interDivisional quiz. Topics may be Brigade or general knowledge. 25 Farncombe Road, Nigel Wilkins Worthing, West Sussex
AND SLIDES
from E. T. W. Rowe. Provincial Staff Officer
I am compiling a 35mm slide collection on the history of the Order of St. John. If any readers have slides of places of historical interest connected with the Order. primarly in Malta, Cyprus or the Holy Land, that he or she would be willing to send me, I would appreciate the gesture.
Please write me at 527 Richmond Avenue, Victoria British Columbia, Canada and we could come to some agreement regarding the expense incurred.
British Columbia
STOLEN
from Ruth B Tariing. County PRO
E. T. Ro we
Over the weekend of Febr uar y 9-10 the home of Mrs Elizabeth Bilk County Superintendent of Hertfordshire was broken into. Among the items stolen were her insignia as a Serving Sister, Officer S ister, Commander and finally Dame of the Order.
Many members are aware that there is currently a great vogue for coll ecting medals and insignia of many types. Those of the Order of St. John are particularly distinctive and most members would react to the sight of the eight pointed white cross.
May we therefore appeal to all members to keep a look out for such items which might be offered at street markets or antique shops and if they see them to get in touch with the local police explaining their interest and the circumst ances , or to contact Hertfordshire County Headquarters, 102 Ashle y Road St. Albans. Telephone St. Albans 66828 (Ansaphone service).
Any help would be very much appreciated and might save others from similar loss.
Herts.
R uth B. Tarling
NEWS from SCOTLAND
St. John Cadet history
ST. JOHN Ambulance Assoeiation was founded by the Order of St. John in 1877. The Association flourished in Scotland from the outset until 1908, when the Order reached an agreement with the St. Andrew's Ambulance Association by which St. John ceased to operate north of the Tweed and St. Andrew's south of it.
With the establishment of the Priory of Scotland in 1947, the Order became much more active and in the last ten yea;'s has multiplied its local branches and their associated Friends of the Order' (now called Branches of St. John Association of Scotland) from 4 to 13, stretching from Galloway to the Highlands.
An enterprising officer of the Order, Mr. D. Watson Law, CStJ, began a 'cadet' group for boys of school age in Denny Stirling shire, and from the local beginning the movement has spread until there are now five groups of the St. John Cadets of Scotland; at Denny, Dalgety Bay Cumbernauld , Larbert Hospital , and Torpichen & Bathgate. There are now approximately 200 officers and cadets. In 1979, Priory Chapter recognised the cadets as part of the Order's national cadets in Scotland by appointing Mr. Law Supervisor of Cadets.
The purpose of the St. John Cadets in Scotland is to promote understanding and allegiance to the principles of the Most Venerable Order of St. John among children between the ages of 7 and 16 , and to encourage them to undertake service for the Faith and for the welfare of mankind. Since cadetship in Scotland cannot be equated with training for service with St. John Ambulance, Scottish cadets receive instruction in the history and traditions of the Order coupled with personal voluntary service of some kind. For example, they produce hand-made wooden toys for less fortunate and physically handicapped children, and these activities are appreciated by hospitals, children's homes, and similar institutions. Senior citizens are also remembered and the cadets manufacture bird-nesting boxes for old people's homes. They also operate a Medical Comforts Depot which provides wheelchairs, backrests, blanket supports and other medical aids for invalids and the disabled. This includes a main ten ace service for the equipment issued. Cadets also visit the sick
The new Chancellor
Mr. W lliam A. P. Jack, CBE , KStJ FRIBA , FRIAS succeeded Col. J. H. Calder Macleod as Chancellor on January 16 19BO. Mr. Jack is head of a we l known firm of architects in Glasgow and Stirling he has been President of the Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and the Glasgow Institute of Arch itec ts as well as serving on many important committees such as the Histor ic Building Council for Scotland and the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland. At preseflt Mr. Jack is lord Dean of Guild of the City of Glasgow
With his wife Do rothy, the new Chancellor has been active in the affairs of the Order in Scotland. He was an original member of the Stirling Committee of the Order when it was set up in 1972 served as Cha ir man of the S t. John Association in Stirlingshire as Cha irman of the Council of St John Associations of Scotland , and was made a member of Chapter General in 1979 when he also beca me a Knight of Justice. Mr. Jack is an Elder n the Church of the Holy Rude , (Church of Scotland) Stirling (Pho to: Norva l, Fort St , Stirl ing)
with gifts of lime, lemon and orange, and bags of logs are distributed to help keep the elderly warm in winter.
Children of single parents (including those of the unfortunate 'battered wives ' ) are encouraged to participate in cadet programmes and this often helps to relieve the strain caused by the break-up of family life. Visits are also made to bereaved families and very often cadets have been able to help where children are concerned in such sad circumstances. There is also a cadet Friday Club at Larbert Hospital for the mentally
handicapped and this has been highl y praised by the hospital staff. (S ee photo)
SUPPORT FOR MOUNTAIN RESCUE
The Helensburgh Branch of the Dunbartonsh ire St. John Association is lending its support to the Arrochar Mountain Resuce Team , which to date has had virtually no sponsorship although the Arrochar mountains are among the most popular with climbers, At a function on February 1 they raised £ 1,000 for this purpose N.M.B
Th ere are now 200 cadets and their officers in Scotland
Over the last 10 years local branches of the Order have increased from 4 to 13 (Photo: Fa kirk Herald)
Ian laird, CStJ, handing over the I new fully-equipped land-rove r to Mr. Bill Ritchie , leader of the Assynt Mountai n Rescue Team at Inverness on Janua ry 9. The Badge of the Orde r is painted on the side of the vehicle
(Photo: Aberdeen Press and Journal)
OVERSEAS
How to save a Life
Pro greSs report on world project
THE How to Save a Life Project began its implemenation stage in the spring of 1978. In November 1979, a Regional Conference, atten ded by representatives of 13 St. John Councils in the Caribbean , was held in Barbados. Attending were delegates from Ant igua Barbados, Bermuda, Canada , Grena da , Guyana, Jamaica , Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis/ Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trini dad & Tobago, and the United Kingdom. One of the interesting results of this conference was to compare notes on how the various councils are making use of the materials supplied to them as a result of the project.
The purpose of the project was to allow the production of a programmed learning sys tem, combining film, print and drill, cove ring self-help responses to common type s of injuries and accidents. The expe rimental work and prototype system had been previously developed in Canada, whe re its use in medicall y isolated com munities had resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of life such as reducing the incidence of accidents by approximate ly 25%, enabling people to care for the ill and the injured and creating the psycho logical basis for many forms of com munity development. The teaching syst em was to be specifically des igne d to deal with the needs of developing co untries in the Caribbean and Africa.
Res ults achieved
Given the broad geographic focus of the project, reporting on progress represents a cons iderable challenge. For example , during the project design phase, 16 countries partic ipated , specifically: Antigua, Barb ados , Botswana , Canada, Grenada , G uyana, Kenya Lesotho , St. Lucia, St. Vinc ent, Trinidad & Tobago , South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia , and Zimbabwe / Rhodesia . This in itself rep resents a considerable achievement in brin ging together a number of countries whi ch sometimes have a degree of difficulty in cooperating, due to delicate political cons iderations.
Further, the HTSAL has been distributed to an additional 21 countries : Switzerland , Malawi , Tanzania, Uganda , Sudan , Gambia, Sier ra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, Fiji, India,
Jamacia, St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla , Monserrat, Holland, Germany, France, Belize, Papua New Guinea Australia and Bermuda.
Three councils might serve as an example of the impact of the HTSAL project , specifically: Barbados , St. Kitts /N evis/Anguilla and Guyana. Each of these councils faces a different set of conditions.
Barbados
Barbados is one of the most highly developed and politically stable islands in the Caribbean As a result, it has the ability to respond to HTSAL in a more institutional form than some of the other islands. For example, Barbados has made effective use of television in its implementation programme, having reached an estimated 150 ,000 Bajans and some 40,000 to 50 ,000 people in other islands by this means In add ition, formal programmes have been set up with the schools, Defence Forces, Workers' Union Employers' Confederation , and St. John itself. The trans -C aribbean nature of Barbados activity is illustrated by the fact that Barbados is the host country for the Regional Police College, where most of the police for the rest of the area are trained. Since HTSAL is now an integral part of the curriculum, all new police officers for each of the participating countries will report for duty f ulJy trained.
Guyana
Guyana has launched one of the more innovative implementation programmes. Recognising that motor vehicle accidents represent one of the most important causes of accidental death and injury in the developing world, St. John in Guyana has worked out a programme in cooperation with the police whereby all prospective drivers must be exposed to HTSAL before they can apply for a license. Through
October 1979, a total of 2,519 persons received this instruction. A total of 2,239 persons were trained to a certificate level, qualifying them as first-aiders suitable for sa tisfaction of Ministry of Labour standards.
St. Kitts/Nevis/ Anguilla
St. Kitts/N evis/ Anguilla, with a 1978 combined population of only 48,900, illustrates the situation in the smaller island In one year, some 1,100 people have participated in the HTSAL programme comprising slightly over 2.3 % of the total population. St. Kitts/Nevis / Anguilla also carried out some research concerning HTSAL's value in terms of learning retention. In their school programme , 96% of the course participants passed outside examinations, a considerable improvement over any other form of instruction. Church and community groups are also active participants in the HTSAL programme including the various Churches , Home Economic Groups , the Wesleyan Holiness Church Religious Women's Club the Seventh Day Adventist Youth Group , and Community Health projects run by the Department of Education. The results are typical of what has been achieved around the world as a result of the HTSAL project , and a demonstration of the effectiveness with which the finance generously provided by the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has been used Other spin-off effects have already begun to occur. For example during the conference , a representati ve from a churchrelated development group volunteered to assist a council obtain funding from an Irish church-related organisation to carry out a 'saturation' training programme to cover one person in every household on the island. A number of other financing projects are under way to support the initial grant by attracting additional implementation assistance.
SRI LANKA
Sri lanka s SJA Commander , Dr Oswin Fernando giv in g a ecture and demonstration on emergency procedures fi rst at aid the inauguration of a community youth project throughout the country
Dr. Peter von Braun
• EVALUATED by Leading Medical Authorities
• DESIGNED, TESTED & USED by Professionals
• FAILSAFE, Foolproof and Maintenance-free
• COMPETITIVELY PRICED
• Fully Tested and Approved for Universal Use by M,i nistry of Defence for Emergency Resuscitation Awarded NATO Catalogue No: 6530-99-211-6427 Holds DTI Certificate
Across:
3 Tube conveying food from the pharynx to the stomach (10). 8. Ovum or spermatozoon. (6). 9. Excretory and temperature -regulating organ (4 ) 10. Branch of medicine concerned with pregnancy and labour (10). 11. Trap a spirit. (3) 13 Sign with additional significance. (4) 14 Oxygen carrier of the blood. (3.4). 15. Western alliance in action at Omaha. (4). 18. Confused tale about number for acclamation. ( 5). 21. Cooking utensil for cannabis. (3). 22. Essential
g th o s e w h o stay at home ( 6 ). 33. Endocrine secr et ion in c reased b y fea r , a nger and stress situations. (10 ). Down: 1. Acid used by Lister to achieve an t iseptic surger y. ( 8). 2. W e o bject to meat in anatomical opening (6). 3 Horm o n e se c reted b y Gr aafian follicle could be in store. ( 7). 4 Cartoon often reque s ted b y t he d octor before making hi s examination. (5) 5. Appro ve a w a y throu gh t he mountains (4). 6 Mortification of a part of the bod y ( 8 ) 7. Br o k en legs attached to part of lower limbs in painful skin erupt ion. ( 8 ). 12. Abode of Adam and Eve. (4). 14. List sho wing time s at wh ic h on e is to be on duty (4 ). 16. Architectural featur e o f bu lding concealin g pe as (4). 17 D git of the lower limb (3 ). 18. Pair hope for per s is ent overflow of tears due to blockage of nasolacrima du c ts. ( 8) 19 . Th e French seller provides flower used in per f um e r y. ( 8 ) 20 In man its vestigial remnant is the coccyx. (4 ) 2 3 Con verted food to a form in which it can be absorbed by the tissues . ( 8 ). 25 Command th e girl is pleased to have? (7). 27. Bone worn round the neck? ( 6 ). 28 Bacter ia causing boils, pneumonia , erysipelas , and gonorrhoea (5). 30. Le a p o a legal argument. (4).
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No.3 (80)
Across:
1. Snuff-box; 5 Clonic; 10 Order; 11. Oculentum; 12 E a rn ; 13 Tru e; 14. Scold ; 16. Thoracic 19. Green 21. All ; 22. Tawny 23. Skele.t o n ; 25. N ear s; 27. Al.so ; 29 A.si.a ; 31. Sphincter ; 32. Crown ; 33. Sordes; 34. Sporadic. Down:
1. Snorer; 2. Under the weather ; 3. Fa.re; 4 Odour ; 6. Leeks; 7 Nitrogenous food; 8 Co.med.one; 9 tubercle 15. Tray 17 Casualt y; 18. Ilk; 19. Grey; 20 Stenosis; 24. Tannic; 26. Sen s e ; 28. Syrup ; 30. Scar.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
TOP QUALITY BALL PENS
FOR PATIENT HANDLING
RESUSCITATION TRAINING MODEL
Ambulances designed
ST. JOHN
REVIEW
More
Cade
Arou
I WAS DELIGHTED to receive last week a letter from A I M Peter Lewis of Liskeard , apparently inspired by my descriptions of the visits that I have made , over the years to st. John in various African and Asian countries - and most recently , of course , to Uganda, He suggests that we should set up a scheme whereby divisions in our own country could adopt a division in one of the countries where St. John is suffering from the effects of political upheaval , famine , disease or any of the other misfortunes brought about by nature or by man. And he adds that it would be very easy for many of our divisions to raise. from t im e to time, as much as £50 to £100 at a bring-and -buy coffee evening in support of such a cause.
Now I like this idea , not least because it reflects the real sense of brotherhood that exists among the membe rs of the family of st. John, a brotherhood which we are all anxious to make more effective. And I know very well that many more of our members share Peter Lewis's desire. and some , indeed, have put it into effect when a direct opportunity of doing so has come their way , And I'm sure they will be as grateful to him as I am for suggesting that I should pUblicise it through the pages of the Re vieh', But - and this is a very big BUT' - before we embark on anything of the kind we must sort out our motives and our priorities. And the very first thing to do, if Peter Lewis will forgive me for saying something that I regard as absolutely vital , is to banish for ever from bur thoughts and actions the word adopt . with all' · its implications. Our St. John brothers and sisters overseas don't want to be 'adopted', In many cases the y don t particularly want gifts of money , though in rare times of crisis their need for financial help can of course be ve r y acute, but when this happens it's much better for us to send our gifts to the Order , earmarked for the country concerned. The Order will then, depending on the circumstances , either forward the money direct to the national HQ of that country , or , as many countries often much prefer , pass it to the Supplies Department to be held in credit for the supply of various items of manuals and
M ore people should meet someone like
. . . . . . . says JULIE LOYD
ON JANUARY 2 1980 a colleague looked into my office and I asked him if he d had an enjoyable New Year's Eve. His reply was staggering, for I was amazed to hear that while everyone else was celebrating the New Year he had been helping , as an unpaid volunteer, to pick up the piece s in the casualty department of a major hospital in South London. It was a night of crisis proportions. Summarising the evening he told me: 'It was starting to get shghtly bus y a round 11 pm - there were one or two nasty bleeding wounds, but nothing too drastic. Then at five to twelve the red phone wentthe phone the ambulancemen u se to alert Casualty if they ha v e a case coming in needing immediate treatment. Five minutes later they brought three multiple stab wo und casualties into the emergency room. One had received seven superficial wounds o ver the body ; another had a seve re stabbing in the chest - and the th ir d had a punctured liver.'
Apart from the stabbings there was a cardiac arrest , two overdoses, a sick baby with convulsions, a semi- conscious casualt y who had fallen over and gashed his head open, two gentlemen (as he put it) with slashed faces from broken bottles and throughout the evening a stream of other casualties.
Before this conversation with Paul I knew little about first aid and less about St. John Ambulance. But I was struck by this obvious commitment by such a young man to helping others and I wanted to know: How did Paul become a volunteer? Why had he volunteered to help in the c as u a lt y department? What did a training in first aid and being a member of St. John Ambulance mean for him?
Paul is only 20 years old , lives at hom e, and his involvement with St. John Ambulance began four years ago when he took his first aid certificate. Since then he 's
YEAR "OF NURSING
become dedicated to first aid - JOlDmg a SJ A Division in South London , and taking certificates in initial and advanced nursin g. As well as keeping these qualifications up to date he has taken a course in emergenc y ambulance training and studies some child welfare.
Apart from doing a 9 -to -5 administrative job, Paul has given up much of his free tim e to use his first - aid knowledge and skill s in an entirely voluntary capacity in the service of the pUblic During the first couple of years he regularly helped with first-aid duty , dur ing evenings and weekends, at his local ice-rin k. The most common injurie s were lacera ted fingers and toes (often resulting in sever e bleeding) , cuts over the eyes and under th e chin, sprains and occ asio nall y spine inju ries and b rok en legs or arms
The worst injury Paul had to attend was a man who had split the top of his foot op en after the blade of h is other skate had cut through the leather of his boot.
Describing the injury, Paul said: 'Blood was pumping out of hi s foot and as well as feeling very faint from the sight of his own blood the man was in a lot of pain. I t was so bad that we had t o leave the bo ot on, elevate the leg apply pr essure to the main artery and just try to control he bleedin g until the ambulancemen arrived.'
Over the last couple of yea rs , apart from
Bursaries
A T A reception held at St. James 's Palace on March 20, the Qu een Mother presented the first three £250 n ur sing bur sar ie s (now to be awarded annually) of SJA 's Year of Nurs in g. (Left) Mr. Hugh Gowans , ARRC , SRN , OHNC , wi ll u se his for a new occupational health nursing course for SJ A t rain ed personnel working in industry. ( Below left ) Miss W. R Pollard SRN , SNT, from Ley ton , will be adding hers to another she wo n to visit Canada to study a joint SJ A / Red Cross progr a mme to teach the public basi c nursing. (Below ) Miss S L. Eaves MA, BA , from Preston, wi ll use her s to produce learning packages for educating 8 to ll -year -olds in basi c nursing.
being on duty at such ceremonies as the Trooping of the Colour and demonstrations, his main work has been as a regular volunteer assisting in the casualty department at a large South London teach ing hospital. He gives up most Friday and Saturday nights to help. I talked to him afte r a typical Saturday night's duty '1 go on duty at 7 .3 0pm and often work through till 7a m the following mornin g. The busy period begins after 11 pm w hen the pubs are turning out. Last night my first casua lt y was a man who had cut hi s head on glass after drinking at a party '. Paul 's j ob was to atte nd the w ound and monitor his observations The secon d was a drunk w ho had fallen through a pane o f glass a nd was suffe ring se rious bleeding after c uttin g the main arte r y in hi s wrist. In this case, after controlling t he bleeding and recording details of the cas ualty, he passed hi m on to the doctor to receive st itche s. He went on 'A nd then there was the usual weekend quota of ove rd oses. A drug addict, who had overdosed on heroin was brought in vomiti ng He was un conscious for three hours, in the emergency room for four hours , and was finally admitted for drying out'. He was followed sho rtl y afterwards by an overdose case from a party. His condition, it transpired, had resulted from the combinatio n of excessive drinking with
smoking drugs. Another heroin addict was admitted suffering from an overdose and hepatitis.'
During the evening the red phone rang and an emergency case - an elderly female with suspended breathing - was brough t in but she was found to be dead on arrival.
Other casualties that night included an emergency asthmatic case and several people with chest and back pain comp laints.
It was typical of the kind of turn-over on most Saturday nights.
It is seldom that one come s across people giving up their Saturday night s in this way, especia ll y when, as in Paul' s cas e , the only perk they get is a meal ticket for the staff canteen, so I asked him why he does it. His answ er was simple: 'W ell helping the commu nity with my first aid seems the best way I can do something for others.' Doing some thing for others that is why he does it.
Obviousl y Paul enjo y s helping at the hospital and takes the work very seriously
In o rd er to make himself as useful as possible he took up the suggestion of the Casualty Registrar to attend the fracture clinic ( although it meant taking leave from his ob) to learn how to administer tem porar y plaster casts. Howe ver, he is keen to point out that he is indebted to the hospital for giving him this experience and
with
Ho spital
Tra ining
cso Ray Coatesworth of Northumberland went on a training project to the St. John of God Hospita (photo right), Scorton, N. Yorks, during March. He helped on th e wards (pr ivate and NHS patients) from 8am to 5pm dut es including aking puls e and temperature, dress in gs, bathing and bedmaking - and what he did not know the staff readily taught h m. He reports he was made very welcome and was asked to come back
training and he stressed it is important that any volunteer shoul d co-op erate fully with the ho s pi t al and make a regular commitment.
Paul's story is not unique I've learned that St. John Ambulance volunteers have a reputation for dedicated service. Bu t, of the young people I have met , his contribution to the welfare of others is outstanding He has taken every opportunity to improve his knowledge and skills and then to pass them on to others. Indeed , at work he undertook the job of first-aid officer for the firm and offered informal classes in basic first aid in lu nch hours. Lately he has extended his activities and has begun to do some social work with a group called He lp 71 '. And this year he moved to a new post of Safety Officer with a London Borough.
Through meeting Paul I now have a better under stan ding of what St. John Ambulance is all about. His story would not be complete without mentioning that he took part in a sponsored national 'First Aider of the Year' competition in 1978. He was placed second out of the whole country - something to be proud of - and I am sure he will be in the forefront of first-aid activities for many years to come.
Today many condemn the young. It 's a pity more people don't have the chance of meeting someone like Paul.
Ray (left and right)
IT IS a great privilege for me to address this conference as it gives me the opportunity to tell you how much I have personally benefited from my association with this lovely country and its people. I first came her€ in January 1942 after doing a tour in Bomber Command and was trained by BOAC at Vaaldam to fly the old Empire Flying Boats. I then flew in and out of Durban for 5 years and enjoyed the friendship and hospitality of many South Africans, fmally going to England taking a 'banana girl' with me. I have visited this country innumerable times since and on a visit 2 years ago had the great privilege of meeting and being entertained by your late Prior and his good lady.
I feel, therefore, that I und€rstand a little of your difficulties and the measures you are taking to meet the challenge of the chlU).ges taking place in Southern Africa.
There is no doubt in my mind that the St. John objects and ideals do much to resolve problems that arise due to race, class and creed, and our insistence , that we will aid all with complete lack of distinction between them on these grounds is a weapon of immense power. Of course if you follow those ideals without fear or favour in South Africa you would find yourself in great difficulty with some of the IlJ.wS of this country and this would be both unwise and unworkable.
The question really is how far can you go to meet the challenges of the great changes in society taking place in Southern Africa. I believe that your greatest contribution must lie in the broadest possible involvement in Health and Social Services.
The most important thing for St. John members to cultivate is our image to the public; all must believe that we are totally dispassionate. Only by constant exposure can we achieve this, so increasing involvement in all social and welfare activities has a positive objective, that of establishing that service to mankind which is our primary role.
100
ACTION in the wide world of St. John
Assistant C-in-C Gerald Easton (left) - New Zealand born, who spent a lifetime flying with BOAC - was invited last October by SJA South Africa to attend their 44th Ambulance Conference (equivalent to the UK's Foundation Conference) and the installation of their new Chief Commissioner, Capt. R. C. van der Merwe. This is his address to the conference.
The most significant development in the United Kingdom is the increasing violence at football matches and during public gatherings, particularly when triggered off by such organisations as the National Front with its racial connotations. Police and regular ambulance crews who represent law and order often become focal points for attack by crowds.
The miserable situation in Northern Ireland, culminating in the deplorable assassination of Lord Louis and some of his immediate family and 14 soldiers in one day, underlines the fact that we too in Great Britain are subject to terrorism and unrest. There have been two IRA attacks within 10 miles of my own home in the south of England. Two Bronze Medals of the Order were awarded to two 16-year-old St. John Cadets recently for bravery for going to the aid of a wounded soldier in Belfast in the middle of the night.
We in St. John can go into these crowds and give help to the wounded, police or rioters, without incurring the slightest animosity. Because they know we are there only for that purpose, this turns aside all of their belligerence.
We were able to replace the emergency services disrupted by union disputes in one county for 17 consecutive days, subject only to slight harassment designed to ensure we attended only real emergencies. This was a considerable achievement only made possible by our public image.
As you may know we have in the UK a Welfare Cup competition and this was won this year by a Division at Upton-on-Severn for their work among the blind. Their effort was described by the judges as 'unique, opening up new ground in the field of St. John Welfare'. The members undertake welfare work among the blind and elderly, reading to them, visiting them, shopping and gardening for them. In the course of their work they have made an updated list of all the blind in their area; the existing list was miles out of date. By insisting that they should have proper identification for themselves, to guard the blind against unwelcome or unknown visitors, the
understand the fee was waived. A real chip off the old block, it seems.
Our Aeromedical Service, for transporting desperately ill passengers with life support facilities and aeromedically trained personnel, could only be done on a voluntary basis. To maintain teams in readiness all the year round would be financially impossible.
Both the Air Wing and Aeromedical Service are revenue producing, and of course they bring us very favourable publicity.
members have caused this to become an obligatory requirement for all social worker s in their county. By asking for concessionary fares on public transport they have brought this cause to County Council level where its adoption throughout the county is being considered. It could well spread thi s movement throughout the country.
Last year the Welfare Cup was won by a Division in South Molton for their service s to the elderly in a small country town Thi s consisted of meeting any special need or emergency connected with welfare in the community. Mainly concerned with the elderly, infirm and housebound the y provided transport and comfort and mad e 919 separate calls in one year for a wide variety of purposes which undoubtedl y brought fresh joy into lonely and secluded lives. They have widened their activities to include one-parent families and families with physically or mentally handicapped children. In February a great blizzard in the are a made a completely unforeseen and very severe test on their resources, thei r preparedness, and indeed their courage. This real life emergency gave the judges a uniqu e opportunity of seeing how well the y succeeded in exploiting their resources an d expertise in the welfare role, and it was met with a very high degree of success. In addition to their cup the Division was awarded a Meritorious Service Certificat e and a framed citation to record this remarkable effort.
We run the Air Wing in England to move transplant material and blood plasm a urgently required and where speed is the essence of the whole operation. This consist s of 186 private pilots, with their own aircraft who answer our calls at any hour of day or night.
This is a service that could not possibly be supported by using paid staff or our own aeroplanes. Mr. Winston Churchill MP and his wife are volunteers and took a kidney to Hamburg on New Year's Eve. It is reported that when asked by the airport for a landing fee, he asked them if they wanted to get into the Guinness Book of Records as the only airport who took fees from St. John. We
I would suggest to you that the African work force here in South Africa is probably about on a par with the workmen in the middle of the last century in England when the Industrial Revolution started. Mostly illiterate, used to the rural rather than a factory environment , the accident rates among these workers were appalling and this led to the need for first aid training which was met by the Association started by the Order of St. John.
We are expanding all over the country into providing rescue craft on lakes and rivers at sporting events. This again is all volunt ary service with an element of enjoyable participation, that is meat to the voluntee r, but it would be unsupportable for Local Authorities or Government paying attendants by the hour. At Plettenberg Bay the other day I saw your own South African NSRI go out and rescue some fishermen who had engine failure. They also took the greatest care to bring the boat undamaged onto the open beach. An excellent performance. I wonder if they cover inland waters? Perhaps you should. Apart from its real purpose to save life it has very good publicity value.
I rece ntly went out to Western Australia to attend their Priory Conference and toured a number of centres. The entire ambulance service is run by the St. John Association and funded by an insurance scheme backed by Local Government. In such a sparsely populate d area a judicious mix of the paid and the volunteer has been used. In urban areas a fully paid staff maintains a 24 hour service. In suburban areas paid staff man the stations during the day on weekdays. At night and on weekends volunteers man the service. In rural areas a fully equipped ambula nce and station are maintained and volunte ers to man them are on immediate call, on a rota system. Any transporting of patients over long distances is by air; they even have volunteer teams to clear landing strips and set out flare paths for night operat ions. Only by this voluntary contri bution could such a service be offered and it was very apparent from the reception given to delegates that the Local Government was very conscious of their dependence on St. John.
It is interesting that most accidents involving trauma, certainly those caused by alcohol, occur in the evenings and at the week ends, so it is the volunteers who handle the majority of such cases except in Perth itself.
You may have heard of the FACT project originally conceived and carried out in Canada to test the hypothesis that first aid training significantly affected accident rates. This has also been studied in Great Britain by a team at Aston University, Birmingham, with the full co-operation of St. John. Results are encouraging but are still under study.
the field of Public Health Education.
I'm sure you must know how widely we in the UK are spreading our efforts into food handling child care and general welfareall far away from first aid - and all the time expanding our organisation to meet gaps in what is the most comprehensive Health Service in the world.
Increasing standards of literacy and competency, allied to the imposition of safety regulations in industry, have greatly improved this situation and you will note that I place the emphasis on literacy and competency.
How effective would a short basic course in fust aid be to the African? No doubt in the mines this is done, but is it in industry? Could you by starting such a programme significantly help new recruits in industry to avoid accidents? If so, I have no doubt that industry would be forthcoming fmancially and in other practical ways, and our image would be greatly enhanced.
I thought your exposure on TV at the Curry Cup (South Africa ' s rugby final) was excellent. It might be worthwhile asking the commentators to make some remarks.
The Order in England is very happy to hear of the efforts being made by Cape Town, in particular your engagement in social work, especially your St. John Eye Clinics, a subject very dear to the Order of St. John. I have read of your project to produce Health First Aiders and your aims to bridge the gaps between aid by Government funds and what could be achieved by maximum voluntary efforts in
All of this is complementary to our main purpose of providing first aid cover and all is directed toward the enhancement of our organisation, maintaining its usefulness, its authority and its public image of kindness, sincerity and commitment.
Finally, I realise that you have a contractual obligation to the South African Defence Forces to provide medical orderlies in time of war and that you may therefore feel that some of the resentment toward them, should you become involved in a civil confrontation, will fall on St. John. To balance this I would like to quote an extract from a speech by the present Secretary of State for Social Services :
'Volunteers and Voluntary Bodies are not just another arm of government. The voluntary sector should be recognised as a hugely important sector in its own right. Its independence, its freedom to innovation and to experiment, its ability to stir men's hearts and engage their practical sympathies are assets of incalculable value.'
Your efforts must be to demonstrate in every field in which we are skilled your total involvement in the service of mankind' so earning your independence, freedom and acceptance by all the people here in South Africa.
'Enjoyable participation - meat to the volunteer
Cadet Chat FOR EVERYONE INTERESTED
Out Walking
WALK in groups of at least three and preferably four people ; if one is injured , the second should stay with the casualty while the other two go for help.
If you are out walking for a whole day be sure to carry the necessary clothing to allow for weather variations. Listen to the weather forecast before y ou set off; if there is likelihood of very adverse conditions take a survival bag or large plastic bag with y ou (big enough for you to get into completel y) In addition , here are other small item s you might carr y which could be of use.
a Whistle t o attract attention if you really are in need of help.
b. String for a v ariet y of uses; a long length of strong string or thin rope is particularl y use ful if you are tr ying to keep toge t her over difficult country where fog may come do wn suddenly , eg on Kinder Scou t.
c. Small repair kit ; safety pin s are excellent in most cases - remember to include at leas t one big one.
d Spare shoe laces ; y ou could use smooth string ; r em embe r that the ends of rough stri ng ar e ver y difficult to get through eyelets
e. A cutting implemen ; scissors are very useful but remember that folding knives have additional uses , eg peeling fruit. If y ou do car ry kni ves be sure that the y are packed ver y carefull y where their points cannot do harm
f. Small r oll o f sellotape .
g. Small pac ket of tissues or soft toilet paper rolled sep a ratel y wi thou t its cardboard middle (sometimes better than tissues because it is onger a nd cheaper ).
h. Small piece of ordinary candle ,. 1 to 2ins long , and a box of matches wrapped together in a waterproof bag. This will ensure that a fire will burn even in pouring rain
All of thes e items can be packed t ogether in a small box or tin which will fit easily into a pocket of y our rucksack
!. A small 'pocket' first aid kit; this will be considered later under a separate heading:
j In addition to the food packed for the day carry a large block of either chocolate (remember in heat this will melt and get mess y) or Kendal m int cake Either is invaluable if your journey takes longer than anticipated.
k. An optional extra - packet of glucose tablets (any flavour) these help to revive you if you begin to feel weary.
1. If you are depending on a map, put it , opened at the page you require , into a
o IN CADETS by JIM
clear plastic bag Map cases are ideal ; they also have a length of cord attached which you can put round your neck so leaving your hands free , but they are costly (in a later edition we could think how to make one).
m. A compass; be sure it is accurate and reliable. Silva compasses are very good ; they are a bit costly but with care last well and are well worth the money n. A small torch useful also for sending messages in morse.
o. Paper and pencil - but these you should carry anyway as a good first-aider.
p An interest point - mountaineers also carry a small amount of salt. We will consider thi s again when we talk about the first aid kit.
q. A small hacksaw (one for t he group) carefully wrapped ; may also be useful to prepare wood for a fire
Later we will think about first aid kits an d the most common accidents you are likely to meet. We will also think about how to pack a rucksack. If you have any hints which yo u have found useful , please let me know.
What a body
The answers to the last part oj this quiz ar e: 1 Lids , 2 Br idge , 3 Nose, 4 Skull, 5 Brow, 6 Teeth, 7 Nails 8 Two /ips (tulip s), 9 Iri ses, 10 Gum
Try these programme tillers
- BlindJold y our cadets and get them to reach a d iagnosis and treat a casualty.
- Tr eat a casualty using only one hand.
- Three flrst -aiders as a team treating a casualty without sp eaking to each other l
- Use foreign speaking' casualties.
Your column
Contributions , ideas for games acti vities a nd training , are welcome o Cadet Chat and help is especiall y wanted with illustrati ons.
Write to JIM , 57 Morgan Cresce nt , Theydon Bois , Epp ing , Essex CM16 7D U.
services when they
Throughout this heraic b ut tragically fruitless attempt ta
the cauple's lives he risked his
three limes over, first in his pe rilous journey, 50ft above ground level, to the b alcony of the burning nat, then in his vain attempt to penetrate the blaz.ing inferno. and finally in his re turn journey a1ang the ledge while inevitably in a state .of great exhaustion.
Life Sav in g Me d a l in Br a nze
Cadet Se gea nt P a ul D ar r ag h a nd Cade Cor po r a James McA ul ey, b a th .o f Ledl ey Ha ll A/C a n d N/C Divis io n Co mm a nd er y .of A rd s. In recognition of their caurage and efficiency when, without regard to the potential danger of their si tuation , they rendered life-saving first aid to a grav ely injured casualty shortly al1:er midnight on March 27 1979. Hearing the sound of a shot and a sc re a m in the street near their homes. both cadets mmediate y came out to see if they cauld help James McAuley, arriving fi r st, fou n d a man lyi n g in a pool of blood at t h e street carner. On exam in ation he discovered a wo u nd in the casua ty's t h ig h which was bleeding very profuse y Pau l Darragh then a rrived and co n trolled h e bleeding as far as passib e while McA ul ey ra n back ta fetch a first aid kit. Together they applied a field dressing to the waund, and later ap p lied wo mo e on to p before the b eeding was u n d er co n rol. They co ntinued to loak af er th e c a s ual ty, wh a was b y · now unco nscio us fr o m shoc k main taining a c h eck on his brea t h in g, pulse and ge n e ral co nd itia n un til an ambula n ce a rr ived to take h m to h ospi t al. T h e r cal m and etTecti ve trea tm ent an d si n gle - m inded cance rn fa r th e casua lt y w as the pr ime cause of his life bein g sa ved
Se gea nt A nare Durusolo So v u, Ro ya l F iji Polic e
In recog nit ion of hi s co u rage, init ia ti ve and dete r minat io n in savi n g a yo un g woma n from drow nin g in h e R ewa Rive r at Nauso r i, Fiji, in the early eve ni ng o f Jun e 27 1979. Se geant Sovu was an dut y at t h e P o lice Sta ti o n w he n a m a n r a n n to repo rt h av in g see n a yo un g wo m an jump otT the near b y R ewa br idg e ac r o ss h e br oa d mo uth o f t he m ud d y, s wo ll en and fas t- flowing R e wa Riv e r a a po int so m e 200 yar ds o ut fr o m t he b a nk Se rgea nt Sov u im medi ate ly ra n down t o th e ri ve r, fo ll o w ed by th e m e sse nge and three o th er po lic e offi cers. Here h ey found a punt b u no pa dd les or pol e. Se rgea nt
his d r iver was trapped by the legs and unable to move. On he ar in g from the drive r that their engine was on flfe an d the r e was risk of an explosion, A M Bourne roused himself sufficiently to climb aut of the ambulance by kicking out a window (the door was jammed) find the flreextinguisher, put out the flfe and disconnect the batter y before he collapsed. O f h e 7 persons involved in the accident, 3 died but 4 survived though ser ously inju r ed. By his ca urage in p utting out the fire and his strenuo u s perseverance in doing so while being h imself al r eady se iously injured. A I M Bourne saved the d ri ver of the amb ulance from almost certain death and reduced the risk of further danger of the o her survivors
Ce rt ifica t e o f H o n a ur M r. J a hn W att, Cas tl ebay, Is e .of Ba rra P ri o y of Sco tl an d In recognition of his ve y hig hl y comme nd able course of action when, in t he e a ly m orning of Su nday, Ju ly 8 1979, h e was re t urn in g ta B ar a with a p a r ty of seve n f r iends after a da n ce on t h e Isle of Va t ersay, and t h e do r y boat in which t h ey were travelling ca psiz.ed, trap p ing some members of the party underneath it and throwi n g the others into the sea. Mr Watt first hel ped a yo un g man who was a nan-swimme r to sc r a mbl e onto the keel of the u pt u rned boat a n d th e n we n to the help of the ot h ers One ya un g wo man was mi ssi n g, a nd Mr. Watt a n d two ather m en in the party d ived und er and aro un d the boa t b u w h er e una ble o find he r. Mr Wa t h en dive d und er the bo at again and e t rieved th e oa s wit h w hi c h h ey tr ied to p a d d e towar d s Castle b ay; but t h ey c o ul d make no h eadway agains the stro n g c ur re n and ev e n tu ally d ifted ta he small s e of Or
ROYAL TOURNAMENT
HRH The Grand Prior will take the salute at the SJA evening of the Royal Tournament on Monday , July 21, when the Brigade will be putting on a display in the arena. The performance begins at 7.30 pm and a leaflet giving details for bookings is included with this issue. Why not get a party together to support the evening?
AI D TO UGAN DA
We hear that the Order's ftrst consignment of supplies to Uganda (ftrst aid materials and stretchers , training aids and manuals , etc ) reached Kampala safely last December , and that a second consignment arrived at St. John HQ in Nairobi and Kampala is very difficult to arrange, but should now become easier because a second-hand VW microbus has been obtained in Nairobi as part of the Order s gift to Uganda. It will be used as a general purpose vehicle , transporting personnel and stores , and as a small emergency ambulance. We hope that by pow it will have t ra velled to Kampala with the second co ns ignment of supplie s on board. This is just a start , of course , for St. John in Uganda will need all availab le help for its redevelopment for quite a long time to come. (see AT RANDOM).
During December John Kintu spent some time at the Kilembe Mines in Western Uganda , where he had been invited to la y on a firs aid course for the supervi sors in the mines This w as followed b y a highl y successful safet y month ', during which the local annu a l first aid competitions were resumed with enthu siasm after a lapse o f
sever a l y ea rs 19 8 0 is the Go lden Jubilee of St. Jo h n in Uganda , and the y hope t o carr y ou t an imagina tiv e programme of events if suffic ient sponsorship becomes a vailable. The most urgent need apart from funds , is to rede velop Association and Brigade training , and the ubilee programme was due t o start with a training course for la y lecturers at Makerere Uni versity in March , followed b y a leadership course thi s month Later e vents
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ST. JOH N
that are being planned include a fund -raising music gala and possibly a sponsored soccer match , the resumption of their national first a id competitions in Kampala, a Service of Re - dedication and Thanksgiving in Narnirembe Cathedral and a 'Grand Golden Jubilee Parade'.
All this is of course a very brave programme in a country that is at the moment in grave danger of famine due to the run-down of agriculture during Amin s regime, and the fact that last year s war of liberation took place just when fresh crops should have been sown.
Good luck to them and we hope the y' ll get the sponsorship they need!
CADET ADVENTURE
The Edwina Mountbatten Trust , established in memory of the late Counte ss Mountbatten , who was for man y y ear s Superintendent -in -Chief of SJA, has donated £500 to Norfolk for cadet adv e ntur e training
The cheque was presented by the Deput y County Commissioner , Mr F. J Har ve y, to CSO Cadet Training Mrs Gwen Digb y at a meeting of the Adventure Trainin g C ommittee a Norwich Count y HQ d u r n g M a rch.
Future acti v ities of the training se c tio n include canoeing fell w alking , sailing b r as s rubbing and bird watching - all cadet proficiency subjects. The section alread y h as an old ambulance converted to a min ibus and new lightweight tents have been bought with the grant , which will ensure a sound basis for these activities.
( Le ft) M rs. J oann e K n gd on. DI S o B arn st aple. D evon an d M ss St Jo hn 1 977 was t he speci al g ue s at th e ATV
N urse o f th e Yea r r eg on a final - h ere she m eets th e win ner (W M dlands ), Mr M ic ha e Da me ny. o f W ar w ick 's Centr a Hos pi tal (Righ t ) Dir ect or of Over sea s Relation s, Sir Leslie Monson (l eft ), on a vi s to Gu y ana wit h the chairman of th e SJ
Coun c il Mr I. Crum - Ew ing meet ng th e President of Gu y ana, HE Mr Ar hur Chu ng
100 YEAR S
PEN PAL S ?
K orea , Ja p a n Africa, Greece, I ndi a, G er many, A me r ica yo u na me it a nd sh e's got a con t ac t t her e. It a ll st a rt ed t wo years ago as a in t ere st, when Ly n , a memb e r o f Sou th
BY
THE EDITOR
MIN D BEND ERS
Find the fi st ai d words o r wo r d in the clue. T he number of l ett ers in the answe r is given.
l. Fit why around eleven. (6).
2. A secure joint. (6.4).
3. Diane is unpunctual. (6).
4. A wrestling hold. (8).
Answers. Upside down - are at the bottom of page 106.
Australia's Ten Tree Gu lly (is n 't t hat a lovely name?) N ur sing D ivisio n joined an internation al pe n- p al cl u b in Mauritius. Now she spen ds u p to 12 hours a week putti ng together pen friends.
In t he past year, si n ce he r Commissioner, Dr. Ance ll gave h e r th e h o norary positio n of (wait for it) In ternational Corresponde nce Liaison Officer (ICLO shall we call it?), Lyn has received 140 requests from overseas seeking pen friends all of whom she's matched with SJ members. Currently she is develo pi ng contacts in Mexico and South Sea islan d groups. 'Up to now,' says Lyn, 'the majo rity of requests come from cadets. But any mem b e r interested in an ove r seas pen-pal should contact me at 1 Derwe nt Crescent, Banksia Park, South Australia 509 L Let me have the country pr eferred (with a second choice), sex and age of chum req uired, also yo ur age group, interests and languages. And an internatio n al r eply co u pon (fr om the P ost Office) wi ll help our post bill and speed t h e reply!
Mrs. Lyn Armstrong at work (see PEN PALS))
(Right) A presentation to Sir John Eastwood (leh) by the Lord Lieutenant, Commander P. Franklin (who is County President and President of the Council), on his resignation from the St. John Council for Nottinghamshire
LAY INSTRUCTORS
S J A Lo ndon Di
This photo of Sir Hanniba Scicluna (see A & A April), which has just arrived from Malta shows
N ow for the bad news: he also broke two fingers playing basketball for his school.
Steven, who has won the Division 's nursing competition for the last two years (he should know how to look after those two disabled fingers) goes on duty every Sunday at the local hospital.
A man to watch, obviously
DISABLED
A new catalogue of the books available from The Disabled Living Foundation, which is now 10 years old , is available free from the Foundat ion, 346 Kensington High Street , London W.14.
FAREWELL
A poignant funeral took place at the parish church of Gorleston Norfolk, on February 12. There was a St. John guard of honour of
year awards to Sarah Holmes and Kevin Thompson. The Division s 14 N/ Ms and all 14 AIMs have started on the Home Nursing course - no sex discrimination here!
42 members 36 outside and 6 inside the church The coffin was carried by six pallbearers - two from SJ A, two from the Lifeboat Service two from the Coastguard. Some 25 cars followed the hearse to the cemetary.
It was the day of farewell to a 16-year-old Gorleston girl, Janet Wells, who had died after a road accident.
Janet was a cadet, who had become a corporal in 1978, a sargeant in 1979, a Cadet Leader on January 9 1980. She won the Gorleston and Southdown Division's Duties Rose Bowl in 1976, in 1977 and in 1978; the Uniform Cup in 1977; and the First Aid Cup in 1978, Her Divisional Superintendent, Mr. p, J. Daniels, wrote me: Janet was a born leader and a great inspiration to all who knew her, Her happy outgoing personality drew people to her , for she radiated a warmth of affection and caring for everyone. She loved life and her whole purpose was serving others in any way she could. She was clever and always eager to go on all duties, helping people and animals with the same wonderful enthusiasm for her work. Janet's dearest ambition was to train to become a Doctor of Medicine, and
( Left ) Meet Kathleen Marshal l, of B ils thorpe , Notts - an ex-cadet of great competition suc ce ss - who on a Brigade visit to W. Germany in 1974 suffered ser io us brain damage when knocked down by a car. After 3 weeks in an intensive care unit, she was flown back to Nottingham by the Aeromedical Service where slow recovery continued. But after four months her eyesight had failed to recover. Kathleen was blind. During her rehabilitation she met Nigel Patten , socia worker at the blind centre in Mansfie d. And here they ar e today - Mr. and Mrs Patten, living happily and fully in Mansfield (P hoto Mansf ie ld Chronicle Advertiser)
JOINED IN
none of us have any doubts that had he r young life been spared she would hav e attained the heights of all her dreams and desires.'
Janet - we salute you.
24-HOUR
EXERCISE
I hear that eleven members and cadets from Norfolk s Breckland Area acted as casualties for a Red Cross war-situation exercis e during February which lasted 24 hours Th e exercise was later shown on TV.
SUMMER SCHOOLS
Details of 1980 summer schools for futur e nurses - held in Hants, Liverpoo l, Somerset, Sussex and West Yorks - are available from the Nurses Christia n Fellowship , 277 A Ewell Road, Surbiton Surrey KT6 7 AX.
MIND BENDERS (answers)
D v , are wel comed b y members of both divis ions as they leav e church for a new life together.
trammg aids that they can't obtain locally and which they can themselves select to meet their most urgent needs. In either case our gifts can thus be far more wisely and beneficially spent than if they were sent to one individually adopted division.
Apart from, and in many ways far more important than, gifts of money, one of the most vitally -I had almost said 'desperately' - urgent needs of St. John in many of the countries overseas which have in recent years attained independence and in some cases suffered traumatically in the early stages of independent development , is to have the reassurance of knowing that they are sharing with us in a partnership of service; and while they are glad to learn from our experience, they don't want to feel compelled to follow in all respects the 'UK pattern' when tHeir most pressing needs, their greatest opportunities, their climate and their culture are in many ways so different from ours. That is a personal partnership whic h can only be established through personal contacts, No amount of rules and regu lations, however important, can estab lish it; no gifts of money, howeve r sorely needed and gratefully received they may be in times of crisis, can establish it; not even a system of 'pen pals' can go very far towar ds establishing it between people who have never met and who live their daily lives in such widely different settings. So what is the solution? As I see it, it lies in making the most we possibly can of every opportunity of personal contact, either in our country or in theirs, or better still in both. Impossible? No; merely rather difficult unless you are not only rather lucky but, more important, seize with outstretched arms the challenge of any opportunity that comes your way. International gatherings such as the Mytchett camp provide golden opport unities for making friendships which can establish a true partnership in service and a lasting relationship between the members and their divisions, which will enrich the St. John lives of both partners. The chance opportunity of a contract job in a St. John country overseas will enable you to ge t in touch with St. John in the country that you visit, and to work with them in their St. John activities. Some of our members, as hope Review readers are well aware , have done this in the past and are doing it today , to the immense benefit of both members of the partnership. Conversely, an overseas student or a professional or industrial worker Who comes to this country and happens to be a St. John member should be eagerly welcomed into our homes and invited to share in our St. John activities. They may possibly learn something from them; and ther e's a good chance that our partnership in service will result in a lasting and immensely beneficial relationship between their divisions and ours.
saved many Jewish lives at great risk to his own safety until the hospital was closed early in 1939. He and his wife fortunately succeeded in emigrating to England which for the rest of his life became the country of his adoption.
So remember, a partnership is not a 'takeover bid'; it is a sharing of our joint contribution to the service of mankind. Each partner can find much to learn from the other, to the benefit of those whom each partner seeks to serve. But please don't imagine that in saying this I'm belittling the value, or the importance, of those gifts of money which can be life-savers in times of emergency, as at present in Uganda; but they don't constitute a partnership, though they may result from one.
So once again let me say 'thank you ' to Peter Lewis for his letter, which I hope will prove to have sparked off something bigger than he dreamed of. St. John needs far more international partnerships through personal contact, for they will not only make our work more fruitful and our family more closely knit, but by the breaking down of frontiers (in more senses than one) they will help to make the world a smaller, happier, healthier and more peaceful place to live in
Sir Ludwig Guttmann
There must be very few of our readers who have not heard of Stoke Mandeville Hospital near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, and most will have heard , too, of the annual Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralysed , which during the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne were awarded the Fearnley Cup - the ftrst time that an Olympic A ward had been given to a sports organisation for the severely handicapped.
The man who made Stoke Mandeville famous from the time that in 1944 he was put in charge of its newly opened unit for sufferers from spinal injuries, who founded the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948, and who, to quote The Times, 'saved and made worthwhile the lives of many thousands of severely disabled people all over the world' , died on March 18 at the age of 80, after a life most signally dedicated to the service of mankind. Sir Ludwig Guttmann, CBE, OStJ MD, FRS, FRCP, FRCS was born in 1899. in the coalmining province of Silesia. A frail boy of small stature, in the latter years of World War I he worked as an orderly in his local hospital and was deeply saddened by the hopeless fate of the paraplegic soldiers and miners among its patients. He qualified as a doctor in Breslau in 1923 and specialised in neurosurgery in which he steadily built up an international reputation.
When Hitler came to power he was dismissed, but was elected Director of the Jewish Hospital where for some years he
After five years' research at Oxford be started the spinal unit at Stoke Mandeville with six patients in a 20-bed ward. Within 15 years it had expanded to 192 beds, and he was training colleagues from all over the world, many of whom are now heads of similarly expanding spinal units in their own countries. In later years he visited more than 30 of those countries to lecture and advise on the treatment and rehabilitation of paraplegics '- He was a very good friend to St. John and keenly encouraged our members not only to do duties at Stoke Mandeville but to come in small groups for a conducted tour of the hospital; and I have viv d memories of his welcoming, some ten years ago , a vast crowd for the Bucks County AGM at his Sports Stadium and afterwards giving us a talk on the Stoke Mandeville Games, illustrated by a most remarkable film He wrote an extremely interesting article on ' Prevention and ftrst aid of injuries to the cervical spine' which appeared in tbe April 1978 issue of the Review; those who still have their copy are indeed fortunate, because of its invaluable summary of ftrst aid management of victims of cervical injury , written by the world's greatest expert in very clear terms which any lay person can understand. When I hear or read the intolerant comments of those who vituperate our national tradition of g iving sanctuary to the persecuted, I give thanks for the men and women from other lands whom, like Sir Ludwig, it has over the years been our privilege to receive, ftrst as refugees and in due course as compatriots; and I pray that tradition may never cease to prevail.
THE CASTLE of St. Peter stands on a peninsula at Bodrum on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The Knights of St. John captured the site in 1404 after losing their castle at Smyrna (modern Izmir) to the Ottoman Turks. Situated close to the Order's island of Cos, it was an ideal link in their chain of defence across the Aegean Sea to Rhodes, and enabled the Knights to oversee passing marine trade.
It is thought that there was formerly a Byzantine fortress on the peninsula , but it was redesigned and refortified by the Knights to the designs of Heinrich Schlegelholtz, a German military engineer and member of the Order. Until the end of the nineteenth century it was possible to see how the Knights had incorporated into the walls as decoration pieces carved marble, sculptures and friezes from the nearby tomb of King Mausoleus. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Bodrum's ancient name) was one of the seven wonders of the classical world. The structure had been destroyed before the arrival of the Knights and they made use of the available stone. Most of the sculptures that decorated the castle can now be seen in the British Museum, since they were removed by the English antiquarian Newton in the nineteenth century, but one or two pieces and sections of classical marble columns remain in the fabric of the castle.
BODRU
(Leh) The French and Italian towers showing pieces of marble columns incorporated in the walls (Abo v e ) Sir Gi lbert Inglefield speaking at the r ec ept i on for the party in May
A particular feature of the castle is the use of coats-of-arms, carved in stone, recording the Grand Masters of the Order and Captains of the Castle, among whom was Thomas Docwra, builder of St. John's Gate and Prior of England from 1501-1527. Knights of St. John came to Bodrum from all over Europe for a tour of duty in this outpost of their small empire. And many of them recorded their names and coats-ofarms, some carving directly into the walls of the castle. French, Spanish, German, Italian and English Knights adorned the stonework with graffiti.
The castle is separated from the mainland by a narrow stretch of water, with the sea on the other three sides. A series of gates, entrances and walkways - all easily defensible - led to the citadel, where the Order had its main communal buildings such as the chapel, refectory and separate towers, which were used and defended by different Tongues (or national divisions) of the Order.
The Knights kept watch , gathered information and provided a refuge for Christians escaping from Turkish capture. There were, apparently, even dogs trained to seek out Christians and bring them back to the castle. The presence of the Knights of St. John at Bodrum and on the Rhodian islands was a nuisance to the Ottoman Turks, but the castle was never seriously attacked. It
A castle of th e Order in Turke y
surrendered only when the Knights we re forced to give up Rhodes after their defeat in 1522 by the Turks
In recent years there have be en discussions between the Turkish authorit ies and the Order about the castle of St. Peter at Bodrum, which is now being restored by Turkey as a museum and leisure centrepart of Bodrum's continuing development as a holiday resort. We have been able to give some help, mostly information about the period of the Order s occupation , and through the Secretary of the Order, Maj or Hamish Forbes, two trips to Bodrum ha ve beeen arranged. The parties were compose d mainly of members of Chapter-General.
The museum at Bodrum specialises in th e marine archaeology of the Aegean region , providing a home for artefacts recover ed from wrecks. We found this fascinating , but our particular interest was the English Tow er of the castle. It is so called because it bear s the arms of the King of England and Engli sh noble families, and is thought to have been built with money donated by them. It is no open to the public at present, and parts are used as a museum store (museums hardl y ever have enough storage space), but th e Director hopes that by 1981 the main room will be restored to show how it might have looked during the fifteenth century. Both Order parties, the first in May and th e
seco nd in September last y ear , were privil eged to be entertained in the castle and show n the English Tower. We t ook with us some graphic panels with captions in Tu rkish and English, which were pre sen ted by the former Chancellor Sir Gilbert Ing lefield to the museum direc t or. The y t ell the story of Cern , the Turkish prince who so ugh refuge with the Order in Rhodes in the late fifteenth century In Sep t ember , Pro fe ss or Butler our Librarian , presen t ed a re plica of a piece of Rhodian armour from the Museum at St. John s Gate ; al so book s, eng ravings and a specially commissioned pai nting of the coats -of-arms of the Grand Ma sters of the Order of St. John by Deni s Co llings
During our stay in Turkey we took the opportunity of visiting some of the many clas sical sites including Ephesus , Pergamum , A sclepion, which as a classical hospital site prov ed of great interest. The September part y went further south to Alanya on the Mediterranean , where a fortress of breathtak ing beauty , high up on a mountain and ov erlooking the sea , was built by the Seljuk T ur ks. We returned via Istanbul , wher e members of the groups had three short d ays t o explore the fascinations o f that ancien t city
We found that the work of the modern Order of St. John was little known in Turkey , and hope that first links will provide a basis for continued communication and fr iendship Our thanks go to those in England and Turkey who made the visits possible, so enjoyable, and an experience we ll all remember.
Pamela Willis and Stella Dyer
(Abov e eh The Engl sh tower (Above ) The S panish tower wi h B odrum s old harbour in background. B elow T he Chap e of the Knights
ORDER INVESTITURE
by the Chancellor, Earl St, Aldwyn london. March 20
Commander (Brother)
Brigadier Niel Barclay MBIM, FASMC (Salop),
Willie Morris, KCMG (Oxford) Air Commodore David Graeme Muspratt Hills. OBE, MB BS MFCM (Kent),
Rabindranath Das Choudhury, TD MRCS, LRCP
MRCGP (Bolton).
Edward Scott (Lincoln).
Andrew Forbes (Herts).
John Mitchell (West Midlands),
Marshall Daniel Alexander Ronald Lean, OBE, QHDS (Cambs).
Bertram Ernest Billington (Northampton).
Commander (Sister)
Rosemary Violet Mrs, Schreiber (Suffolk). Margaret Diana. Mrs, Lavers (North Devon), Joan, Miss Barker (Humberside),
Alice Miss Rigby (Manchester), Nellie Mrs Yates (Staffs).
Marjorie Miss Cass (Lancs),
Dorothy Mary Mrs. Brunford (Somerset).
Lo ttie Ellen Mrs Spencer (Northampton).
Kathleen Ada, Mrs. Burdett (Leicester),
Elise Lavinia Mrs. Willetts West Midlands).
Ethel Mary Miss Burne (Middx),
Serving (Brother)
Derrick Edgar Poole ( West Midlands).
Roger John Jeremy Bennett, MB, BS. DObst RCOG ( Surrey ),
James Daniel Sumner (West Midlands).
Andrew Manin Ingledew Paris , FRCS London)_
Br ian Alan Jon es (West Midlands),
Peter James Bridges (Suffolk).
John Wilfred George Creech BA (Bristol).
Eric J o hn Cornish Bucks).
Herbert Henry Harper (London),
Norman George Green ( Kent)
Thomas Evans (Staffs).
Frederick Arthur Preater (A von)
David Matthew Henry Summers (Derbys).
Frederick Frank Lau nde r (Isle of Wight).
Hartley Morris Malcolm (London)
Jeffrey Eric Wellington (Berks).
John Thomas Mulrooney (Lancs),
Dennis William Pritchard (Lon don ),
Reginald Ernest Gordon Gale (Avon).
Harold McNab (Cheshire),
William Hugh Osmond (Hants).
C harles Edward Thomas Kempton (Kent).
Jo hn Robert Berry ( Bucks ),
Edgar John Archbold Dodds (London),
Ivor Glynn Shepherd, QPM (Stafford).
Col. Robert Phillipson Leake, MD BS MB, FRCP, FRCS (Hants),
Sidney J ames Tudor (Staffs), George Robert Puzey (Avon).
Rushden Cadet Band
THIS SJA band was born in September 1977, the inspiration coming from the Banbu ry Cadet Band at Rushden Carnival the previous June. The Banbury Band came to the carnival for a special occasion - our Superi ntendent Mr. H. S. Cottingham was retiring - and in his honour they played Beating the Retreat and the General Salute. After seeing the display our cadets were keen to start a band of their own, and followi ng discussion with our Cadet Supe rintendent this was agreed. We thought a great deal about the plan, asking the cadets what sort of instrumental arrangement they envisag ed, and it was finally decided on a bugle and drum unit.
We notified the County Secretary about our new project and within 48 hours we had a phone call from our County Comm issioner , Mr. James Mackaness, enq uiring about the instruments we had and needed. We told him the Banbury Band had bought new drums and were prepared to let us have their old ones on a 12-month trial to see how we progressed. If all went well we could buy them at a nominal price. Mr Mackaness then asked how many bugles we needed. We told him six, at a cost of £ 150. To which he very kindly agreed, because of our enthusiasm, to subscribe £ 100 towards them. We immediately received his cheque and the rest of the money arrived from County funds a month later.
We collected the drums from Banbury in Septem ber and started the band straight away, with the kind help of Mr. Reg. Clayton, who was once a member of
Rushden Division and the Royal Army Medical Corps Sick Berth , and for 40 years in the loca Salvation Army Band. His experience was of great assistance to us.
From Banbury we received 10 side, 2 ' tenor and 1 bass drum, but at the beginning we used only 6 side and 1 bass drum. From September to Christmas we spent a great deal of time practising and also managed to get in some maintenance on the drums.
At Christmas we invited Mr Mackaness to Rushden for a presentation evening which included a short display of drumming. We had just taken delivery of our bugles and, asking to see them. he was very impressed.
In January 1978 we started the bugle section with the help of an instructor from the local Borstal , but due to his shift working hours unfortunately we lost him. We advertised in the local press for a bugle instructor but without success, We struggled on with the help of Mr. Clayton.
Our first booking in 1978 was at our local carnival in June, which was also our target date for making the band successful in every respect. Banbury gave us the price for the drums - £50, which luckily we could cover.
That year the local Lions Club donated £400 to the Division for our new mobile unit and at the presentation the Lions president Mr. Percival asked about the band and its finances We said we had paid for everything. But to our surprise he
immediately donated £ 10 with the promise of a further £40, which we received on carnival day with his best wishes.
We had only two bookings durin g 1978, at Rushden and Irchester Carnivals but we rehearsed conti nuall y in preparation for next year. 1979 brought additional bookings , including the local St. George s Day parade , Irchester and Rushden carnival, and also Irchester Remembrance parade and service. Then the St. John Band Federation was formed and I was nominated its representative for Central area.
We changed our drums in Oct 1979 from rope to rod tension , which we obtained at a reasonable price from the W. Midlands County Band which was being reorganised. Because of all the help we had received we were able to pass our original drums on to the Northern Manchester Area Branch who needed assistance. We are still without a bugle instructor, but thanks to our leading bugler we are managing in this section. Forming a band - and there's only one way of forming anything, get on with it - has been a big challenge , but the results have been really worth while.
Finally I would like to thank Mr. Mackaness , Mr. Clayton, the local Lions Club. and of course the band for all their enthusiasm and loyalty in this successful venture.
K. C Robinson , D! Supt.
Founder member and honorary surgeo n of the SJA Air Wing Andrew Paris FRCS becomes a Serving Brother
SJA MUSIC MAKERS
Alan Go rd on Martin (Warks), Harold Leonard Young (West Midlands)
Margaret, Mrs, Lawrance , JP Buck s), Winifred Mary Davis, Mrs, Smith (Cam bs ). Margaret Leslie Miss Cottingham (London).
Freda, Mrs, Tarr (Avon), Lila Belly, Mrs, Mellor (Do rset).
Jill Mary. Mrs. Twamley, (S urr ey).
The band s drum sect ion with dr u ms newly acqu re d from the West M dlands County Band
IMPROVING STANDARDS
from Bruce M. Coltman. Area Staff Officer I was recently reading an Association publication called the 'Class Secretaries' Handbook' at the end of which is a check list of what the student should be shown, practise under instruction and be able later to demonstrate to the instructor.
Having sat at numerous Brigade functions and listened to a neverending appeal for higher standards in first aid and nursing within the Brigade, I looked at this list and saw that with a few additions it could be applied and used in every division, adult or cadet. The onus simply lay upon the division to obtain a copy of the publication.
With the aid of this list, members will be able to check their ability to deal with approximately 130 incidents, and , at various times, the Officers-in-Charge of the division would be able to carry out lightning checks and show the individual members where they need to improve their technique.
I am sure that with the use of this existing training aid, standards will improve remarkably and be evident within two weeks of introduction.
Should any division wish a copy of the extended list which I have produced, I will be only too willing to supply one if they write to me enclosing a stamped and addressed envelope.
141 Kenton Lane, Kenton, Bruce M. Coltman Newcastle upon Tyne 13.
Mr. Watkin Williams writes:
The check list to which Mr. Coltman refers is one which I included as an appendix to the Class Secretaries' Handbook when it was first published in 1972 and which is still available at the Supplies Dept. (PI2450 price 45p) It was developed from similar lists which I had for many years provided for candidates at first aid classes to help them individually with their practical revision during the course. I am delighted to find that Mr. Coltman is now commending their use as a regular part of divisional training.
His only additions to the list are given below All are important subjects, but in a class exam they would be tested orally rather than by practical demonstration, and I was anxious not to make a list designed for practical revision too forbiddingly lengthy for first -time candidates. p.144: Head injury. p.145: Apoplex y. p.146: Epilepsy. p.148: Convulsions in children p.149: Diabetes. pp.161-2: Cold exhaustion and hypothermia (general rules for treatment). p 163: Frostbite. pp.164-5: Heat exhaustion and heat stroke (general rules for treatment). p 169: Foreign body in the ear; Toothache. p.170 : Headache; Foreign body in the nose ; Rupture p.171: Asthma; Hiccups; Stings and bites (general rules for treatment) p.l72: Winding; Stitch p.173: Procedure at Road Accidents.
LOVE FROM ... from Cyril Dunham. Divisional Superintendent
One reads so many letters in the Review complaining about some ruling , uniform ambulances , etc., in Brigade activities that I felt I must write about something complimentary for a change!
Recently we were asked to move an elderly gentleman from a private nursing home in Hythe, Kent, to another private nursing home near Skegness, Lincs. In view of the distance involved r agreed with the person making the request that we would travel down one evening, stay the night and then travel back the following day. Not having visited Hythe before, I was a little at a loss to know where to stay. I looked in the 1980 St. John Directory to see if anyone was listed in Hythe, and found that the Deputy Commissioner was listed together with his telephone number. So, in for a penny in for a pound I rang to see if he could suggest anywhere to stay. He was most helpful and we finished up staying at a guest house run by two reserve officers of St. John We had a good run down with the ambulance and a comfortable night. Next morning we went out to the ambulance, which we left overnight in a public park, and there was a paper under the windscreen wiper. I thought I had a parking ticket! Instead it turned out to be an
envelope addressed to St. John Ambulance - Spalding Division , and contained two picture postcards of Hythe and the following lett er: Dear Colleagues, Thought you might like a picture of where yo u ha ve been. Have a safe journey home. Yours Beryl Overy , Secretar y , Hythe Nursing Div. Also there was a morning paper.
What a lovely thought by someone unknown to us , to go out of their way to perform this small but very much appreciated act of kindness. How nice to belong to such a caring organisation as our s.
We had a good journey home and throughout the 290 miles the kin d thought was in our minds. Our most grateful thanks to all St. John in Hythe.
Spalding Cy ril Dunha m
HELP UGANDA
from E Pringre. County Surgeon
I feel that Mr. Watkin Williams report from Uganda was a call to us all to make an effort to help St. John there. His description of th eir gratitude for what London initially gave them to help their re -s tartin g has suggested to me that we ought at once to consider what we could all do.
I am wondering whether divisions , areas , or counties could adop t divisions in Uganda? It would need help from the HQ in bot h countries to collect names of those who would help and of tho se requiring it.
It is so much easier to help when you have a definite t arget for one' s efforts, and the links that could be established might grow to something much more for both countries.
As I write there is an appeal for help from the Church in Zimbabw e as they too have suffered great material losses. I imagine an y St. Jo hn work there has also been under similar strain and maybe the idea coul d be extended to both countries
The essential feature is linking the goodwill which I am sure exi sts by direct and personal contact.
Stafford E. Pr ingle
RELEVANT COMPS
from Tom Quinn. Ambulance Member
I know this point has been raised countless times , but I feel th at it needs expressing again.
Why, oh why, when competition organisers spend so much time and effort ensuring that scenes, casualties etc., are as authentic as possibl e, do they spoil the realistic effect by producing ambulance crews wh o stand about like numbskulls when answering the first aid team s call ?
Surely it would be much wiser practic e to give marks for liaison wit h the responding ambulancemen; for giving them a clear and conci se report on the casualties and how they have been treated ; and th en assisting the 'professionals' in lifting, loading, etc? On the other ha nd (and at risk of contradicting myselfl) , I feel that more of ou r competition tests should be linked in some way to the public duty wor k we do. For instance, a motorcycle racing accident; an incident in a carnival scene; a political demonstration first aid post, etc.
I know I'm fairly inexperienced in these matters, but shouldn t competitions have the dual purpose of a) teaching first -aiders the art of teamwork, and b) preparing them for incidents relevant to their St. John work?
Oxon Tom Quinn ADDITION
TO MANUAL
from G. P. Holder
When the joint medical advisory committee come to discuss the next issue of the First Aid Manual is there a chance that they will consider the addition of a small item on Laryngectomy , where people have had their vocal chords removed , therefore making mouth-to-opening re spiration more effective than mouth-to-mouth?
Lo ndon
AM BULANCE LIST
from Peter Shearman
G P Holder
Havin g read the comments in recent Reviews about standardisation of amb ulance equipment and training, may I suggest that a good starting point would be a 3-part equipment li st issued by HQ
P art A - Equipment that MUST be carried by our ambulances.
P art B - Equipment that may be carried.
Part C - Equipment that Brigade ambulances WILL NOT carry.
This may help some of the Brigade 's units thinking of purchasin g a vehicl e and others renewing equipment.
May be some of yo ur professional ambula nce service readers m ight like to suggest some ideas for such a scheme.
London Pe te r Sh earman
from D. lee. Divisional Officer
In reply to A / M R . J Goldfinch (M arch Re view) ambulance equipme nt and standardi sat ion course, there are available two books which I find could be quite helpful to him and other di v ision s with vehicles.
They are The Complete Handbook for Profe ssiona l Ambulance Person nel by S. Cripwell Morri s (published by John Wright & Sons Ltd., Bristol); and The Ministr y of Health Working Part y Report on Ambu lance Training and Equipment Part 2, E quipment a nd Vehicles, availab le from HMSO , London.
I think divisions wit h vehicles will find these two books interesting reading
W. Yorks
IDENT ITY CARD
from Col. M A. Demetriadi. Commissioner
D L ee
Like others I have found it desirable to have available some form of proof of identity for our members so I was interested to read Mr. Watkin W Williams' letter in the December 1979 Review.
An order was immediately sent to Supplies Department for a specime n Adult Membership Book (size 3" x 412 " ) Code P.11901 , but it was disappointing to find on deLivery that it ce rta in ly does not have any so rt of pocket suitable for taking a passport -s ized photograph and/or a First Aid certificate.
Was the new design of some three years ago ev er made available?
Suffo lk M. A. Demetriadi
Mr Williams replies :
When I wrote the letter published in the December 1979 Review I was unaware that owing to technical difficulties of production the pocket had been discontinued when the Adult Membership Book was reprin ted Ii. year previously , and I apologise for having misled readers in this matter.
I still very much hope that it will prove possible for the Adult Mem bership Book to be issued in a plastic wallet similar to, but very sligh tly larger 'than , the one in which First Aid certificates are issued , with back and front pockets in which the current certificate and a photograph could be kept, for I am personally convinced that this would be far the most efficient and economical way of keeping within
ON THE ISLAND
(Right At the exercise the C-in - C (left) Cty Surgeon Gp. Capt K de Belde and Dr Peter Durham (Below) The Cin-C w th newly-wed membe s, M r. and Mrs Newry
one cover all the documents which members should have readily at hand for identification in any emergency
from Peter J Whitaker. Ambulance Member
I write in response to recent letters referring to the Brigade us e of identity cards , which I have advocated as a means of identifying th e holder as a full and proficient member of the Brigade, especially to the police, fire and ambulance services , industrial firms , and the public
The ID card should include a photograph (provided b y the member) the St. John Ambulance A ss ociation and Brigade seal , holder s name whe t her ambulance or nursing member , or rank , signature of the divisional superintendent , and the holder s signatur e - to make it completely authen t ic.
If th e holder leaves the country or mo ves a w a y from the d ivision al area , it should be returned to the division.
I would also recommend the u se o f a me m ber sh ip ca r d givin g name address , di vis ion and rank (n ur si ng or ambula nce), th e s am e size as a bank or shop credit card , w hich should be carr ied in add tio n to the ID card
As we enter the new decade , the use of ID cards will becom e increasingly important. The adult memb e rship book is importan t for personal details but it has not got t he urgenc y of t he ID c a rd. M iddlesex P et er J. Whitaker
THE
BRIGADE'S
FUTURE
from J. E. Smith. Area Staff Officer
We are aU looking for reasons for the decrease in adult m e mb ers h ip , a s Mrs. Woodward says in the October Re view. Ma ny of the thin gs s he mentions are perhaps right in s ome circum stance s. But I am not at a U convinced that the removal of all vestiges of a m ilitar y atmo s phere will impro ve th ings. We ha ve been tr ying this for y ears , but I do no t see any improvement in re c ruiting.
Looking through the Re view a ne w member o r t he gener a l pu b lic might get the idea that St. John is all parades and un ifo rms , but t his is not so Perhap s onl y o ne parade a y ear is held at Cou nty le vel (plu s an annual inspectio n); annual inspections at d ivision al lev el a re very informal at events like Nottingham everyone from top to bottom mixes.
I do not th ink a further lowering of the standard s will inc rease membership. What will are better method s, le ss publi c c rit ic is m of members and some of the follo w ing points:
Mrs. Wood w ard 's note on length of appn in tme n t o f office r s an d NCOs makes a cert a in amount of sen se , but 3 y ears is perhap s t oo short. A change of aU appointmen t s in a Di v ision might be worth a t r y.
She mentions stepping down gracefull y, and here I t hi nk is a n important point : no lo s s of gratitude for work done , no lo ss o f fac e, bu t a feeling of changing jobs from time to time rather th a n getting st ale I f a clash of personalities occurs in these changes , th e n it is up to A rea Staff to find a solution without losing member s
To go back to decreasing adult member ship , he s e d ays we can all find enough to do at home or at work withou t belongin g to an y th in g a t all, and it s only because we down ools to do a SJ job for w hich w e are respons ible that makes St. John possible The problem is in keepin g interest. We can't all be in the aeromedical services , drive ambulan c es or man rescue boats. We may be small e r in numeric a l strength nowadays bu t in many instances we look and are more profe ss ional with our modern equipment which by reports in the Re vi ew is b eing added to every month.
Betch worth J E Smith
STILL GOING ON
from H G. Butler. Corps Superintendent (Retired)
I was ver y interested t o read in the March Review the article about the late Mr. Holman and the remark 'I believe no other member can claim longer adult service in the Brigade' Perhaps you would be interested in my record, which at least equals 55 years and is still continuing.
I joined the Br igade in January 1924 at the age of 16 In 1926 I wa s promoted to Corporal in charge of stores , and in 1938 to Sergean t. At
the outbreak of war I was asked to join Civil Defence to train memb er s in first aid and rescue In 1941 I was appointed D ivision al Superintendent of the Morecambe Ambulance Division. I w a s call ed up in 1943 and served in India with the R.A.M C. On returning to civilian life I continued as Divisional Superintendent until 1957 wh en I was appointed Corps Officer. I was appointed Corps Superint e nd en t in 1959 the post I held for 20 year s until I had to ret ire du e to reaching the age limi t in January 1979. After my retirement th e divisions presented me with a silver sal ver and cut glass decanter and gave a dinner in m y honour.
I recei ved the Serving Brother in 1953. I still help the division s as much as I can even though I am now retired after 55 y ears o f ser vice.
Incidentally my wife is also Divisional Superintendent with more t h a n 30 years service , so between u s we have nearly 90 years ser vice. Morecambe H. G B Uller
from G J. Creech. Assistant Comm issioner
I have just read with interest th e account of t he long ser vice of Ar ea Staff Officer A. C. Holman who has served th e Brig a de fo r 55 year s. and I would certainl y offer him m y congr a tulation s.
In no wa y seekin g to de negrate su c h good se r vic e , I wo uld a n swer the quest on as to whether an y member can claim lo nger se r vice. T wo of our office r s in Av on a Corps Super int endent and a C or p s St aff Officer h a ve ju st transferred on ag e limi t gro und s , from t h e Count y Pool of Officers to t he Re ti r ed L ist a fter r es pectively 56 a n d 55 ye ar s o f con t inuous and ver y act iv e servi ce.
Our longest St. Jo hn wor k e r howeve r , is Mr. Herbert George. who jo ined the Bri g ade in 190 6 a nd ret ired wit h t he ra nk of Division al Superintendent in 194 7. A fter hi s re ti rement fr o m t he A c ti ve List , M r. George bec a me t he V ice - Pres iden t of h is ol d Di visio n (Ki n gswo od ) and still t akes a n acti ve inter es t , a tten din g mee t ings a nd pl a yin g an acti ve p a rt in D iv isi on al affai r s - at t he ag e of 94 This gives h im a c o ntin uo u s ass oci ation wi t h St. Jo hn work of 74 years.
I mi ght add t h at 46 ye a r s ag o h e p ippe d me' to the a p pointment a s a Di vi sional Offi ce r (qu ite prop er ly) as he ha d lo n ger service! M y o wn ser vic e is 50 ye a rs, so I ca n r es p ect a nyo ne who has sta yed the c o ur se lo n ger !
Brist ol C 1. Cre ec h
OH DEAR from Kate Pennock, Div isional Off icer
A sad poe m o n the pli ght of my nice new Officer s Badge o n m y r ai n co a t :
Dear S r s, w he n la s t I w a s hed m y co at Thi s b adge did not s po rt I wa s a merr y Ser g eant
S o ha d a diffe ent sort
Th e n umber o n the la bel
I ch ecked w ith m y ma ch ine P oppe d in t he c o at and powde
To m a ke nice and clean
The wa s hing cyc le overThe ine witho ut dela y!
The s un y o u s ee , had us t come o u )
And th e n , to m y dismay
My nice n e w b adge worn w h s u c h p d e
A la s, 'twou ld never do
The b acking clo h h ad go n e and leaked
The whi t e h a d tu rned to b lu e!
We y br idge
NEWS from SCOTLAND
THE Perthshire and Kinross Branch of the Order and of St. John Associations in Scotland looks forward to welcoming about 70 St. John Ambulance cadets from Kent when they go to camp near Pitlochry, Perth shire, in May. The cadets hope to see round Priory Headquarters in Edinburgh when they visit the capital. Their camp will be inspected on May 31 by Surgeon Rear Admiral D. M. Beaton CB, OBE, KStJ, chairman of the Perthshire Branch.
In March Lady Mansfield accepted from the Order of St. John a garden workshop to increase the amenities of the Home for Spastics at Upper Springlands.
The Countess of Mar and Kellie was the speaker at the AGM of Glasgow Branch of the Order and Association in the City Chambers, Glasgow , on April 22.
Central Branch continues very active in fund raising to finance the running of Sir Andrew Murray House at Strathyre, which in its first year has amply proved its worth to the blind and disabled.
Fife Association is making arrangements to welcome visitors to Dunfermline for the
Thomson . ( Photo : The Scotsman )
St. John's Day Festival on June 24 , when the new Chancellor will be installed and postulants will be invested in the his t oric Dunfermline Abbey, which Malcolm s saintly Queen, Margaret, made the religious centre of Scotland. The original tower still dominates the skyline (see photograph). The tomb of King Robert the Bruce , victo r of Bannockburn, is within the environs of the Abbey Dunfermline was the home of Scottish Royalty for several generations until 1603 when James VI moved to England A new branch of the Order has been formed in Angus. Alistair Forsyth of that
Ilk , Ch ie f of the Clan Fors y th, w as appointed Chairman b y the Prior , His Gra ce th e Du k e o f H a milton , and almo st immedi a tel y formed a small committ ee wh ic h in turn set about establishing a bran ch o f the St. John Association for the Angu s area.
Strathkel vi n , the second larges branch in S co tland , held a wine and chee s e part y in Bishopbriggs on March 26 , at which the BBC film of the Order of St. John w as s h o wn a nd the Priory Secretar y brie fly o utli n ed th e aims and s pirit o f the Order MM B
WALES
THE A N NUAL Conference of Briga de Surgeons and Nursing Officers was held at the Metropole Hotel , Llandrindod Well s during February
The Chief Surgeon D, W, Williamso n opened the conference , welcoming an d thanking everybody for their support in thi s first conference. To commemorate the Ye ar of Nursing members of the nursing fraternit y presided over the sessions.
Dr J. P Williams Director of Farnham Rehabilitation Centre, Slough , addressed th e gathering on Sports Injuries illustrated by a selection of slides. Dr. Williams lectur e stimulated a lot of discussion
Df. I. Adams, Consultant Surgeon St. James University Hospital, Leeds , spoke on the Recent Development of Sports Injurie s, prompting wide discussion.
Vealor
Dr. Llewellyn Lloyd County Surgeon for Birmi ngham gave a very interesting and com prehensive slide lecture on medals and deco rations of the Order
TRADE DISPLAY
Every Count y in the Principalit y was repres ented by e ither th e Count y Surgeon o r a Div isi o nal Surgeon Of great inter es t to the confe rence was an exhibition representing 12 phar m ac eutical and medical equipment firms. Reckitts and Colman s Mr. Spillane and Mr. Embling eft discussing their p roducts
It has been agreed to hold the conference ann ua ll y and plans are now in hand for 1981.
w it h Dr P F Speak m an CNO Mrs. R. Hawkins, CS O D Williams and Dr S. Morgan
ON Ma y 23 1480 - 500 years ago this mon th - a large Turkish army landed on the is land of Rhodes with the intention of conq uering the island and destroying the Knig hts of the Order of St. John The Knig ht s who made Rhodes and the surro unding islands their headquarters since 1309 had proved a thorn in th e flesh o f the O r der s Moslem opponent s (the c oa s t of Asia Minor was onl y 12 miles a way ) In May 1480, the Sultan Meh met the Conqueror decided to rem ove the thorn.
The siege of Rhodes lasted just over tw o months and contemporary accounts te ll a n exciting story of plots and treason as well as heroic deeds, The Knights and peo ple of Rhodes were hard pressed , for the Turks constantly bombarded the city wit h huge stone cannon balls , and during the siege the Turkish commander gave warning that every inhabitant over the age of twenty was to be impaled when the Turks conquered the city (those between 10 an,d 20 were to have their throats cut !)
Matters looked grim when the Turks launched a great attack on July 27, for
they captured part of the walls and began to enter the cit y. The Grand Master , Pierre d ' Aubusson then 60 years old , rushed to the w alls leadin g the defence.
Although he was se v erel y wounded and h a d to be carried down from the walls th e defenders e v entuall y gained the upper h a nd and the Turk s began to flee.
Man y c hroniclers , Moslem and Christ ian a like , a ss ign much of the Knight s' success t o the miraculous appearance in the sky of a s hining gold cross , a beautiful woman armed with spear and shield , and a ragged man accompanied by a number of knights. This occurred at the height of the battle and it was said that the Virgin Mary and the Order s patron saint, S1. John the Baptist had come to their aid.
An exhibition commemorating this great event will be on show in the Chapter Hall at St. John's Gate Clerkenwell, from May 23 to June 21 and will be open from lOam until 5.30pm. It will give the background to the siege as well as describe the events , and includes objects and documents of the period.
Stella D y er, Assistant Curator
F. W. Eq uipment Ltd Managing D rector Mr Harr s showing a scoop stretcher to (L to R) Dr. D. W
Willi a mson Chie Surgeon Dr. I. D Adams and Dr H J B radley , Assist. Chief Commissioner
News from Divisions/Centres
1.
AVON: And it is Bri stol (again) South A mbulance Division that wi represen Avon at the regional finals, Last yea r they finished third in the National Finals - so it looks as though they re on their way to London again. Good luck - Colin Williams. John Welch. N gel Ponting Ken Crossman and Les Searle
surplus fat. (4). 13 Never could be a fibre carrying impulses to or from the brain ( 5). 15. Ring of pigmentation surrounding the nipple. (6). 16. Infected by pus-forming bacteria. (8). 18. Aspiration. (3). 19. Used to complete a dressing for 5 Down. (1-7).21. We add wicked grain be etle (6). 24. Guiders. (5). 26. Palindromic time. (4). 27. Wood for genealogical table. (4).29. Death of a fragment of bone. (8).30. Part of skeleton produced by penis. ( 5) 31. External mark of a di sease (6) 32. Succeed in examination and become unconscious (4-3).
Down:
1. Where one would find the psychiatric wards? (12) 2. Immun it y conferred by antitoxic sera (7). 3. Parts of mandible and pub is (4). 4. Made a small incision to drain a superficial abscess. (6). 5 Tissu es situated between anus and external genital organs. (8). 6 Classical par t of America? (5). 7. Poetic temperature chart characteristic of tuberculosi s and meningitis. (7). 10 Hole in the heart. ( 6-6) 14. Dressed. (4).16. Printer s meal? (3).17. Pigmented middle coat of th e eye. (4). 18. A gene is reversed with a failure of normal developmen t o f an organ (8). 20 Insect ingesting fruit for food (7) 22. Giddine ss du e to labyrinthine disturbance. (7). 23 So pigs make idle talk. (6). 25 Gesture made by raising the scapulae. (5). 28. Is repeated at Oxfo rd . (4).
If you re planning , charting lecturing , teaching , training , controlling , programming or just doodling, mak e it clear - with M a giboards.
Only Magiboa r d s offer the v isua l aid v ersatility of whi te boa r ds, chalkboards , mobil e s tands , year p lanners , gr
,
teaching boards.
We make orderi ng clear too A simple-to-usemail ord er illustra t ed in colour , makes eve rything clear. Send for your free c op y today .
THE OFFICIAL b irthday of the St John Air Wing is generally rega r d ed t o have b een Wednesda}': February 16, 1972, for it was at a meeting held on that da y at Alexander Flemi n g House between representati ves of St John Amb u lance and the DHSS that the latter accepted the offer of a small group o f S t John pilot s and flight controllers to transport organs for emergency transplant operati on s on occasions (usuall y at night and sometimes to countries overseas) when this could not be arranged by other means. I well remember how, when the acceptance was co u pled with a warning that such occasions might be very rare, perhaps only two or three times a year, Squadron Leader Pat Pattison instantly replied If it only saves one life a year i t will be worth it' , Since that time, the number of Air Wing pilot s has increased to 165 and they are spread over ever y par t of the British Isles, whic h means that the flight controller on duty at the Cont r ol R oom at St Margaret's Hospital, Epping , can find a pi lot avai lable to make an emergency 'mercy flight' with the minimum of delay at an y hour of the day or night.
In the 8 years of its existence the Air Wing ha s carried out an average of one mission a week; no appeal s for help have been refus ed, and all missions ha ve been safely and (except o n o ne occasion when all air f ields on the continent were close d b y fog) successfully accomplished. During t h e first 5 years t h e missions were virtually limited to the transport of kidneys for transplant operations; in its 6th year t h e Air Wing received its first call to provide transport for a liver transplant operation , which in vo l ved carryjng not merel y (as in t he case of kidneys) t h e 'organ' itself but the whole of the transp lant team a n d t he ir equ ipment; and in its 8th year it has on fo u r o c cas ion s be c o me sim il arly involved in transporting the trans pl a n t team for a heart transplant operation (see p. 14 1) .
continued on p 131
The C-in - C arrives in Nyeri
ONCE thi s year I was fortunate enough to escape the only snow we had during the winter and visit four 'St John countries in East Africa. I shall try in this very short article, to describe something of what I did, where I went wrong, and what I found.
I started my tour in Kenya, one of my favourite countries, where I arrived early on the morning of March 4 and, after being given the re st of t hat day to settle in, started out on a splendidly organised and immensely stimulating programme, during which with two exceptions I visited and met a good proportion of Brigade members in every town in the country where the Brigade is represented. It appeared that each place was vying with its rival to put on a bigger and better show and, whilst I am cer t ainly not going to set down in writing who I think won, both the major towns of Mombasa and Kisumu put on wonderful displays. In Mombasa there was a large parade with a band, first aid demonstrations by all their divisions, a sort of fete-cum-fun fair organised by the Cadets which must have raised a lot of money, and to end the day a splendid dinner at which all the food had been cooked by Brigade members. At Kisumu there was a smaller parade but this was followed by demonstrations, dancing, and singing by cadets (many songs had even been written for the occasion!) and to end a large party in the Council Chamber, surely the first time it had ever been used for such an irreverent purpose! The Police in Kenya are, of course, a very strong part of the Brigade, although they are not available for public dutie s, and I saw a lot of them. I shall not forget the Guard they mounted for me at Kiganjo, the Police Training College.
122
After 35 years in the Army, most of it in the Welsh Guards, I can say without any doubt that I ha v e never seen a smarter Guard I was fortunate in being conducted round Kenya by the Commissioner and if only I had had my tape recorder going, I should now know more about Kenya t han any o t her Englishman. He was a splendid guide and companion.
Before I arrived I had been told that Kenya was one of the strongest 'St John' countries in Africa. As a result of my visit, the first ever by a Commi ss ioner-in-Chief , I can wholeheartedly confirm this. This doe s not mean that there is not still much to be done there - increasing the number of nursing member s and cadets, expanding the teaching of first aid to indu st ry and the rural areas to name a few aspects - but they have hat priceJess asset: a solid base of enthusiastic and dedicated officers and members on which to continue to build a bright future.
Uganda •
Shortly after completing my tour of Kenya I flew to Entebbe to start a short, three day visit to Uganda. Much has been written in the Review about the state of the country s o I will say no more except to confirm what was written As the first Commissioner-in-Chief to visit the country since Admiral Royer Dick did so 18 years ago, I was given a wonderful welcome and entertained magnificently. In spite of the shortage and price of food I was given two really wonderful lunches: the first by Dr and Mrs Kit yo, the Chairman of Council, and the second by the Nyanza Textile Company (Ny til).
C-in-C visits St John
•
In
East Africa
time before St John Ambulance in Uga nda is on it s feet again, I am ce rtain that there is a great future f o r ou r work in that country.
My ne xt de st in a tion was Mahe in the Seychelles w her e St John Ambulance traditionally ha s been co nfined to teaching member s of the Police Force. However si nce the recent coup, which invol ve d among other measures a complete reorganisation of the Health Service, no doctors h ave been ava ilabl e to assist eit h er in teac hing or examining in first aid. Although it is sti ll taught to Police recru its they have had no exa m i n ation or reexam in ation since 1978 I fo und the present Co mmi ss ioner of Police most ent hu s iastic about reviving proper first aid training and he agreed to try and include member s ()f the Armed Forces and Public Services in the new p lans h e propo ses to draw up 1 left these de li ghtful islands much encouraged
not o nly by the fact that we had reestab li she d contact again, but also that plans we r e afoot to expand St John activities there. We mu st now await results. On the even in g March 30 I arrived in Dar-es-Salaam, t he capita l of Tanzania, to carry out th e last visit of my tour. U n fortunately s hor tage of time only allo wed me to see a tiny fraction of this vast and very beautiful country, but my appetite was whetted for a return trip. Like Uganda the cou n try is poor and s uffering from la ck of foreign currency, but this is the only real s imilarity. St John Ambulance consists a lm ost entirely of Tanzanian Railway member s and ha s on ly one 'open' division. Apart from two divi s ion s 'u p country' the remainder are all either in Dar-es-SaJaam or Tanga, a medium sized port some 250 miles north of the capital. [ visited both places, inspected parades, and had lon g and fruit-
fu l di sc ussions with Brigade members, as a resu lt of which I hope we may be able to help put t h e Brigade back on its feet again. Once again I was given a great welcome by these ve ry warm-hearted and friendly people
And so ended my tour. But from a personal point of view this article would not be complete without a postscript. While in Kenya I took five days off to carry out my favourite hobby: photographing wild animals and bird s I was only interested in achieving one thing, almost the imposs ible - to photograph a leopard in daylight. Well, it took me 4 1h days of hard wo rk and a lot of luck, but in t he end I achieved it and took four photographs of a magnificent male leopard before he spotte d me I had waited many years for this moment. And I now wajt for the fina l test. Will the photographs come out?
After ten years, during which St John Ambulance lived literall y in fe ar of its existe nce and its vehicles and much of it s equ ipment were commandeered, clearly the primar y aim in any reconstruction programme mu st be to st a rt teac hin g first aid again. In thi s way a pool of people sui tabl e for re c ruitment into the Briga de can be cr eated so I was deligh te d t h at, at each parade I attended, the presentation of fir st aid certifi cates was an important item on the progr a mme.
But, of c ourse , it was primarily the members of t he Brigade I had co me to see, and three big parade s h a d been arranged. , The first was by the Railway s w ho thoughl weak in numbers put on a splendid series of thoroughly practical first aid demons trations in which the part of one 'cas ualt y' was played by a young boy who s hould re ally be earning his money in Hollywood rather than Kampala. The secon d was a parade of the Kampala Corps at which I was introduced to the St John Choir' and later presented with the mo st beauti ful Ugandan drum which, by courtesy of th e Royal Air Force will s hortly arrive, I hope , in this country. The t hird parade was at Jinja, where representatives of six divi sion s were pre sent and after the parade band s played and tribal dancing took place Impressive though all this was, it wa s the enthusiasm and sincerity of the memb ers which made the bigge s t impression on me coupled with the obvious pride they all ha d in being once again able to parade open ly as members of St John Ambulance Brigade I find it difficult not to overstate the warmth pleasure and hospitality with which I was received everywhere; and though it will t a ke
KENYA STATE INVESTITURE
The Grand Prior invests President as Knight of Grace
THE Grand Prior, the Duke of Gloucester invested HE Mr Da?ial arap Moi, President of t h e Republic of Kenya, as a of Grace in the Order at a colourful ceremony on the lawn In front o f State House, Nairobi, on March 18. Watc h ed by an audience of several hundr ed people, the ceremony was sho,:, n on Kenya TV that evening. And it was much apby t h e St John 'Wananch i' of Kenya that the Grand Pnor was able to visit their country for t he investiture. effort and enthusiasm, both at St John HQ Nairobi London, had gone into t he arrangements for th is first mvest lture to b e h e ld in Kenya. And what a moving sight it was. We are very g rateful to St John HQ Lo ndon for a ll their
and especially to the Secretary-General, Mr N. McClintock, who was an unending source of information help and guidance before and throughout the ceremony. ' Assisting at the ceremony were Mr P. M. Arrumm, Chairman of Council, Sir Charles Markham, Commander for Kenya, Mr Humphrey Slade, ex-Chairman of Council, and the Rev. George Wanjau, Chaplain. There were also many members of the Order present. Members of the Nairobi Area of the Brigade were on parade and were inspected by the Duke of Gloucester before the investitute. Also present were the Kenya Police Band and representatives of all the other areas in Kenya - Mombasa, Kitale, Kisumu, Nyeri and Nanyuki.
the State investiture, HE Mr Daniel arap Moi, as ChIef Patron of the Order, presented insignia to: Commander: Mr Charles Njonjo.
Officer: Mr Javan Mavasi; Mr Ph i lip Onyango.
Associate Officer: Mr B. B. Gulabiwalla.
Serving Sister: Mrs Barbara Deacon' Mrs Constance Shie ld s; Mrs Mary Kamau; Mrs G. K. Virdee.
Serving Brother: Mr C h arles Thuita; Mr J. W. W. Ngatia; Mr A M. Salyani; Mr Walter Agulo; Mr John M. Nzambu; Mr Stephen Mwangi; Mr Julius Imende; Mr Japhet Lucas Mwero; Mr Justus Sitati; Mr T. L. Mwanga; Mr Peter Mbele Goa. J.C.
(Above) The Grand Pr ior, with D eputy Commissioner James Mageria and (behind) Sir Charles Markham, inspecting Nairobi members who were on parade (Right) Th e President being invested
... and SO can you
i. /'r J 11') 11/}
I imagine like most people raising money for one good cause or another - you've thought of just about everything to keep income rolling in.
Well almost everything - because if you haven't examined the Webb Ivory Fund Raising Service, and what it has to offer - you really are missing out on the best fund raising idea you've seen for years.
stCCESS FOR THOt SAl\'DS OF Fl';\fD HAISERS.
Ask yourself these questions:
Why do over 60,000 individuals and organisations use the Webb Ivory fund raising service year after year to raise the money they need (and, incidentally, the numbers are growing all the time)?
Could it be the very wide spread of top value greetings cards, gifts and household items packed into Webb Ivory's colour catalogue?
Could it be the fact that this offers friends and neighbours a genuine service and, thus eliminates the and 'please give' aspects of most fund raIsing methods?
S very satlsfied, alway " "Everyone s , su h I and there s f Norwich Mrs. Haze' Norwich funds or , ral ses f the Boys 4th company 0 r she made a Brigade. Last yea profit of £618 through the £6 Webb ,vory service. "Certainly of income OUr mall] So delight we' Urce L ed with th ve been ast Year IVI e resUlts" rH?ddoCk of r. Ernest a/sed £600 Whitley B the IVI on b h ay Ch ethodist e alf of Urch with U. R.
Could it be because there's no risk, no cash outlay and no unwanted stock?
\ Ot ' KEEP l P TO t1 IN EYERY £4.
Could it be that as a Webb IvoI)' fund raiser you'll keep up to 25% profit from every item bought by your friends out of the catalogue (less BOp p& p on orders under £30 net)?
Whatever the reasons, one thing Webb Ivory fund raisers do know - it works - asjust three of our many satisfied customers tell you above.
For full details of the Webb Ivory Fund Raising Service with no obligation simply complete and post the coupon overleaf today. It won't even cost you the price of a stamp but it could easily be the best money-making move you ever make.
Yours sincerely, / / / , , Archie
Gentles/Managing Director
MUSIC MAKERS MEET
The first SJA national bandmasters/instructors training course was held at the London HQ of the Regimental Band of the Scots Guards on Sunday May 4, but unfortunately the Northern course was cancelled as no one applied to attend it.
Over 50 people from SJA bands throughout the country were at the London course, which gave a special welcome to Brigadier Fergi Semple, Chief Officer Cadets and Brigade Training.
The morning session covered the theory of music and brass playing, by Major Duncan Beat, Director of Music Scots Guards, who was assisted by Sgt John Spencer, principal cornet player of the band, on practical aspects of the subjects.
The afternoon commenced with more theory and then a talk on percussion by L/Cpl Martin Proctor, percussionist with the Scots Guards. After tea the drill lecture was given by London District S .E. Area's Sgt Major Joe Davis, which turned out to be a lively session with many questions from the floor. A discussion about drum majors was held over for the next course when procedures would be laid down in a manual to be distributed to paid up members of the Federation. The meeting concluded with a discussion about the new band uniform as laid down in Brigade Regulations.
It was agreed that there will be two further courses, one for percussion and the other for brass, for a more in-depth study of these subjects.
David Minney, chairman of the Federation of SJA Bands, would like to thank everyone who made this course such a success, especially the Director of Music and members of the Band of the Scots Guards, Mr Joe Davis and the League of Friends who supplied the catering.
But he and the committee were disappointed at the lack of response from a number of SJA bands, especially in the North, some of whom had not even replied to correspondence. Fourteen bands have not yet joined the Federation, which at present consists of: Northern Area: Southport, Barnsley & Frickley, South Notts, Dronfield. Central Area: West Midlands, Rushden, Baribury, Kettering, Wilnecote, Royston, Norwich
Two Cannock, Staffs, members - Officer i/c Cadets Mr P. Hughes, and Mr R. Shaw of the Adult Division - are setting off on a sponsored walk along the A5 to London on June 6, intending to arrive at Marble Arch on June 9, and completing the 130 miles at St John's Gate.
Good walking, Fellows!
POOL FOR SJA
Caldicot Division, Gwent, passes on an idea for fund raising. Latching on to the current craze for 'pool', they approached the local Labour Club (which has billiard facilities) suggesting that with their sponsorship the Division could run a pool competition for funds. The club agreed and also provided a trophy and plaques for runners up.
The Division sent out details of the event to all local pool clubs and 40 teams of six members each entered the six-week contest. Play took place one evening a week, when there was also a raffle, the prize s being given by the pool clubs.
HULLO!
Val Doonican says 'Hullo' to Mrs Patricia Cameron (left) and Mrs Margaret Worthington, of Ballymena Division, who were looking after the elderly and handicapped at a concert the singer gave in the town while on a recent tou r of N, Ireland. (photo: Ballymena Guardian)
The competition created great interest in the district and large crowds came along to watch the play, with local newspapers covering the finals. All good publicity for SJA, of course. The Division raised over £100.
HERNE BAY
The main beneficiary of Herne Bay's carnival on Saturday, August 9, will be the town's Combined Division, which is currently aiming at a fund-raising target of £lO,OOO to renovate their HQ. Other activities will be going on in the town from August 4 So if you're in the area during that week
MY BIKE
Having bought an old bike for eight quid off my neighbour two years ago - for exercising the dog, I told my wife, but I've since learned that our dog doesn't care for me on a bike (and I'm not sure my wife does either) - anyway, the point is my wife says it was a waste of money because I've onl y been out on it twice (and off twice too, by the way - the dog, not my riding) and I should get rid of it. The bike, that is But I won't. I'm adamant. I mean you just never know, do you, with the way the price of petrol (and shoe repairs) are going? So I'm keeping it, come what may
But what's worrying me now is that [ recently received some publicity material that tells me of Britain's 1V4 million bicycles, lOO,OOO were stolen during 1979. And for £9.50 per annum I can get complete insurance cover: £200 replacement; £250,000 third party; £250 personal injury. And I'm tempted. But, my wife objected, that's more than the bike cost! But my bike might be worth more by now, I retortedand what if the dog knocks me off and I'm injured?
Anyway, I won't worry you with our domestic affairs. It's just that Cycleguard, Freepost, London N21 2BR will give you
MIND BENDERS
page 131.
cover for your bike. I'm sure yours is worth more than mine - or what my wife thinks it's worth.
TO FATIMA
Last autumn three Cleveland members (photo below) - County Surgeon Dr T. Taylor, D / S Les Taylor (no relation) of Acklam Combined Cadet Division, and A/ M Kevin Thompson of Cleveland Youth Division - went at short notice on a week's duty to Portugal They accompanied a party from Glasgow's Catholic Union of the Sick on a pilgrimage to Fatima and during the week each looked after a particular person. Les and Kevin's male charges both suffered spinal injuries and they found their home nursing knowledge a great advantage in tending their needs. Much of the week was spent in excusions, which meant lifting the pilgrims in and out of coaches.
In Fatima : (back, L to R) A I M Thompson, DI S Taylor and Cty Surgeon Dr Tay lo r with their lads from Glasgow - Mario Andy and Paddy
(Above) S&W YORKS: Ravensthorpe A&N Divis io n received £150 from the Townswomen 's Guild for two dressings cases, a set of leg splints and a Magiboard blackboard then a month later Dewsbury Round Table supplied £300 to buy a Resusci Anne Marvellous support Thanks everyone (photo: Dewsbury Reporter)
(Right) Liverpool Area s Miss Personality 1980 is Joanne Dugdale (right ) of Garston D ivision, with runner-up, Miss Debbie Billington of W Derby Divi sion. The competition is to promote SJA's Year of Nursing, (Back, L to R) DI S Garston Div Mr A. E Watkins; Area Comm J E Crook and Stuart Bailey (Right) Mr V Ward of the Royal Life Sa ving Society lectured on water safety to Don caster's newly formed InterLink, a group open to 15 to 30 year old SJA members who help other young members or ex - members. Leeds and Sheffie ld have also organised Inter-Link groups
(Right) The foundation stone of Honi ton's new St John Centre, Devon is laid by t he Centre's chairman Mr Lawrence Street, who is director of Dav is Estates South West who gave the la nd for the new St John building
SAFETY AT SEA
I hear that the Ministry of Defence (The Royal Naval Film Department) has produced an excellent training film entitled Cold Shock on the subject of safety at sea. As I sail myself this is a subject very close to my heart and I am delighted to hear that a copy of the film has been purchased for the library at Headquarters. I am sure lots of our readers will be very interested in this ac-
TWO YEARS GRAFT
The Air Wing held a slightly deferred celebration of its 8th birthday at a delightful evening party in the Chapter Hall at St John's Gate on April 11, at which more than 70 pilots, flight controllers and their guests were received by Major-Gen. Peter Leuchars (C.-inC.), supported by Squadron Leader Pat Pattison (Senior Pilot & Air Operations Co-ordinator) and Wing Commander Harry Drummond (Senior Flight Controller). This seems now to have become an annual event which gives immense pleasure to the pilots and controllers and their families, for it provides the one opportunity for Air Wing members from all over the United Kingdom to meetmembers who know each other well by telephone in times of emergency and serve mankind in the very closest coordination of effort, but many of
cident prevention film.
OFF TO WORK
Cadet Leader Derek Wright, of London's C169 Beckton Division, left school last July to join a local company and soon became a member of their first aid team which entered an industrial competition in the Midlands.
whom would otherwise never meet.
The high-light of the evening came when the Commissioner-in-Chief presented to Sandy Middleton the Howard House Trophy, awarded annually to the pilot or controller who in the previous year has made the greatest contribution to the work of the Air Wing. Sandy comes from Dundee, where he is Group Co-ordinator of the Dundee group of pilots, Resplendent in his kilt, he was accompanied by his wife Yvonne and their children Fiona and Ian, all of whom had made this event the climax of a family holiday by caravan.
The Air Wing is numerically by far the tiniest branch of the St John family, and the duties that it carries out are far removed from anything that the vast majority of the rest of us have either the qualifications or the opportunity to perform. But it fulfils, in the most literal sense, a vital service, and a voluntary one, which has saved many more lives than the 'one a year' that, on that bitter February day just over 8 years ago, Pat Pattison had said would make it all worth while!
Derek's team - he was the youngest in the competition - finished 2nd, while Derek received special praise f rom the judges for his ' handling (locating and reviving) of a suffocating 'baby' in a car crash test.
Derek, whose mother is an ex-Cadet Supt, is obviously making hi s mark in his working life Which I am sure will continue whatever the competition.
Games?
Some of you may remember that just over a year ago I invited readers to send me details of any games (in the widest sense of the word) that they had tried out and found to be successful as an entertaining as well as an instructive element in the training programme of St John members of all ages, bo th adults and cadets; for I had hoped that I should some day find time to plug a gap in our Brigade literature by compiling what might be described as a 'St John Book of Games'.
Well, with all the other things that I seem to get involved in (despite my retiremen t from the 'active list'), I haven't found time to do the job yet, though I still hope to do it eventually. But what I have found disappointing - and I might even have found it depressing if I weren't an incurable optimist - is that the response to my appeal was almost nil, though I must add sincere gratitude to the very few who did respond. In rare moments of gloom I was tempted, I must confess, to wonder (a) whether anyone ever read At Random, and (b) whether any div-
TRAVEL WELL
A new specialist holidays and travel service for the handicapped called Travel Well has begun operating in London. It is thought to be t he only business of its kind catering exclusively for the disabled. The address is Travel Well, Carlisle House, 8 Southampton Row, London WCI, phone 405 9481.
isions ever do introduce an element of light-hearted competitive fun into their training programmes. Of course I know that the answer to both questions is 'Yes'. But I regard the second question as far more important than the first, because although I should naturally be disappointed if I found that nobody read At Random, it wouldn't be a catastrophe; all I should need to do would be to stop writing it! But if I found that nobody ever introduced any fun into their training programmes (whether fun 'with a purpose' or sometimes even just fun for fun's sake) that would be a catastrophe of major proportions, for I'm convinced that it would then be only a matter of time before our divisions folded up altogether.
So the invitation is still open. I won't repeat all the suggestions that I made last year, but if you file your back numbers of the Rev;ew or can get hold of a copy of the April 1979 issue and refer to p. 83, you'll find fuller details of the various types of 'game' that I should like to include, and other suggestions about how you could help to make the collection a really good one. As the years go by, I'm always hoping that I shall some day get round to do-
ing many things that I haven't found time for yet, and this is very much one of them. So if you feel inspired to help , please address any contributions to me personally, c / o St John Ambulance, 1 Grosvenor Crescent, London SWIX 7EF.
Leaping
I've just returned from a really lovely nine days' holiday visit to friends at Echternach in the beautiful little country of Luxembourg, which for many years I have found to include not only the most charming and warm-hearted of people but a wider variety of the most gloriously beautiful scenerycountryside, towns, villages and ruined castles - than one could possibly expect to find within the compass of a land no bigger than a fairly large English county. So perhaps that's why I'm feeling rather rejuvenated and anxious to get on with things - such as collections of games - that I've left too long undone!
A few days before I went, I happened to consult my copy of P;ckw;ck Papers, to check my solution to a crossword clue about Mrs Leo Hunter's expiring frog, and I got so absorbed in it that I took it away with me to re-read for the first time for many
I am glad to hear th at the Visual Aids Committee has published its supplement to 'A Guide to Films and Other Audio / Visual Materials on First Aid, Nursing and Allied Subjects' and it is now available from the Supplies Dept. order number P02400.
years. I haven't yet finished its 845 pages, but on p. 400 I reached the following passage describing Mr Pickwick's walk across the fields from the stage coach at Muggleton to spend Christmas with the Wardles at Dingley Dell:
'The paths were hard; the grass was crisp and frosty; the air had a fine, dry, bracing coldness It was the sort of afternoon that might induce a couple of elderly gentlemen, in a lonely field, to take off their greatcoats and play at leap-frog in pure lightness of heart and gaiety; and we firmly believe that had Mr Tupman at that moment proffered a back, Mr Pick wick would have accepted his offer with the utmost avidity. However, Mr Tu pman did not volunteer any such accommodation, and the friends walked on, conversing merrily.'
Though the scene is hardl y appropriate to quote in midsummer , I couldn't resist the temptation to pass it on to you in the hope that it may inspire some readers (of any age and shape, though perhaps no t in 'flaming June') to show less restraint than Mr Tupman and in pure lightness of heart and gaiety proffer a back for their friends to 'leap for St John'!
(Above) Guernsey 's Commissioner Mr H Touzeau presents a new cup, the Phyllis Touzeau Trophy in memory of his wife Who was President of a cadet division until her death last November to Bail iwick Staff Officer P Williams. The cup will be awarded to the most outstanding cadet each year (photo: Guernsey Press Co.)
A new ambulance, bought by the patrons of the Odd Fellows Chelmsford, from raffles collections and other activities, was recently handed over to the Chelmsford Ambulance Division. Deputy County Pres
Capt. R J Wen ley here receives the keys of the vehicle from the proprietor, Mr Brian Culbert
(Right)
FILM GUIDE
WHEN I agreed to write about my work outside the St John Foundation I was still in full employment with British Rail as Gro u p Medical Officer, London North, based at Euston Station.
The territory for which I was responsible covered parts of three Regions of British Rail - Western, London Midland and Eastern - and ranged across the Home Counties in a vast semi -circle: Reading, Oxford, Northampton, Peterborough and the whole of East Anglia. In addition, I was medical adviser to the Shipping and International Services Division of British Rail, now known as Sealink (UK) Limited.
Now in the winter of 1979 I have been retired nigh on six months and have become very rusticated and adjusted to the slower pace of the Bedfordshire countryside in which I live.
Slowly but surely I am getting out of touch and clearly it would be unwise for me to describe the work I was doing earlier this year because I am no longer in day-to-day contact with the railway organisation.
Therefore I decided to take advantage of my status as an old age pensioner and to indulge in what sometimes can become a very dull session for the listener, the review of the past.
I joined the former London and North Eastern Railway in midDecember 1946 and enjoyed a pleasant year as a very junior member of that company until January 1, 1948 when the railways were nationalised.
So far as I recall nationalisation did not make much difference in our work but I must stress that in 1948 the railway doctor was still very much regarded as part of the management team whose pronunciations could spell success or disaster according to the stringent standards of those days.
However , I think it is fair to say that about this time there was evidence that the Medical Services of the railways were moving in concert with those deployed elsewhere in industry and that the Medical Officers endeavoured to resume their traditional role by appearing equally ready to hear the opinion of both the employee and the employer and to make impartial decisions either one way or the other without compromising the safety of the travelling public.
When I joined the LNER Company all trains were moved by steam engine.
I lost no time in acquiring a 'footplate pass' and accompanied by an inspector made many foot plate trips.
132
The Association's
Deputy Chief Medical Officer,
Dr JOHN S. BINNING, MBE, TO,
retired recently after 34 years
as a doctor on the railways.
What do the railways
want a doctor for?
John Binning, now rusticated, looks back
DOCTOR ON THE FOOTPLATE
I will never forget my first footplate experience on a Pacific locomotive working out of King's Cross up gradients all the way to Potters Bar.
The locomotive vibrated so much I thought it would fall to pieces, but once the gradients had been climbed we settled down to a steadier motion, swinging and jolting to be sure, but moving at 70 to 80 miles an hour through the suburbs of North London and after blasting our way through the seve ral tunnels between King's Cross and Knebworth we raced through the relatively flat lands of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire to Peterborough, where I generally climbed off the 'down' express and sought out the next 'up' fast train back to King's Cross. For another reason [ recollect my first footplate trip because on arriving at home my wife said: 'Where have you been? Have you seen your dirty face?'
Indeed I had not, but on looking in the glass I saw the 'footplate face ' resulting from a footplate ride, and once seen never forgotten, To be sure my cheeks and forehead were sooty grey and my eye lids s treaked with grey 'crow's legs', but last and certainly least expected were the dark shadows of the eyelashes, each hair delicately picked out in soot, as if lined by the mascara brush ,
Until then I did not realise I had an y eyelashes!
But I did not spend all my time riding on the footplate, much as I enjoyed sitting high up above the track level and looking out ahead to see if the next signal was 'off' or 'on'. I frequently went to the s ignal boxes which in those days were all worked b y hand pulled levers. All tra in movement s were controlled by signals and the signals were manipulated by signalmen in their boxes, each controlling a section of the line and working in concert with their colleagues on either side.
Trains were passed from one section to another and could not proceed unl ess 'accepted' into the next sect ion.
Pulling a signal lever was not always an easy job.
Signals close to the box were easy, but a signal half a mile or more up the line could be difficult because of the weight of the wire involved, and if the wire crossed over one or more pulleys the effort required to pull 'off' the signal could be very g reat indeed.
Usually, the inspector said as we entered the signal box: 'Good afternoon, Bobby. Here's the Doctor to see what work you do.' (All signalmen were known as 'Bobby', believed to originate from the time a man on horseback rode in front of a steam
train with a red flag as a sort o f po li ce man).
'Ah, well, let him pull off No. 16,'
And you could bet yo ur bottom dollar that No. 16 was a pig to pull. Most signa l boxe s had one or more difficult pulls, for the reasons I have indicate d , and no amount of jerking, tugging or banging about would make the lever move - until one learned ju st how to stand and where to stand and how much pressure to apply, then and only then did the distant s ignal move.
Other things I recall from those far off times. When I first went riding on the footplate in 1947 I noticed that it was difficult to see men workirig on the line - the permanent way. They wore drab dark clothes and were not easily seen against the mottled brown background of ballast and sleepers. My sugges tion that each man should wear a distinguish ing patch of colour on his back was not well received, because in those days German POWs were still see n in this country and the more se nior of my readers will recall that POWs wore a large yellow circle on the back of their jackets. However, in time, men working on the permanent way accepted the principle of 'being seen' and the high visibility waistcoat, now universally accepted, shows up a man working on the permanent way long before he would otherwise be seen.
Towards the end of the steam traction era I went on the footplate of a
(Photo:
steam locomotive for the last time, on ' Brittania' driven by Driver Adams of Colchester, who gave a superb display of skill as he drove from Colchester to Liverpool Street. On this occasion I was duly armed with a footplate pass and accompanied by a locomotive inspector. I was even accompanied to the locomotive by the Motive Power Superintendent himself before we left.
When I said I thought that a rea so nable sort of chap like myself could be expected to behave on the footplate the Superintendent replied: 'Well, we send an Inspector with our very important visitors or with those who we think might be troublesome. Take your choice!'
When the steam engines were replaced by diesel locomotives I went riding in the driver's cab, indeed the term 'footplate' stuck, and one still requires a 'footplate' pass, but I found it less exciting and less interesting than the experience on the steam locomotive. Steam traction was hustled out with rather indecent haste, but now it is showing signs of reviving all over the country in the form of small railways, some running passenger services during the summer months. However romantic the steam locomotive may appear to men of all ages one should not forget that at best it was an inefficient machine, about
10070 efficient, I believe, and required a great deal of attention and maintenance, much of it arduous and unpleasant.
Considering exp ress locomoti ves alone, after a long run the fire in the fire box had to be 'dropped' and the remaining residue, glowing red hot, had to be raked out and no t long afterwards the firebrickman had to climb inside the firebox to replace any damaged firebricks, working in a hot dry atmosphere in cramped, bli ster ing conditions more reminiscent of the puritanical version of Hell than any conditions in indu stry with the possible exception of the steel indu stry, Also the boiler tubes had to be washed out by hosing through, a job which could be very cold and unpleasant on a winter night and it was always a 'wet job'. Another unpleasant job was the cleaning out of the sm oke box, which was full of soot and ashes after a long run. Maintenance of the working parts of the steam engine was likewise heavy work, carried out by skilled steam fitters who are now virtually a vanished race.
Much as one regretted the passing of the steam engine one should recall that some very unpleasant jobs no longer had to be performed and that with the arrival of the diesel locomotive (which also had its share of working problems) working conditions in the motive power depots began to impro ve out of all recognition in compari on with
The 'down Northumbrian thundering out of Hadley Wood North Tunnel
British Railways )
those found in the old steam running sheds.
As a means of transport the railways have a very good safety record. It is much safer to travel by rail than by road or by civil airline. Nevertheless, accidents do occur on the railways and management is always ready to deal with a 'mishap', as it is usually described.
Briefly, acciderits are caused by:
1. Human error.
2. Defect of track or obstruction on track.
3. Defect of a part of the train.
It should be clearly understood that all railway operating is carried out in accordance with the Safety Rules and Regulations, a code of practice which has arisen out of its experience of a century and a half of railway working and which has as its aim the safe running of the railways.
Nevertheless , in spite of all the printed precautions and careful training of staff, drivers and signalmen, they make mistakes or errors of judgment as a result of fatigue or worry over personal problems, and one might add that the infinite variation of human reaction may be a contributory cause.
Defects of the railway track may be due to broken rails or distortion of the rails in great heat; obstruction may result from natural causes, ie, rockfall or landslip, or from vandalism such as placing heavy objects on the line.
Fortunately, defects of the train do not occur very often, but brake failure, particularly on an incline, could lead to disaster.
This, of necessity, is a very brief resume of the causes of railway accidents and in passing it should be remembered other facts such as the weather, the time of day or night, and
134
(Photos:
the location may all have some bearing on the
Briefly, when a railway accident happens it is reported to Control Headquarters (which regulates all movement within any given operating area) and thereafter the local senior official is informed and instructed to take charge. Depending on the severity of the accident measures are taken accordingly and the local emergency services are called in to help, namely the Fire Brigade, Police and the Ambulance Services.
Later, if the situation warrants it, the heavy duty steam crane and breakdown train will be called out and ' as soon as the damaged train or the damaged part can be removed, the Civil Engineer's relaying gangs move in to repair or replace the permanent way.
The Railway Medical Officers were not usually involved in de"aling with accidents for several reasons; mercifully there were few accidents and these usually occurred outside the big centres of population where the RMOs were usually located.
Also, it was much quicker to call in the local rescue services or ambulances who were more or less on the spot. Some medical officers did not concern themselves with accidents, others liked to know what was happening in their territory and were kept well informed. I certainly liked to know what was happening, but over the years the only time a serious derailment occurred in my territory I was faraway in Doncaster on holiday relief, so I have to report that I have no actual experience of dealing with a major railway accident.
However, having attended a number of exercises or 'mock' railway accidents, I have some observations which may be useful to readers.
In every day life we are used to
frame. Like the British Transport bus, the British Railways coach is a very stable vehicle on or off the track.
working in a vertical and horizontal environment, but a derailed train or part of it may be canted over at an alarming angle. This may make rescue more difficult, particularly at night, for on entering a derailed coach in daytime the tilting may cause some dizziness or loss of balance, but fortunately this is usually very transient.
Rescue from a passenger coach which is canted over at an angle or even lying on its side is influenced by the type of coach involved. As there are still in service a number of the older type corridor coaches one has to consider the problems of getting people out of the compartments into which these coaches are divided, and of course much depends on which side the coach happens to be lying. Furthermore , t here are problems related to doors and windowlights according to the type of stock involved.
However, modern passenger stock is all open sa loon type with doors at either end of the coach, which makes things easier for the rescue team.
Before commencing rescue work one has to get into a passenger coach, whether tilted or not, and this is no easy job, because the rail on which the coach is standing (or was standing) is raised on a bed of ballast (about 2 feet high), but for your information, in every guard's compartment in BR stock there is a ladder (and a first aid box) to help you over the problem of getting up into the coach. Removal of inj ured persons from the coach to the ground can be difficult for the same reason.
If a British Rail coach is tilted on its side as the result of derailment one can be rest assured that it will remain firmly in position, because more than half of the weight of the coach is accounted for by the two bogies and the under-
As there are numerous windows in passenger coaches, broken glass can be a problem for rescue teams, particularly at night, but in general the window lights are large and allow plenty of room for manoeuvre. Having got injured persons out of a coach the next problem is to get them to the ambulance. This may involve a stretcher carry along the railway line to a bridge or level crossing, and in the case of the former the next stage may be a carry up or down an embankment to a road. This is a very brief survey of railway accidents, but I hope it will give so me idea of the problems involved. On British Railways medical officers were not obliged to be involved with the first aid movement , but I think it is fair to say that t he majority nowadays do give assistance in one form or another.
1 became involved in first aid competition work because m y former Chief asked me to take his place at a certain competition in 1949 and thereafter I became quite involved.
On British Railways first aid is organised by the St John Ambulance Association and in each of the four
hand pulled signal box, Ruddington Halt , in 1941. (Photo: British Railways)
regions of England and Wales an Ambulance Centre is located at the Regional HQ. In Scotland the Centre is organised by the St Andrew's Association. First aid organisation within any region is the responsibility of the Regional First Aid Secretary and the territory is divided into Districts, each in charge of a District First Aid Secretary, who in turn is responsible for organising the first aid classeswhere the real work is done and whose members frequently perform the real basic first aid work which may range from dealing with a minor abrasion to a dramatic rescue from underneath a train. To fir st aid workers it is all in the day's work, but from my former observation post at Euston it was very heartening to see how many meritorious awards and recognitions of outstanding first aid se rvice were made for just these so called' every day' jobs of work.
Over the years there were many calls for help in judging first aid competitions, lecturing to classes and holding class examinations. I did not really like examinations but on the other hand in teaching I found great plea sure and to some classes 1 went year after year, but in 1974 when 1 was promoted to Group Medical Officer at Euston I had to give up teaching first aid with great regret.
As for first aid competitions, I still assist and hope I may continue to do so for many years to come.
I have mentioned that towards the end of my career on British Rail ways that I was Medical Adviser to Sealink (UK) Limited, formerly the Shipping and International Services Division of the British Railways Board
I enjoyed my work with the Shipping Division. It was a pleasant change to deal with ships and seafarers, and naturally there were opportunities for the occasional sea trip. Indeed at one stage of my career I went to sea regularly every year, sometimes twice a year and this experience as a Ship'S Surgeon was most valuable when I was appointed Medical Adviser.
Between 1965 and 1973 the British Rail steamer Avalon, normally employed on the Harwich to Hook of Holland service, went on a number of cruises each year, usually to Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea in the spring and early summer and to Spain and North Africa in the late summer. Normally, on the 'Hook' run the Avalon did not carry a doctor, but on the cruises regulations required that a doctor and nursing sister should be available.
At the time of which I am writing the Railway Medical Services were organised on a regional basis and so Eastern Region was called upon to produce the doctor and nursing sister for each cruise.
I always enjoyed the cruise duties. Apart from the fact that it was a pleasant change from routine daily examinations one never knew what sort of problem one would have to consider, and looking back, I think it fair to say that apart from emergency childbirth, most of the common problems arose as well as a lot of uncommon ones. It was always a good refresher course or sort of post-graduate trammg which I found most stimulating. The passengers, some 250 to 300, tended to be in the older age groups, whereas the crew were mostly very you ng men. It was an interesting mixture and looking back over the years one learned to know more or less what to expect, always excepting the 'surprises'.
The passengers , many of whom were retired and living in flats (with lifts) or bungalow s, but on the Avalon there were no lifts and in many cases elderly folk were doing far more climbing than they were accustomed to and in many cases old knee or ankle injuries were revealed. Also, unaccustomed as these older persons were to stairs, there was always a risk that even in calm weather some would slip and fall on the stairs.
Now in my retirement I often recall the happy days spent cruising. I went to Norway several times, once as far as North Cape, which involved crossing the Arctic Circle, and on two occa s ion s visited Leningrad which was an education in itself.
On the last two cruises I went to Spain and Portugal and North Africa, and on both occasions the weather in the Bay of Biscay was remarkably mild considering what atrocious conditions can be found there at times.
I look back over thirty three and a half years of service on British Railways and recall good as well as not so good times, but do not regret the choice I made in 1946 when two jobs were open to me - and I chose to become a railway medical officer.
Often in the course of m y career people have said: 'A doctor on the railway! What do the railwa y want a doctor for?'
My invariable reply was: 'Would you like to go home in a train dri\'en by a colour blind driver?'
They invariably got m y rC'·I1f
Drivers at the controls (left) of a steam locomotive, and (right) of 3,300 hp Delta diesel electric
British Railways).
'mishap'.
LN ER
DRESS REGULATIONS
from G. H. Easton, Chairman Regulations and Dress Revision Committee
I would like to draw attention to the fact that we are in the process of issuing a set of completely revised Dress Regulations. You will have noticed the enormous number of changes that have been promulgated in the last several years all leading up to this revision. It has been a very time-con s uming exercise and the main burden of the work has been carried by Mrs Christine Best, well known to many of you as a discerning judge in this field. However, short of writing another New Testament it is almost impossible to allow for every eventuality and so various anomalies keep appearing, mostly in interpretation of these regulations. While it is the avowed intention to avoid further changes as much as possible there are still difficulties and readers' views would be useful in resolving these.
For example: when ambulance members are on nursing duty wearing the ward tunic with a shirt, do they or do they not roll up their sleeves? Well I feel they'll look pretty funny if they don't. Do we need a regulation? Again: male nursing officers wear grey shoulder straps with a red enamel bar. We are asked if this applies to shirt sleev e order. Do we really need to lay down chapter and verse? You should wear your normal rank markings and shoulder straps whenever the officer in charge specifies that it is the order of the day.
Above all , whatever the activity, smartness of appearance and uniformity are the objects of these regulations. There are times when perhaps the word recommendation would be more suitable. Just always remember that you are the public image of St John.
Headquarters G. H. Easton Assistant Commissioner-in -Chief
THE GRAND PRIOR'S BADGE
from Alexander Crawford, County Training Organiser and Pro Cumbria
As a 'new boy' to St John Ambulance, recently appointed a s PRO to the county, I turn to others more experienced to guide me in answering Jim's question about the Grand Prior's Badge (February Cadet Chat) You may be interested in the comments of County Staff Officer E. Kilpatrick. He has over 25 years' experience and valuable knowledge of cadets, including the creditable record of having maintained in adult service no less than 25 GP Badge holders, so he obviously knows what iUs that makes the badge such an especial and worth - while award. This sums up what he told me:
(a) Cadets are the life-blood of any adult division, and a s such they deserve more support and should not be allowed to wander into St John adult life like lost sheep. They need our guidance.
(b) I agree th a t cadets should try hard to gain their Grand Prior's Badge before being promoted to adult membership; but I feel it would be very unfair to a cadet who had joined at 14 or 15 to stifle his enthusiasm by insisting that he may only receive the badge if he qualifies before he is 18 Adult potential is what we should be trying to bring out in any cadet, and this is basically what the Grand Prior's Badge is all about.
(c) The relation s hip between cadets and the adult division to which we hope they will eventually be promoted is a very special one Our publicity posters entitled 'Join Our Fami)y' depict a sense of being part of a generation of first-aiders; even in the foreground we can see a cadet 136
Readers' views and opinions. which should hp. sent 10 1i1('
Editor. although published are not necessanly endorsed by ti1!'
Editor or the Order of St John and Its foundation Allhollqi1
readers may sign published letters with a pen nanw wntl'rs must supply their flame and address to the editor
wearing the Grand Prior' s Bad ge As we, the adult generation, move ahead in life , at least let us do so with pride, looking over our shoulder s and seeing the strength of our cadets who will follow purposefully in our footsteps. It is our respon s ibilit y a s adult s to ensure that all our cadet s are given a good g rounding in all aspects o f their training Their move to the adult divi s ion will then be a step for ward, and not a st e p backward!
I must admit to being envious of the s er vice that ha s given s? much plea s ure to CSO Kilpatric k, a nd I wish that, like hIm, I had begun my service as a cad e t , and a ttended the King George VI and Nottingham trainin g cour se s which were so emphatic that Youth should be encoura ged to take an activ e part in the Order of St John. It is intere s ting that in all m y contact with cadets in public relation s work here in Cumbria I find a stability that is often lacking in thei r adult counter: parts. Whenever there are duties demanding that little bit o f extra effort to meet the challenge of t he eighties -a challeng e to leadership, to enthu siasm, to a det ermination to succeed and, above all, to a s ense of pride in them s elves - it is almost always the wearers of the Grand Prior 's Badge who step forward, whether they be adults or cadet s Obviously, as CSO Kilpatrick said to me, 'It is more than an ex ercise and more o f an experience that must never be le ss ened for any young cade t - that's the Grand Prior's Badge!'
Cumbria A lex ander Crawford
TICKET TOUTING?
from John A. Alderson, Divisional Superintendent
For the last 12 years I have vi sited St Paul's Cathedral ever y June for the St John ' s Day celebrations , having been invited to the Service five times, and I s hall be going again this year.
Last year I was shocked to see two men outside th e Cathedral with tickets for the Service, one giving them away and the other selling them - when I saw SOp change hands. Of course they were well apart from each other.
. I was so shocked I tried to photograph them handing over tIckets. But the question is how did th ey get hold of the tickets?
Reigate John A. Alderson
The Secretary-General writes: I am appalled to hear that anything of this sort should be happening. If any member has any information on the subject perhaps he will let me know.
THE IDEAL AMBULANCE
from Bruce T. Brown
I read with interest the articles and letters in recent Reviews about the ideal ambulance and its equipment. Two or three
years ago the Surgeon-in-Chief stated that varying local needs made standardisation difficult and that there was a danger of becoming too sophisticated.
This is so very true There is a call from Divisions for 'ambulance aid' courses based on the Health Authorities' Millar certificate course. Pressure for such courses has probably increased as a result of the ambulance disputes in the winter of 1978179.
Traditionally the St John Ambulance Brigade has had a transport role since, until the establishment of a statutory ambulance service in 1948 as part of the National Health Service, the ambulance transport of the sick and injured to hospital was a logical exten s ion of pure fir st aid. First aid is about saving life and preventing conditions from worsening until medical aid can be brought to a casualty or the casualty taken to medical aid. This is still the role of the Brigade, but with an exc ellent ambulance service in most parts of the country there is today little need for the Brigade to worry too much about ambulance s.
A f ew duties undertaken by the Brigade, such as at firstclas s soccer matches, may justify the availability of an ambulance equ i pped and crewed to the s tandard of the regular a mbulance s ervice. But even here the need for Brigade vehicle s to be on s tandby can be questioned. A ca s ualty' s pro g no sis will depend largely on the effective skill of the initial re scue and f ir s t-aid treatment before he reaches the ambulan ce.
At s ome pop fe s tivals good ambulances on site have been of little value becau s e access has been impossible and casualtie s ha v e had to be evacuated by helicopter. In many ot her duties the terrain ma y be s uch that trolley stretchers are unw ield y and difficult to handle and rescue and evacuation can b e bett er per f ormed with Furley stretchers and ambulan ces c a pabl e of t a king them.
Oth e r tran s port need s, which are less often supplied by the Brigade be cau se the objective is le ss glamorous, are transport o f the handicapped in wheelchairs and of our own personnel (in particular, cadet s) who have not their own transport.
R a is in g public monies from voluntary contributions is diff icul t at the be st o f times and especially now in a climate of economi c hard s hip A s a member of a fund raising organisat ion which s upport s a variety of charities I am very aware of the d eg r ee to which emotion govern s the way in which monies are di stributed. A request for a towards an emergency ambulance would attract a great deal more attention t han one for a minibus to get Brigade members to and from duty.
I belie ve there is an ideal vehicle for Brigade use. It would ba sically c on s is t of a minibus shell, into the floor of which were moun t ed runner type wheelchair mounts. With a little thought these could be so positioned that they could be used to hold wheelchairs , trolley or Furley stretchers.
For routine us e the vehicle should be fitted with collap sible seats and a folded Furley stretcher so that it can be converted to an ambulance when necessary. I would suggest that the seats should be fixed by wing nuts , so that they can be removed to make room for the carriage of wheelchairs. I feel sure that money spent on a vehicle of this type with an all-purpose role is a better way of spending the funds given to us by the public than on highly sophisticated ambulances. Such a vehicle may also be considerably cheaper than a coach built ambulance.
I also believe a vehicle of this kind would be far more suitable at duties such as I recently attended as an observer. The event was a motor sports meeting with a crowd estimated at 80,000 to 100,000 for which the organisers were confident that nine 'ambulances' would cover all eventualities pue to a
OUR GRAND PRIOR AWARD
THREE years of hard work lie ahead of t ho s e who enter the Proficiency Scheme hoping to ga i n the Grand Prior's Badge.
Bdgade General Regulations Appendi x L and the Cadet Officers' Manual clearly state that , a s soon as an award of the Grand Prior's Badge ha s been no t ified by Brigade Headquarters, the C ad et mu s t be allo w ed to wear the badge FORTHWITH ' This statement also applie s to young adults But how often does this happen? All too often press cuttings of presentation s show the badge papeF-clipped to the certificate when, in fact, the recipient should be wearing the badge (having removed the Proficienc y badge and numerals). Do not withhold t he badge bu t give it to the recipient immediately to pu t on his / her uniform.
The certificate was designed for the express purpose o f avoiding any delay in the award winner wearing the badge while a suitabl y important occasion is found - possibl y six months ahead - to hold a presentation ceremony.
So after all that hard work, let's see our Grand Prior's Badge winners WEARING the badge as soon as their Counties know they have achie v ed our premier award - an award of which the y and their Divisions are justly proud and eager to see displayed.
Cadet Depart m ent, Headquar ters
very safety-conscious orgamsmg committee the risk of a serious accident was very small, but if it had happened it would have been serious indeed. The problem was that they requested 'ambulances' and not first aid cover. They had equated an ambulance and its crew with first aid.
What they needed was men adequately trained in basic first aid and a few vehicles so that real first aid could be performed and casualties moved to a casualty clearing station where they could await collection by regular ambulances. In this situation expensive and sophisticated equipment is of little value. There may be a need in some localities for the Brigade to maintain a few ambulances equipped to D.H.S.S. standards. Most Divisions, however, do not need them and cannot rea listically justify the expense of running them. There is a strong case for the Brigade to study its transport needsperhaps for these needs to be co-ordinated at County leveland to consider the value of cheaper, less sophisticated multipurpose vehicles. Much more emphasis must be placed on basic first aid training and proficiency.
I believe that there is a need for the Brigade, especially at Divisional, Area and County level, to look critically at our overall objectives as set out in General Regulations. Perhaps my comments may stimulate some discussion toward that end.
Sutton Coldfield Bruce T. Brown
from Tom Quinn
Brian Rockell (April) is entitled to his opinions, of course, and I agree with many of them, but I find his attitude rather disturbing. It is all right to be down-to-earth, and state that it would be difficult to provide ideal vehicles for St John use, but I feel that it is no use being apathetic.
The main reason for my letter (Feb) was to push for these improvements. A superintendent may have to wait a while longer for a vehicle, but there should be no reason why a division cannot set about 'renovating' its inadequate vehicles, improving conditions to allow for basic patient care, instead of having lots of sophisticated equipment which is fine if you can observe your patient while using it.
When local fund-raising charities donate money for 'equipment' that money might well be used to improve the equipment basic to an ambulance, including adequate interior conditions as for (dare I mention) oxygen , entenox, etc.
I am glad to see that a Public Duty Manual is being proposed at Headquarters, as it may fulfil some of Brian's wishes as well as some of mine.
Oxfordshire SJA Tom Quinn
AMBULANCE COURSE from J. Hadingham
R. J. Goldfinch (Review March) raises several interesting points in his letter regarding ambulance aid training and equipment.
The idea that an ambulance manual would solve some of the training problems is basically sound if, and only if, the manual that is produced is treated as a guide and not a bible of ambulance aid. The contents, in my opinion, should be in line with the Millar Award training given to the professional ambulance personnel. This will produce:
1. Correct the anomalies in treatment of casualties that exist between the St John ambulance and professional ambulance personnel.
2. Allay suspicion which some professional ambulance personnel have towards St John Ambulance.
If a group is set up to produce an ambulance aid manual,
part of their brief should be to investigate the advanced training that is being offered in some areas to the professional ambulance personnel.
To purchase equipment (some highly sophisticated) without consultation with professional personnel is illogical. Prior to the purchase, the following questions should be asked:
1. How often will it be used?
2. Is the training expertise available?
3. How often will training have to be repeated?
4. What alternatives are available?
5. What do the professional ambulance service use and why?
By obtaining the answer to question 5, sta ndardisation will follow, if not nationally, then locally (Area, County or District)
I have written this letter from the sta ndpoint of a professional health service trainer looking in and as a SJA AIM looking out.
W. Yorks 1. Hadingham
in the l-iome
SJA HONG KONG
from Major D. H. Small (Rtd.l, Commissioner Shropshire Out of loyalty to Hong Kong and without any disloyalty to St John Ambulance there, I must correct a few of the impressions gained (Feb. Review) by Dr P. J. J. Wren, Commissioner for Lancashire, during his visit to the Colony for the B.M.A. Conference towards the end of 1979. Firstly, a number of dental surgeons do vo luntary work for St John using the Dental Clinic in St John Headquarters for the treatment of handicapped children brought there by a St John ambulance. It is therefore incorrect to say that the clinic is used 'to offer a free service which rna t people need but few can afford' , implying that it is open to all on any day of the week. What he failed to say was that a team comprising a doctor, a dental surgeon and nurses visits the more remote outlying areas at weekends to bring medical and dental care to t h e people there. Secondly, St John in Hong Kong ha s less than a 'dozen' ambulances, and Dr Wren is being less than fair when he leads one to believe that these' with so me from Red Cross and a few from the Army are the only means of transporting the sick and injured to and from the ho s pital' St John ambulances are manned by paid crews during the day and by St John member s after normal working hours. Of course they do transport some s ick and injured but so do the 135 ambulances of the regular ambulance serv ice , which is comparable with an Area Health Authority Ambulance Service in this country.
A final point: surely Dr Wren does not really believe that there is only one hospital or just St John ambulances assisted by 'some from the Red Cross and a few from the Army' to cope with a population of over 5 million? There are 45 hospitals in Hong Kong with 18,884 bed s, seven of the hospitals have casualty departments.
I am very glad that the Commissioner for Lancashire wa s well looked after by our St John colleagues in Hong Kong ; this is the traditional hospitality of the place and its people. But I am saddened that his report after a brief sojourn gives such an erroneous impression of Hong Kong.
Shrewsbury
D. H. Small, Formerly SO Grade 1, SJA Hong Kong
, a colourful, we ll presented and easily unders t ood booklet issued free by the Health Educat ion Council, is ideal for cadets involved in proficiency subject training. Copies are available from either yo ur local Health Education Officer or direct from the Supplies Section, Health Education Council, 78 New Oxfor d Street, London WCIA lAH A cata logue giving details of all health ed ucation publications produced by the Council is also available and is well wo rth the postage involved in obtaining a copy.
Adopt a garden
Following on ideas for community se rvice I have received details of the Adopt a Garden Scheme which was launched through the children's section of 'G arden News' in March 1980 to help maintain the gardens of the elderly and the infirm. Apply to Joy Harris, Garden News, Park House, 117 Park Road, Peterborough PE 1 2TS, for window posters descri bing the sche me and 'I'm a Garden Helper' teeshirts for participants.
Jubilee Trek
Young people between ) 3 and 18 years of age are invited to undert ake a walk of 50 miles , or a journey of 200 miles by bicycle, in five days or less, staying at Youth Hostels. Those competing in the Golden Jubilee Trek will be awarded a certificate signed by Chris Bonnington
and a voucher for free membership of the YHA in 1981 While participating in the trek, they will have free YHA membership and the only expense will be the cost of hostel accommodation and food.
Participants must plan their own route, taking into account their fitness and abilities, and book hostel accommodation by lett er without help. A free copy of the YHA handbook is available. A brief log of the journey will be required, just noting the route taken each day and anything of intere st spotted during the journey.
To take part, write to Golden Jubilee Trek, YHA Trevelyan House, St Albans, Herts, enclosing a stamped addressed envelope, and further details will be forwarded together with the Golden Jubilee Trek-card.
Don't meddle with MEDICINES
My thanks this month to Teresa Durham, of Newcastle Quad Division, for this rhyme. Can Cadets think of any more?
Humpt y Dumpty opened the door, Humpt y DUII/pty happy with what he saw, for there on the shelf were some prelly coloured sweers, he helped himself for he thought {hey were Pete 's
Humpt y Dumpty sat on the floor
Humpty DUII/pty ate a lot more, but all the Queen's doctors and all the - Queen's nurses, couldn't make Humpt y beller again.
Games
Faces in the News - stick pictures from recent newspapers on to a sheet of paper and give points for correct guesses as to the identity of people in the news.
Lip reading relay - pass a message by lip reading. The receiver may shout out loud what he thinks is the message and when he has got it right he become dumb and passes another message on to the next in the team.
Scavenger hunt - send Cadets from your Headquarters to collect var ious item s, for example -a piece of toast, a lOp bu ticket, a v icar 's autograph, etc.
A qui z about a local or well known area - for examp le:
Useful for playing snooker - Kew
Meet Napoleon there - Waterloo Pensioner eros ing point - Chel ea
Transport relay - each team member to transport a patient using one of the method s of transport tau ght in First Aid. For example: 2 handed seat, pick-a-back, etc.
CAN YOU THINK OF ANY GAMES THAT YOU HAVE TRIED?
PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME FO R PUBLICATION IN A FUTURE ISSUE.
Competitions
I have already received some entries for the competition connected with public duties described in the April issue. I would like a short accoun t of not more than 500 WORDS abou t EITHER a cadet's first public dut y and what he or s he thought about it , OR the most exciting public duty they have been involved with. The judges will be looking for the mo st original and interesting account and will award a prize to the winner in the two age groups 11 to 13 , and 14 to 16. Entries s hould be se nt to me clearly marked with the entrant's name, address, age and Division, and arrive not later than September 1, 1980. Cadet Chat badges will be awarded to runners up in each section.
Entries are still needed for this competition and I hope officers will encourage as man y cadets as possible to take part.
Contributions
Contribution to this column should be sent to Jim , 57 Morgan Crescent, Theydon Bois Epping, Essex CM16 7DU.
Edinburgh Hospices of St John. (Above) Trinity Hospice within the city of Edinburgh is well used - and indeed is so popular with the elderly that residents tend to stay almost permanently although it is equipped and staffed only as a short stay residence.
NEWS from SCOTLAND
IN Aberdeen plans are being considered for the extens ion of t he St John Nursing Home in Alby n Place, which could use more bed s and improved theatre s pace. The gift centre raised over [3,000 in 1979.
Torphichen Branch is spea rheading a local appeal for funds to repair the pipe organ in the large memorial church at Bangour Ho spita l which is attended by many long-term patients.
The I.adies' Committee of Central Branch of the St John Association of Scotland, under the c hairmanship of Mrs Dorothy Jack, .the Chancellor's wife, have launc hed an additional sc heme for raising I'unds in support of the Sir Andrew Murray House at Strathyre. Although it is called 'T he Penny League', the ladies , b€ing realists, would rather call it 'penny pinching', bearing in mind that 'Many a mickle makes a muckle '. They ask all Association members to place a small container be side bedside table, fireside chair, or dressing table so that whenever pockets or purses become rather heav y or are emptied when chang ing, small coins can be put into these containers a nd brought along to the annual Farm Fayre in September. The Royal Bank of Scotland Ltd are very kindly providing 150 piggy banks to encourage the scheme. Dumf ries and Galloway Association are cont inuing their intere s t in Dalrymple Hospital, Stranraer, by rai s ing funds to refurnish the Day Room for patient s at the hospital.
Ophthalmic Hospital, Jerusalem
Ac ting on a s ugge st ion made by Lord Caccia to the Hospitaller for Sco t land, Scottish Priory ha s agreed to add a new
140
sp indrier to the laundry equipment it provided la st year for the Ophthalmic Ho s pital in Jerusalem.
Temple Church, Midlothian, which has lon g been a roofless ruin, is now in such a dangerous co ndition that the Building Control Officer will be compelled to recommend it s demolition unless remedial action s take n at once. As the name implie s, it was once part of the property of the Knight s of the Temple.
The Priory of Scotland Year Book \979-80 ha s been published a nd di s tributed to members. It contains the Roll of Scottish Priory as at 3 \. \ 2.79 a nd the n a me s of office bearers in local Order and Association
CarLJerry H ospice, near Mu sselburgh, conti nues to provide a happy and comfortable holiday home for those who use it; but it is still under occupied in spite of the friendly welcome assured from Mr and Mrs Crewe, the conscientious and hard working wardens
Committees, with reports from all area s a nd some historical essays. Any reader interested in obtaining a copy s h ou ld app ly to the Priory Secretary, St John's House, 21 St John Street, Edinburgh EH8 8DG enclosing 25p for postage, p lease! Or, of course, a donation.
M. M. B.
Eight years of
REGULAR reader s of the Review will know so methin g of the unique serv ice which ha s b een provided by the St John Ambulance Air Wing si n ce its formation in Fe bruar y 1972. From time to time, the more unu sual mercy flights h ave been reported in these co lumns - a ways with proper regard to the need to respect the feelings and t h e privacy of fami li es and friends whose distress the work of the Wing seeks to alleviate. Readers should now be aware of t h e dedication of our pi lot s and flight controllers in their support of the ideals of the Order - to save life and to relieve suffering; the flying of transplant kidneys and livers, medical s upplie s, teams of surgeons, usually at night, have all contributed significantly to the image of St John as a humanitarian service keeping we ll abreast of the times.
More than 400 tran plant operations invo lving kidneys and livers have been made possible in the United Kingdom and North West Europe as a direct result of missions flown by our 170 volunteer pilots answering the calls from any of t h e team of thirteen flight controllers who are based at the Flight'Control Centre in Epping. The spirit of co-operation among aircrews , controllers and airfield personnel throughout the long night hours of an emergency night has earned for the Wing an international reputation as a highly efficient and reliable air transport ervice.
A new chapter in the story of the Wing was opened on the evening of Monday January 28 when a call for help was received in the F light Control Centre by the Senior Controller, Wing Commander Harry Drummond. On the fo ll owing day the national press announced that a heart transplant operation had been performed at Papworth Hospital by Mr Terence English, the eminent heart surgeon. Newspaper headlines referred to 'Dash by plane and road', 'Air flight assists in transplant success' and the lik e. How many of the general public and SJ members real ised that once again the Air Wing had solved a complicated time / distance problem by enabling the surgeons to maintain t h e vital schedule governing the success of the operation?
The ca ll came at 19.15 hours; could the Air Wing fly a team of surgeons and
The SJ Air Wing -a new chapter
their equipment from Cambridge to Leicester? The team would be ready to fly at 22.00 hours, to be landed as close as possible to the city of Leicester and, after removing transplant organs from a cadaver donor in a Leicester hospital, would need to be nown back to Cambridgeshire.
Thanks to the immediate co - operation of Captain W. H. Bailey in charge of our Elstree Group of pilots, we were able to assure UK Transplant, who initiated the enquiry, as early as 19.32 hours that we would fly the mission.
Two of our volunteer pilots, Errol Elsdon of Barnet, Herts. and Graham Colover of Elstree would crew Errol's Cessna 414, call sign Lima Alpha - an ideal aircraft for the job. We undertook to land Mr English and his colleag ue s at Leicester East airport before 23.00 hours This offer was immediately accepted.
In order that precious time should not be spent in road travel, Wing Commander Drummond telephoned the United States Air Force base at the Royal Air Force Station in Alconbury,
Huntingdonshire, situated quite near to Papworth. He had had correspondence with the USAF three yea r s ago against the possibility that they might be asked to assist in just such a case as this. Having explained to Col. Stanley, the Duty Commander of Operations, that we would appreciate the use of Alconbury as an important link over a period of some s ix hours between 22.00 and 04.00, the Colonel replied at once that 'he would be sure glad to co-operate in any way possible'. Squadron Leader David Reason, t he s enior Royal Air Force officer in charge of Alconbury, would act as the liaison officer between the Air Wing, the RAF station at Wyton, which controlled the use of Alconbury , and our American friends working the Alconbury air traffic control service.
Neither Leicester Ea s nor Alconbury had ever been involved in an Air Wing mission before and tribute is due to their very quick understanding of what would be needed from their Air Traffic Controllers and ground staff in contributing to the success of the fligh t. What an excellent example of mutual support by all concerned! The special opening of Elstree airfield; the immediate response of the Wing pilots with a fine aircraft; the combined efforts of the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force at Wyton and at Alconbury; and the important role of the Leicestershire Aero Club in making their airfield available and in extending hospitality to the waiting pilots while the surgeons were at work in the local hospital.
True to our promise, we landed the medical team in Leicester at 22.54 hours and returned them to Alconbury at 01.25 on the Tuesday morning. The pilots had then to return to Elstree and it was not until 04 00 hours that the Senior Controller had completed his report on an exciting night'S'\vork and could think about getting some sleep , by which time preparations in Papworth Hospital for the vital heart transplant were well advanced.
All who participated in making this operation possible can renect with justifiable satisfaction on their contribution to the opening of this new chapter in the Air Wing story.
, and Sergeant Christopher Biddle
H. H. D.
News from Divisions/ Centres
Ambulances designed for the job
for a sna re (5). 13. Thus a foot is yie ld ing readily to pressure. (4). 14. South A merican balsam s a pure mixture. (4). 16. Operate on arm gland for major epilepsy. (5.3). 19 Syphi liti c u lcer up in turbulent air. (5). 22. Fruit taken dail y to avoid a vis it from the doctor? (5). 23.
One u s ing the sense of h ear in g (8). 25. Premonition preceding an a ttack of 16 Ac ro ss. (4). 27. Mercian King of f ir st aid (4). 29 Implied it follows a stra n ge act- (5). 31. A continuation of the aorta. (5.6.). 32. Hostelry is fash ion able, one h ears (3) 33. Builds up a secret arrangement. (6). 34. Dental caries. (3.5).
Down:
1. Eye t ooth (6). 2. Exha u s ted a nd barely able to stand. (3.2.4) 3 Ooze out s lowl y (5). 4'. Steals sma ll incisions. (5). 6. Cunning part of t he f oot. (4). 7. Asphyxiate b y obstr uct ion i n th e larynx or trachea ( 5) 8. Di sor der s includin g strains, cramp, and mya s tenia gravis. (8). 9. Noisy nasal breathin g i n infants is initiated by finely powered to b acco. (8). 15 Part of the pelvis and some of [he ribs. (4). 17. An essential requir ement- (4) 18. Masculine p lant for treatm e nt of tapew orm infestation. (4.4). 20. Give instructions which will be di spensed with. (9). 2 1. Can a lime for a soot hin g lotion. (8). 24. Sulphur and fish ma ke a mo st foul s m el l. (6). 26. E rect rear. (5) 28 Turn near a place for t he contest. (5). 29. Attempt street rendezvou s (5). 30. Tail of d eer, har e, or rabbit cuts badly. (4) SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No 5 (80) Across:
1. Heparin; 5. P.elvis; 8. Ass.am; 9. C ur at.iv.e; 11. Quid; 12. Lean ; 13. Ner ve; 15. Areola; 16. Purulent ; 18 Aim; 19. T -b an d age; 21. We.evil; 24. Rein s; 26. Noon; 27. Tree; 29. N ecrosis; 30. Spine; 3 1 Stigma; 32 Pass-out.
Down:
1. Headquarte rs; 2. Passive; 3 R a mi ; 4. Nicked; 5. P er in e um ; 6 Latin; 7. In .ve r se; 10 Septal de fect; 14 C lad ; 16 Pie; 17. Uvea; 18. A.gene.si.a; 20. A.lime.nt; 22. Ver t igo ; 23. Gossip; 25 S hru g; 28 Isis.
CLA SSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
Pilcher-Greene limited, Consort Way, Victoria Gardens, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9NA.
Burgess Hill 5707/9. Telex
Telegrams Ambulap Burgess Hill.
Resusci ne
Torso
and full body manikin
After 20 years, RESUSCI AN N E has been reb o rn w ith man y n e w inn o v a ti o n s a n d improvements t hat prov de a g r eater m@Cls u re of vers a til ty , qua ity and du r ab i lit y
Now RES'uSCI ANNE i $ available in three versions :
RESUSCI ANNE COMPLETE in the FULL BODY
v e rsio n b r ings realism to your pr o gram Prope r patien t h a ndling a s we a s th e Ob s t r uct e d Airway
Manoeuvres ma y be pract i ced It c o mes wi th a Sign a l Bo x and electr o nics that prov i de instant corrective feed bank to the inst r uct o r and s udent , and a H ead
S e ction M o d e l to demons t rate opening of the a i rway
RESUSCI ANNE TORSO
COMPLETE has all the featur e s of t h e FULL BODY manikin, but comes without Cl r ms and legs and th e Head
Section M o d e l
RESUSCI ANNE TORSO BASIC comes without th e Sign a l Box and e l e ctroni c s I t s
STJOHN e REVIEW
At Random, by Watkin
Order
Books
Readers
News
Ministry
News
IN A couple of days' time I shall again, and for the sixth successive year, be setting out with the Surgeon-in-Chief (Dr Jimmy Graham) and the Chief Nursing Officer (Miss Rosemary Bailey) to visit and assess projects su bmitted for the award of the Keith Joseph Cup for Welfare. Sad to say, far too little is known about this competition Of 'competition' is the right word, which I doubt, t hough no one has yet come up with a better) by members of St John Ambulance as a whole, and I want to tell you a little about the impressions that we have gained , and the encouraging and inspiring discoveries that we have made while working together as a judging team during the past five years.
To obtain the best results from an enterprise of this kind it is important that there should be continuity in presentatio? of objectives and the standard of judgmg. Ideally, thIS means having the same panel of judges for several years until the scope and pattern of the competition have been established, and then very gradually to change the membership of the panel - certainly not than one at a time. And now that the competitIOn WIll shortl y have completed its first six years I feel that, as very much the oldest member of the panel, I should make way for the introduction of a new and younger member before there is any risk of my two colleagues having to retire through pressure of other responsibilities and perhaps more rapidly than would maintain the continuity that we so much need to preserve. And in making my bow I should like to say a most sincere personal 'thank you' to all who have been in any way connected with the welfare competition and have made my task so interesting and rewarding, to wish the competition well in the future and to lay before you a few reflections of its development u p till now.
*
When Sir Keith Joseph, then Secretary of State for Social Services, presented the trophies at the Brigade
IT
SEEMED h a rdly possible wh e n I w as a s ked to repor t a g ain on the No tt ingham
Medical C onfer e nce that ano t her year had gone b y : bu yes here we a re in 1980 , th e Year of N ursin g, and appropr iat el y th e
c o nfer e n ce was t o reflect t he int erest of St
J o h n in t h at s ubj ect - nur s ing
T he c onference week e nd be g an with semin a rs b y the C h ie f Nur sing Officer , t he Sur ge on-in- C hief and t he Chief Med ica l Off ic e r At M iss Baile y' s well a tt ended s eminar
we we r e gi ve n some inte res ting fac ts Our C NO t old u s :
1. Thou g h t h e r e were still m a n y SJ A res e rv a ti on s a bou t the He i mlich manoeu v re , it w ould be included in th e
198 1 Fi rst A id M anual with the provi so th at it s hould onl y be u sed w h e n other measures had fa iled.
2. The Public Duty Manual would soon be a v ail a bl e a nd a cour se on its content s will prob a b ly be set up at a later date The u se o f o xy gen in f ir s t aid w as f e lt t o be at b est u seless and a t wor st a hazard a nd w a s n ot ad vis ed. I nt uba ion w as men t ioned in th e M an ua l , but was o nl y for t he u se o f do cto r s and t ra ined nur ses
3 As r egard s the Health and S a fet y Do c ument , t he As sociation w as preparin g a pa ck age to be called perhap s Social F ir st A id for u se in Indu s try The nursing in-pu wo uld in cl ude : upper respirator y co n dit io ns, abdom inal conditions, d i arrhoea and vomi t ing , e ye and skin conditions - all likel y t o be found among worker s, a s we ll as the mor e dr a mat ic accidents requiri ng first a id 4 The ne w Nur sing Manual will be pat ient-orienta t ed and ts aim will be to explain ho w one can help t h e patient with , f or ex ample, h is h y giene his br e athin g, elimination and so in vol v e him n hi s o wn cur e or the a ll e vi at io n o f hi s sy mptom s. 5. The Y ear o f Nu rs ing Thre e b urs a ries had been awar d e d and in Ma y each C oun ty wou ld re ce ive copi es of t he ne w 4 ho ur cour se of Nur s ing in the Home. Thi s co ve rs long term illne s s hand ic ap and old age a nd the a i m is to g et people o do t hin gs, n ot ju st t o s and [i s ten and take an occa sion a l note. Lift s suitable for patients in lo w b e d s and for one h e lp e r only w ould be included.
Ho w t o ge t someone in t o and out of a b at h. The u se o f aid s t o dail y livin g The problem of in c ontinence. The care and rehabilita t ion of patien ts with stroke s T he care o f the dying and ad vice to relative s Thi s cour se will, I ' m s ure meet a real need and be of gr eat value to many people w ho are tr y ing to cope with sick and elderl y folk at hom e and who often cannot s pare the time t o attend a longer nur sing cour se. Lady Moyra Bro w ne followed Mi ss Baile y and told u s that public ty for the Year of Nur sing had been e x cellent and that intere s tingly enough male recruitment had been helped.
On the Saturday t he delegate s were officially welcomed to the conferen ce by the Chairman, M r P H Ne w man, and the work of the we ekend reall y got und e r way.
The fir s t s p e ak e r wa s Dr Charlotte Kra tz
Mr Rob e rt T if fa n y n ext co n s ide red he nur se as a s pecia li st. He won d ered why af t e r t r a inin g fo r t h ree yea r s t o nurse, so m a n y nur ses th en d id so m e thin g e lse
hin g or ad mi n
St John M edical Conference
but London's DNO KATIE PF I ST ER pu t s us i n th e picture the changing ro le of n ur si n g, S J textbooks, public duties, first aid at w o rk -of t he subjects discussed.
whom I h a d known when she wa s co mm u nity h ea lth t utor at the Ro yal Free Hospita l. Her s ubject wa s The Philo soph y of th e N ur si ng Proces s She defined the N u rsi n g Proce ss as a s cientific and sys t e m a tic approach to nursing care in w hi c h t here were four s tages 1 A ss e ss in g ;
2 Pl a nning; 3. Implementin g; 4
Eva lua ti ng . A ll four st age s often interl o cked and s he saw t hem more a s a s piral th a n a ci rcle o r a l ne.
Th e s k ill s needed for a ss es sing a nur s ing
sit ua ti on were: obser va tion , que s t io nin g, inter -per sonal r e la tion ships, li s tening and fi nall y, cla ss ifying a nd ordering thi s in f ormat ion so a s to judge the problem
O n o ne point I mu s here part compan y wit h Dr Kr atz , who pr efer s the word c lien t' to th a t of pa ient Thi s is somethin g I pe r so nall y cannot acc e pt a s I think it co mplete ly alter s the v er y s pecial relation s hi p betwee n t h e nur se and the per son she is caring f or. (l might add that I am no t too k ee n o n th e u se of t he w ord ca s ualt y for pa t ie nt in our F rs t Aid Manual. Thi s w ill confirm your w or s t s uspicion s that I am squ are r t han s quare and you would be righ t. )
Pl a nning invol ves identify ing th e prob lem , gi v ing priority allocation to th e mo s t ur g en cas e s and reali sing the ex tent of on e s l mit a tion s
Implementing nur s ing care is when on e r eac he s t he 'Doing' stag e and u ses on e's manipulative skill s It al s o include s supp or t in g and guiding patients, rea ss uring t hem in a constructive way and teachin g t hem how to cope with their illne ss or di sabili t y.
E v aluating nursing care con sis s of a b st r a cting informat ion, collecting and collat ing dat a in order to do better in the f u t ure.
Nur sing is a complex art, but all the a bo ve s kill s can be learnt and must be t au g ht.
Nu r s ing is at last emerging a s a profe ssi o n in its own right. We must ask our selve s f doctor s are qualified to decide wha a
n urse ca n or should do. The need of the pat ie n t are c h anging, patients are getting o lder and there are more chronic cases. We mu st u se the n ur ing process to identify th ese cases a n d t h en dec ide how best to deal with t h e s it u atio n This shou ld lead to impr ove d n u rs ing care and also give greater sat isfact on to nur es. Dr Kratz also suggested t h at pat ients might be visited before t h ey go in to hospital, which would, I feel s u re be o f great benefit to them and to their fa m ilies.
Thi s ta k certainly gave all the nur e d e egates m u ch to ponder and discuss and I ima g in e th at many of the doctors present a lso p rofited from Dr Kratz's lucid a pp roa ch to her subject.
The n ext speaker was Miss Jan Egerton wh o spoke, under the general heading of T h e Changing Roles of the Nurse, on the N ur se P lanner. She reminded us that F lore n ce Nightingale had been the nursep lann e r par excellence, but that for many yea r s pl an n ing had been in the hands of doct o rs, civi l servants, politicians, and admin is tr a o r s. As n u l' es were numerically t h e la r gest group in the Health Services, t h ey s h o ul d have a greater share in planning a nd m anagement, in po licy formu lation, in m a n-p ower distr ibution, in economic p lannin g, a ll t hi ngs close ly affecting their workin g li ves. Nurses also represent the inte rests of t heir pat ients a n d t h eir s t atus res u lts f rom the se r vice t h at t h ey give.
Mi ss Ege r to n s u ggested t h at eve r y n ursepl a nn e r s h ou d ret u rn to the beds ide at regul a r in terva ls so as to keep in to u c h with g r ass -ro ots p rob le m s T h e ma n agement team mu s h ave a co m mon goa l a nd each m e mber mu st u se h is o r h er tale n ts to t he be s t of th e ir a bilit y. Nur ses mu st try to be objecti ve, th ey mu st b e pre p a r e d to lear n and s om et im es e ve n to c ompr o mi se. Miss Ege rt o n f in a ll y co mp a re d t h e m a nagemen t tea m wi t h a footba ll tea m , where som e m emb e r s n ee d co n f ide n ce a nd attack oth ers n ee d pa t ience, a nd a ll d e p e nd on th e lo ya l ty of h e fa n s.
ti on. I n the past, n
ses h a d te n ded to fo ll ow a n industria l mo d e l w it h the S ister as forema n and others as wor k e rs. H e suggested t h at would be bette r t o fo ll ow t h e m edica l mode w h ic h is co n ce rn e d m ore wit h p r ofess ona l re lations hip s. In h s ow n h ospita l, the Roya l Mars d e n , cha n ges in nur s ing p ract ce were co min g at last and nu r es were n ow running specia li st nur sing out-patient cli n ics. For example h e r e was a 'stoma' specialist, a mas t ectomy spec i alist, a nutrition spec ia list, and their work was bringing a bout an improvement in the quality of nursi ng pract ice.
T h e last peaker in thi group was Mrs Va ler ie DUl'ston, who spoke on the Nurse in Personne l. She sa id that perso n nel management was very new in the Hospital Service, but long practi ed in industry.
The E E.C. regulations had altered ome aspects of planning, but staff recruitment now dcmanded better arrangements for interviews and it was certainly the case that individua l orientation programmes were a financ ia l saving in the end. Personnel managers had to deal not only with planning and the best use of manpO\\'er, but al 0 with the problem of health and afety at work and with coun elling.
These three speakers complemented each other and certainly showed us how varied are the role of the nur e in the modern world.
After coffee we heard two speakers on the topic of Teamwork in Primary Care. Dr I. Saint-Yves reminded us that all Health Service are provided for individuals in their h omes or in the community, and thi should include preventive mea ures. He felt that 800/0 of patients could be dealt with outs ide ho pital The concept of teamwork was important and the GP wa t h e coordinator of a suitably trained tarf of paramedical a sistants. He thought that about 75% of a present GP's work could be done by others, provided they were carefully e ected and trained. The relationship betwee n doctors and nur es was allimpo r ta n t, but communication was still difficult at times.
He suggested that three new categories of para m ed ica l h elpers co ul d be used:
1. C li ni ca l Assoc iates who after tra in ng co ul d m ake an in it ia l diagnosis, pre cribe drugs fro m a restricted list, run ante-nata l a n d post- n atal c l inics, genera l and paed iatr c surger ies.
2. Commu ni ty Nurses working in the comm u n ity a n d concentrati n g on healt h edu ca ti o n
3 Nur sin g A id es, w h o co ul d care for ho u se- b o und patie n ts in th ei r own homes.
T h e wi s h es and we l fare of t h e community mu st b e paramo u nt. I f anyone wanted to see th e d octo r h e m ust be ab le to do so and the G P mu s t find t ime to isten to him.
Dr Saint-Yves t h oug h t m uc h g r eate r emphasis s h o uld be p lace d on prevent ive med ic in e. T h is reminde d m e of t h e a n cie n t C h inese who paid their doctors a regular stipend whi le they were fit, but who stopped paying as soon as they were taken ill. This must have been a real incentive to the doctors to keep their patients in the best of hea lth.
Miss Lindhurst followed Dr Saint-Yves and gave the nurses' point of view. When s h e began District Nursing she had at first found it rather monotonous, but later after discussions with the GPs more interesting jobs were taken on by the nurses and more teaching carried out. Nurses held surgeries on their own and helped to solve personal problems. Diabetic clinics were also run by nurses and home visits were carried out. Defaulters were visited and persuaded to return to clinics. Treatment could often be started on the same day as the diagnosis was made. Team discussion took place daily and there was a standard questionnaire for every patient. Patients do not lose their identity in the community and relatives and neighbours were always included in the team.
The afternoon session provided an intere ting change from previous years. Four seminars had been arranged each with a controversial topic to discuss and a leader to keep the group under control.
I attended the seminar on the value of textbooks in St John education led by Dr Lucas. There was a preponderance of doctors in the group and the discussion became quite animated. Dr Mackay was the rapporteur for our group and when we reassembled he very ably summed up our views:
I. Textbooks were necessary, b u t t h e nature of the text b ook was d ebata ble. W e fe ll that per h aps two man ua l s were n ee d e d , one more a ll -embraci n g a n d a d va n ce d and the other simpler and for general r efe re n ce. We a lso thought that an inst r ucto r 's manual would be valuable, toget h e r wit h a service of visual aids, films, s lides, t ap es, etc. There was much criticism of t h e examination system as it n ow stands an d it was felt that a prog r essio n of co ur se s should be ava ilab le to m eet changing nee d s. My own view is that as
The
This
Medical Conference (cont.)
Th e fourth seminar was on Pu b li c Duties : where are our priorities? It was generally felt that gadgets had got out of h and. Medical facilities for large events with adequate equipment was essential. The pro bl ems of oxygen an d int u bation again
ca m e u p . A tiered system was considered
a nd t ho ug h t to be helpfu l.
As us u al on Saturday the conference d i n -
n er took place, and during the evening, M r P A dams, who has so efficiently organ ised
t h e conference for so many years, was presented with a retirement gi ft on behalf of u s a ll. Thank you very much, Philip, for al l your hard work and best wishes for a very happy retirement. May the decanter never be empty.
On S un day the proceedings began w i th
Di vi ne Service conducted by the Anglican
C h aplai n to the University, the Reverend L. Morley, assisted by Lord Coggan, the fo r mer Archbishop of Canterbury, who was late r to give the final address.
T h e topic for Sunday morning was Teamwork in Occupational Health and Dr K. P D u ncan began by talking on the m e d ical and scientific aspects of occupati onal health. He said that occupational h ealth h as now to look at itself as there is n ee d for radical change. The Health and Safety Commission has brought about many changes. Participation is now the keynote One must be much more self crit ica l. Education of management and the wo r kforce as to what are the actual needs mu st be seen objectively Communication
rema ns a problem. Is a routine medical exam in ati o n really of value? We must get
b ac k to basic princip les. Doctor s mu s s pecialise and take more interest in the environment. We must become more sc ienif ic , but w e mu s t not get away f rom th e r oo ts of our own job.
Dr Dun ca n was f ollowed b y Mr s Radwa nski who spoke on th e Nur sing As pe c t s of O c cupational Health She stress ed th a t t e amwork was e ss enti a l. Occupa t ion a l Health nurses were a very small proportion, 3 o 4 070 of the total nurse force M a ny Oc c up a tional Health nurse s work w i t hout do c tor s Their work places much empha s is o n t he maintenance o f health and the pre vention of accidents , but it al so includ es t h e ca rryin g ou t o f quite a lot of tr ea tmen t. T h e nur se o ft en condu cts health inte rv iews: t ak in g a hi stor y and gi vi ng mea s ured do ses of heal t h edu cat ion . The nur se ge ts to kno w h e r w orker s w ell a nd is often confided in b y th e m . A re settl e m e nt interview t a ke s pl ace af ter an y a b sen c e for s icknes s Reh a bili t atio n is v er y important. Some O c cupati o n a l
Healt h nur se s are r at h e r isolated a nd op p o r-
tu ni ie s s hould be mad e f or t hem o m eet the ir fello w w or k er s in t he sa me f ield. A car e f ul eva luat ion o f their w ork s hould also be ca rri e d ou a nd w ould help to prev e nt acc id e n ts and indu s t r ial illn ess e s
T he last s p e a k er in t hi s g roup was M rs
D. H un t, who se topic w a s O cc up at ion a
He a t h w ithin th e Nat io n al Heal t h Se r vice.
A n Oc c upa t io n a l Hea lth S er vic e for hosp i t al s ta ff is ess en t ial fo r eff icien cy a nd was f ir st s tart e d a t Be dfo rd G e n e r a l
Hos p it al . M r s Hunt s ho w ed u s som e hai rra si n g s lid es of d ange rou s f o r eign b o d ies fo und in g arba ge ba gs, laundr y etc Be dpans, urin a ls, a i r ring s, c rock e r y, c utl ery
Rhodes Missal Facsimile
A T th e openi ng of the Siege of Rhodes 1480 ex h bi ion at St John's Gate on May 27 it was an n ounced that a limited edition is to b e p r o du ced of the Rhodes Missa l , a 15thce n ur y illuminated mass of the Order of St J o hn. The beautifully illustrated book was pr e sent e d by the Prior of St Gilles, in F r ance, to the Order in Rhodes at the turn o f t h e 15th-century, but when Malta fell to Napo leon i n 1798 the Missal d isappeare d In 1929 t t u rned up in a Rome bookse ll e r 's a nd m e m bers of the British Order subscr ib e d to a fund so that it cou ld be broug h t per m ane n tly to St John's Gate. [t was on display at the opening of the exhib i tion and now Nottingham Court Press, 150
o f in j ur ies to staff. Eye in u r ies were co mm o n It mu s t b e re m embe red t h at 50% of t h e e mpl oyees in h e N.H.S. were n on-medical a nd n on -n ursing. First-aiders to care for t h e m a n d f irst aid boxes p laced at st r ategic p oi nt s w ere n ecessary. Tra ining courses in first a id we r e a lso i mporta n t. The preventi ve ro le of Occ up atio n al Hea lth Service mu s t be st ressed an d o n e must rea lise that th e e n v iro n me n t may be the cause of sympto m s, so m etimes quite mild sy mptoms, but n eve r t h e less due to something in the env i ro nm e n t whic h should be inve tigated and i f poss ibl e corrected. Statistic s of absence d ue to s ickness or accident must be checked as they m ay give a clue as to the cause.
C r oss- in fect ion must be controlled and immuni sat ion p r ogrammes et up. Two points emerged for m e from the three speaker on Occupational Health. One, the value of working as a team; and two the importance of preventive medicine, which we could al l take to heart.
The conference was to end on a truly inspiri n g note. The keynote addre s wa given by Lo r d Coggan, until recent ly the Archbishop of Canterbury and a Prelat e of the Order, who reminded u s to count our b lessings. He was very human and h umorous and kept us s pellbound with hi anecdotes and quotation s. I was truck by his mention of what he called the creed of greed and of the efforts we must make to help those worse off than ourselve And on that note of warning - and yet of encouragement - we disper se d.
500 copies of rare 15th-century Order book to go on sale
Th e be aut f ull y llu strated b ook
of 417 Nottin g ham Court , Shor ts Gard e n s, Lo ndon WC2H 9A Y, are t o reprodu ce 500 c opi es of the Mi ss al on pap e r clo se y rese mbling the ve llum of the original a nd hand-bound in vellum and black oas s goat s kin
A nd its hi s tory
Tog e ther with an accompanying hi s tor y, the Rho}ie s Mi ss al F acs imile will c o s £ 375 eac h and t he fir s t will be a v ailabl e in
September 1980. Proceeds f rom the sale of the facs imi le should raise £50,000 for th e O rd er.
T h e ope nin g n ig h t of
layed by o u r own Vero ni ca S h a r pe of H ea d q u arte r s PR Dept. Someone wa s ove rh eard to ask if she practised n the office (Leh St an
SJA at Devon Shovv
Associat ion and Briga de in combined publicity and fund-rai si ng op erat io n
THE GLORIOUS weather which heralded the Devon County Agricultural Show on May 15 to 17 was a b lessing for SJA Devon too, for not only were they providing full first aid cove r for h e 100,000 people who flocked to the s how, but a lso launc h ing an ambitious three-day fund-rai s ing and get-to-know-us p ubl ic i ty programme at the s howground.
Thi concentrated activity was the outcome of p a n s by a sma ll fund-rai ing committee, co -chaired by the County D irector and the Commissioner, co mpri s in g A soc iation, Brigade and Council member, and Auxiliaries. With no limits or guida n ce on fundrai ing activitie at the howground, it was decided to concentrate on th e following plan:
I. Ten Vernon lotter y kio sks s trategically placed throughout the ground, each manned by two volunteer from 9 am to 6 pm, with additional vo lunteer acting a relie f eller
2 Collection boxes provided to Brigade members who covered every area of th e howground eight hours a day.
3. Our lar ge 40ft by 30ft marquee contained an exhib ition made up of the extensive SJA di play units from London which emp h asised the 'Year of Nursing'. There was counter s pace for the sale of a wide ra nge of St John Supplie item , SOS Tali man and printed matter, which was manned by Brigade members. A so in the marquee were s imulated accident incidents with a public address system, a n d c losed TV circuit how ed St John first aid fi lms. To comp ete the marquee organisation, money collection, sec u rity arra n gements a n d personnel control were directed from a St John carava n Thi s wa truly a combined operation, with the Association a n d t h e Br igade working a a team to publici e their respective work and to rai se funds.
The hot weather brought it s usual casualt ies for the Brigade giving first aid cover over the entire s howground, as we ll as ot h ers du ri ng equestrian and other action event. But St John were (as u ua l) fully prepared for every emergency, with adequate pe rson n e l , equ ip m ent and ambulances available throughout eac h day, starti n g very ea r ly and fini s hing late at night.
Exhausted but st ill enthusiastic and excited by our activ ity, we all agreed that this was a heaven sent opportunity to publicise our work at t he same time raise con iderab le reve n ue for the Br iga d e. It wl.ll be probably so me year before we are aga in g i ve n t h e c h a n ce to funds in this way. We are most gratefu l to the D evon Co un ty AgrIcu ltural Show for their u nder tanding and co-operat ion. A ll thanks, too, to the uperb co n tr i b u tio n made by o u r A sociat io n a n d Br igade vo lunteers.
The comp lete success of h e three days o f ha rd wor k o n ce aga i n de.monstrates the strengt h viabi li t y and devot io n w hi c h c h a r acte ri ses th IS unique and very special organ isation of o ur s
M. 1. Malcolm, County Director Devo n
Cadet collectors in the marquee where there was an extensive display of SJA act vities
(Right) An accident demonstration in the marquee (Below) Association members manning one of the ten £1,000 lottery kiosks
AT THE ABBEY
I hear there was a strong St John Ambulance involvement at the annual F lorence Nightingale Servi ce h e ld in We st min ste r Abbey on the evening of May 13. As 19 80 is the St John Ambulance Year of Nursin g, Lady Moyra Bro wne, Sup er intend ent -inChief, was asked to carry the Book of Remembrance to the altar escorted by three Matrons-in-Chief of the Armed Servic es. Eighteen nursing member s f rom London District acted a s ushers and helped to take up alms during the Service.
Her Royal Hi g hne ss Prince ss Alexandra attended thi s hi st oric occa s ion thi s year and Dr Carpenter , Dean of Westmin st er Ab b ey, took the Ser v ice.
RESCUE
West Norfolk's Area Commissioner Bill Palmer a cashier for Br it is h T ransport Docks Board at King's Lynn, ha s been awarded British Railwa ys' regional SJA certificate for meritori o u s first aid. On a cold, wet night, 57- yea r-old Mr P a lm er went to the a id of a German sea man who had fallen 40ft i nto a s hip' s hold. The casualty who weighed 18
not
and
a delicate re scue op era tion
LIPSTICK DIVISION
London's 68th Westminster and Knightsbridge Nursing Di vis ion ce lebrated its 50 t h birthda y on June 2 wit h a gathering of about 70 people in t he confer en ce room at Headquarter s.
The Supt-in-Chief, Lady Moyra Browne, who presen t ed the Jubilee certificate, reminded everyone t hat the Di vis ion was formed by two dau g hter s of Lad y Perrott, who was the first Supt -in-Chie f fr om 1911 to 1939. Perhaps becau se of t he two g irl s, Lady Forester and Lady Maitland, the Division soon became renowned for its 'Deb s' and earned itsel f the nickname of the
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT GOES ON IN THE WORLD OF ST JOHN
Mr E A Day MVO, OStJ, who s also vicepresident of Windsor Di visions. Tw o Windsor cadets, A I C Trevor Fox and Sgt. Tracey Alabast er, represente d the Br igade at the presentatio n ( Photo Jane Ac es)
Lipstick Divi s ion. Pretty young things, in other words. But there wasn't only look s h ere, for the Divi s ion was to provide perso nn e for so me of the highe st nu rs ing appoi n tments, includ in g, much later, Georgina Stoner, who went to Nigeria for St John at t he end of the Biafran war. The present pre s id e nt of the Division is Lady Rosula Glyn, HQ Staff Officer, and the s uperintendent is Mrs Branch, who as well as the jubilee certificate received a letter of cong ratula t ions from t he C-in-C.
PIT
BOTTOM
FAMILY AFFAIR
There h ave been heraldic art ists in the Collings fam il y for five ge n erations. For three gene ration s, gra nd father Ernest Char le (1880), hi s son Percy Vere (19JO) and grandson Denis Vere (1949) - who h as just been in vested a Commande r of the Order (see page 160) - all began work as Heraldic Artist for the Order of St John at The Gate in Clerkenwell. All five Co llin gs m en learnt their profession by being apprenticed to their father.
BY THE EDITOR
MIND BENDERS
Find the first aid word or words n he clu e. The number of lelters in the answe is given.
I. Ron C. Bu sh divide s airway. (8)
2 Game with lint around. (8)
3 September nur e (abbreviated). (6)
4 Against fal in com mand. (10)
An swe rs: Upside down - are at the bOltom of page 154.
Any work at St John's Gate which involves heraldic design, drawing, painting, lettering, or at Grosvenor Crescent which involves in cription or ca lli graphy, is Mr Co llin gs' province.
Hi wi fe Peggy a so works for the Order but behind the scenes sewing, making silk banner s and helping the ladies of Chapter General with their robes at investitures and other ceremonial functions. Sadly, Denis Collings h a no on to carryon the ixth generation of Col lin gsHeraldic Arti t. The Co llin g do, however, have two daughters , one of whom i howing distinct signs of the artistic temperament. So who knows?
JOINT EFFORT
Walton / Oatland s and Hersham Divisions Surrey, tell me [hey joined forces for week in May to give impact to the following Year of Nur ing activiLie in the distr ict.
Static display s were arranged in the window of the Local Trustee Savincrs Bank and in the Hersham Library and sham s u rgery. Th i rty large po ter were displayed throughout the district.
On the final Saturday, they had use of the Walton s hopping centre where they
(Right) 16-yearold Cadet Annette Seymour, of N. Notts Mansfiel d Borough cadets, was chosen as Miss Camp from over 1,000 nursi ng cadets at the annual camp of th e mi ning divisions in Notts, Derbys, Leics and Warwicks - and was crow ned by Brig. Fergi Semple, Chief Officer Brigade Tra ning and Cadets
Weybridge
(Right)
tAbove) Lt. Col.
Eames formerly MFH , now president of Cotley Hunt S upporters, presents
cheque for £235 to Devon
Area Comm. Dr Terry Glanvill for St John (Left)
Leftl Mrs Shilton receiving the D'Alvarez-Feldman Trophy from Admiral Madden
Mrs A. M. Morris, of 41 N Brixton Division receiving the Household Cavalry Trophy from Maj-Gen. Langley
LONDON DISTRICT FINALS
Northern Area comes out on top
THE principal guests at the London District First Aid Competition Finals held at Hendon Police College on May 17 wer e Admiral Sir Charles Madden Bt Vice Lord Lieutenant for Greater London, and Lad y Madden; Maj-Gen. De s mond Langley, GOC London District, and Mrs Langley; and Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Gerrard. Special awards wer e presented to members who had rendered outstanding service to London Di trict
Special awards
The D' Alvare z-Fel dman Trophy wa awarded to Mrs Pat Shilton, of 359 Addiscombe & South Norwood, for her devoted service in caring for a ca ncer patient over a period of two years, and although the patient is now up and about Mrs Shilton still pays her regular visit
The Household Cavalry Trophy for exemplary service to the community, including public duti es, escort duty a nd work in ho spitals, in allover 400 hour s of duty in one year, was awarded to No. 41 Brixton Division
The Metropolitan Police Trophy for outstanding service in covering London events, including Trooping of the Colour and the Notting Hill Carnival, in all over 400 events, went to the Weybridge Divi sion.
The specia l award for Meritorious Service was won by Ambulance Member John Horne of No. 337 Upminster a nd Hornchurch Div. John is a Police Constable, and the citation for the award states that while on patrol duty in a Panda car wit h a colleague he witnessed an accident involvin g a car and a motor cycle. The motor cyclist was very badly injured. John took a belt from a by stander to make a tourniquet and tore up hi s own s hirt and that of his colleague in order to make bandages and attended to the patient until the arrival of an ambulance. There is no doubt that hi s prompt action helped to save the life of the young man.
Weybridge Division accepting the Metropo itan Police Trophy from Assistant Commissioner John Gerrard
THE HOURS s lipped by; the rich blue of the sky became deeper and deeper until in the east it appeared as a so lid wall of dark mauve The aeroplane began its descent into this wall and through the gloom the lights of Tel Aviv twinkled, then grew and merged, until the yellow ribbons of roads became distinct and the shadows of the buildings threw the town into relief. The lights came closer and closer and the buildings came apart as the airfield filled the window. Cars, trees, street lamps, houses rushed by, the plane bounced and shuddered, the tyres screeched, then everything juddered and roared and we were down, swinging round and taxying towards the airport buildings, with everybody talking happily sixteen to the dozen.
Along the road to Jerusalem
We were soon bowling along the road to Jerusalem. But the hours of darkness are not the best time to gain an impression of a city, or anywhere else for that matter, and it was not until the following morning when the street lights of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus twinkled through the purple ligh t of dawn that Jerusalem slowly became apparent to us. The view from our bedroom window was towards the Mount of Olives with the tower of the Church of Ascension holding the gaze. Looking over the higgle-dee-piggle-dee assortment of rooftop s, with their outcrops of water tanks and TV aerials, all very distinct in the bright, clear light against the rich blue backdrop of the sky, and listening to the spluttering, protesting roar of ancient, overloaded buses that were bringing the city to life, my emotions were mixed, with an undeniable under-current of excitement, 'that it had all happened here' And throughout the whole of the time I was there, despite disappointments, contradictions and doubts, that feeling persisted. Jerusalem is exciting!
Toured the city, ancient and modern
We toured the city from North to South, from East to West, both ancient and modern. We visited Lazarus' tomb, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations, Mary's tomb, the Mount of Olives, the Kidron Valley, the Hinom Valley, Mount Zion, David's tomb, the Dormition Abbey, the Dome of the Rock with its great canopy of gold that dominates the ancient city, the Aqsa Mosque, the Wailing Wall. We walked the Via Dolorosa, the AI Wad, the Street of the Chain with its marvellous souk. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Lutheran Church, the Crusader Church of St Anne's, the Convent of the Sisters of Sion. We went to the Muristan and saw the lovely little com158
Jerusalem \. Journey
ST JOHN TOURS
Lionheart Tours - a most appropriate name for a St John crusade - have prepared the tours show n on the fo llowing pages with St John in mind. The first 12 -day spec ial St John tours, which will leave London on November 15 and 29 and January 24, 1981, will include an extended visit (including lunch) to the St John Ophthalmic Hospital (above). This is a marvellous opportunity for yo u to vis it our Hospital in Jerusalem and to see for yo urselve s the wonde rful work that is being carrie d out in our name. In recent months Lionheart Tours have helped us a great deal in our efforts to raise money for the Ho spital and this new offer is designed to continue their campaign. When you are able to visit this fascinating city, you will do so in the knowledge that your presence in Jerusalem is helping our Hospital, as the Order receiv es from Lionheart Tours a donation for each booking yo u make.
P lease do all you can to support this scheme - and enjoy you r holiday.
memorative garden of the Order. We went to the remains of the old ophthalmic hospital on the Bethlehem Road. We saw the Garden Tomb, the Israeli Museum, the Knesset, the Chacal windows at Hadas sa h, the fascinating model of Jerusalem at the time of Herod. We also went further afield to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity, to Solomon's Pool s, to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation, Galilee, the Horns of Hattim, Tiberias, Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, the wonderful Knights' Halls at Acre, the Jordan Valley, Jericho, the Dead Sea (it is true, you cannot sink!), En Gedi National Park, the Judean wilderness, and the towering sandstone mass of Massada. It was almost incredible, and the guide book was far from exhausted!
However, I still feel that the truly greatest
NOW IS the best time of the year to get Cadets out and about in the local community on visits of every kind, either in a group or individually. Evening visits can often be easily arranged to Fire, Police and Ambulance Stations. You could also try the local Council Chambers - even better if there is a meeting going on during your visit - the local Post Office sorting office and telephone exchange may be able to help as well Why not also visit other voluntary clubs and groups to take part in their activities - a very useful way of sharing ideas and good fun!
Planning
satisfaction I gained was from the wonderful impact that our Ho sp ital in Jerusal em made on me. It is a really fine, indeed lovely , place which is a great credit to the Order. We toured the wards, visited the clinic, watched patients treated, sa w the sterilisation unit , t he new after-treatment room, the new laundry room, the kitchen s, the workshops, the administration office s; we met the staff - the doctors, the sisters, the nurses, the office staff, the domesti c staff, the guards. We found them all wonderful. And I met many local people. It was then that I learnt what the hospital is and what it really means to others.
The hospital had always been there
Time and time again I was told how dear it is to those people' s hearts; how th ey could not think of life without it: to them the St John Ho s pitaJ has a lway s been ther e. If it was not there it would mean that p art of their very existence had gone All members of St John can be justly proud of this Foundation of the Order. The need for it is so great and the name of St John is so much admired.
Our aircraft pulled away from Tel Aviv in the bright morning sunlight. I look ed below briefly at the brown and green landscape before we headed out over t he Mediterranean. My thoughts ranged over the past two weeks and I found within me a sadness that there should be so mu ch trouble in the area I had just visited; and yet there was also a great feeling of pride that St John is doing so much to help make life that much happier for so many who li ve there. I only hope that this help can continue. It must.
1.
P. Gar/and, HQ PR Dept.
carrying the right type of equipment to deal with them. Remember, you won't need large quantities; you will not be dealing with a whole army!
3. Some of the commoner injurie s include:
a. Blisters
If you intend to make your training night s varied and interesting - which all Officers no doubt do - you should be thinking ahead now to book activities as soon as possible Good speakers, films and other activities are always heavily booked and you stand a better chance of success when booking well ahead. Some s peakers can help out at the last minute but most prefer notice so that they can prepare themselves properly Early preparation is also essential for any exercises and games that you devise And do you enlist help from the Adult Di vision or, indeed, other voluntary groups? No Division should believe that it can exist on its own without s upporting and getting support from others.
National Association of Youth Clubs
The NA YC has produced a series of very helpful guides for Youth Workers and much of what they contain would be of use and relevance to officers of Cadet Divisions. Titles include Clubcrafts, Youth Clubs and the Law, Club Newspapers and Publications, Water-Based Activities, and many others. All the publications are very modestly priced at below £1 each, most being less than 50p. For details send a stamped addressed envelope to NAYC Publications Dept, P.O. Box I, Blackburn House, Bond Gate, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CVII 4DB.
Outdoor activities
Let us consider so me of the ways in which we can be prepared for some of those little mishaps which can happen at any time when we are out. The majority of them are minor but can cause us discomfort so that they interfere with our pleasures while out walking.
I do not intend to include first aid treatment; this you know already or can easily find in your textbooks I want you to think ahead to be prepared for accidents so that you can prevent their happening if possible.
I. Study carefully the map of your route
Be sure you know where there are telephone boxes and the quickest and easiest way you could get to them if you needed to. If you are to be out in very wild country, look for isolated farms; the majority of them are on the telephone.
2. Think in advance of the sort of injuries you might get. Look up treatment in your first aid books. Be sure you know exactly what you would need to do and that you are
Remember correct socks and shoes or boots. If you have a tendency to suffer on any particular part of your foot, prepare it beforehand. When I walk, the under side of the ball of my foot gets so re, so I always put a strip of plaster with a dres sing in side it right across this area, making s ure that the edges tuck away under my toes and that all the edges are smoot hed out carefully - no wrinkles and no free corners to cur l up under my socks. Be sure your feet are dry, particularly between the toes; use either foot powder or talcum powder, and at the end of the walk, wash them carefully and dry well. Remember they may be the hardest worked members of your body, so look after them well.
b. Thorns or splinters
You may decide that the best way to deal with these is to put a plaster on and treat
CADET CHAT
by JIM
when you get home. Think carefully before you carry need les or la ncets. If you drop them they are not easy to find in grass and they could be very dangerous to feet and tongues of animals.
c. Cuts
Avoid playing about with sharp instruments; always keep them covered and packed away carefully d. Bites
Insects use a repellent cream beforehand
Dogs - do not antagonise them. Keep calm and walk slowly. They cannot chase you if you do not run and a friendly word can work wonders.
Snakes - keep a look out for these if you know they are likely to be in your area. Always check beforehand to see if there are likely to be any snake. Get picture of them so that you will know what they look like. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN and look where you are going. Do not play about in undergrowth. Remember a snake will not attack unless provoked, so if you watch what you are doing you will not step on it or pick it up.
Bulls - these do not bite but they could attack in other ways. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN and read notices. Keep to paths; if you see one proceed calmly. Do not startle them and do not run unless you really have to! Remember, farmer s do not keep bulls loo se on public rights of way, so if you are in trouble with one you have mo st probably tres passed.
Cows do not normally attack. They are inquisitive creatures and only want to get a close look at you. So don't s tartle them and don't run. And if you have taken a dog with you, PUT IT ON A LEAD AND KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL.
e. Sprains - particularly twisted ankles
Remember your footwear should have good ankle suppo rt. LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING. Don 't put your foot on loose stones and don't take unnecessary risks in climbing. Also look where you are jumping if you jump down from a stile and think about the type of ground you are jumping on to. f. Pulled muscles
The latter part of the previous paragraph applies here also. Remember that you may be walking longer or further than you have done before, so give your muscles a little training beforehand. Remember too that a good athlete always treats his muscles well; he gives them a 'warm up' every time he is active - even though he is active every da y! g. Barbed- wire
You should not need to be trying to get across this at all. Farmers put it there specifically to keep you out. Public footpaths sho uld not have barbed-wire across them at any point, so before you try to cross it, look at your map and ask yourself two questions: 1 Should I be here? 2. What is the possible danger on the other side of the wire?
There may be other accidents, but let common sense and preparation prevail. There are TWO imponant points to remember.
1. If yo u do have the misfortune to have a mishap, eg, if you do get a blister, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT STRAIGHT
A WA Y. Do not be brave and pretend it hasn't happened. Friends will wait for you and if they see you being sensible, they will be sensib le also. You will spoil everyone 's pleasure if you become a moaning casualty. 2. When you get home, remove any plasters y ou have had to put on and wash and re-dress your wound.
Here's a little exercise
Let me have details of the first aid equipment you would carry for a walking weekend Tell me the size of the box or tin you wou ld carry (remember it has got to fit into your kit together with everything else). Also tell me what you would put in it and why, and how you would pack it. A pri ze will be awarded for the best suggestion. Ideas
I f you have any ideas to contribute to thi column please send them to 'Jim', 57 Morgan Crescent, Theydon Bois, Epping, E sex CMI6 7DU.
HELP UGANDA
from Group Captain J. A. G. Siessor, Secretary Overseas Relations
Readers may have noticed the coincidence of Dr Pringle's letter appearing in the same issue (May) as Mr Watkin Williams' 'At Random' account of the suggestion he had received from Mr Lewis of Liskeard regarding Uganda.
Assistance to St John in Uganda is a worthy cause indeed. However, in view of the understandable reservations held by Mr Williams, we should no doubt think of an alternative to the word 'adopt' when contemplating a form of association between Divisions in the UK and in Uganda. But at this early stage we need not get too involved in this sort of detail; what must be known if such a scheme is to be launched is the extent to which Divisions in the UK wish to participate.
Could I therefore ask Divisional Sup€rintendents whose members are in favour of forming an association with some of their opposite numbers in Uganda (or for that matter Zimbabwe) to let me know by letter. In the meantime the staff in this HQ will consult with our friends in Africa as to how they would like to see the scheme get started. In the light of this, consideration will be given to the best way of launching it in this country and progress will be reported in the Review.
St John Ambulance HQ, John Slessor 1 Grosvenor Crescent, London SWI
IS THIS A RIP OFF?
from David Hooper, SEN
As the poor Storekeeper, I'm fed up with trying to justify the high cost of items obtained from our Supplies Department. We all know about the effect of inflation, but, like a lot of other members I've spoken to, I've a nasty feeling that someone along the line is making a nice profit, and it's not the Divisions. It is reasonable to expect an organisation like the Supplies Dept, with its ability to purchase in bulk, to be able to offer Divisions a better deal than the local retailer who is out to make a profit. Unfortunately this is not the case, rather the reverse. Our wholesale Chemist will offer a discount on quite small quantities, deliver in two days without charge, and still make a profit. Even Brigade publications can be obtained, at list price, from the local bookshop at a saving of several pounds in postal charges. Some items are only available from the Supplies Dept, but this monopoly does not justify the cost when compared with similar items provided by other organisations. The Royal College of nursing only charges £1 for a very elaborate member's badge, yet we charge £1.25 for the much simpler No. 19 badge. I'm sure that Police Officers do not have to pay £1.30 each for their rank crowns which are far superior quality to our current pieces of pressed tin. The list of similar comparisons is endless, as I'm sure most members know all too well.
The anomaly is even more marked when prices for Brigade and Order items are compared, eg, Mufti badge (Order) 20p - Mufti badge (Brigade) £1; Tie tack (Order) £1 - Tie tack (Brigade) £1.70; Envelopes, per hundred, Order £1 - Brigade £1.25. Can someone explain to me why it costs 0 .25 p more to overprint envelopes with the Brigade device than it does with the Order device?
I'm sure that I'm not the only person to ask these questions, so could we have some answers that will satisfy our members please. Lincoln David Hooper
Dick Madeley, Director of Services, replies: One sympathises with Mr Hooper. As Storekeeper he is in the front line and so is the natural target for caustic comments when prices go up. Others too may s hare his reservations about the making of a profit but there is a good reason for this policy.
In order to keep Supplies Department on its toes a decision was taken some years ago to expose the department to full commercial competition wherever possible and to insist that it should operate profitably. This trading surplus provides a substantial contribution towards the cost of running HQ and enables us to remain one of the very few national organisations which does not have to charge a capitation fee.
Where local chemists will 'offer discounts on small quantities and
162
deliver without charge' units will be well advised to take full advant age of such offers. Similarly if a single publication is required and there is time to wait for it the local bookshop may be the best answer. This is the inevitable re s ult of high postal charges. It is worth rememb ering however that Supplies Department offer generous discount s on bulk orders for books (up to 30070) and most Counties make good use of this concession.
The apparent anomalies on badge and stationery items reflect the stead il y increa sing prices we have to pay for them. They are naturall y bought in bulk and, as stocks of the different types run out at dif· ferent times, prices for somewhat simi lar items do not necessaril y remain in step. We could tidy things up by bringing existing stocks int o line with curre nt prices but we have been reluctant to do this.
57 YEARS . ..
from C. Clifford, Divisional Superintendent
[n March Around and About I was in· terested to read 'Longest Service', and while not wishing to detract from the wonderful record of ASO Leonard Kemp, we here in Sunderland Eastern Division have a member who can better 55 years.
He is George Smith (left), who join ed Wallsend Ambulance Division as an A I M in 1923, transferring to our Divsion in 1927. A hospital theatre technician for 39 years, George became an SEN in 1946. Until last year he was still working part-t ime in the local general hospital. George is still extremely act iv e and does regular duties, including Raker Park football ground. In 1976 he was made a Serving Brother.
George's 57 years of service (and still going strong) is something we are proud of.
Sunderland C. Clifford
STOLEN
from G. H. G. Tilling
I was intrigued by the letter (April) from the Coun y PRO of He rt· fordshire.
[t is perfectly lawful to buy and sell orders, decorations and medals, and many people do so. Prices are high and rising, so tho se things are attractive to thieves.
It is one thing to te ll the police if you see somebody handlin g a named decoration or medal which has been reliably reported as stolen. But I do not think you can reasonably be asked to tell the police if you see a trader offering for sale unnamed in s ignia of a type that appears quite commonly on the market, even though you knoW that something of the same sort has been sto len.
It would be splendid to be able to help somebody whose award s of a lifetime had been sto len in seco nd s, but I do no t believe the suggested method would be of help in what has happened or in wha t certainly will.
It would be interes ting to know whether the police themselves recommended drawing their attention to antique dealer s, etc, who were offering insignia for sale and, if so, whether the advice was just that or accompanied by provisos.
Edinburgh G. H. G. Tilling
Editor: Mrs Tarling tells me that s he did rin g the local CID about her Suggestion and they sa id it couldn't do any harm, might do some good. There has been no new s of the sto len it ems.
TIGHTS IN FAVOUR
from Jean Toon, Divisional Superintendent Monica Green SRN of Victoria, Australia, will [ am sure be pleased to hear that, following the article in the March Review, showing pictures of improvi sed bandages with stocking tights in place of triangu lar badges, cadets at Broadstone Combined Cadet Division gave a demonstration at their open night of these bandages, plus an adaptation for a foot bandage - most useful in Poole with people cutting their feet on the beach in summer!
The demonstration was well received with much interest among parents, visiting Brigade off icers and local Scouters and Guiders, and our thanks are due to Nurse Green for giving us the idea in the first place.
Poole
SURPRISE . SURPRISE .
Jean M. Toon
from Mrs Suzanne Bareham , Divisional Superintendent I recently received invoices from the Supplies Dept made out to a Mrs Moring of Leigh-an-Sea Nursing Division, Essex - inadvertently sent to me. The amazing thing about this error is that Leigh-on-Sea, over 200 miles from here, is very close to Southend, where I was first a nursing cadet 25 years ago and the person to whom the invoices were intended was one of my cadets when I was Di v. Supt. of the nur ing cadets at Southend!
I just couldn't resist the opportunity of forwarding the invoices and renewing an old acquaintanceship, followed by a long chat on the phone
Leominster Suzanne Bareham
HOLIDAY HELP
from Mrs Joy Neal
I am appealing to your reader s to come and help the Winged Fellowship Trust run our holiday centres for the seve rely physically disabled. Your readers, being associated with the medical profession, will probably appreciate the difficulties faced by disabled people and their families. To get away, as most of us do for a holiday, means so much to them and greatly helps tho se who care for them for the rest of the year.
We have three centres in Surrey, Essex and Nottinghamshire and can provide 100 holidays per fortnight. These centres are run by a small permanent staff who rely on the aid of residential volunteers who come for a week or a fortnight from March to December. We are facing an acute shortage of helpers until July and again in the autumn - so please consider giving up a few days of your holiday to come and help.
Winged Fe/lowship Trust, 2nd Floor Joy Neal 64 166 Oxford St, London WIN 9FF. Phone 01-6365575
CLAIRE'S ADVENTURES
from Anne Wisla
I was most interested to read about Claire Bertschinger's adventures with Operation Drake (March and April). Claire and I were together on an Air Attendants course and at the time she was training for her SRN at a London ho spital and also studying for a Private Pilot' licence, flying from Stapleford Tawny.
I hope Claire has quite recovered from her illness and is back in harness. I wish her well on her travels.
London Anne Wisla
Editor: Yes, we're pleased to report that following an operation for the virus infection and complications, Claire continued her adventuring in Papua New Guinea last October. Another article from her will be published shortly.
Racing for charities
ULTRAMAR, the international British oil company, announced recently that Guy Edwards will be 'racing for charities' when he competes in the Aurora AFX British Formula One Championship during 1980. He raced for the Or.der at Silverstone on April 20 and will again at Mallory Park on August 17.
Each race meeting is 'allocated' to a specific charity and at these events Ultramar's car will race for a donation of up to £1 ,800 - the final figure being based on the car's performance.
At 37 years of age, Guy Edwards can be considered one of this country's mo st successful racing driver s, with a career spanning almost every type of racing car - from a Mini, through sports cars to full blooded Grand Prix machines. Edwards has driven in most of the world's top events. [n 1976 he risked serious injury, together with two other drivers, by saving Niki Lauda from his blazing Ferrari at the Nurbergring. The prompt and unthinking action of Guy Edwards and his ' colleagues saved Lauda's life and earned Edwards the Queen 's Gallantry Medal.
Before the race
Guy Edwards asks Jackie Leach, of Kin gsthorp e, Northampton , is she'd like to have a go at his buggy
Nevvs from Divisions/Centres
Area Supt. (A) G. Pepperday presented a wheelchair on behalf of an anonymous donor to the Nursing Division The Cadet Parents Association, reformed la st year without financial assistance, raised £540 in their first year and presented a Resusci-Andy and a cut-away horax model to the Brigade. As well as arranging outings for the Cadet Divisions and giving a substa ntial donation to the Juniors, they have also given invaluable assistance to the adult Divisions - for which the Brigade n Newark is extremely grateful.
S & W YORKS: On May II Kirklees Area SJA organised a 'fork lunch at the Community Centre Ossett, the proceeds of which (£250) are to be donated to the Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem.
OBITUARY
Dr R. Glenn, MB, BCH, BAO, DPH, 70 who was President of
Ambulances designed for the job
Pilcher-Greene have designed and built tough 2-wheel drive ambulances and medical vehicles for over 50 years. Our range comprises:Bedford CF Dual Purpose coach-built Ambu l ances , for emergency and patient-transport work; made to Area Health Authority requirements. A rang e of Bedford CF and Ford Transit Ambulance conversions available with cab and interior design options.
For every facet of urban med ica I veh ic e demands, Pilcher-Greene make the Ambulance or Welfare Transport to suit. p
ST JOHN
REVIEW
THE JOURNAL OF ST JOHN
Volume 53 No.8 August 1980
Contents
At Random, by Watkin W. Williams p.169
Annual Service at St Paul's p.170
Foundation Conference p 171
St John's Day appointments p.172
Lord Prior's reception p.173
Brigade Finals p.174
Around and About, by the Editor p.176
Year of Nursing p 180
Should we review our techn ques? by Robert M. Fowler p .1 83
Why don 't they teach first aid in Schools? by A / Supt M W. Harris p .1 84
Readers' Views p. 186
News from Wales - N Ireland p.188
Fire Brigades competition p.189
News from Divisions / Centres p.190
News from
MEMBERS of the Brigade will have been particularly delighted to see in The Queen's Birthday Honours List that an OBE has been awarded to Miss Lucinda Romilly (Deputy Superintendent-in-Chief) after 43 years' most devoted voluntary service to the community in the fields of first aid and nursing.
Miss Romilly joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in 1937 and eventually attained the rank of Deputy Corps Commander. In 1952 she joined St John Ambulance as County Superintendent for Hertfordshire. On moving to Kent she was in due course appointed to the vacant post of Assistant County Superintendent and promoted to County Superintendent in 1970. Three years later she joined HQ staff as Assistant Superintendent-in-Chief, and was promoted to Deputy Superintendent-in-Chief in 1975. For many years she has served as a St John representative on the SubCommittees of the Ex-Services War Disabled Help Department and the Hospital Library Department of the Joint Committee of the Order of St John and the British Red Cross Society, and since 1974 she has also acted as the Brigade's Chief Welfare Officer. She has shown a special flair for the 'refresher' training of Divisional Superintendents, a subject in which she has successfully introduced new experimental courses. But no mere record of dates and appointments can adequately describe the immense amount of energy and ability that she has devoted to the service of the community through her work in St John, nor the friendship and confidence that her gentle nature, approachability and quiet sense of purpose have won for her among all ranks in the Brigade. Her many friends will rej oice to congratulate her on this well-deserved honour, most appropriately bestowed during the St John Ambulance Year of Nursing which was her brain-child.
MBE
Three awards of the MBE have been made to the following:
Mr Arthur Kennedy (Priory Staff Officer, Priory of New Zealand), who has for 25 years been a St John Ambulance first aid instructor and training officer in New Zealand, and during that time has held a prime responsibility for first aid training in the forestry industry, a task which he has performed with outstanding efficiency conrinued on p.179
Pilcher-Greene Limited, Consort Way, Victoria Gardens, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9NA. Tel. Burgess Hill 5707/9. Telex 877102. Telegrams Ambulap Burgess Hill.
21 Derbyshire s Dr onfie ld Band - complete with their
ANNUAL SERVICE AT ST PAUL'S
FOUNDATION CONFERENCE
THE ST JOHN Ambulance annual co nference took place once again at County Hall, Westminster, London SW1 on Friday, June 20. Due to the large number of overseas guests this year (in London for the Over seas Conference), some members of staff from HQ were obliged to sit in the three ga lleries above the Council Chamber and observe the proceedings from on high. The conference theme was 'Priorities for the Eighties'. Sir Maurice Dorman, who is the new Lord Prior of the Order of St John, ch aired the programme.
During the morning session, the Commissioner- in-Chief, the Superintendent-in-Chief and the Chief Officer Brigade Training spoke on Brigade priorit ies , followed by the Director General who spoke on teaching priorities in the Association and Brigade. The Chief Staff Officer concluded the morning session with a report on Brigade teaching and training with specia l emphasis on leadership and method s of in structio n courses.
Mr David Lane, chairman of the Commis sion for Racial Equality, was the guest speaker in the afternoon session. He though t that the conference theme 'Priorities for the Eighties was particularly
Lord Westbury at the head of Chapter General as members processed to the Egyptian Hall of the Mansion House for the annual General Assembly of the Order
relevant to his involvement with the race relations issue. There are at present about two million immigrants in this country. There are a further 800,000 people not of ethnic British origin who cannot be repatriated because they were born here Take these figures, link them to sporadic outbursts of overt racism and the unemployment problem among young foreign immigrants and put the entire package into a country the size of England and it is obvious why good race relations have to be a national priorit y. It was at this juncture, said Mr Lane, that the voluntary organisations such as St John Ambulance could play their part in a combined effort towards community integration. Encourage
recrui tment among foreign immigrants, he said, offer them training facilities a nd use lo cal newspapers and schools to find the recruits.
In conclusion, Mr Lane drew attent ion to the St John Ambulance First Aid Manual.
If we accept that England is now a multiracia l society, why not include conditions and treatments not entirely specific to the ho megrown population? An interesting poi nt. But a broken leg has exactly the same effect on the sufferer whatever his colour. Perh aps Mr Lane was thinking of including a new chapter in the Manual on social attitudes rathe r than conditions requiring first aid in immigrants.
Director General Anthony Lingard spoke on teaching priorities
(Left) David Lane , chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality
T.W,c.
Some of the overseas delegates with Chief Presid ent Lady Brecknock who attended the conference
( Left Brigadier Fergi S emple , Chief Offi cer Bri· gade Training
( Right) Supt -inChief Lady Moyra Brown e is having a bus y Year of Nursing
Lord Prior
Director of Ceremonies
DURING the General Assembly of the Order of St John, held in the Mansion House on June 21, the following new principal appointments were announced
The Great Officers of the Grand Priory
From October 1 1980, the new Lord Prior of the Order of St John will be Sir Maurice Dorman, GCMG, GCVO, DL. Sir Maurice succeeds Lord Caccia, CGMG, GCVO, who has been Lord Prior since October 1969
The Executive Officers of the Grand Priory
From October 1 1980, Major-General Peter R. Leuchars, CBE, succeeds Sir Maurice Dorman as Chief Commander , St John Ambulance.
From December 31 1980, Sir Stephen Miller, MD, FRCS , KCVO, succeeds Mr T. Keith Lyle, CBE, MA, MD, FRCP, FRCS, as Hospitaller of the Order of St John.
From October 1 1980, Major-General Sir John William Younger, CBE, succeeds Major-General Leuchers as Commissioner-in-Chief, St John Ambulance
From June 24,1980, Major-General F. W. Fursdon, MBE, succeeds Colonel P. H. Catt as Director of Ceremonies for the Order of St John.
Chief Commander
Commissioner-in-Chief
Lord Prior's reception
LORD and Lady Caccia gave their last Lord Prior's recept i on in the Overlord Room at Whitbread's Brewery, London ECl, on June 20. The choice of venue was interesting, for it concerns the famous Bayeux Tapestry which depicts the Batt e of Hastings. Lord Dulverton thought there ought to be a modern tapestry commemorating the D-Day landings by the Allies in 1944. And this is the subject of the Overlord Tapestry, the same size as the Bayeux, which now decorates the walls of the Overlord Room in Whi t bread 's Brewery. Decoration and hi story apart, the tapestry provided a conversation pi ece for many of Lord Caccia's guests.
( Left ) The Lord Prior , Lord Cacc a and Lady Caccia welcome Mr Rupert Williams chairman of the St John Council in Jamaica, and Mrs Williams to the reception. (Above). The Chief Nursing Officer, Miss Rosemary Ba iley, and her Deputy CNO , Miss Helen Gribble at the reception
(Above) THIR
- Leicestershire. Leicester St Alban's team comprised
nursing members Well done, ladies!
(Above)
KENYA AWARD
SJA Kenya won the Guinness Stout Effort Award , a sort of thanks from t h e community which is awarded month ly by a panel of journalists in Kenya, for its coverage of the Papal Mass during the recent visit of Pope John Paul II.
325 members, w t h eight ambulances, treated 800 people at what was considered one of the biggest gatherings of people in Kenya's histor y.
Well done SJA Kenya!
THE OTHER IS
PRO Walter Hoadley tells me that the As s ocia tion Branch of Greater London , which recently restruct ured by appointing area direc tors, will now have only two assistant directors. Dr A J. M. Reese will continue with responsib ility for medical matters, and the other is now Miss Margaret Tatum, TO, SRN, RNT responsib l e for nursing Miss Tatum trained at London's University College Hospital, then maternity training at Brighton and finally at Queen Elizabeth College. After several important nursing jobs - inclu ding being Area Director of Nurse Educatio n for the Newcastle AHA - she is now Nurse Training Officer of the Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust. She is also in the Territorial Army as Deputy Matron of the RAMC 's (London) General Hospital.
She should be of great help to the rapidly ex pa nding Association Branch of Greater London
KNEBWO RTH
Showers could not dampen the spirits of the 40,000 people who attended this year's Knebworth pop festival and with smaller number s than in previous years and
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT GOES ON IN THE WORLD OF ST JOHN THE WHITBY RHYMER
BY THE EDITOR
everything
The organisers had hoped for a turn-out of 100 ,000 for the show, which included the Beach Boy s in a programme which revived many hit s o f the 60s
Drawing on experience from several similar festivals, the Brigade coverage was reduced and proved to be more than ade-
LANCS: (Left ) The Chief President , the Countess of Brecknoc k. t ells cadets a story during her vis o Lancaster Castle for a recep ion for Presidents and their wives (Be ow) Mayors and mayoresses of e ev en towns and the Lord Lieutenant , Mr f Simon T ownley who took the salute, were at the Coun t y Ch urc h Parade and Service of Lancs members at Preston Parish Church (Photos Morecambe Visitor ; Lan -
quate About 700 cases were treate d and an interes ing breakdown h as been mad e of them.
Headaches of varying kinds, some requiring hospital treatment, accounted for 44 per cent. Miscellaneous conditions, which included a high proportion of toothache, 24 per cent. Wounds 12 per cent. Stomach disorders eight per cent. Hay fever, which in some years has been very acute , 6 per cent. Sprains two per cent. Fracture s and burn s one per cent each Special medical case one per cent. And finally only one per cent for drink and drugs.
The latter gave rise to an amusing incident when a drunk swaye d up to a nur sing officer and gave HIM a hear ty kiss. Brigade con s ensus wa s that he must have b een ver y drunk Seventee n ambulances were on duty and on average throughout the 24 hours of the duty there were at an y time four doctors, eight nursing officers and 100 other members including Brit ish Red Cross pers onnel.
Hertfordsh ir e Co mmander Mr Ni gel Longmore and the Commissioner, Mr Frederick C h a pm an, inspected the various first aid posts and the medical centre in company wit h Mr Adrian Clissett, the Chief Constable They were s hown round by Area Commissioner Philip Player who was overall organiser for what proved to be an excellent duty.
SOW AND So und investment last year on the West
STAFFS: SJA Cann ock members Mr R Shaw and Mr P Hughes , relax at St John's Gate after their 3-day, 130- mile sponsored walk to London - supping from pewter mugs presented to them by Secretary- General of the Order Mr Nic kie McCl ntock They aim at a four figure sponsorship result
Midlands county headquarters has produced some excellent train ing facilities for the new First Aid at Work courses.
Birmingh am Young Volu nt eers, which is sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission to give practical work experience to unemplo yed schoolleavers, redecorated the Birmingham city ce n tre HQ for less than the retail price of the materials. And one hall fitted out under the refurbishing programme as the Association training room, has already meant that the number of intensive first aid courses available during 1980 has doubled. It is hoped to double the numbe r again in 1981. The new training room was officially opened in May b y Director General Tony Lingard.
FLOOD
D iv Supt R. J. Berry , of SJA Treherbert, Rhondda wrote to me of his Divi s io n' s activit ie s during the threatening floods in the LONDON A new £ 14,000 ambulance is presented to London Distr ct (and to be ope a ed by No 37 Padd ngton Div) by the King Edward s Hospital Fund for London (Below About to inspect the vehicle , the Dean of Westminster a Prelate of t he Order , District V - President Princess Helena Moutaf an D Comm John Gerrard and (right) Comm Derek Fenton
The two ambulances presented to SJA by Mr and Mrs Marcel Wallace, of Paris , in March 1978 for aeromedical work have now comp le ed over 100,000 mi les between them Th e have repatriated patients from many conti nental countries , including France Italy , Spain Belgium, Switzerland and West Germany One is operated by SE Area London, and the other - seen here after a 2 , 300 mile journey to the South of France - by Eastern Area Berks
MERSEYSIDE Sefton Area receive £1 000 from the Ford of Britain Trust for the r new HQ (L to R) Area Comm Dr R Cutliffe Ford s Halewood operation manager Ted Ra yment Area Se c Mrs J. Gallagher , Wg Cdr K M Stodd art Ld Lie ut and Pre s SJ Cou ncil , A Supt Terry Ba ldwin (Photo Don Valentine Liverpool)
area last December 28 to January 3. Members helped to clean up debris on roads and in houses, moved furniture to safety, built sandbag walls, distributed disinfectant, assisted with traffic control, gave first aid cover generally - and nursed an ill couple for 24 hours.
Obviously a hard week for all concerned. A week when help was needed by the community. Welfare, in other words.
HOW IT'S DONE
The Abingdon (Ox on) Divisions, formed in November 1954, moved into their present quarters in 1968. After ten years, and the acquisition of two more ambulances early in 1978 , making a total of five vehicles to be housed, it was evident to the newly appointed Supt Ray Francis, and to anyone who visited the headquarters, the the garage accommodation needed extending and the yard area resurfacing.
Estimates were obtained and the task of finding the necessary funds began. In the end this was solved by a loan of £2,000 from the Oxfordshire St John Council, donations of over £ 1,000 from an appeal to local firms, a contribution from the playgroup that meets on the premises, and a flag day and house-to-house collection. For this they left envelopes for later collection, which proved very successful and brought in over £1,200.
Collectors were sometimes greeted with such unexpec ted remarks as: 'Good morning. There's nobody at home.' 'Sorry, the dog chewed it up.' (Next house) 'Sorry, the baby chewed it up.'
But it was cheering to also hear: 'You're doing a great job.' 'Please call again -I
AVON: County President Lady Wills receives a £750 cheque from Cadbury Country Club Owner Trevor Joyner. A further £750 was presented to Bob Woodward (centre) of Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood The £1 , 500 was raised at cabaret evenings at the club was out.' 'Good, we were afraid we'd missed you.'
Many envelopes were found to contain 50p pieces or banknotes; one or two, inevitably, contained pre-decimal coins or football badges.
The work was carried out over a period of four months, and in December 1979 a dedication service was held with a parade and cadet flag party, attended by the District Council Chairman, the Chairman of the Oxfordshire St John Council (and County Commander), the Area President, and the President of the Abingdon Divisions. The key to the new garages was accepted on behalf of the Order and entrusted to the Divisional Superintendent; a ribbon was cut and the garages declared open; the ambulances in them were driven out and into line, and dedicated by the Chaplain
A border of roses has been planted to mark the occasion. But the Divisions as they make use of the new facilities, will' not need to be reminded of the generosity and efforts of those who made them possible.
PEN PAL
A 17-year-old Belgian boy living in Antwerp, and therefore Dutch-speaking, who would like to improve his English, seeks a pen-friend with the possibility either of exchange visits this year or next, or of visiting England as a paying guest. His hobbies are tennis and sailing.
Please address in first instance Mrs John Breeze, Vijf Aprilwarande 6, B-2510 Mortsel, Belgium.
GOLDEN DONATION
Mr T. H. Chapman, who is an assistant administrator and training officer at S & W
Yorks headquarters, Dewsbury, was recently presented with the gold award of the National Blood Transfusion Service when he gave his 50th donation of blood. Mr Chapman obtained his First Aid Certificate in 1947 and has continued with the Association since then.
Welfare Competition
Since the publication of the July is sue of Brigade Orders and General Circular (containing the conditions of the 1981 Welfare Competition) has had to be deferred until September, those interested will be relieved to know that the period of the 1981 competition will not begin until December 1 1980 and will continue till October 31 1981.
SKITTLING
I hear that Weston-super-Mare Divisions have visited Tewkesbury Division for their return match of skittles, won this time by Weston by 14 pins.
Both divisions thoroughly enjoyed these inter-divisional evenings and the skittles get-together is now to be an annual event.
ORDER BOOKS
An interesting book The Rhodes Missal by E. A. Alliott, which includes a section of coloured illustration s from that lovely 15thcentury book of masses which is now in the museum at St John's Gate, is available from the Supplies Dept price £2. Also available for £ 1.20 is No 11 in the Histori ca l Pamphlet series, The Siege of Rhodes 1480 by Professor Lionel Butler, the Librarian to the Order.
NEWS
SJA in Wales is to produce a monthl y newsletter to help solve the problems of communication throughout the Priory. In announcing this the Chief Commissioner says that he has been impressed by several newsletters produced by counties, particularly the excellent monthly from Clwyd I'm not in a bad mood this morning, as I write this, but I must confess to wonderin g why the idea had to come from counties to the HQ Surely it should have been the other way rou nd?
BOOK
Miss Judith Wilkinson, who is on the Visual Aids Committee and a member of the British Council, has written an excellent book entitled The Overhead Projector , which is strongly recommended by the committee. It is available at £2.50 including postage from the British Council, 65 Davies Street, London WI Y 2AA.
MlND BENDERS (answers) ';)l'eJ
Past and present superintendents and members-in · charge of the 'Lipstick Division' - this column las month - London's Westminster and Knightsbridge Nursing Div: (L to R) Mrs Virginia Barrington, The Han Mrs Elizabeth Carlisle, Mrs Audrey Layte Mrs Valerie Brand, Mrs Helen Dillon, Miss Yvonne Albon and Mi ss Jenni Kebay. The gals got together for their Division 's 50th Birthday
and dedication.
Mr George Kirkham (Area Commissioner, Western Area, Surrey), who joined the Brigade in 1932 and, apart from 5 years' war service in the Medical Branch of the RAF in England and the Far East, has continuously held officer appointments since he became in 1939 the founding Superintendent of a Railway Division in Camden which under his training and leadership twice won the Dewar Shield in the Brigade final competitions. In 1960 he became HQ Staff Officer to the Surgeon-in-Chief, and for many years he spe nt most weekends helping to run training day s and competitions throughout the country, as well as teaching first aid to the Fire Service, the Royal Life Saving Society and District Nurses, and on television. In 1975 he became Area Commissioner for West Surrey, where his exceptional knowledge of first aid and dedication to the spirit of voluntary service continued to be an inspiration to young and old alike.
Mr E. B. Ridgway (Priory in Australia), who received the award in recognition of his services both to local government and as Deputy Chairman of the St John Council for South Australia and Chairman of the St John CounLry Ambulances Association.
BEM
In addition, the following have received the BEM in recogTiitlOn of many years' dedicated St John service:
Miss B. J. Fegan (Priory in Australia), a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John, who has been honoured in recognition of long and devoted service, in many capacities, to the St John Council for South Australia.
Mr R. E. Hearn (Staff Sergeant , High Wycombe Ambulance Division, Bucks), who joined the Brigade in 1931 as a founder member of the High Wycombe A I C Division and has served continuously ever since. transferring to the Brigade Reser ve in 1977. During the industrial dispute of 18 months ago, having retired from work, he maintained a round-the-clock availability by phone to act as attendant on St John ambulances transporting emergency cases , sometimes also conveying patients in his own private car if an ambulance was not available. This is but the most recent example of the outstanding quality of his voluntary St John service to the community.
Mr Charles Joyce (Supplies Department, Order of St John), who joined the staff of the old 'stores department ', then situated in the basement below the Chancery, 54 years ago as an assembler and packer of first aid outfits. Throughout the whole of that period he has done the same job and has never claimed one single day's sick leave, and he is still doing as good a day's work as ever. There is almost certainly no member of St John Ambulance today, whether young or old, whose personal first aid kit was not assembled, packed and despatched
AT
cont. from p.169
RANDOM
by Charles Joyce -a truly remarkable record!
Others
To all the above we offer the most sincere congratulations and good wishes of all our readers, as well as to any other members of the St John family who have been honoured for services rendered partly or wholly in other fields Among the latter I would specia ll y mention Capt P. H. E. WelbyEverard, RN, formerly Commander and Commissioner for Lincolnshire, who received the ODE in recognition of his public serv ices (which undoubedtly included St John) in that county, and Mr H. A. Payas, St John Commissioner for Gibraltar, who has been awarded the Colonial Police Medal.
The Future
The Foundation Conference on June 20 was of special interest this year for two reasons: first, because we had the welcome participation of representatives from 21 countries (including all four overseas Priories) outside the United Kingdom, and secondly becau se the main theme of the conference was 'Priorities for the Eighties'
The Chief Commander introduced the theme in a way which inspired us with a tremendous challenge, and later spoke on overseas priorities, stressing the importance of communication and partnership, especially with St John in developing countries. 'Independence,' he said, 'must not mean isolation.'
The Commissioner-in -Ch ief, in a statement which was all the more significant in view of hi s forthcoming promotion to Chief Commander when Sir Maurice Dorman becomes Lord Prior, outlined his five aims for the Brigade in the next ten years:
(a) Selection and training of officers. We must be on the look-out for potential officers even when they are sti ll cadets.
(b) Improved quality of first aid and nursing, with special emphasis on realism in training. Every Brigade member should hold a nursing certificate by 1990, and then we can combine the first aid and nursing manuals in one vo lume.
(c) Development of divisional HQ's. We must double, by 1990, the number of divisions t hat OWN their HQ.
(d) Fund raising, to enable us to have good modern equipment and be able to pay IN FULL the expenses of our members on public duty and when attending conferences and training courses.
(e) Recruiting - the top priority. Good officers and realistic, well organised training are what our members want, and our best recruiting agent is the well satisfied member.
The Superintendent-in-Chief urged us to retain and extend the advantage that we have gained in getting our members (both male and female) accepted into hospitals during the Year of Nursing. Recently some redundant male factory workers embarked on nursing training and decided that though the salary was not so good the job satisfaction was superb - there's certainly nothing mamby-pamby about nursing!
Brigadier Semple (Chief Officer for Cadets and Brigade Training) said that our methods of instruction must be of the highest quality and he offered to run a course on this subject, if requested, for any county, group of counties or region. The Surgeon-in-Chie f stro ngly encouraged Brigade Surgeons and Nursing Officers, as well as lay member s, to attend such courses. Brigadier Semple also st re ssed that a diet of first aid and nur si ng was insufficient to keep the young in the Brigade and he appealed for better communication and more generous financial sponsorship to enable more of our younge r members to participate in Sail Training Association and Outward Bound courses.
The Dire ctor General sai d that all the various activities of the Foundation must advance together on a broad front. Fullest use should be made of the Emergency Aid course and the new Short Nursing course to introduce our basic training. 20,000 you ng people in Butlin's camps have taken Emergenc y Aid courses this year , and 2,000 of these ha ve applied to join the Brigade. These applications must be followed up before the enthusiasm generated has been lost. He urged County Direc tors to appoint nur sing assistants to co-operate with the Brigade in promoting basic nursing training. The statutory requirement for training of industrial first-aiders would continue to provide an opportunity and a challenge for the next three or four years. There are now 20,000 candidates taking intensive FA courses every year, bu t we have got to double that number in order to meet our commitments. We also need to train more instructors, and to a higher standard, weeding out those who prove themselves unable to (ra ise their sights'. Wing Commander Fazan (Chief Staff Officer) gave details of a most stimulating proposal to create Regional Training Centres where it will be possible for a wide variety of both and Brigade training courses to be held.
In the afternoon we heard a most interesting talk b y our gue t speaker, Mr David Lane, Chairman of the Commi ion for Racial Equality. It would be impo ible to do justice to hi theme in a few lines 0 this must alas be deferred till a later i ue. All in all, I thought thi the most stimu lating Foundation Conference that I ha ve ever attended. But its success will depend on the extent to which we respond to the stimulus while it is still fre h.
Buckinghamshire
OUR Year of Nursing was given a good send off by the County Commander, LtCol Robert Payne, who took part in the first nursing course of 1980.
Of the several events planned for the ,Year, two have taken place
Patient care competition
Thirty ambulance and nursing members from throughout the county and all holders of the nursing certificate took part in a patient care competition at the new County HQ in May. Paired on a random basis, most members had never before worked with their partner. In front of a fascinated they were required to make the bed of a 'patient' who was paralysed on one side. Two pairs were selected for the final, when the task was to make a bed of a 'patient' with a heart condition . Winning finalists were Mrs Maureen Warr, of Amersham A/N Division, and Mrs Doreen Hobbs, of Chesham A / N Division, who received SOS Talisman pendants presented by the Commander's wife, ,Mrs Audrey Payne. The evening concluded with supper (fish and chips).
Outing
At the end of May, sixty elderly and disabled men and women from throughout the county were taken in two coaches to the Burford Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire. The coaches, hired by the Lions Clubs of Bletchley and Aylesbury, picked up our guests from several places in north and 180
nearby, so occasionally there wa s a bed for a barium enema case The routine for the medical ward was very much the same but the afternoons were generally quieter. If the day was nice, this meant that some of the patients could be taken for a walk in the garden. Many of them really appreciat e d his freedom.
Both the staff and patient s were very friendly, although the s taff could not give us as much time as they would have liked, as they were extremely busy due to a staff shortage. Consequently another 'pair of hands' was a great help.
Off duty we were able to look a round Aberdeen, which s truck us a s bein g a n mpre ss ive hi s toric c it y. We al so we nt to Ba lmoral and Braemar. The sce nery was marv ellou s, and mad e our s ta y complete.
To West Germany
by Mrs C. A. J Gerard (Warwickshire)
YEAR OF NURSING
south Bucks. Each coach was accompanied by sixteen helpers - ambulance and nursing members, cadets and nur s in g officers Most of the guest s, who included ten in wheelchairs, would not h ave been able to make such an outing without medical assistance.
After a damp but delightful tour of the park, members s erved tea to our guests before departing for the homeward journey It was a most successful da y out.
To Aberdeen by N/M M. A. Coe (Market Harboroughl
THE opportunity to work in the St John Nursing Home provided an interesting experience I arrived Saturday April 8 and met Div Supt Mrs V. Anderson, with whom I was to spend the next two weeks. The Matron, Miss Grant, welcomed u s and we were then shown to our rooms and left to 'settle in'.
The nursing home, the only private one in Aberdeen and the s urrounding area, is run by a committee belonging to the St John Ambulance Association, Priory of Scotland. The A ss ociation also run s a secondhand book shop next door to raise money for the hospital, as well as helping with various disabled clubs There is also a fund which will provide the cost of a bed for deserving cases, where a patient is being nursed at home, for a week or two in order to give relatives a rest.
We started work on Sunday. The shift system was interesting - four day shifts from 8am - 4pm, one evening shift from Ipm - 9pm, and then two days off. One
week wa s to b e spe n t in su rgical a nd one in medical.
The surgical war d was bu sy and interesting. It had ten bed s, each in a si n gle room There was a g r eat va riet y of cases, ranging from s m a ll da y cases to major operations and cos meti c s ur ge r y. The patient s were of var ied n atio nal ities man y coming fro m the oil rigs; of all ages and both sexes.
The da y began on S ur gica l by taking the night report from Sister at 8am. We then helped b y bed -mak ing , bed - bath in g, and running the bath for he more ambulan t p a tients. We also se rved meal s, eac h se r ved attractively on it s own tray. Room s were al s o prepared for pa t ients returning from th eat re. The po st-o perative ca re s important - s tri ct observations were kept on T.P.R. and blood pressure, w heth er drips and / or cath eter s were runnin g correctly, and charting fluid input and output. We helped in the observation of patients in these ways.
Theatre Sister gave us a tour of the operating and a n te -room s adjoining, explaining the autoclave, s terili sers and the various in s trumen ts Mr s Ander son was able to see a patient anaesthetised and an airway in se r ted, and found both proce sses intriguing.
The medical ward consisted of 12 si ngle rooms, and seemed to be occupied by the more elderly patients. Some were recovering from heart diseases, strokes, hip replacements and fractures of the lower limbs, and some were receiving terminal care. There was also the X-ray Department
reason that these are as vital to the running of the hospital as are the skilled hand s of the Chief Surgeon. This hospital is one of the most modern in Germany and s ome of the equipment used there ha s not yet b ee n in s talled in any other ho s pi tal in the world. Even the mo s t ba s ic everyda y things, su c h a s wheelchair s, seemed a s co mfortable and inviting as a club armchair!
The whole ho s pi t al is ve r y bright and airy; the floors are colour co ded as we ll as numbered, so that the patients (who h ave the run of the pla ce wherever po ssi ble) f ind it easy to remember that their surrou nd i ng s ar e pink (l st floor), or green ( 2nd floor), etc. The sam e coding is used on t h e lift button s and even the sheets are colo u red. W e co n sidered t hi s a great morale b ooster for the patients I co u ld continue at len gt h
THE GROUP assembled at St John Hou se Club in London, arriving at irregular nt erval s from all co rner s of England. We ha d to get acquainted rapidl y, a s we did no t know eac h other and were expected to se lect a co mpanion soo n after our arriva l as we we re to be allocated in pair s to various hospit al s and hom es in W est Germany. My pa rtner, Mrs Edith Gosslin from J ersey, and myself were in vi ted to go to t h e Eva ngelische Krankenhaus Kalk (Co lo g ne), alo ng with Mrs Jo y O'Neill, from Ham p s hi re, and Mrs Meryl Latham, f rom Bu c kingham s h i re. Although we were comp lete st ran gers until t hat mom ent, we soon felt the st ron g bond s of th e 'fa mil y of St John' and b eca me firm f riend s - d esp it e the fact that the difference s in our ages spanned t hree de ca de s We were taken by coach fro m the a irport to the Johannit e r Ho s pit a l in Bonn , where we were pro vid ed with a deli cious lun c h before being s h ow n around the h osp it al by Frau Oberin Von Pon se t (who is hi g h in the ranks of the Johanniter Orden), and then collected and taken to our various de stination s, which in our case was no t very far.
Frau Oberin (Matron) Ju te rbur g and her assistant collected u s in their Volkswagen s, and we were in Cologne about an hour later , having had the ta ste of swi ft autobahn travel! Accommodation was provided for us at the Nur ses' Home (Schwesterhaus), and con s iste d of very attractive individual bed-sits.
The following morning we were s hown around the Evangelische Krankenhau s Kalk - our hospital - and introduced to head s of departments and stations. Each floor is a st ation as opposed to a ward, con s st in g o f 1, 2 or 4 bedrooms, each with a toilet and shower cubicle. There are 21 rooms to each station, as well as consulting rooms, treatment room s, etc We were also s hown the kitchens, and even the air conditioning equipment in the cellars, for the simple
other duti es included goi ng to the Path Lab, taking p atients to X-ray, collecting the post, etc. We even did an escort du ty which i nvolved taking a tram and meeting so meone at the railway st ation
Fo r the first week our companions we re in female surgica l, and Mrs Gosslin and m yse l f were r ight at the top of the hospital (8th floor, blue) in mixed medical, which was a private ward. Right from the first day we were pleased to find that we we re allowed to do a lot more actual nur sing than we ever dar ed to expect. We took pa tients' temp eratures and pul ses, applied va riou s ointments, c h a nged catheter bag s, di s h ed out meal s, pills and dr inks (not to mention b edpa n s). Our b edm aking was great ly admired by both patients and staff, as in Germany they do not seem to bother unduly with cornering sheets and making sure there are no c reases in the bottom sheet; we even c han ge d a bed wit h the patient in it!
Another t hin g that str uck u was the s horta ge of b at h s - onl y one per stationthe r eason being that t he y all used showers. This found out personally, in a rather wet manner, as [ was put in charge of showering one of the geriatric patients! Some of our
The second week we cha n ged partner s; Mrs Latham and I did t hree days' duty in the Casualty/ Outpatients Department. We aske d for this duty as we felt that this would give u s experience more re le vant to our u s ual first a id duti es h ere at home In theory, we were to ob se rve the doctor s and nurs es a t work, but we had not been there many minu tes before we were applying bandages, wheeling patients in and out of X-ray and generally assisting because they were short staffed. We watched endless operations on crushed fingers and hand injurie s (from the nearby industrial estate), and saw a thumb 'rebuilt' with skin grafted from t he forearm I was invited to observe the amputation of a leg, but politely declined, as I had felt somewhat 'woozy' during one of the minor operations. However, I did a ss ist at an operation to remo ve water from a knee and at another where a ganglion was remo ved from a little girl's foot. Thi s was only possible because these were being done under local anaesthetics alone.
One of our German colleagues was sent to collect the above-ment io ned leg to take to the m ortuary she was very relieved to see it packed and neatly labelled, as she had expected to have to carry it on a tray!
One more thing I cannot leave unmentioned is the impression our high st andard of nursing left in Germany. They found it hard to belie ve that none of us had ever worked in a ho spital before.
Thank you, St John, for our good training and for giving me this opportunity to further my training through such an unforgettable experience in this 1980 YEAR OF URSING.
Here are some hints from eND Rosemary Bailey which should
PERHAPS yo u looked with some envy at the peopl e who won la t year's Nursing Bursa ries and thought, if only I knew what to do I m ig ht have had a shot at it. Some people are very apprehensive when it comes to putting t hings down on paper and f ind i t incredibl y difficult to know where to start. The se are ju st a few not e which perhaps might help you.
Application form
Thi s year a n application fo rm h as b ee n included for your personal detail s and
Brigade experience Bu t as you know it has to be accompanied by an essay telling the panel h ow you would use the bursary.
Let us stop and think for a minute wh this essay is needed and how the judges will use it. They have a large number of applicants from whic h they have to elect t he winners. They nee d some idea of what yo u ha ve in mind and he more intere ting and worthwhile the project sound the more it wi ll appeal to them. Without some detail t he y cannot make an as essment. They need t o see a breakdo wn of your costs to know
whether the bursary will cover the project. They want to be able to judge if you could complete the project within the next year.
With this in mind, how are you going to start? Remember, the bursary is for your own self-development. Now, have you got anything in mind that might help you to be a better St John member and a better person?
Preparation
Talk t o your friends, people in the division , your , Nursing Officer or Surgeon , Area Staff and even the County Staff and see what sort of ideas you generate. Is there some area of need in your own locality which you feel could be met if only you had the time to look at this or do that? Would some visit help you to further something that y ou have been planning in the division for some time? O r perhaps certain vi sits would give you a better understanding of some kind of handicap or disease or problem that you are constantly meeting at home, at work or on public duties. I do not know what will interes t you and it is up to you to t hink of a topic. Now, once you have this germ of an idea and it has begun to grow y ou can begin to plan.
Planning
Now you start to get down to a bit of detail. What do you want to get out of this project?
How will you set about it?
What do you want t o see?
Who do you need to talk to?
Where do you want to go? When do you want to go?
Write the answers down in as much detail a s you po ss ibly can. Next, think what this is going to cost. Are there journeys involved?
Will you be writing letter s ? Will there be postage a,nd telephone calls? Are you planning to stay anywhere overnight, and if
so what will be the cost of your board and lodging? This can only be approximate, but estimate as near as you can. If there are other writing materials, visual aids or anything like that required, what are they going to cost? Do you need to be away for a period of time? If so, you may po ssib ly have to tailor the number of days to suit the amount of the bursary Add it all up and see if it comes to around the £250.
Writing
Now using the notes you ha ve made begin to write your essay. Commence b y sayi n g what it is you wish to achieve Then, in a logical order with as much detail as yo u can , write out step by step what your programme will be. Then gi ve a d etai led breakdown of your approximated costs. In your final paragraph say why you are embarking on the project and how yo u think it will help you and possibl y your division, area or county.
Evaluation
Now look through what you hav e written and think gJrout it very carefully Seek the commentS'and advice of one or two p e ople by asking them to read the essay and point
out any t hing the y think is uncl ear, or anything you m ig ht enla r ge upon Reall y try to evalua te what you have put down and when you have all these c omment s rewri te the whole essay ag a in. You will have a much better fini s hed produ c t f you do th is Finally, complete the appli cation fo r m and send them both off b y the appropriate date.
Of cour se you h a ve see n b y now th a t th e most difficult thin g is Lo get an idea , but I have a lway s found per s onally that talkin g to people is s timulating and idea s oft en fo llo w from conver sa tion s Once you ha ve begun you will find that it is not a s diffi cult as you think, and it can be a lot of f un producing a pap e r s u c h a s thi s and ent ering for a bursary.
I wish you well. I hope man y of you will ha ve a try this year and] s hall look forward to seeing the names of the winners of the 1981 Nursing Bur sarie s.
How s this for a nice pictu re for the Year of Nursing? A SJA mum and her two daughters at the Foundation Conference. And what's more all three are County Superintendents! (Centre) Mrs C.M. Tremlett (Surrey); (left) Lady Eliza beth Godsa l (Berks), who is also on the Rev ew Board by the way; and Lady Mary Holborow (Cornwall). Well done, the Tremlett
EXTERNAL CARDIAC RESUSCITATION:
•
Should we review our techniques?
A personal view by ROBERT M. FOWLER
RARELY do es a greater medical emergency arise than in card iac arrest. The immediate aim of a first-aider is to pro vide adequate perfusion of oxygenated blood through the vital organs; and this is brou ght a bout b y t he application of externa l heart compression coupled with manual venti lation of the lun gs (eg mouth to mouth) However, current research indicates that present British techniques are perhaps far from being ideal. In this article I have attempted to outline areas in which practical improvements may be cons id ered. A list of references is supplied for those interested in the theoretical aspects of the methods described.
The precordial thump
At present, mo s first-aid manuals speak of the precordial thump as the first s tage in cardiac resuscitation in all cases of card ia c arrest. It is true to say that this form of st imulus can reawaken cardiac automatism without any further work on the part of the first-aider (I). However, this blow has only been shown to be effective in the very early stages of cardiac arrest ie , in the first few seconds. Its effectiveness in the later stages of arrest has not been determined (2). Therefore it is suggested that the precordia l thump is only used in cases of witnessed cardiac arrest , where it may be dealt wit hin the first minute Otherwise there is the risk of wasting precious time in carrying out a futile procedure; a nd remember one only has a maxim um of four minutes from t he time of arrest before serious br ain damag e occurs due to in adequate oxygenation. In an unwitnessed card ia c arrest several minutes may have already elapsed b y the time a first-aider is on the sce ne
At this time, the precordial thump is not recommended for use on children (2).
Rates of compression
In the UK the usual recommendation for two first-aiders s a technique re quiring f ive heart compressions b y one operator, at a rate of one per seco nd, followed by a pause while the seco nd operator ventilates the lungs once. Cardiac is then resumed for a further five compressions, and so on. However, up to five seconds are ?ften spent in a ttempting to prov ide one mflation, leavin g time for only thirty heart compressions per minute. It has been
n struction of cardiac resuscit a tion be on proper compression duration rath er th a n on pre c ise com pre ssion rate?
It is in sufficient to rely upon the pr es en ce of a pulse in the carotid or radial arter ies a s evidence of satisfactory blood-circul at io n. A pulse only confirm s that t here is n o major disruption to the continuit y o f t h e vascu lar system (8) (eg a severed ar tery.) It does not, in itself, indicate ade q ua cy of perfusion of the vital organs.
suggested that a rate of at least sixt y compressi on s per minute, at a rate of one per second, is required for adequate circu la tio n of o xygenated blood to the tissues (3); a standard to which our methods fa ll very short.
The c urre nt American approach (4.5) is to apply cardiac compres sion without cessation, and to interpose ventilation quickly between compression s. A compression rate of sixty per minute allow s br eaths to be interposed without any pause s (ie one inflation after every five che s t compressions, without any interruption in car d iac compression.) This rate i s practicable as it avoids fatigue on the part of the first-aiders, facilitates timing on the ba sis of one compression per second , and allows optimum venti l ation and circulation to be achieved; t hu s maintaining adequate blood flow and pressure, and allowing cardiac refi ll.
It may be argued that the first-aider performing t he cardiac compression s must pau se at times to enabl e he second operator to not only inflat e the lungs, but eva lu ate chest mo vement, so that any obstruction in the airway can be found and adequacy of the inflation pressure noted (6). However, if the inflation is accurately in terposed after each fifth compression has reached its maximum downward movement, it s hould be plainly clear as to the efficiency of the in.flat io n as no restriction to the c he st would be present at that precise moment.
It is po ssib le , therefore, that the American approach is the better technique; particularly as the dura tion of resuscitation increases. It not onl y increases carotid blood flow (7) and the efficiency with which the blood is oxygenated (3), bu t also prevents the drop in blood pres s ur e to zero; the latter normally resul ing from any interruption in cardiac compression (2).
Duration of compression
Finally, should the major emphasis in the
Studies in animals suggest that p r olonged compression is important in e ffective resuscitation (5.9) as this increas es b oo d flow and arterial press ure; t wo factors which should lead to a mo r e f avourable outcome of re s u s citation. A d uration of compre ss ion o f up to fifty per c en t of cycle time is thought to be ideal (2 ). Ho wever, in order to achieve this there mu s t b e a pause at maximal compres sion, and this is difficult in practice, a s well as being extremely tiring for the fir s t-aider Therefore it is probabl y ad vis able to cont inue to advocate the instruction o f a ra t e of sixty compressions per minute
Conclusion
Whatever method s o f re s u sci tat ion we choose to adopt in the cas e o f a cardiac arrest, it mu st be remembered t ha t 'seconds count'. Wi t hout promp t a n d expert attention the pa t ien t will die or at best suffer serious and irreparab l e d amage to the brain and other vital organ s It is therefore our duty , as members of t he St. John Ambulance, to ensure t ha t our techniques are the most efficient. We mu s t b e prepared to examine ne w ideas in o r d e r t o meet t he high s tandards demanded of u s to d ay References
I. Sherf, D., B o rnema nn, C. 1960 Thumping oj the precardium in ven tr icu lar standstill. Am. 1. Cardiology, S, p 30 - 40
2. American N atio nal C o nJe rence Report. 1974. Standard s J or ca r d iopulmonary resuscitation and em ergen cy card iac care. JAMA., 22 7, p.833 - 868
3 Harris, L c. , Kirim li, B ., SaJar, P 1967. Ventilation - cardiac com pression rates and ratios in cardiopul mo nary r es uscitation. An es thesiology , 28 p. 806 - 813
4 Cecil T ex tb o ok oj Me di cin e, 15 th ed., 1979. p. lOSS-5 6.
5. Tay lor, G.J., Tli ck er, w'M., G reene, H.L., el. al 19 77. Im po rl a n ce oj prolonged compres s ion d urin g c ar d iopulmonary resuscitation in man N. En g. J Med., 296, p. ISIS - 17
6. SaJar P., Brown, T. c., H o lley, W.J., et al. 1961. Ventilarion and circulation with closedchesl cardia c massage in man. JAMA., 176, p. 5 74 - 76.
7 Wilder, R.J. , Weir, D ., R us h, B.F., Ra vilch, M M. 1963. Meth ods oj coordinating ventilation and closed-ches t cardiac massage ill lhe dog. Surgery, 53 p. 186 - 94
8. Weale, F.E., Roth well R.L. 1962 The eJJiciency oj cardiac mass age Lan cet, I, p 990 - 92
9. Birch, L.H., K en ney L.J. D oornbo , F., er al. 1962. A s tlldy oj external cardiac compression. 1. Mich Sral e Med. Soc., 61, p. 1346 - 52.
HOW OFTEN has that question been posed? You hear it said in conversation; you read it in the Press; it is discussed on the radio and TV. But have we found the answer?
Schools' Venture Weeks at various Butlin's holiday camps have taken place again this year, and if the experiences of the Bognor Regis SJA Centre are any guide then the venture has once more been an outstanding success. It may also supply at least part of the answer to the question of teaching first aid in schools. When you find the same schools coming back and the teachers tell you that the first aid instruction last year was so good that they insist on this year's children taking the course, then we can begin to feel that we are doing a good job for St John and, at the same time, helping many schools to provide a specialised teaching service which many could not provide from their own resources. When a single school brings 70 children to the Venture Week and puts everyone of them in for first aid as one of their voluntary activities, they must have every confidence in what we can do for the children. Maybe this will lead to some schools looking more closely at the possibility of introducing first aid as a part of the curriculum. Needless to say, we use every occasion to further the interests of the Brigade, especially the work of the Cadets. It was very gratifying to hear that, after discussing the possibilities of starting a Cadet Division attached to a village school which is ten miles from the nearest town, one teacher is going home determined to do her best to convince her headmistress that it is a possibility to be thoroughly investigated. At the present time, only one girl travels into the town to attend the Cadet Division there.
Perhaps the real measure of our success was shown by the school which had brought just over 60 children to Bognar but had allowed for only one session of instruction in first aid instead of the two hours required
Why don't they teach first aid in schools?
Is what Area Supt M. W. HARRIS asks after another successful Schools' Venture Weeks
to cover the Emergency Aid course. When the facts became known there were hurried consultations all round in an effort to solve the problem. The instructors readily volunteered to be available on the final evening and they reaped a fitting reward for their efforts. No less than 37 of t ho se children came along to complete the course despite the many counter-attractions that always occur on the last night '.
For those interested in numbers, a total of 1618 certificates were issued to those who satisfactorily completed the Emergency Aid course during the three weeks of the Bognor Venture Weeks. In 1979 there had been 906 in two weeks.
For 1980 the instructors were drawn from a very wide area This was nice for all concerned and had some obvious advantages, but the economics o f travel could well impose restrictions in the future.
and daughter, Sgt Holland and Area Supt Mrs Christine Holmes from Andover (Right) 20 -year-o ld N M Mary Whittaker, of Weybridge is deaf - and learned as well as taught,
One rather unusual feature was the arrival of Sgt Ern Holland and Area Supt (N) Mrs Christine Holmes from Andover. They are father and daughter. Then there was the experiment of bringing to Bognor the young Nursing Member Mary Whittaker from the Weybridge (Surrey) Division . Mary is just twenty and was given the chance to help at the Venture Week because she had recently been awarded her Grand Prior's badge But Mary is different from the majority of those who gain this coveted award - she has been deaf since the age of three. When asked to comment on the way Mary set about the task of helping the children with their practical work, the coordinator said; 'Her dedication and effort to overcome her handicap were an inspiration to the children.' Perhaps her own comments give an even better picture of what it meant to her and provide the justification for sending her to Bognor. Mary said that her first reaction to the invitation was one of great pleasure, derived from the thought that it would take her out more into the world of 'the hearing ' and would help her to build up her confidence while helping with the children. Many of her friends told her that she would not be able to do it, but his , it seems, was the very spur that Mary needed o make her even more determ ined to show t ha t she could. To her, the challenge was that she had never before done anything like it. Communication with the children was, of course, difficult but Mary soon learned that the most valuable asset in dealing with them was patience. The c hildren realised equally quickly that Mary was deaf and that if t he y wanted to speak to her they had either to confront her or, if that was not possible, to
tap her on the arm, pull her sleeve, or even give a tug on her dr ess to get her attention At the same time Mary learned of the children'S problem - that of understanding her brave attempts to speak to them de spite the handi cap of not being able to hear the sou nd s she made. A s she sai d, she sometimes talked careless ly and too fast for them.
Perhaps the most valuable les s on to be learned by the childr e n was the need for to leranc e Those at Bognor developed it to a high degree!
Mary's final comment, I think, says it all. It was the most enjoyab le experience for me for years .'
Mary's presence would have been even
ADVENTURE • In
more providential if she had been with us a week earlier, when we had had to instruct a sma ll group of deaf children from a London sc hool. However, with some extra care in enunciation to facilitate lip-reading, and h e lp from one of the teacher s, the c hildr e n all managed to complete the course succe ss fully.
Special trib ute to the work of the in structors was also paid by a teacher s upe rvising the children of a 'Special Unit' , wh o normally presented problems when being taught. Once again the task wa s successfu lly accom pli s hed.
And a ll the instructors have gone their various ways hoping that they will be able to take part again next year!
FIRST AID
Derbyshire go out-and-about for more realism in training
FAR TOO often we practise our fir s t aid in a clean, warm, well-lighted headquarter s and on a patient who does n't sc ream. But we usually find our real ca s ual t ie s in t he middle of the road or in a field , it 's po ss ibly raining or d a rk , he screams when we touch him, he is probabl y difficul t to get a t - and he certainly will no t obligingl y lift hi s injured legs while we place a trian gular bandage under him.
real spa re rib with pl e nt y of meat on it, which the local fly populat ion quickly s niffed out - but fo r the competition it gave realism calling for the most urgent action,
Each team had s ix membe rs drawn from the cadet and adult di v is ion s and they were given a map of the park with instructions regarding the lo cat ion of t he incident. They had to find the casualty, treat him under the eye of the D e pu ty County Surgeon, improvise a stretcher, and then move him to an ambulan ce which wou ld take him to hospital.
The two-mile carry to the ambulance was over field s, ditche s and fences - in hot sunshine - and involved building a ropebridge over 12 feet of water. The handing over to t he ambulance was as if it was from the 'real' AHA service, and not some dumb repla c ement we so often find in competitions,
It was this traditional tram-line s thinking, which is behind much of our training, that made us strive for more reali sm for our first adventure competition in Derbyshire on May 17 - and in the end we decided to hold it in a local park.
Our casualty Steven Waterall , a cade t with experience of being injured, had been bird nestin g and fallen from the ree , sustaini ng a fractured skull and an open fracture of the lower arm. We really went to town on the arm injury, making it up with a
Ilkes t on s team negot ating a dilCh
An exhausted Dr onfield team \von the competition which took each team an hour to complete , and they are now the proud caretakers of the Adcomp Trophy donated by SOS Talisman. Glossop came second. Member s o f bo th teams also received gold Talisman pendan ts. We are now looking for a ne\', site for ne xt year's competition, a site with more interesting (some say evil) problems which will successfully combine adventure with first aid - and achieve realism.
A. J. C.
A I M D. Green of Dronfield, shows that a lot of water is not going to stop him
AMBULANCES AND SJA
rom Martin Newlan, Divisional Superintendent Brian Rockell ' s original article (Feb 1980), which was a straight f o rw a r d de s cription of what is currently available, has inevitably s p a rk e d a s e rie s of letters which seem to get further and further from t he point.
T he debate about whether SJA should be involved in ambulances at a ll ha s r a ged from time to time in the Review over many year s. So man y of y our correspondents lose sight of the fact that t he work don e b y D vi sions v aries enormously from county to coun t y , and it is no u s e t he firs t aid purists' arguing that St John has 1)0 place o pera t ing a mbulance s at all.
A the aver a g e public dut y , the ambulance serves many purpo s e s, not le as t of w hich is a ba s e for the personnel to work from If a Divi s ion ha s a ca ra v an or mobile unit, then so much the better The a mbulan c e is al s o an ea si ly recognised focal point for t he public , who car e little who ' operates' the service. Still no less importantly , th e am bulan c e is there to transport he injured to hospital qu ic kly wit hout ha vi ng to call the 'regular service. Very few open a ir du t ie s have easy a c ce ss t o a t elephone in my experience, and the dela y in fi ndin g o ne c ould b e painful (or fatal) for the casualty An additional po int is t ha t man y motor and motorcycle duties can onl y function at a ll (un de r R A C rule s) i f two ambulan c es are pre s ent on the c our s e Wh ic h C ount y A mbulance Service is going to pro vide them to pe r ha p s s ix s imilar e ven ts on one Sunday in their county? M r Bro wn's sug g e s tion (June) for a multi-purpose v ehicle ma y w ell s ui ma ny s mall Di vis ion s, and I quite agree that s imply o w ning an am bul ance doe s not make for good fir s t aid or the be s t u s e of reso ur ces.
On the o t her h a nd ther e are Di vis ions up and do w n the countr y who h av e a de m o ns trable need for one or more emergenc y ambu lan c e s, and h ere I beiie v e there should be no argument at all If y ou o p er at e an ambulance, y our members should be prop e rl y trai ned and t he ve hicle s hould be prope r ly equipped -a t the ver y le ast t o t h e s tanda r d laid do w n by the DHSS The public are not selec ti ve , to t hem an ambulance is an ambulance , and t he y ex pe ct t he same treat m e n t r eg ar dle ss o f the badge on the s ide. M y own coun ty, no do u bt li k e man y other s, has ta k en the initiative and produced an Amb ul ance Aid cou rse to good effect. A formal re c ogni tion b y HQ wo uld be u seful and encouraging but doe s not have to be allied t o t h e Mille r Ce rtifica te if the DHSS s a ys that would be impo ssi bl e F i nall y, I w ould like to make one point not mentioned in h e oth e r rece n t lett er s on hi s subject. Ambulances (and the more mod e rn he b etter) attract re c ruit s and the vehicles and their a tt endent eq ui pment in teres t people. They may have to become proficie n t in f irst a id , and the y may later find other a s pects of our w ork ju s t a s i nter esti ng b u t they come in large number s because w e are in th eir eyes a n a rm o f the emergency services. If m y Divi s ion turned from t he opera ion of it s two ambulances and articulated mobile f r s t aid uni t, i t w ould lo s e a very large part of the members hip at the s ame ti m e. I am cer ain that is true of most Division s Oxted S urrey Mar t in Ne wlan
COMP ETIT I ONS
from E L. E. Hearne
E ve r y-da y life i s one long round of competing for the best seat, the best job , h e bes t pay, etc, so why are not more St John member s i n te re ste d in compet tion s ? Let s look at some of the object i ons that are rai sed
1. Our Brigade duties, exams and courses leave us no time Jor co mpetit io n-s o Are we really to believe that some of us spend all our t ime on du ty, t aking exams or attending courses? Competition t r ain ing can go side b y sid e with divisional training and make it mor e i n te r est ing 2 Competi t ions are unrealistic This is often a valid criticism, but m ay I s uggest th a t anyone who stages an incident unrealistically is n o t doin g hi s job properly? If an incident is supposed to hav e o c curred out o f door s , why not stage it out of doors? Or are our tea m s onl y prepared to deal with indoor, comfortable jobs?
3 Th e rules vary. BGR A p pe ndi x E ays d own n a ion a l compet i tion rule s, s o w h y c
t h e sa m e rul es fo r c u p ti es at a ll eve ls! And to expre ss a per s onal poin t of v iew, m ay I s u ggest t h at o n ly n u r sing per s onn e l
4 Th ere is too muc h time wasted in ha n ging around. Then wh y not sta gge r t h e t im es at w hi ch competing teams a r e required to arri ve?
Forw a rd pl a n ni n g co uld ge t r id o f most of t h ese object ion s and 1 w ould s ugge st th a t a six m o nth s' per iod of consultations betwe en s enior r epre sen tati ves of sette r s, j u d ges, cas u alties and s tewa r ds would i ro n o u t a go od m any w ri nk es We ll trained ca s u altie s are essen t ial , and o nce the tests have been finalised no one s h ou d be allowed to alter t he m ar k ing s h eets (eg, as is known to have occurred b y addin g a n ot h e r in j u ry').
W ha t do we lea rn fro m co m petitions?
(a ) T o w or k as a tea m
( b ) To w o rk und e r s tress.
(c) T o st u dy o ur m an u als (an d we a ll need to do th is )
(d) T o i mpr ove t h e q u ality of our practi cal work and our c are of th e cas ua lty.
(e) To build u p a me n ta l c h eck-li s t whi c h wi ll stand us in goo d s tea d n an y emerge n cy.
( f) T o wi d e n o ur ex p e ri e n ce t h ro u gh our friend s h ip s a nd d iscu ss ions with me mb ers of other co m pet ing teams.
We all long t o take p art in he 'perfect' compet i t on; but even if thi s s an u natta na bl e d ream, w h y can't we a ll make an effort to get t he b est o u t of com p et ition s as h ey are - b y taking part in t h em a nd perha ps eve n h e lpin g o i m pr o ve th em?
Ma ny wi ll d isagree w ith me i n at least some re s pects , but if thi s le t e r pro vo ke s t hou g h t i t w ill h ave done s o me goo d B erks h ire E. L. E. Hearn e
BEAT THIS.
from D R. Keirle, First Aid Organiser
Follo wi n g th e r e p o r t Lo n ges t Se r vice (Marc h ) a n d Sti ll Go in g On
(Ma y) ma y I f il e a cla im t o fa m e fo r a m em b er of t h e London
Tran s por t A mbulan ce Ce n r e ?
Ap a r t f ro m Br iga d e Service a n d a ll hi s o th er ac i viti es wit h St John
Ambulance, E rne st L. K. Dunn o b ta in e d hi s F i rst A d Ce r t ificate at the Baker Str
every
Watfo
U N I FORM
fr
lder b a d ges wou d be smarter than the present arra y of patc h es sewn about s h ou ld e rs ? An d a metal lic cou n ty emb em to rep lace our co ll ar b adge a ls o. W hil e t h e initia co s t wou ld b e greater, the renewa l cost wou ld be mi ni ma l a n d appeara n ce rea ll y en h anced.
Cheshire G J. Joyce
TH OS E BADGES
f rom J E Smith , Area Staff Off i cer
Looking thro u gh many issue s of the Review it is not ha r d to fi nd photograph s of member s with badge s in the w rong pla c es.
In the Februar y issue , for in s tanc e a nur s in g member has a Grand
Prior 's Badge at t he top of her s leeve, wh e r e s he s h ould have a s houlder fl as h and nam e trip. One s uppo se s that photograp h s s ent to th e R e view ar e th e pick of th e bun c h, s o it mu s t be wondered u s t ho w many va riation s o f dre ss r eg ulation s w e hav e in divi s ion s
C ould member s who a r e told the y ha v e bad ges in he wrong p ace ex p la i n wha t guide s them t o d ec ide where to put t hem? Supplies Dept m u st have pi e s of un s old copie s of Dre ss R eg ul ation s, which ex p lain s ex actly wh e re e v ery thin g shou d go. Surrey 1. E. Smit h
New Review Col u mn
SJ MUSIC MAKERS
fr om Tom Quinn
St John b and s are on the increa s e and with at least t h irt y bands now u nited as members of t he newly-formed Federation of St
Jo h n Bands, o ur mu sic-makers are once again becoming estab lis h ed as a va lu ab le mea n s of p u blic re lat ions For the i n-
te r est in b a n d s t h roug h out t h e co un try is su dd en y making a dra m atic come-back.
So to s t rengt h en a n d d evel op b and act ivi ties t h roug h o u t St
Jo h n it ha s b een s u ggeste d t h at a b a nd co lum n s h o uld appear reg ul a rl y in t h e R ev iew , our m o st successful infor m a mea n s of co m m u n ica ti o n It is h oped h e co lum n w ill cover new e qu ipment
a nd t e c h ni qu es (D avi d M inn ey w ill lo o k after t h is), t h e type of SJ
b a nd s we ha ve t o d ay, w h e r e t h ey are a nd h ow t h ey ca n be b o oke d fo r per for m a n ces; n ew b a nd regu latio n s; eve r yt hin g, in fact, to d o wi th SJ b a nd s. I' ve b een as k e d to co m pi e th e c olumn . S o if a n j band m aster
NEWS from WALES
Dan Connolly BEM, with 8-year-old Junior Peter Belsten of the Gwent Health Authority Hospitals Division. (Photo: SWales Angus)
Meet Dan Connolly BEM IN THE early hours of the morning, 82-year-old Dan Connolly is a familiar sight at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport. Fo r three evening s a week, he spends up to seven hours at the hospital as a member of St John Ambulance. He is the Order' s oldest member in Wales and probably the only one who travels everywhere by bicycle. Now, after 65 years, his devotion to duty has earned him the British Empire Medal. To mark the occasion his friends and colleagues at the Gwent hospital threw a party and presented him with a wallet and a clock.
Dan, of Newport , still works over 1,000 hours a year in the casualty department of the hospital, where he helps out in the operating theatres and other emergenc y departments.
Cases Dan has dealt with over the years have ranged from drug overdoses to hear attack s and minor brui s ing to burns by fir e or s calding water. He deals with peopl e from all walks of life and has coped wit h situations as gory a releasing a body from under a train to as rewarding as deJjvering a mother' s baby. Apart from the three nights a week at the ho s pital he also finds time o en t er first aid competitions all over th e country. At the age of 12 he went down th e Aberbeeg pit and worked there until th e onse t of the fir s t world war. The first war was spent wi t h t he e arly Air Corps, and during t he second world war Dan served with the Royal Engineers. He hold s six army medals.
He also has a long service medal for 65 years' service to St John After the last war he joined the railway as a fitter, a position he held until he retired. In 1974 he took a job a s a lollipop man , s eeing children safel y across the road.
He has been a keen cyclist since he wa s ten years old and has always owned a bike except for a very short period in 1975 when it was stolen He had called at the Royal Gwent hospital for his usual duties and when he had finished he found his bike had The Bettws Cedewain nurs ng cadet eam with trophies won after compet ng in the Powys County Competition recently
been taken. He saw a man riding away on it, gave chase but could not catch up. His predicament reached the ears .of Gwent Health Authority who bought him a new one. And that bike is still ridden everywhere and especially used on the three mile trip to the hospital from his Newport home.
He said: 'I think all children and adults should be taught first aid. In particular children would be better able to cope with the dangers of life if they knew how to deal with many of the medical situations they are likely to come across.'
Dan is a widower. His Wife, Ltlhan, died in 1970. But he has two daughters and he is a great-grandfather.
Cressida Foden, Auxiliary Member, Gwent Health Authority Hospitals Division
Northern Ireland
MEMBERS from many parts of Northern Ireland attended their annual church parade and service at Dungannon Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoon, June 18. There were many members of the Order present.
The lesson was read by Sir Ian Fraser Knight Commander, and the sermon was preached by the Very Reverend Dr John H: Afterwards members assembled nearby for the inspectlOn by Sir Ian Fraser and three new ambulances were commissioned and dedicated by Dr Withers.
Headed by the Dungannon Silver Band, members and cadets marched through the town followed by the ambulances.
Ne1NS from Divisions/Centres
LANCS - Heysham Divisions held a buffet per on June 11 for Dr Elizabeth their divisional surgeon si n ce 1961 , who IS leaVIng district. Dr Robertso n, who became a ServIng Sister in 1977 has also trained t he Morecaf!1be Promenade Briti sh Ra il first aid team and IS a well known judge of railway competitions. Heysham Di vision's Vice-President Miss M. Robertson (no relation!) presented her with a sherry decanter , and the Nursing presented a flower arrangement. She also recel.ved the Long Service Medal from Mr L Ham s, Lonsdale Area Superintendent. Dr Robertson is returning to her home town of Dundee where she will be working with th e Commu'nity Health Service, as she ha s been in this area.
OBITUARY
J. H. Cove, Divisional Officer (R), Newark Ambulance Division for 27 years. Served in the Medical Branch of he RAF for 24 years, and awarded the Mentioned in Despatches' durin g the Burma campaign G. F. J. Hopkins, 54, Di visio nal Officer, Winchester City and District Ambulance Cadet Div ision. Died on June 7. At the funeral there was a guard of honour of 42 member s and his coffin was carried by members of Winchester
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
NEWS from S COTLAND
O VER 360 people attended the Festival of S t John held this year in the historic Dunfermline Abbey on Tuesday, June 24, in bright sunn y wea t her. 32 member s of the Order in their robes and mantles, accompanied by two Heralds of t he L y on Court , proces s ed from the City Chambers to the ancient nave and thence into the chur c h which is in use toda y, where the departed were commemorated. The sermon was preached by the Rev Stanley Pritchard, OStJ MA, and Holy Communion wa s dispensed by the Prelate of the Order in Scotland , the Ver y Reverend R. A. S. Bar -
The
a fanfare at the installation. Thereafter the Prior invested 16 on promotion and 39 on admission to the Order.
Postulants (On
Gav n R. Reekie O BE, AM I EE, A IMechEMembersojChapler)
P ercy A rth u P a ul Mackenzie, TD , LR C P & S , L R FPS, J P Mrs Jean C. F. Ta ske r Mrs Is a C. von Berg cursion for drug addict s ? (4). 14. Hor se su ff ering f rom a dry c ou gh (4) 16 Axe vital re - formulation for dru g promo t in g normal b o we l action (8). 19. The la rgest vertebrae (6)_ 21. L a rge deer found in Melksham (3). 23. The plague is following a p ers is ten t annoyan ce (6). 24_ Condition treated by hypnotic drug s (8) 27 Divi s ion of liver and lung (4). 29_ Small ab sce ss o cc urring in na s t y epid e mic (4) 30 _ Become sore due to rubbing (5). 32. Lon g bon e , bu t qu ite short (7). 33 _ Pu s n t he pleural spa ce (7) . 34 . No t an a c ti vi y of one s uffering from 24 Acros s (5. 7) _
Down
2. From small weight one produce s oxygen allotrope (5) 3 Save diet for drug calming the patient (8). 4. Po sts crip t about vil e disorder in part of skeleton (6). 5 Dramat ic entertainment withou t word s (4) 6. Animal concealed by p a tell a margin (5 )_ 7_ What t he rough fir s t-aider can be to an in j ured patient? (7) 8. Unit ed S t a tes fuel mi x ture s beneficial (6). 9 In volunta ry reactions to s tim uli (8). 15. Japanese art of self defence (4). 17 Wrong hint for o ne of slender ph ysique (4). 18. Old Te s tament prophet in Beli ze (3) 20 Send a bag for f ir s aid requi si t es (8). 22. One of 9 Do wn often tes ted in examination of central nervou s sy stem (4 -4) 23. Pedunculated tumour which could be so pulpy (7) 25. A scare for palms (6). 26. Failure of muscular co-ordina t ion (6). 28. T wo used by orthodonti s t and carpen t er (5). 30. Head gear on male fo w (5). 31 Breathe convulsivel y when general anaesthetic is follow ed by a little spirit (4).
REVIEW CROSSWORD No 8 (80) byW. A. Potter SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No 7 (80) Across: 3. Hinge joint; 8 Li.pase; 9 Eg.gs; 10 Lung cancer; II. Age; 13. Tear; 14 . Calcium; 15. Nape; 18. Atlas; 21- Nil; 22. S t ye s; 24. Talc; 26. Op.press; 27. Died; 29. Eye; 30. Sore Throat; 31 _ Mole ; 32. Vector; 33 Adam's apple.
First Aid dressing case
• MANUFACTURED FROM HIGH VISIBILITY INTERNATIONAL ORANGE COLOUR PLASTIC
• STRONG AND DURABLE
• WIPE CLEAN
• COMPLETE WITH "SNAP IN" STORAGE BRACKET FOR FIXING TO THE WALL OR VEHICLE SIDE
• OPENS FLAT
• PARTITIONED INTERIOR
• CLEAR PLASTIC INTERIOR COVERS WITH MAGNETIC FASTENERS TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM RAIN AND DUST
• CONTENTS EASILY SEEN
• DIMENSIONS 16" x 11 %" x 6" approx
MAKING IT CLEAR
If you're planning, charting, lecturing, teaching, training, controlling, programming, or just doodling, make it clear - with Magiboards
Only Magiboards offer the visual aid versatility of whiteboards, chalkboards , mobile stands, year planners, graph boards, flipcharts, pinboards, marker pens, magnetic displays, even music teaching boards.
We make ordering clear too A simple-to-usemail order catalogue, illustrated in colour, makes everything clear. Send for your free copy today.
SEPTEMBER is often one of the loveliest months of the year, especially jf one has the good fortune to live in or be able to visit the country. There's a stimulating freshness about the slight touch of autumn in the air, yet a feeling of warm comfort in the sunshine that dispels the dews and mists of early morning. Holidays are over and we have passed the stage of being either frustrated or relieved by what Libby Purves described on the radio the other day as the 'wetter forecast' and by the unfulfilled promise of the man from Bognor Regis who, after 60 years' detailed study of weather patterns, assured us in early April that apart from an occasional short-lived dismal patch the climate would improve relentlessly through the summer until it reached the consistent nineties in August. The Times advised its readers to cut out this forecast and keep it in a safe place for the next four months. I did, but have today removed if from among my kitchen decorations and am planning to use it to light a ceremonial bonfire of the luxuriant weeds that a week's fine August weather in the seventies has at last enabled me to hoe up and dry off. Fortunately the prophecy didn't extent to September, so there's at least a chance that our lovely English autumn may run true to form.
September is the planning time, when with a holiday in the not too far distant past our energies are renewed and our minds receptive to fresh ideas. Training courses for the public in first aid and nursing (and apart from their value to the community we must never forget that they are the essential gateway to Brigade membership, so it's vitally important to make them well advertised, efficiently organised and genuinely interesting and attractive to those who attend); more elementary courses in basic first aid and, especially at this time nursing - the latter based on the eNO's new booklet 'Simple Nursing in the Home' which I hope that all divisions, both A and N, have studied by now. Then there's competition work to plan; and when you're considering what competitions to enter ne t year, please don't forget to give the Welfare competition very eriou conrinued on p.
Anne is welcomed by the C -i n-C,
Princess Anne at Cadet Rally
MORE than 2000 cadets from four counties - Hampshire, Kent, Surrey (including the Channel Islands) and Sussex - were on parade with the Southwick SJA Band at Reigate Priory on June 28 for an inspection by their Commandant -i n-C hief HRH The Princess Anne.
This annual cadet rally included demonstrations and displays from stretcher drill to boating and car maintenance - by cadets from each of the counties. Twenty-two cadets had the honour of receiving their Grand Prio r Awards from their Commandant-in-Chief. And Cadet Bands from the four counties gave demonstrations of marching and playing.
Before leaving, Princes s Anne wa s presented with a photographic record of the day by Surre y Commissioner Mr H. C. Hygate.
(Right and below) Inspe cting the guard of honour, with the Surr ey Commissioner and County Sarg ea n Major D C. Bayliss
(Below) Chatting to Or O Christine Mannel, of Southsea and Milton Quad Div sion , who organised the 0 of E Award Scheme display for Hampshire
Photos by Surrey Mirro r Group of Newspapers
96
Going QUADRILATERAL - and
what it meant to one division
WH Y quadrilateral? That was the question man y asked when steps were being taken to turn our division of ambulance and nursing cadet s into a quadrilateral division.
Bu t let's go back In the early 1970s a small group of young people got together in Bl ythe Bridge, a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, to learn first aid In our semi-rural area St John Cadets were unheard of, but slowly th e new venture began to gather momentum as more people were told what it was all about. This introduction of SJA cadets into the area progressed under the guidance of Di v/ Supt Bernard Byrne, who in 1972 was promoted to Area Staff Officer (A / C); he is now the Area Commissioner. Div / Officer Maureen Upton became superintendent and th e Division's membership continued to gr o w rapidly.
The cadets took part in all the local events, so they gained much publicity, The pu bli c became very aware of their activities and young people soon came along to find out what these St John cadets were doing, Many of course, stayed and are still with us
The real challenge now began. With an ever increasing number of young people of varying ages joining us, we found that a well planned programme was essential. Al s o [he programme had to be strictly adhered to, and include adventure and social activities as well as the subjects to comply with the requirements of cadet efficiency and their aim towards the much co veted Grand Prior's Badge.
The programme, which became the divisional bible, was prepared for a sixmonth period. Courses were planned, fund raising events arranged, and walks when the divisional HQ (school premises) were closed. We felt the need to keep together at all times as a family. The programme also included fishing, canoeing, clay pigeon shooting, etc. By this time the Division had become affiliated to the local Youth and Community Department, which helped tremendously with adventure activities, as there was a wide range of projects available to us . Also the courses were inexpensive and there were experienced tutors and instructors. This participation with other youth groups encouraged growth , as our teaching of first aid also meant adventure and fun We entered first aid competitions, floats for carnivals, flower arranging festivals, everything that was going. But we never lost sight of our aims and motto of St John.
Ambulance cadets took their preliminary home nursing certificates with nursing cadets. Why not? we asked ourselves. The policy continues today. Never has there been an ambu lance cadet or member at Blythe Bridge without his nursing cert ificate. It has always been the accepted p r inciple here, giving rise to no problems whatsoever.
But to come to problems that did arise and why we went quadrilateral. Cadets soon reached the age when they were adults, having taken their adult certificates,
but they wanted to r e main together i n he Division in which t hey had s hare d s o mu c h. They put those v ie ws ver y s tron g ly Ho w were we to bridge the gap and k eep everyone happy? So began the lo ng discussion s and corr es pond e n ce that w o ul d keep us all together a s a quadrila te r a l division.
The situation w a s no t r es ol ved overni g h t as those who have experienced s imil ar problems will know only too well. Area a nd County staff visited t he Divi s ion for furth er discussions. And then in 1974 form s we re allowed to be submitted for the regi s trati o n of a quadrilateral divi s ion
The need now wa s for adult s to join us and for instructor s to tak e th e adult courses, so that training could continue fo r the ex-cadets. And for the continu a tion o f the separate cadet section s, whi c h mu st retain their standard s and remain an important part of the structure of thi s 'Quad' division
Again this proved a slow proce ss and a heavy burden for the officer s and cad e leaders, bu eventually the vacancies w e re filled and life became ea s ier.
Our members found, and still find, that a quadrilateral division can work providing the work is done together The key word is TEAMWORK.
In 1977 Maureen Upton left the Division to become Area Staff Officer (NC), which she still holds along with the job of Northern Area public relations officer. A/M Brian Clare became DO/Supt by a
serie s of pre-promotion course s , and he is now backed by four DO s : Peter Myatt, who has sailed on the Malcolm Miller on a sail training c our s e ; his wife Su san; Ali s on Lowe, a one-time Mytchett convention attender; and the late s t Marie Deakin, who has also attended Mytchett. Three of these officer s ar e ex - cad ets, t wo being Grand Prior' s Badge holder s. Problem s that ari se within t he Division ar e fa ce d togeth e r , and in thi s way they are over c om e p r o vidin g commonsen se prevail s Discussion g roup s are a mu s t. The family unit is a mu s t. In our ever - changing world the experience of adult s and cadets together can offe r a great deal for the future of the Brigad e A Quadrilateral Divi s ion work s at Blythe Bridge. Th e image of St John is enhanced by ser v ice and devo t ion, throu g h t ea rs and laugh ter, and above all through the s haring o f the Divi s ion - of which all are proud.
The Di vision s tarted 1980 with an ambulance pre sented to them by the Round Table and work is being carried out on a cara van (given by a local bu s ines s man) which is to be u sed a s a mob i le unit.
Members of the Duke of Edinburgh s Award Sc heme are also working on this unit, which will s oon be ready for du t ies, with adults and cadet s working together as a team.
The Division's total strength is now 95, and everyone is convinced that going quadrilateral was the right decision.
Cadets move easily to the adult section, where the adventure type programme they enjoy so much is still available. It is hoped that these young people will pass on this spirit to other young people, who will then join them in sharing the life of our great family of St John.
Problems
In many cases it is found that cadets want to join the adults before the permitted age, so they are encouraged to join some of the
adult classe s or to act as casualties Th e y may join a planned discussion, where their views can only add comment, and this sharing of ideas helps the relation s hip s In s ome ca s es cadet s are reluctant to move into the adults, but by the officer's handling of the situation, sometimes with kid-glove s and if the cade t is given time, the problem is soon overcome The o v erall picture shows that becau s e of the one complete unit the flow from cadet to adult is a natural process The only problem among cadets which sometimes doe s s low down thi s natural flow is the individual standard of education, but by understanding the importance of this and b y giving time to a cadet who is studying, we keep them . On meeting nights cadets and adults meet together notices are read , duty ro t a s arranged and then t he Di vi sion divides into the various classes that are taking place. Space can be a problem. With a divi s ion of our size facilities must be available for complete separation of groups, so that
Going up .
DORSET Camborne
Combined Division s recent fund raising day included an airlift by a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose of a simulated spinal injury patient brought to the sc ene by the Division s ambulance The casualty a RNAS WREN was transf e rred from an orthopaedic stretcher to a suspended basket stretcher
lecturers, examiners and s peaker s can carr y out t heir programme without interruption.
The school which is our headquarter s no w allows u s to use five classroom s, but in the early days we had much less space. And cadets, as we all know, cannot be ex pe ct ed to be silent for 1 Y2 hour s.
During the summer the programme encourages outdoor acti vities , seriou s s tud y being devoted to the winter month s. Of course per s onalitie s do cla s h sometimes during the man y acti vit ies , but come what may the o verall effect of being a quadrilateral division is nothing but good Finance in the form of funds does not cause any problems between the cad e t and the adult sections, as they work toge t her at fund raising, knowing that the result is for their mutual benefit. Again this helps in th e flow from cadet to adults.
To summarise: the journe y w a s difficul t, but there is now a feeling of satisfaction Of course there will always be difficul t ies ahead, As there have been in the pa s t. But we'll face them together. As one. M. U.
The Grand Prior talks to so m e of the nursing cadets on parade
Following His Roya l Highness are the Bailiff of Guernsey His Excellency the Lieu enant - Go v ernor , th e Bailiwic k Commissioner and on th e extreme left, the Commissioner- in-Chief
HRH The Duke of Gloucester , Grand Prior of the Order of St John, visited the Bailiwick of Guernsey in June for the annual review and inspection of the Brigade. Travelling in an aircraft of the Queen's Flight , the Duke landed at Guernsey Airport in glorious sunshine, and was met b y the Queen's representative in the Island, Lieutenan t -Governor Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Ie Cheminant.
The Commis s ioner-in-Chief MajorGeneral P R. Leuchars, arrived a t t he parade ground first, and wa s fo llow e d by the civil head o f the I sland, Bailiff Sir John Loveridge, who is Pre sident of St John and Chairman of the Council. Accompanying the Bailiff was Lady Loveridge, Bailiwick Vice-President of St John. The Grand Prior , with the LieutGovernor and Lady Ie Cheminant, was
Bail wi ck Commissioner Mr Harold Touze au receives a
Grand Prior visits SJA Guernsey
welco med by Bailiwick Commissioner Mr Haro ld Touzeau, and after the Royal Salute was in vited to inspect h e divisions on parade.
At t he conclusion of the review Prince Richard presented severa awards before addressing the parade. He was particularly pleased, he said, to visit Guernsey, as he had n oted the remarkable s u ccesses of its competition teams in recent years, and had heard much of t he exp lo its of the ambu lan ce and rescue service. He r emi nded onlookers that Guernsey was t h e only place in the British Isles where St John runs the profession al ambulance service -a nd one which provides an amphibious service as well. Hi s Royal Highness commented that the gallant cliff rescues performed by St John in Guernsey are we ll known, and he was pleased to be able to meet the m en who m a de up this organisation Later, the Grand Prior atten ded a lun c heon in hi s honour , a nd following the loyal toa st he spoke briefly to the distinguished guests.
'I have visited m e mber s of St John in many parts of this co un r y,' he said, 'and indeed other co un tr ie s as we ll, and it is alwa ys rea ss uring to see the famili ar uniform s and badge s, but the mo st impressive a s pect of St John is not so mething which can be ex p resse d b y such symbols. It is the dedi cat ion with which men and women, not forgetting the ca d ets, sa crifi ce their time and their efforts so t h at they are capable of helpin g t heir neighbour s in times of di saste r.
'A voluntary organisation like St John is very dependent on the goodwill of th e general public in its locality. In Guernsey this ha s been forthcoming, but I hop e Guernsey people appreciate the hi g h re ga rd in which Guernsey first aid team s are held by the rest of St John when they compete so regularly for the top prizes in the national
competitions.
'It is not only the dummy runs that you excel at, but al s o the complications and risks of cli Ff re s cue s [t would seem al mo st as if you need the tourists here so that you can res c u e them dramati ca ll y!' sa id the Du ke.
.
In conclusion h e sai d: It only remam s for me to thank you For invitin g me and giving me this excuse to visit your beautiful is land , and a lso for raising one's moral and restor in g one's faith in human nature by meeting so many highl y principled a nd dedicated p eop le all at once.'
Prince Ri c hard left s hortl y afterwards to be taken on a co ndu cted tour of the island before visiting the headquarter s of the St John Ambu la n ce and Re sc ue Service in Guernsey.
Fo ll ow in g this visit, His Royal Highnes s attended a recept io n where members of the States of Guernsey (the Island's Pa rli ame nt) were presented to the Duke , and members of St J oh n al so had the opportunity to meet the G ran d Prior informally.
After an extremely bu sy day, Hi s Royal Highness left the Is land in the early evening.
N. R. Tucker
SJA BANDS
at Royal Tournament
AT the St John Ambulance ni g h t of the Royal Tournament at Earls Court on July 2 1, whe n the Duk e of Kent took the salute, the Southport SJ Silver Band was led in to t h e are n a for their first performance at the tourna m ent by the SJ So u t h wark Ba n d of drums and trumpets.
The Southport b a nd, fo rm ed in 1955, is a co n ce r t grou p of 34 member s (aged 14 t o 50) who pla yed a m ed le y of popular mu sic from the ce n t r e of the arena They also appeared on the evening in front of the SJA sta nd which was in operation at Ea rl s Cou rt throu g hout th e tournament for t night.
The Grand Prior accompanied by Chief Officer Mr R. Herve, inspects members and vehicles of the St John Ambulance and Rescue Service
Sout hport SJ Silver Band's first performance at the Royal T ournament. (Above) In the foyer of Earls Court and (below ) in the arena
BRIGADE FINALS
At the Brigade Finals the Ellis Cup, awarded to the team leader with the highest marks in the individual tests, was incorrectly awarded (due to an error of compilation) to Donisthorpe Colliery Ambulance Division, who finished first. The winner of the Ellis Cup should have been - and is - Redruth Ambulance Division, Cornwall.
UP AND AWAY
I hear that Suffolk's Beccles Combined Division members, going on duty at a local airfield, which mainly services North Sea oil rigs, for British Airways open day during June, were taken for a flight around the area in a helicopter before the start of the day's events. Nice to see where you live from a bird's point of view. Thanks, BA's Capt D. Creamer, for the thought.
NEW COURSE STARTS IN
Maree Harris, of Weston-Super-Mare Nursing Division, writes:
The first of the new potential officer I NCO training courses to be held in England took place recently for eleven members at the A von county HQ in Bristol.
As candidates we assembled on the first training day to be warmly welcomed by Mr Anthony Robinson, county commissioner. The slight apprehension and nervousness felt by us all was quickly dispelled and Ian Bond, county training officer and organiser, spoke of the work before us.
This new course consisted of four fullday training sessions, spread over two months. Its aim was to provide a framework of theoretical and practical knowledge to enable candidates to carry out their duties within a division.
From ASO Reg Gale we learned the need for drill, dress inspection and discipline. By the time he had taught us the sequence of instruction, the timing and words of
AROUND and ABOUT
BY THE EDITOR
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD OF ST JOHN
100 TODAY
To
the
command, we were no longer strangers.
ASO Stuart Hadler instructed us in programme planning, so hopefully the day when divi sions meet and wonder what to do have passed. He made us aware of the essential components of a divisional programme and some of us have already put th is into practice.
Later in the afternoon Mr George Creech, assistant county commissioner, spoke on the organisation of the Order, Brigade and Association. An examination on the days talks rounded off the afternoon
During the second day, candidates had the mysteries of Brigade forms explained to them by CSOs Mrs Esme Perryman and Bernard Cutcliffe, who made this u s ually
SHOW
Blazers , Windsor on Oct 15 (Tickets
each) and a spo nso red greyhound race at Slou gh o n Oct 30. (Photo: Slough Windsor & Eton Express)
dull s ubject both n fo rmati ve and interestin g . We were made aware of the correct procedure in completing forms and the importance of se nd ing them in by a specified dat e.
One of the many assets of the course was that we met many staff officers who were previou s ly only names to us. We felt this personal contact made during t h e course will help forge closer links between division s, area and county.
Mr Bond organi se d roll p lay and although we we re ve ry se lf-consciou s at first, it did in fact prove to be great fun
When our efforts were r e play ed on the video recorder it was not difficult to find faults in ourselves, and hopefull y we now know better.
CSO Philip Mansell demon strated a variety of visual aids ranging from a hom e made flannel-graph to the more expensive projected aids.
Learning the basic principles and technique s of in st ruction were o f immense value, as each candidate had to give a five minute talk on Knowledge of the Order. Here again, the video recorder highlighted our many di st ra ct ing mannerism s and added much laughter to the day 's events.
The final day came all too quickly and we were honoured with a visit from Brigadier Semple, the chief training officer, who spoke on leadership
There was a certain amount of home study for us and we all prepared a half- hour instruction s ess ion on a given first aid topic. Most of the nervousness we felt at speaking
to an a udi
at t h e beginning had eva porat ed b y th e end of the co ur se, an d we we re impressed with the immense potential shown b y our colleagues. As he first candidates to attend t hi s course, we are grateful to Mr Bond and his team of officers who through the ir hard work made this s uch an outstand ing success Throughout the course we were be ing assessed and have s in ce learned t ha all cand id ates who comp eted t h e t r ai ning are now e li gib e for promotion.
50 YEAR SUBSCRIBER
Mr R J. Gristock, of Chertsey, Surrey, returned his ubs cription renewal form to Review Sales last month with a note: 'J have subsc ribed to the Review since 1930 - 50 years A rec ord?'
I s hould think t hat could we ll be a record of reader hip, Mr Gristock. Congrat ulation s. Oh - and tha nk s for the renewa l cheque.
GARDEN OF EDEN ?
Wellingborough HQ Ambulance Division started J 979 in a bad way, their secretary Murray Pri cott tell me. [I wa just ticking over with a fe w members, a J 964 am bul ance on its last legs, fall in g finances a nd t oo many demands for the few to cope with. An earlier attempt b y the Di visio n to com bine
LAUGHS
WITH GRANDAD
7th BAR
t)
,
and
Northants Thrapston Combined Division's sponsored Leap for St John in June resulted in 38 of 40 members (aged 8 to 30 + year olds) completing 100 leaps within 10 minutes, and three managed over 200 - on a very hot evening too. Here's Junior Keith Morson showing how easy it is to clear Paul Borrett. Everyone thought it was great fun. So did the ambulance appeal - by £500
(Right) Another sporty member, N/M Mrs Audrey Sherrard of Avon's Clevedon Combined Division, sets off on a sponsored walk with her Labrador Ebbie (looks hot already, doesn't he?) and 34 other members and friends to raise £600 towards their _ new HQ. Ebbie, by the way, is dog language for Ebony. Ebony, black, see?
failed when the nursing division collapsed. (they had left it too late).
And then things began to look up for Wellingborough. The County Commissioner announced that there was to be county help for many divisions in Northamptonshire to replace ambulances - and Wellingborough was one of them. They were to receive the proceeds of a sale of oil painting s of the Prince of Wales out with the local hunt. With this money plus what they could raise they hoped to buy a 4-wheel drive vehicle to tow the Area caravan unit, which was proving too much for their ageing ambulance.
Then in September they had a good public response to their annual first aid class, which included several ladies who, after being chatted-up by members, decided they'd like to joint the Division. Getting cosy" isn't it? Anyway, this is what Wellingborough had decided they wanted - no, needed - to survive. So now, before the ladies could change their minds, in went their application to go combined, which was confirmed in the New Year.
In March the whole Division went on a home nursing course (the ladies were obviously influencing the lads), because1, the NIMs had a year to getrthrough their exams, and 2, none of the AIMs held a current certificate; and this was the Year of Nursing, after all.
Not only did they all pass the course, run by a local nursing division, but some of the host members were so impressed by this new-image division that they desert -
202
sorry, transferred to them. (I bet Wellingborough HQ members won't be invited- there again.)
More good news then came on the ambulance front - for nothing succeeds like success. Funds given to SJA Northants by Formula One Racing driver Guy , Edwards, who races for charity in the Auroxa series, were passed to the Division. And so they could buy a 4-wheel drive Cherokee jeep, which is now being converted. The old ambulance is going to a neighbouring division.
Wellingborough HQ Combined Division has come a long way in 18 months. Meetings are exciting (because they feel more could happen yet), there are new duties (they took over a dragway meeting from the R C the other day), the new ambulance, they're working on plans for a new building, and of course the new members. Ah - maybe there's the nub. The new members
As secretary Murray finishes his story to me: 'If any division is feeling stale or dying off, try to combine - but get some members of the opposite sex. We did and can recommend it.'
Try what comes naturally, in other words.
BELT UP
In a study of over] ,000 car accidents, only three vehicles caught fire and one sank in deep water. It is assessed that over 700 drivers owed their live s and over 800 avoided injuries leading to fatality because
they were wearing seat-belts. Yet it is believed that three out of four motorists still neglect to put on their belts every time that they drive.
So belt up before you belt off.
THANKS CHARLIE
Charles Green of The Gate -: I'm sure many of you know him for he's often on the Supplies stand at conference s, competitions, etc. - completed 60 years with the Order last May and, 15 years after retirement, is still on ceremonial duties as Grand Priory Verger. At a recent meeting of Chapter General his services were recorded with a big 'Thanks'.
NOT HERTS
Due to a printing error, August's At Random stated that Miss Romilly joined SJA as County Superintendent for Hertfordshire, which should have read Herefordshire.
CONCERT
The newly -for med Order of St John Musical Society is holding a Royal Gala Concert at London's Guildhall on October 23 which will be attended by Princess Alice , Duchess of Gloucester.
The concert, given by The English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Kraemer, will include guest appearances by two of the world's leading opera singers , Katia Ricciarelli and Jose Carreras. Tickets - £7, £12, £20 and £25 (includ ing wine) - are available from Miss Janice Fittall, The Order of St John, Grosvenor Crescent, London SWIX 7EF.
MIND
consideration, more especially in the light of what I told you about it in July 'At Random' - full details of its conditions are due to appear in this month's Brigade General Circular. By the time that you've finished all the planning that I've mentioned so there probably won't be many gaps In your divisional programme for the autumn, winter and spring. But there'll be other events that you'll want to include, and it's well to ensure that you fit them in now, or you may find later on that they've been crowded out by s heer lack of suitable free dates. Above all, look out for more new members, and then still more. The likelihood of your findi ng them will very largely depend on the extent to which you really enjoy - and can ' be seen by your friends to enjoy - what you yourselves do as divi siona l members, and make others feel sure of a welcome when they show sig ns of wanting to share in your enjoyment. We shall all do well to remember what the Commissioner-in-Chief said about recruitment at this year's Foundation Conference: 'Good officers and realistic, well organised training is what our members want, and our best recruiting agent is the well satisfied member.' But as well as that, we've got to make our friends feel genuinely welcome to share in our enjoyment, and persuade t hem (because it's true!) that with a little interest and perseverance they won't find it difficult to master the necessary skills. In the final analysis, the camaraderie of St John (like so many other spiritual qualities) is something that's 'caught', not taught, and the onus lies on us who've already become infected with it to pass on that infection to others.
Why competitions?
Another important point that has been repeatedly stressed by successive Commissioners-in-Chief and others, and more than once plugged in this column in the past, is that the two chief values of first aid and nursing competitions are (1) what we learn by our mistakes, and (2) what we can pass on to others by sharing with them the fruits of our experience. Our competitions would be of relatively little value if they did no more than breed an esoteric race of winners. All honour to those divisions that can boast a long record of past successes, but it's still more important to ensure that the 'rub-off' from our competition experience produces a steady flow of new names among the divisions that reach the finals at Croydon each year. This year I came across locally an idea which, though neither new nor original, could be much more widely put into practice, so I think it's worth passing on.
The Combined Division of which I'm now privileged to be President put in a nursing team which this year won the Area, County and Regional rounds and thus, for the first time ever, reached Croydon where they gained a creditably high place though without actually coming home with any
trophies. During the period .the Regionals and the Finals they were InVIted by a Combined Division in a neighbouring town (whom they had defeated in the Area round) to visit them one evening and take part in a team test and individual tests devised, stage d and judged by their hosts. This was an immense help to them, and a really splendid example of co-operative goodwill.
After the finals, our division invited thelr former hosts to become our guests for a similar event. The visitors fielded two teams which included several complete beginners at competition work, and in the course of a rather long July evening each of these teams was put through two team tests (one indoors and the other out) and one set of individual tests, followed by judges' comments, general discussion and light refreshments. I know that our guests enjoyed the experience and felt that they benefitted from it, while for our own people it was a most valuable exercise in devising and staging competition 'sets', making up casualties (some of whom were senior cadets) and ensuring the correct reaction by casualties to the treatment they received, judging and marking - and it's not all that di fficult to get hold of copies of old blank marking-sheets which help to keep ine xperienced judges on the rails. You may at first be surprised that on neither occasion were the two divisions competing against each other. Interdivisional competitions have their value, but so have occasions like these, when two divisions present each other in turn with situations which test their skills under realistic conditions; and apart from the training benefit to all who took part, both divisions attained a greater depth of experience and of friendship by working together in this way than they could possibly have done by working separately.
This was your life
In a few days' time I shall be going to a
'Retired Members' Tea Party in the county in which I served for 26 of my 38 years on the active list of the Brigade. 'What an absolutely splendid idea!' I thought when I received the invitation ; 'I wonder if any other counties do this.' I grant that a drive of just over 50 miles each way seemed a long way to go for a tea party; but the more I thought about it, the more determined I was to make the effort And a tea party on a summer afternoon with a long light evening for the return journey was a much better time for retired members to foregather than a more conventional type of reunion involving the hazards of winter travel and, for some, an overnight stay. And as to the distance, well, some will be living quite close at hand, and when I thought of others whom I shall hope to meet there, they include some who live at least as far away as myself. Thank you, whoever it was who dreamed up this lovely idea and made it become a reality! I often wish we did more to keep in touch with our retired members. It is not only right but essential that there should come a time for retirement from the active list, but it can be a very painful time if the retiring member is allowed to think - however mistakenly - that he or she is 'no longer wanted'. There are all sorts of useful jobs for St John that retired members can do, and sometimes do better than those who are younger; and the taking over of these jobs by those who have retired relieves the pressure on members who are still on the active list and would otherwise have [0 do them.
BUT - the one thing that the retired members must never forget is that they are no longer on the active list, no longer in executive positions, no longer covered by Brigade insurance policies, and many of them no longer in pos s ession of a currently valid qualification in first aid or nursing. They mustn't breathe down the necks of their successors; they mustn't expect to do the same things as they did in earlier years; and yet their help can still be invaluable in all sorts of ways if they're given the encouragement, the friendship and affection - and indeed the gratitudethat they deserve. So let's try to maintain a closer liaison with those of whose past service in St John it can truly be said 'This was your life'
ON MAY 9, the Banbury Cadet Band set off from their Divisional headquarters to play at the annual Festival of Cats at Ypres, Belgium. So far as I know, this is the first time that a St John unit from Britain has attended such an historic function in Belgium.
The band was invited to play in the festival after a discussion between Donald Claridge, the bandmaster, and Mr and Mrs Michael Hopkins, parents of two of the band members. Mr Claridge had said that his greatest dream was to take a few buglers to play the Last Post at the Menin Gate a War Memorial in Ypres commemorati'ng the thousands killed in World War One battles. There is a tradition that at eight o'clock every night since 1923 bugles have sounded the Last Post. Mrs Hopkins contacted the Secretary of the British Legion Club in Ypres to see if there was any possibility of such a thing taking place. The organisers of the event asked when the buglers would be able to travel over to play. Mr Claridge replied: AROUND THE MONTH OF MAY. The organisers wrote back and said: WHY NOT BRING THE WHOLE BAND AND JOIN IN THE FESTIVAL OF THE CATS.
Up until this stage in the planning the three had kept the whole project very hushhush, for obvious reasons. Now it was time to spring the surprise on the youngsters and their parents. You can imagine the excitement with which the news was received!
However, being St John there was a little red tape involved. Don Claridge wrote to County Headquarters in Oxford asking for permission to visit an overseas country with a St John unit. Through the normal channels permission was granted. A group passport had to be obtained for those under eighteen, and visitors passports for those adults without a full passport. Insurance also had to be obtained.
Transport had to be arranged. Luckily, another ambulance member/parent, Henry Huckfield, works for a local coach firm (as a matter of fact, Henry drives the coach for most of the band engagements). At this stage certain parents who generally help out with the band were recruited; they not only
Into Europe
SJA Banbury's Cadet Band goes to the Festival of Cats at Ypres
had to pay their fare but also had to be responsible for a sma ll group of the band' s children.
Accommodation also had to be arranged. The people of Ypres were most kind in obtaining several rooms in the local barracks, and food was provided at a large cafe in the town.
And so it was time to leave Banbury on the venture. Everyone was to meet at Headquarters at 08.00 on the morning of Friday, May 9. Everyone was there at that time except one of t he older members, who broke down on the motorway travelling from Bath the night before, and didn't make the trip. Henry Huckfield started the engine at 8.10 and the band was off!
One can imagine the atmosphere as the coach drew ou t of Banbury. The 55 or so people on board were filled with mixed emotions of excitement, pride, fear (that hey might forget a certain piece of drill or music in all the excitement), and of course the odd bout of travel s icknes s.
The journey by ferry from Dover to Ostend was a new experience for many of the travellers (we might even call them
Festival of Cats
Through th e ages cats and witches have been closely associated in many countries and regarded as bad omens - bringers of bad luck and misfortune. Once a year in the area of Ypres, in Belgium , there used to be a 'sp ring clean of the town when, the sto ry goes, stray cats were thrown from the castles and buildings. Today this is commemorated by the Festival of Cats, which includes a procession of cats, the burning of the witch in the town square and imitation cats are thrown from the tower of the Cloth Hall. So - to aLI pussy cats - keep away from Ypres
through Diksmuidepoort to the town centre for the beginning of the Festival of the The band then had the honour of leading the proces sion (which also included the Sittingbourne T A VR band and two Belgian band s) to Menenpoorte , the Menin Gate, for the sta rt of t he nightly memorial ceremony. The band st ood behind four Ypriana buglers who played the Last Po st. T heir turn would come the next night.
Then on to Kauwekijnstraat, Cartonstraa t to St Maurten s plein, between the giant Cloth Hall and the Cathedral. The procession reorgani sed so that each visiting band could ead the parade at one stage or another, After marching through the massive archway of the Cloth Hall the band gave a performance b y itself. The yo ungsters received a standing ovation, even before comp eting their performance _ the organisers said it was t he first t ime in t he hi story of the festival that a band had rece ived such a reception Isn't that a cre dit to the youngsters, and aren't these youngsters a credit to St John?
minstrels now) bu t the weather was on a turn for the better.
The day of travelling - 170 miles, 13 hours in all - was over as th e coach drove through beautiful Belgium countryside to Ypres, where the band was met and welcomed by Mr Lloyd Mr Arnold and Mrs Pannekoucke (who admitted to the chil dren that her surname was the Belgian version of Pancake), who had corresponded with Messrs Claridge and Hopkins.
A few more miles and the coach drew into the Lille Road Barracks , where the 55 were to sleep , First, though, a meal; much needed by a ll. And then to bed Howev er the younger members, even th'ough tired f rom all the travelling, took rather a lon g while to sett le down in their excitement.
Our digs
Each of the rooms had 24 beds bunkstyle (a new experience for many' or the ladie s!) and were kitted out with army-style blankets, a few sheets and (horrors!) no pillowcases. However, as it was only the women who'd moan about such things, the men were not too perturbed by the conditions. The t hin g that many of the youngsters remember was the Belgian-style sanitation (l will not go any further into hat).
On Saturday morning, after an armysty le breakfa st (no plates - but mercifully clean tabletops) the band was driven to Tyne Cot Cemetary, where thousands of so ldier s were buried after the Battle of Passendale in the First War. Then the band visited Hill 62 , where trenches dug during the battle may st ill be seen. This was a pu rely tourist visit. Our work was to begin in the evening.
At 7.25 that evening the band marched
time of 10 o'clock. After a short ride to Rijselpoort (Lille Gate) the band prepared to march through the s treets of Ypres prior to the main proce ssion. At 11.00 lar ge bunche s of balloons were released from the town s quare A lo ca l doctor's wife very kindly gave the youngsters refreshments as they stoo d, hot and already exhausted, waiting for the procession to move off.
The band then moved off on a len gthy march t hrough the cobbled back streets of Ypr es, playing at their best. The festival wa s organised like a mili ta r y operation. If one group was running ahead of time, they were s lowed down; lik ewise, anyone behind sc hedule was made to hurry up. Strict timing was upheld at all times.
Marching order
The first night of the festiva l had left the members of the band physically s hattered for they had walked for miles. It had a so made them feel proud indeed of the ir uniforms and the Oxfordshire Co unty Cadet Flag wh ich was being carried behind the m by their Divisional Superintendent John Cyphus, Henry Huckfield and Mick Hopkins, all in St John uniform . There was no difficulty in getting anyone to s le ep that night, as you can imagine.
On Sunday morning, Mrs Pannekoucke and Mr Loui s Lens met the band at the Barracks at the slightly more reasonable
The afternoon of hard work so tired the band you ng ste r s that they had to be driven back to the Barracks to rest in order to be fit enough for the night's events. The band missed seei n g the actual Cats procession, around which the festival revolves, but they re-appeared in time to march to the Menin Gate playing t heir traditional 'marching order' on bugl es, drums and the newly acquired bell-lyres. By coincidence, the bell yres were playing 'It's a long way to Tipperary' as t he y approached the Gate.
The crowd, many of them war veterans, immediately picked up the tune and sa ng the song out loud, quite spontaneously. This made the already powerful atmosphere even more so. Many of the onlookers were obviously moved, and there were tears in many an eye,
Then, the climax. The fulfilment of Don
Claridge' S dream. The band of the Banbury Divi s ion St John Ambulance Cadets, s tood solemn ly to attention as they sounded the La s t Post. The haunting tune, played by many a bugler in tribute to those who fought for the freedom we enjoy todayand more recently for Lord Loui s Mountbatten - rang out among the memorials, played by youngsters between eight and eighteen years of age, too young to know of war and its horrors. The crowd was si len t. Bill Frost one of the parent s, laid a wreath in memory of an uncle killed during the strife beneath his name on the memorial. For the traditional two minutes the scene was s ilent. Then the buglers of the town played Reveille, symbo li si ng re s urrection. The County of Oxford Cadet Flag, lowered by Mick Hopkins during the La st Po st, rose again in salute. That most poignant of moments -a sa lute to those we know only by names on monuments had fulfilled a dream, * The festival went on after supper. , with the band marching in procession through singing, cheering crowds to the Town Square for the ritual celebrations. There was an enormous bonfire onto which the effigies of witches were thrown. The band was welcomed and thanked by local dignitaries, including the Bu rgemeester - and gifts were exchanged, We were invited back next year. And then it was all over. The ne xt day we set off for home. Thanks to everyone involved in making this such a successful trip for the band and for St John. Tom Quinn
The band marching through Ypres town square to the Menin Gate
At the Menin Gate before the Last Post is played (L to R) A I M Henry Huckfield (who drove the coach), Cpl Mick Hopkins (with Standard) and DIS John Cyphus
first aid or nursing exercise to complete
Asking the local council if they have an empty house that you could use for a day - good practice in removing casualties.
Taking a photo of the whole division in uniform at the same time each year. This makes very keen viewing when the scrapbook is taken out!
Finding out if your local youth service runs inter-club quizzes. Local road safety officers and the police and fire brigades often do likewise. Local councils sometimes run suitable competitions al s o.
A po s ter competition for your juniors
Swanex Beach Explosion
ON June 26 the Swanage Combined Division carried out a very realistic exercise with H.M. Coastguard and the Swan age Lifeuoat. It was primarily devised and coordinated by the Divisional Superintendent, Mrs L. M. Fields, with the assistance of Mr L. J Avery, the Coastguard Sector Officer.
The Commissioner, Mr John BonhamCarter, and County Staff Officer Mrs r. W Bevan were carrying out the Division's annual inspection at the St John Ambulance beach hut on Swanage seafront at 1915 hours, when suddenly the proceedings were interrupted by a loud ex plosion with a heavy cloud of smoke erupting on board a cabin cruiser close inshore. It was obvious there had been a 'serious disaster', which was confirmed when a vehicle of the Coastguard Mobile Unit arrived to alert St John Ambulance.
The Divisional Superintendent was told that there were several severely injured people on the cruiser, and that the Lifeboat was already on its way with an inflatable
WHY NOT liven up your training evening with an interesting film? I know from my own experience that using films can consume much energy finding the right film, borrowing a projector, getting the right blackout, etc, but from a teaching point of view as well as maintaining interest films can, if properly used, be very valuable and worth the effort.
Equipment is the hardest thing to come by but it is not impossible to find. If your division is affiliated to the local Youth Service they may be able to help, and contacts with local school teachers may also be fruitful, as well as your local Association Centre. You could try another division and invite them along to your meeting.
Regular readers of the Review will know of the Visual Aids catalogues prepared by the Visual Aids Committee and available through the Supplies Department. This booklet and its new supplement provides a very useful supply of information in
boat to ferry the casualties to the beach.
The Division was asked to receive the casualties, treat them , and evacuate those requiring further treatment to hospital.
Six casualties were brought ashore:
1. A young female adult who had been thrown overboard and was suffering from exposure and s hock. She had to be resuscitated - this was simulated on a manikin on shore. (In normal conditions this would be carried out by the Lifeboat crew, due to the urgency of such treatment)
2. A small girl suffering from s hock and very distressed.
3. A man with severe burn s on his legs, badly shocked and losing consciousness.
4. A young woman with blast injurie s
5. A young woman with cuts and glass on her face, and a fractured right arm.
6. A woman with a badly cut hand.
Also in the crowd wa s a diabetic patient requiring assistance
Casualties 1 to 4 were taken on s tretchers
CADET CHAT
by JIM
addition to reviews of the films. Visual Aids Section at HQ also has a number of films available at modest rates.
Another useful source of films is the Central Film Library which has just published its 1980-81 film catalogue, which is good value at £1.50. This catalogue lists hundreds of films covering a whole variety
to the beach hut, treated and tran s port ed to Swan age Hospital by an ambul a nce summoned from SJA Poole Casualty 5 was carried by the two-hand e d li f from the shore to the promenade and then to the beach hut in a wheelchair for fir s t aid treatment. Casualty 6 was able to wa lk to the beach hut after having her hand t rea te d Watching the exercise wa s the Ma yor of Swanage, Mr R. Robert s on, accomp anied by Councillor Mrs Craven; Purbe c k A rea President, Mrs N. C McClint ock, accompanied by Mr F. J. Be at tie , D i rector of the St John Ambulance A ss o c iati o n, New Zealand; Chairman of th e Di s tr ict Committee, Dr W E Hadd e n ; Di vis io nal Vice-President Mr R. F. T P o pe; and Divisional Surgeon Dr S H Pur ser. Also several hundred p e ople gath e r ed on the promenade and the bea c h to watc h , and an excellent c ommen tar y was giv e n over a public address s ys tem b y Mr G. W illy.
Some of the over- e nthu s iast ic wat c h e rs on the beach start ed to cro wd and o b s tru c t the first-aider s , and were c ontroll e d b y a very efficient Special Con s ta b le. Th is, o f co u rse, added to the reali s m o f t he occas ion
D I S Mr s Field s and a ll w ho he lp ed in the very con s iderable task o f pla nn in g and arranging the exer c ise a nd tho se who participated, are to be congr a tulat e d on a splendid training evening.
of topics - many on free loan. If you want a copy send £1.50 to Th e Ce n t r a l Fi lm Library , Bromyard A venue L o ndon W3 7JB
Programme ideas
Here are some ideas which I hope w ill be useful when trying to add variety to yo ur regular meeting s My thank s to Ke i h Harrison for them and man y more tha t he sent which will b e u sed in f utur e iss u es.
Have you any more?
Have you ever thought of:
Asking your Adult Divi sion to pla y your cadets at football, rounder s or any similar activity?
Making use of 'mums and dads '; one of them might have a hidden talent, eg, a swimming instructor who might help with a badge subject . Having a 'son and dad' or 'mother and daughter' evening, by pairing up a cad et and an adult member and giving them a
you with casualties for your n ex t ex erci se?
G a mes
Mid ni ght bowls: Played just like ordinary bowl s aiming to get the ball neare s t to th e jack - only played in the dark!
Ea s ter bowls: The s ame as normal bo w ls onl y played with eggs!
Bean Score: Place a dozen bean bags on the floor. A ss emble all cadets at one end of the hall a nd blindfold. Cadets then search for a bean bag by feel. Scoring points for ea c h bag c an be arranged.
Try a road safety poster followed by a recru iti ng po s ter.
Asking the lo cal drama group to provid e
Up the Pole: A similar blindfold game b est pla ye d in a large open space. Let all th e cadet s see a marker (another ca det) , blind f old all cad e ts and let them ge t a s clo se a s po ss ible t o the marker. Tell th em to
Militaria can mean Money
MILIT ARIA may sound like some form of disease. It is. It is he recently coined word f or the cra z e of collecting artifa c s conne ct ed with the armed forces of th e world . Button s, b a dge s , medals , sword s, de c orati o ns, h e adgear , uniform s, pouche s and sabreta c he s - all are now eagerl y sought by coll ector s. Recently J met Mr Hugh Kin g, of Farnham w ho s t he co-author of two volum es ca lled ' Head-dress Ba d ges of t he British Arm y' b y Kipling and Kin g, a nd i t oc curred to m e t hat we migh t be a ble to collect milita r ia to rai se fund s f or S t John A mbulance. I a s ked Mr Ki ng if he would help and h e readil y agreed. After c on s ultation wi th Headquarter s, it has be e n de c ided to launch an appeal t o Divisions to t r y among your selve s, your friend s and local p e ople to collec t mili tari a , and with the ass s tance of Mr K ing we w ill ass emble item s into collections for di sp osa l at a u c tion The la s t time this was don e on a large sc ale, ' Blue Peter ' rai sed £ 400,000 for th e Save the Children Fund.
W e propo se that items should be sent b y Di vis ions directly to me at Headquarter s and I will arrange for Mr King to mark e t them. 50070 of the retail price will go t o t he Divisions This will almo st certainly be more than you c ould get for th e m fr om a
FOR the f ourth year running, St John Ambulan ce in conjunction with Band Aid are running a First Aider of the Year competition. The preliminary newspape r competition will be published in the le a din g newspaper s of nine provincial cities. For th e first time, London will be included in th e competition , not hrough a newspaper but through the Radio Station, LBC (London Broadcasting Company). Entry form s f or people living in the London area will be obtainable from LBC or from Barrett Card Ltd., 2 Seaforth Place , Buckingham Gate , London, SW lE 6JP. During the we e k beginning September 8, questions from the competition itself will be asked over the air on the A.M. programme and there will also
stand sti ll w h e n t h ey are near the marker.
Com p e tition
Som e e n tr i es for the competit i on a nn ounced in the April is sue have been received but not as man y a s [ would like.
Ther efore t h e cl o sing date has been ex tended t o Octo b e r 1 to allow time for cad ets to work o n t he ess a ys during the new seaso n C oming soo n - look out for a po s ter co m petition fo r j u n ior s with very valuable p ri zes.
Se nd to I f you h ave anyt h ing to c on t ribute to this co lu m n p lease se nd it to Jim' 57 Morgan C r escent, T h eydon B o is, Epping E ss ex CMI67 D U.
For your Division and the whole organisation
loc a l dealer. And t hi s is particu larl y true wh er e items sent in from variou s so u rces ma ke a collection.
Our photograph shows a numb e r of item s which Mr King has in hi s ow n pe r s onal collection, some of which , as h e pu ts t , he has re scued over the yea rs. Thi s co ll ect ion s worth over £1 ,000. The y a r e a cross b e lt plate of the Selbourne Troop, H amps hire Yeomanr y Cavalry, of 1790, fo und in a farmhou s e chimney bre ast; an office r 's sword of the Farnham R ifle Volunte ers 1860, for years hangin g on a passag e wa y wall; a n officer 's s hak o, late V icto rian , of the Highland Li ght In fa n tr y, w hi c h spen t many year s in it s t in ca se u n d er a b ed ; tw o World War I medal s with th e r ecipie n t s R.F C. Log Book ; a R oyal Artille r y officer's helmet, which fo r year
First Aider of the Y ear competition
be a phone-in' about first aid.
Un like Last year, when this comp etit ion in vo lved a First Aid Week, this y ear 's event wi ll be conf i ned to an elimin a tin g n ewspaper competition, regional fin a ls to b e held during the latter half of Oc to ber a nd a National Final to be held in Lond o n i n November.
Th e newspaper competition will be twotiere d : Section I open to all over 16 , a nd S ection II for the under 16s. The ten b est
lay in a child's toy c h es t ; a gr oup of medals sent to t h e next of k in of a s ailor lost
amated regiments, which
mainly fo und in old ins and drawers. All these items ar e no w v aluable collector's pieces. S e rious collectors, museums and galleries will cherish and display them. They sh ould not be allowed to deteriorate. By resc uing s u ch items you will also be mak ing a big contribution to the funds of yo ur D iv isi on a nd the Brigade as a whole
So send in your c olle c tions to me here at Headquarters. GERALD E A STON Assisrant Commiss ion er- in -Chief entries will go fo rwa rd t o the regional competitions and th e wi nner will receive a cheque for £250 S eco nd and third prizewinners will receive a Ba nd A id first aid kit. T h e winner in the U nd e r 16s category will receive a radio cass e t te wor t h £ 50 , bu t will not compete in t he N at ional Finals in London.
St John Ambu la nc e wi ll set the questions in the newspape r co m p etit i on and act as j ud ge at t h e regi onal c o mpe t it i on s which will compr ise both a written and practical test. Member o f t h e Br igade will also act as j ud ges at the N at io n a l F i nal s in London
The National First A ider o f the Year wlll receive a cheque fo r £ 500 , and t he final event \\ ill be covere d li ve b y LBC.
ORDER
INVESTITURE
Comma n de (Brother) Alan Oakley John, MB, BS MRCS LR C P Deh (Middlesex).
Sir Lechm e re, Bt (Worce ster) Arthur Geoffrey Hick, MD , DPH MB , ChB (Cheshire)
Geo frey Gibson Bi s ley, OBE (Suffolk ). David Francis Rowlands, MB BS, MFC M DObst, RCOG (Berks) Robert Leonard Harvey (London). Edw a rd Coppin , QPM (Glo s). H e nry Hugh Pas c o e MBE (Cornwall) Commande r (Sister) Ann e tte, Lady Cecil (Ham s)
Officer (Brother)
M a jor Robert Ward Gleadow (N o rth Hu m bers de).
M a jor N o rman J a n Piet W a lk e r MB BC h BAO (Belfast).
Sir Wil iam Alli son Lee, OBE T D , DL (Co. Du rham).
Harold Stowell-Smith (Greater Man c h este r)
Ronald George Tope (Dev o n)
Keith White (Wes t York s).
Claren ce Parker Ea st man BEM ( Londo n).
Leon a rd Barker (North Humb e rsid e)
John Barrie Florentine QPM (Worcs )
An g us Herbert Ste ve nson (C h es hire).
Kenneth Raven sc roft Stan le y, FC A L a n cas e r).
Jame s George New combe, BEM (L o nd o n)
Robert Ian M oss ( Greater M a nche s te ).
Officer (Sister)
Gr o up C apta in Ire ne Jo yce H a rr is RR C, SCM (Ca mbs).
Alice Mary, Mrs C a rey, SRN ( Bu cks
Ali ce Noleen, Mr s Pappin (Surr ey )
M a jor Diana Ger ladine Mar y Anderso n , ARR C. S R N, SCM MTD (Kent)
Doreen Maud e, Mi ss Tipp e tt s, S RN SC M (Co rn wa ll ).
Associate Officer (Sister)
Riv k a Bett y, Mrs P earl (L o nd o n).
Serving Brother Anthony William Pate F C A (Worcs
Commander Anthony Jan Bate m a n (B ed ford).
Peter Laurie Smith (Tyne & W ea r)
Dennis Ar hur GJadwe ll (K e nt) Jack Hallam (Nott s)
Vernon Harcourt Collinge (Lan es ) Ge o ffre y Dent Evan s (Glo s) John Pollard, ERD, TD (W es t Midla n d s).
Jack Ly o n (South York s) Sydney Beres ford (Su ss ex) Bri a n Meredi h Sole (Glo s). Roy Arthur Penn y, SRN, RMN (Ken t Frederick W lli a m Cr o pper (Sou h Yo rk s John Murray Hors field (S Humber si de)
Ivan Chandra Godfr ey, MB, ChB (Staffs ) John James Andrew Blakel y, MD , D
rt S im o n , M B, Ch B F F A R C S Mid dx ).
Serving S s ter Oo n ag h , Mr s Ly n c h M B, C hB , BAO&LM (Mid d esex) Ve ro n ica Ann E li zabeth,
Distributed by: DNETS, Admiralty Films, Old Admiralty Build ing, Spring Garden s , London SW1A 2BE
Price: Hire - 1 day £6.33, 1 week £12.33. Purchase £111.04
T his film is about the prevention of death from drowning in cold water.
Appraisal: The Admiralty Films Divi s ion has produced over the year s a series of 16mm films not only of great importance to the Services not only to St John Ambulance and other Foundations but indeed to the public at large. This film, which is excellent, carries on that tradition of service
Though the film itself in the beginning shows the causes of Cold Shock, in the main it is an accident prevention film in respect of all who are engaged with activities near or on the water.
It is recommended for universal usage within St John Ambulance
Audience: Universal.
FIRST AID REFRESHER COURSE: SPINAL FRACTURES
Tape / slide programme. 31 slides. IS minutes.
Distributed by: The National Coal Board, Hobart House, Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7AE
Price: £9.00
Appraisal: Manifest ly, the treating of this specific part of first aid is not an easy subject; medical opinion is at times at variance to the Joint Manual of First Aid and a ll in all it is not easy to portray through the media of a static audio-visua l aid In these Circumstances, the National Coal Board have produced an excellent
competent
instructors.
FIRST AID REFRESHER COURSE: BURNS
Tape / slide programme.
Distributed by: The National Coal Board, Hobart House, Grosvenor Place, London SWIX 7AE
Price: £9.00
Appraisal: This revision programme on burns is excellent; it co ver s its subject concisely and will be an invaluable programme f or all St John Ambulance instructors. Recommended.
This film analyses seven case histories in an attempt to ex plain the cause and effects of burn accidents in the home.
Appraisal: This is a well made little film - pe r haps a shade long for its content. It analyses case histories in respect of burns and scald occasioned to children of a very young age. The purpose of the film manifestly is accident prevention and in this respect easily it achieves its objective. The film itself is suitable for universa l exhibition and t h e only drawback is that in the summing up the medical au horit y concerned does not advocate the use of cold water treatmen t. Recommended.
Audience: Uni ver al.
COLD SHOCK 16mm col. film (22 minutes)
ALEXANDRA PALACE
from S P. Kelly, Area Staff Officer
Those who read accounts and saw photographs of the fire at Alexandra Palace may wonder what there is to report about such an event in the Review. What the newsmed ia failed to report was that this expensive white elephant, or outstanding architectural curiodepending on your point of view - was a good friend to St John. Its closest attachment was that for twenty years, 1957 to 1977, i provided rooms - an eyrie! - as a meeting place for the then No 25 Wood Green Ambulance Division. Many a visitor reached for t he oxygen before attempting to scale the ste ep, and precarious lookin g, fire escape steps that clung to one of t he vast walls, near the top of which was the entrance to the meeting hall and sundry rooms. No need for over 65 medicals in those days. If you made it to the top of the stairs you were certainly fit enough to be in the Brigade.
Apart from this it had, for more years than members ca re to remember, been a venue for a rich kaleidoscope of events requiring St John to be in attendance.
Horse racing, roller skating, exhibitions, concerts, events large and small. Classical, rock , jazz, pop , religious and tribal music. Custom cars, vintage cars, bangers and motorc ycles, aeroplanes, hot air balloons and boats Slot machin es, electronic games, weighing machines and firearms of all kinds. Animals, birds and fish, domestic , wild and farm, alive and dead. For big business and for charity, f or competition prizes, for profit and for fun. Entertainment for all the family - for punk rockers at the People's Festival, for homosexual s at their Drag Ball, for communists and Royalty, for Methodist Youth Clubs and h ard drinking members of CAMRA at their respec t ive annual get-togethers. Sometimes a once only occasion, often a hardy annual.
All of these and many more have been at Ally Pally It was this ability to cater for all tastes and needs that made the Pally a public attraction and a varied and interesting duty venue for St John. Events will continue in marquees and, where appropriate, in the open air, and the Haringey Council has already decreed that a new Palace will rise from the ashes and £31 million insurance money. The immediate future may not be as hectic as the past, but I am s ure that when the Pally Mark 3 is unveiled we will again be back in brisk business.
The Ally Pally is dead - long live the Ally Pally. London S. P Kelly LONG SERVICE REUNION?
from C. R. Davies, County Secretary
After reading with interest the letter (May Review) on Long Service, it set me thinking of the wonderful comradeship and good times I have had during my Brigade Service.
Could not someone organise a function ba se d on a regimental reunion dinner for all members who have completed 45 years serv ice or more? Perhaps the Hospitillers Club, providing this is selfsupporting, or the Friends of St John could organise it. I am s ure it would be well supported.
While the accent is now on youth, we must remember it is those season€d members who have given the Brigade the prestige it has today -a point I am afraid often forgotten.
I would love to assist in organising such an event, but being in the Isle of Wight it would be rather difficult to attend meetings or discussions, but out of season a weekend seminar could be arranged over here.
Incidentally, I would be interested to hear from any Brigade member who served 1939-40 on 61 H.A.T ., R.A.M.C. County HQ, Wootton Bridge, 10 W C. R. Davis AMBULANCES
from G. F. Brown, Divisional Superintendent
I have just read the letters in the Review which refer to St John ambulances and the training of St John members in Ambulance Aid, and feel I must make comment.
I contend that an ambulance which is fitted with klaxons and blue lights designates that the vehicle is for carrying emergency cases, and should therefore be equipped for dealing with s uch. The pubfic does not differentiate between the full time serv ices and St John in time s of crisis.
As St John does not lay down a minimum standard of equipment (but it is high time they did), then the only safe thing to do is use the full time services' stan dards. I would be most embarrassed for my se lf
and St John to be faced with an incident which needed very basic equipment to better the patients' prognosis, only to find the emergency vehicle not even equipped with basic necessities.
Regarding the cost of equipment, it is not essential to use the same product that the fu ll time services use, as there are many products which perform as effectively which are relatively cheaper.
On t he question of training member s to use the equipment on ambulances, I would say that not only is it the responsibility of the Div. Supt. to ensure that the division's ambulances are fully roadworthy, etc, it shou ld also be his respon s ibility to ensure that they are adequately equipped and manned by trained crews.
I am sure the majority of divisions have access to persons properly qualified to train ambulance crews. If that should be an impossibility I feel the divi s ion s hould not use an emergency vehicle but rather a sitting ty pe vehicle not equ ipped with warning devices.
One correspondent notes the amount of money which is 'wasted' by St John, usually money ob ta ined from the public by various means What co ns titutes waste in this context obviously depends on the spender's point of view, but there is not much doubt in my mind that buying the mo st expensive eq uipm ent on the market (not always the best suited), and purchasing new ambulances to individual design for general publi c duty use, is a gross misuse of publ ic funds. If the vehicle was going to spe nd five or six days a week continually in use it would be a very different matter.
THANKS
from Mrs J. Porter
I was travelling back from Portsmouth rece ntly and we stopped at Bagshot motorway restaurant where I was unfortunate enough to have an accident while coming down some s tairs. Fortunately for me a member of St John Ambulance was quickly on the spot and patched me up very efficiently and I was able to carryon with my journey.
[ didn't get a chance to get his name and address but] would lik e him to know how grateful I am for hi s kindness.
From an old age pensioner.
Letchworth J essie Porter
HELP!
from Mrs D. Griffiths, Divisional Nursing Officer
Can readers help me? Recently I decided I would like to obtain an officer's lightweight black dress (as specified page 12 Nursing Dress Regulations) to wear as an alternative to the grey nursing dre ss for sum mer public duties But it has proved impossible to obtain this uniform.
Already armed with the knowledge that Supplies Dept (quote) 'does nOl s tock material or paper patterns for ligh tweig ht black dresses', I rang to enquire if they cou ld s u ggest so meone w h o did. I was told to buy my requiremenls from a 'local shop'. Having spe nt 1 Yz hours phoning shops in the Manchester area I find they are certa inl y not available here.
Why doesn't our Supplies Dept stoc k this particular dress pattern and material - as they seem to for other uniform s (grey dress, apron, cape, etc)?
Is there a nursing officer out there who s ports this rather sma rt (I think) lightweight dress and will reveal where she got it?
And hopefull y is there anyone prepared to sell such a uniform (size 14) - or are they too preciou s?
Please let me know so that maybe I loo can wear one by the summer '81!
69 Rossell Drive, Davyhulme, Manchester D. Griffiths
1981International Year of Disabled
Greater Manchester
Congratulatio ns to DI O Jack Dr nkwater of Altrincham Ambulance Division, awarded the BEM in the Queen's B irthday Honours list for servi ces to industry
A SJ family occasion.
Persons
EQUIPMENT
from Martin Newlan, Divisional Superintendent
G. F. Brown
A good, sou nd , secondha nd , suitable vehicle with adequate equipment and a trained crew is all I consider to be required by 95070 (7) of St John divisions, and it need not cost the earth. Cambs.
While sorting through old copies of the Review in preparation for moving house, I came across a brief article in the October 1976 issue describing a grasstrack motorcycle race meeting covered by Abingdon Division. After a ser iou s collision, three riders were gravely injured St John vehicles took them to hospital, one patient on oxygen, one resuscitated by a Stephenson Minuteman when he s topped breathing on route, and the last needing Entonox. The author sums up 'It is certain that had the Division not had the right equipment, and, more important, its members trained to u se it the day would have ended on a sad note St John Divisions must ha ve the best equipment po ss ible, and the training of m e mbers must be to a high standard'
Compare these se ntiments with Katie Pfister's report of the SJ Medical Conference in the July 1980 Review where she quotes the Chief Nursing Officer as sayi ng: 'The Public Duty Manual would soon be available and a course on its contents will probably be set up at a later date. The u se of oxygen in first aid was felt to be at best useless and at worst a hazard and was not advised'.
How many of your readers shared my amazement at this blank statement, and how many Divisions could offer evidence of the usefulness of oxygen therapy and oxygen resuscitators in St John Ambulance work? I appeal to them to write to the Review, to support my view that such equipment has a central place in modern, advanced, first aid provision for our public duties. Oxted, Surrey Martin Newlan
The official IYDP logo, adopted by the United Nations, represents two people holding hands in solidarity and support of each other in a position of equa lity It reflects equality, hope and support.
MANY St John members give caring help to the disabled through divisional activities, individual service to friends and neighbours, and by representing St John on local committees. So many will have alrea d y heard about IYDP and some are probably already involved in plans for events during 1981.
The emphasis that the Year will give to the needs of the disabled provides an opportunity for Divisions to find out if there is some worthwhile service for the disabled that they cou ld organise locally or take part in.
Also - and this is where cadets may be able to help - by giving information which wi ll contribute to the Child-to-child programme of the IYDP. For information on disabled children is urgently wanted.
A free copy of Chi ld-to- chi ld , published by Macmillan Press, and a set of Child-to-chi ld activity sheets will be se nt to anyone sending a real life description of how a child help s his or her disabled brother or sister, or the disabled child of a neighbour. These stories are urgently needed for the Child-to-child programme of the Internat ional Year of Disabled Persons.
Please send an account, long or short, to: Duncan Guthrie, Chi ldto-child Programme, c / o Institute of Child Health, 30 Guildford Street, London WCIN lEH
One of the priorities of IYDP is preven t ing disabili ty' Prevention of disability and prompt, accurate first aid go hand-in-hand. Does your Division use every possible means to ensure that every member is being trained to a high sta ndard, and also offer well-organised training for the general public?
Christine Best, Staff Officer to Supt-in-Chief
Area Commissioner Ted Higham his wife Gwyneth an ASO, with their daughter Elaine when she received her Grand Prior Award
All smiles from cadets of Urmston Quad Division a their presentat ion evening. Afterwards they took part in a sponsored Leap for St John raising more than £150
Commissioner Col. Robert Price with ASO John Murphy, at the recent Central Area inspection and church parade
NEWS from WALES
Annual investiture by the Prior, Lord Aberdare, Cardiff, July 12
Knight from Commander (Brother)
Jones Idris (Deceased 1980) (Mid Glamorgan) Nanney-Wynn, Lt.-Col. Edward Roger (Headquarters)
Dame from Commander (Sister) Wakefield, Mrs Eileen May (Headquarters)
Commander (Brother) from Officer
Davies, Edward John James, MB, ChB, MRCGP (Headquarters)
Talbot , Philip John (Mid Glamorgan)
Thomas Richard Ivor, BEM (Gwynedd )
Vowles, William Henry (Gwent)
Williams, John Owen, BEM (Gwynedd)
Commander (Brother)
Teni son, Richard Hanbury, Lord Lieutenan t, JP (Headquarters)
Commander (Sister) from Officer Chambers, Miss Doreen Edith, MB, ChB (Headquarters)
E vans, Miss Jean Christina, SRN, SCM, HV (Mid Glamorgan)
Morris, Lady Mair Eluned, SRN (S. Glamorgan) Rogers, Miss Patricia Mary (S. Glamorgan)
Officer (Brother) from Serving Brother
Burton , William Owen (Deceased 1980) (Dyfed)
Campbell, John Duncan (Headquarters)
Evans, Evan Llewelyn (Dyfed)
Ho we ll , Derryck Payne (S. Glamorgan)
Jones, Evan Lewis (Dyfed)
Jones Owen Richard (Gwynedd)
Powell, David Morgan (Gwent) Powles, Bernard (Mid Glamorgan) Smallcombe, Royston George (Headquarters)
Teat Edward John (Powys)
Tellem, Arnold Wedge (Mid Glamorgan)
Thomas, Tyssul Jones, MM (Dyfed) Wells, David Thomas Dr (Headquarters)
Officer (Brother) Beale , Derek John MB (Mid Glamorgan) Davies, David Gareth (Dyfed) Edwards, John Charles (S. Glamorgan) Harrison, Thomas (Headquarters) Jones, Danjel Aeron (Headquarters) King, William George (Headquarters) Law, Robert Henry (Gwynedd) Lloyd Robert John Herbert, Lt.-Col. (Headquar ters) McGregor, John Stuart (Headquarters) Notley, Frederick John (Gwent) Parkinson, Ewart West, BSc, CEng, DPA , FICE, PPRTPI (S. Glamorgan)
Officer (Sister) from Serving Sister Burton , Mary Agnes Mrs ( Dyfed) Cridland, Alma Jean Mrs (S. Glamorgan) Drummond, Jean Miss (Headquarters) Meades, Marjorie Geraldine Mrs (Mid Glamorgan) Nash, Lilian Dora Mrs (Headquarters) Partin, Mary Elizabeth Mrs ( W Glamorgan) Rees , Elizabeth Mrs (Headquarters) Robbins, Aileen Mrs (Dyfed) Sutton, Mary Miss (Dyfed) Wells, Janet MB, ChB (Headquarters) Whitfield, Annetta Mary Mrs (Dyfed)
Serving Brother Adams, Gerald Joseph Ronald (S. Glamorgan) Arundel, Peter (Mid Glamorgan) Barry, John Henr y (S. Glamorgan) Caswell, Cyril Gordon (Gwent) Christopher, Norman Richard (Gwent)
(Left) The Lord Mayor of Cardiff , Cllr John Edwards, who has long associations w it h SJA, is invested by the Prior as an Officer of the Order
The Prior , with guest of honour Sir Evelyn Shuckburgh , c hairman of the British Red Cross Society , approaching St John's Church , Cardiff, for a commemoration service
Colman, Frederick John (Gwent) Collier, John Alfred (Gwent)
Davies Benjamin John (Dyfed) Davies, Dougla s (W. Glamorgan)
Davies Michael , Lt.-Col. (Dyfed) Day, Ronald (Headquarters)
Howells, William Peter Col. OBE, TD, ADC, DL (Dyfed)
Hughes, Richard William (Gwynedd)
Hughes, William (Gwynedd)
Ingham, Eric (Gwent)
James, Kenneth Henry (Gwent)
Jenkins, Cyril Charles (W. G lamorgan)
Jones, John Derek (Clwyd)
Martin, Sidney Victor (Mid Glamorgan)
Mallhews, lorwerth Rees, Lt.-Col. BSc, MB, BCh
DCH (Mid Glamorgan)
McNair Gordon Peter, MB, FRCSE (Powys)
Milner, Cyr il Borthwick (S. Glamorgan)
Morri s, Arthur Haydn (W Glamorgan)
Pa scoe, Ronald (Mid Glamorgan)
Pa ssmo re, G y n (Mid Glamorgan)
Prew Roger Fred erick (S. Glamorgan)
Pridmore, William T homa s (W. Glamorgan)
Rees, C li ve (Dyfed)
Roberts, John E lli s (Gwy n edd)
Roderick, Thomas (Headquarters)
Smith, William Deni s (Mid Glamorgan)
Squires, Frederick James (Mid Glamorgan)
Thomas, David Michae (S. Glamo r gan)
Turne r, Robert William (Mid Glamorgan)
Williams, Daniel Owen (Clwyd)
Roger s Percy Elvet (Headquarters)
Williams David George (Mi d Glamorgan)
William s, Da vid William (Powys)
William s,
(Right) Cardiff, Ely and Fairwater Division's Superintendent, Mrs Alma Cridland, becomes an Officer of the Order
OVERSEAS
South Australia
St John in South Australia is responsible for the State's road and air ambulance services. Here, two of their Emcare (emergency care ambulances) attend a pile up at a busy city junction
Ne1Ns from Divisions/ Centres
Illuminated Roofsigns
RECONDITIONED AMBULANCES
Ford Transit V6 models fitted recon. engines (9-month Warranty)
Repainted. 1 year's MOT.
Fitted horns, beacons, etc.
£1,750 + VAT each.
V.F. SPECIALIST VEHICLES, Lady Ann Mills, Lady Ann Road, Batley, W. Yorks. (0924-474989)
by W A. Potter
Across 1. l\natomically speaking, t h e lower part appears to be of
alIty? (8) 5. A part of a poem describing one who is u nwilling (6).
10 Inexcusable in treating patient suffering severe ly from 15 Down (5). 11. Hinge joint such as the elbow (9). 12 The ce r vica l vertebrae form its skeleton (4). 13 A direction for a Queen of England (4). 14. Hesitation about the old anaesthetic (5). 17. Follicles of the ovary containing the ova (8) 19 Colour associated with envy and seasi c kness (5).21. Fatty Sub s tance secrete d b y g land s in the skin (5) 22. Hospital receptacle for a sec retion of the liver? (8). 24. Before noon one and a half is astray (5). 26. Skin irri tation from stitches (4). 28 Chief part of a foot (4). 30 Tissue forming skeleton of foetus (9) 32 Dental prosthes is (5). 33. Nose shap e common in congenital syphilis (6) 34 Its a shiner (5-3).
Down
1. E lement essential to normal functioning of thyroid gland (6). 2. Fold of dura mater separating the two hemi s pheres of the brain (4.7).
3 Beams for fish (4). 4. Wind instrument is a f un ctio nal uni t of the body (5). 6. Structure preventing regurgitation of blood in heart and veins (5).7. Strange spirit (3) 8. Making certain with nine rugs (8). 9 and 15 Dangerous bleeding, usually into the abdomen or chest (8 11). 15 See 9 Down 16. Soothing application obtained from lamb (4) 18. Variation of unailing hernia (8) 19. Manner o f walking (4). 20. Nothing coming before classic fracture in bone of the low er limb (2.6). 23. A cunning plan from sufferers from bronchitis? (6). 25. Expertise kills differen t ly (5) 27. A hundred dance in a basket (5). 29. Poem narrating heroic exploit (4). 31. Blood cell carrying oxygen to the tissues (3).
• MANUFACTURED FROM HIGH VISIBILITY INTERNATIONAL ORANGE COLOUR PLASTIC
• STRONG AND DURABLE
• WIPE CLEAN
• COMPLETE WITH "SNAP IN" STORAGE BRACKET FOR FIXING TO TI..jE WALL OR VEHICLE SIDE
• OPENS FLAT
• PARTITIONED INTERIOR
• CLEAR PLASTIC INTERIOR COVERS WITH MAGNETIC FASTENERS TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM RAIN AND DUST
• CONTENTS EASILY SEEN
• DIMENSIONS 16" x 11 *" x 6" approx
Maurice and Lady Dorman
Resusci De
Torso
and full body manikin
After 20 y ears , RESUSCI ANNE has been reborn with many new inn ovat ion s and mprovements that provide a greater m@asu re of versat ity, qua ity and durability.
Now RESUSCI ANNE i 5 available i n three versions:
RESUSCI ANNE COMPLETE in the FULL BODY version brings realism to your program. Prope r patient handling as well as the Obstructed Airway Manoeuvres ma y be practiced. It comes with a Signal Bo x and electronics that provide in sta nt correctiv e feedban k to the instructor and s t udent , and a Head Section Model to demonstrate opening of th e airway.
RESUSCI ANNE TORSO COMPLETE ha s a ll the features of the FULL BODY manikin , but comes without a rm s and legs and th e Head Sect io n Model
RESUSCI ANNE BASIC comes without the Signal Box and elec tro nics. It is
For more information contact: Vickers Limited Medical Engineering
essentially a practice manikin and s an idea supplement t o any program using the FULL BODY RESUSCI A N NE o r the TORSO COMPLETE
As your p r ogram grows, the RESUSCI ANNE models can grow too Th e Signal Box, electron cs, as well as arms an d l egs, can be a dd ed at a n y time. All RE S U SCI
ANNES come in th e sa m e s t urdy mould ed Carrying Case with extra D is posable L ungs as we ll as a complete Cleaning and Dis nfect io n Kit.
Now la rge and smal l CP R programs can enjo¥ t h e advantages of working with the real thirRESUSCI A NN E and the qual i ty that I,JS made LAERDAL t h e world leader in CPR training aids.
ST JOHN REVIEW
he lp and support by Sir Maurice Dorman
Your help and support
THIS must be a brief, personal message but I address it to all of you who are or have been serving in St John Ambulance wherever you may be.
First, I am proud to have been your Chief Commander and am grateful for all your help and support.
Second, I hand over to Major-General Peter Leuchars on October 1 and I know that you will help him as you have helped me. I shall keep in close touch with him and through him with you all.
Third, I am to be installed as Lord Prior on Wednesday, October 22. I face this unexpected and somewhat daunting prospect with the reassuring knowledge that I shall have the support of so many of you in St John Ambulance. I shall in a very real way re ly on this. You must know, as I do, that even with my experience of the Order's past and present, it can be no easy task to be called to become the leader of such a long-lived, distinguished and important undertaking as the Order and its Foundations - to which so many of you have given years of devoted voluntary service. I shall continue to need your help and support.
We are deep in debt to Lord Caccia for the responsibilities he has shouldered, for the unfailing interest he has taken in all aspects of the Order and its work, and for the very practical developments he has put in hand in support both of St John Ambulance and the Hospital. It will be my aim to continue where he has left off.
Our main purpose is to serve Our Lords and Masters the Sick - here is a tradition which is as relevant today as it was centuries ago. But what we must do is continually to reinterpret this great tradition in ways to suit both our own times and, so far as we can foresee them, times to come. Today we face new problems, but there are also new opportunities.
I cannot close without saying thank you to all those in Headquarters who have made m y task so much easier, who work together with a real will and whom I shall miss.
Lady Dorman joins with me in all I have written and we both say - God bless you all and your work.
The Lord Prior, Lord Caccia, retires
20th Century St John
The Chancellor, The Earl St Aldwyn, speaking at Chapter General on July 9 1980, said:
'YOUR announcement at the Mansion House on St John's Day that you were going to retire from the high office of Lord Prior at the end of September came as a great shock to all those who were present, especially members of Chapter-General. Your predecessor Lord Wakehurst started to bring St John out of the 19th century and into the 20th and was largely responsible for achieving the formation of the Alliance with all the recognised non Roman Catholic Orders of St John in Europe. But you have really brought the Order and its two Foundations right into the 20th century.
'Although there is still much to do, you can feel confident that what you have achieved will stand the Order in good stead. You have managed to get, what r think all will agree is the right balance between the ceremonial and practical. Even before you became personally involved in the activities of St John, when you were Ambassador to the United States, you did much to help Lord Wakehurst to form the American Society of the Order with all the benefits that this has brought us and the high hope it holds for the future. When you retired from the public servic;;e in 1965 you became Vice-Chancellor, and then Chancellor in 1966, and finally Lord Prior in 1969. Under your guidance our statutes and much of the subsidiary legislation made under them have been rewritten, improved and brought totally up to date, and here at home the central administration of the Order has been strengthened to serve both the Order and its two Foundations. You were responsible for setting up a lively Public Relations Department which has done so much to make the public conscious of what St John can and does do.
'You establi s hed a proper relationship between the Order and its two Foundations ba s ed on mutual confidence and trust. Thanks to your efforts many men and women of great ability have been encouraged to come and help us in St John, the St John Councils in the counties have been s trengthened and many advances have been made by St John Ambulance itself. These years have seen the inauguration of t he Air Wing and the Aero Medical Service which have done much to attract attention to us. And you have seen the successful combination of the Brigade and the Association into St John Ambulance.
'It is only too well known that you have succeeded in visiting all the Priories, Commanderies and virtually all the countries where St John is active or has friends. There wa s a time when those of lesser determination and faith felt that the Huspital in Jerusalem would have to be closed through lack of funds. This approach you refused to accept, and without in any way belittling the tremendous work that Mr Keith Lyle has done for the Hospital, both in its development and administration, it was your personal efforts that really succeeded in getting the Hospital finances into a state which you could feel happy to hand over to your successor.
'To revert to my earlier theme, in the process of bringing St John up to date you have instilled in all around you a feeling that it was a privilege, and great fun, to work for and on behalf of St John.
'We shall deeply miss your leadership, and on behalf of ChapterGeneral may J say that we know that you will continue to take the closest interest in the activities of the Order and you can be assured of a place amongst the really great Lord Priors.'
DEBORAH Sandell, aged 7, from South London, who was taken into a Cherbourg hospital on August 17 with suspected appendicitis, was flown back to England three days' later by the St John Ambulance ' Aeromedical Service.
The Sandell family, who had been on a camping holiday in Normandy, were trapped in the fishermen's blockade of the French Channel ports when Deborah was taken ill. French doctors operated and removed the appendix - only to find that this was not the trouble. Further tests and X-rays revealed nothing wrong. But still Deborah was unable to eat , her glands were s wollen and she had a fever. She was put on a drip feed and given several injections. It was then that Mr Sandell became desperate to get her home - and St John stepped in Later, an English hospital diagnosed a throat infection, and now she's completely recovered,
The SJ air ambulance, a Navajo aircraft from Thur s ton Aviation, manned by volunteer S t John Air Escorts, left Stansted airport at 4 pm, picked up Mr and Mrs Sandell and Deborah in Cherbourg, and returned to RAF Biggin Hill at 6.30 pmwhere these pictures were taken. A St John ambulance then took Deborah to the Mayfield Hospital, Thornton Heath. (Photos: The Press Association)
Whither in the 21st?
Aids to comfort
To
SJA's Simple NURSING
at home
A selection from the new booklet - IT SHOULD BE IN EVERY HOME - which explains briefly but effectively how to look after the sick, injured or aged at home
Pressure Sores
When a person lies or sits for a long period certain areas receive pressure. Normally we move about even when lying or sitting. Think how you move on a not too comfortable chair, and the feeling of numbness you get from the pressure. This is increased when the patient cannot move himself from weakness, ageing or paralysis. The most important part of our care is to prevent soreness of the areas which receive pressure.
A voiding pressure sores
Areas that receive pressure may become red and sore and eventually the skin becomes broken, tissue dies and an ulcer forms. Healing pressure sores is a long and difficult process and adds to the patient's discomfort.
Factors which cause pressure sores: moi st ure - sweat, damp sheet s and night clothes; wrinkles in bed lin e n; crumbs; frictiondragging the pa t ient up the bed or onto a bedpan
Preventing pressure sores: keep the sk in clean and dry; t urn the patient 2 hourly; use aids to relieve pressure. Areas in contact with the bed or bedclothes can become sore and they s hould receive regular treatment. When washing the patient look for any redness over these area s. Turning the patient is the best way to relieve pres sure. When lying on the side a pillow between the knees relieves pressure on the kne.es and ankles
I CANNOT allow Lord Caccia's retirement as Lord Prior to pass without conveying to him, both personally and on behalf of all our readers, our most sincere thanks for his inspired and inspiring leadership of the Order during the past eleven years and our best wishes for many happy years which, as all his friends are well aware, are sure to be still full of activity! Elsewhere (p.218) you will read the most worthy tribute paid to him by the Chancellor of the Order (Lord St Aldwyn) in Chapter-General on July 9, to which I would only add that it was entirely typical of him that one of his last official appearances as Lord Prior was to welcome those attending the International Convention recently held at Mytchett, during a buffet lunch in the Chapter Hall at St John's Gate on August 13, when he not merely told them briefly something of the history of the Order and of the ancient buildings that they were visiting, but spent a considerable time chatting individually to as many as possible of the overseas delegates. present.
I hope I may now be forgiven for touching on a more personal note. It was nearly 65 years ago when Harold Caccia and I arrived on the same day at our first boarding school; and a few years later he went on, first to Eton and then to Oxford, where in each case I, being his junior by 7 months, followed him a year later. My first county staff appointment in the Scout movement was in Oxfords hire, where his father, Major Anthony Caccia (who had been secretary to the Supreme War Council at Versailles in 1918 and to the Paris Peace Conference a year later) was County Scout Administrative Secretary, and I remember attending many committee meetings at his house. Later again, 32 of my 37 years as a schoolmaster were spent on the staff at Eton, and I was delighted when, just over a year before my retirement, Harold Caccia retired as Head of the Diplomatic Service and became our Provost. But I think the moment which gave me the greatest pleasure was when, at what must have been one of the first investitures that he held as Lord Prior of St John, he invested me as a Commander in the Order.
Throughout these 65 years, though our paths have diverged widely, I have admired from a distance his progress through lifefirst his athletic prowess (he was an Oxford rugger blue and a cricketer of no mean distinction), then his brilliant career in the Diplomatic Service ·, and most recently his leadership as Lord Prior of St John which has brought the Order and its Foundations safely through a critically important period in our history. But throughout all these achievements and successes he has never lost the common touch, and that may well be one of the chief secrets of his success. In the final analysis it is his faithfulness to his friends that I, in company with so many others, have valued most. His successor
There is just one respect in which we can derive consolation for our regret at Lord
AT RANDOM
by Watkin W. Williams
Caccia's retirement, and that is in Her Majesty's appointment of Sir Maurice Dorman as his successor. There can surely have been no Lord Prior before Sir Maurice who has come to us with so wide a personal experience of the work of the Order in all its aspects, including nine years in Malta, first as Governor from 1962 to 1964 and then as the first Governor-General when on September 21 1964 Malta became an independent monarchical Member of the Commonwealth. Then, after 3 years as Almoner of the Order, he became Chief Commander of St John Ambulance in 1975, and in the past 5 years he has travelled extensively on visits to St John Ambulance, not only in the United Kingdom but, more significantly, to countries overseas and especially to developing countries in Africa and the Caribbean He is the only Bailiff Grand Cross to have been promoted to the highest grade in the Order while st ill a uniformed Executive Officer on the active list of St John Ambulance; and, just as our present Grand Prior was the first to hold a currently valid First Aid certificate at the time of his appointment in 1975 , so now Sir Maurice is the first Lord Prior to be similarly qualified on his appointmentonly last month he extended the validity of his FA certificate for a further 3 years after taking a full Industrial FA course at the HQ training centre. I hope these facts will become widely known, for all St John members will derive great encouragement from his example and will be all the more fervent in offering him their loyalty and their good wishes for the future.
Gaining ground
Three items in the September Review, which I knew nothing about till my copy reached me, have caused me very s pecial delight because they described the successful development of three aspects of Brigade training and activity which have gradually been gaining ground during the past few years but were qui te unheard-of 15 years ago, though they had all formed part of my personal 'pipe dream' of the Brigade of the future. I've no space to discuss more than one of them this month, but meanwhile you can look back at last month's issue and guess the identity of the other two!
The account by Maree Harris of Avon (Around and About, p.200) of the first of the potential officer INCO training and assessment courses to be held under the new
syllabus officially recommended by HQ as an alternative to the traditional type o f promotion examination describe s an extremely important development of Our leadership trammg and I can quite confidently state from experience that these courses are in every respect an improvement on the 'old style' promotion exam. To mention but three of the advantages: (1) Throughou t the course, candidates are learning all the time, demonstrating what they have learnt by taking an individu al part in practical activities, and being continuously assessed rather than subjected to a 'hit or miss' test on a cut-and-dried syllabus, often carried out in artificial surroundings which are unnerving to the candidate. (2) They can learn so much from each other, especially about work in divisions which may in various ways differ from their own, as a result of the casual conversations and friendship s that inevitably spring up between people working together on such a course. (3) While each candidate takes a turn at instruction and leader ship in the group to which he or she is allocated, the remainder have the invaluable experience of discovering what it's like to be at the receiving end, playing the part of a divi s ional member (adult or cadet) under a trainee officer, and no one can fully grasp the benefi t of that experience until he' s tried it.
While warmly congratulating A von on taking the plunge, and hoping that their example will soon be widely followed, 1 should be unfair to myoid friends in Bucks if I kept secret the fact that similar courses have been run in that county ever since 1970 and it 's now extremely rare for any of their officers or potential officers to qualify for promotion by any other means.
During the time that I was assistant to Miss Nancy Sale as County SO (Training), we planned the programme for s uch a course based on our experience in previous years; and soon after I became Commander and Commissioner I su bmi tted our programme to Sir William Pike (then C-inC) and he authorised me to run it as a pilot course in training and assessment as an alternative to the promotion exam. After its success in the first experimental year he readily agreed t ha t we should continue indefinitely - and it has gone on ever s in ce.
Two neighbouring counties showed interest and we agreed to take a few of their candidates to train with ours, and thus the idea gradually spread, and it was a very great satisfaction to find that our programme was almost identical with that of the course which ha s now at last become officially recommended. Virtually the only difference that I could detect from Maree Harris's report was that, instead of four separate full-day training sessions spread over two months, our course co n sisted of a Friday evening to Sunday evening residential weekend (which, if practicable, has among other advantages that of enabling the course to 'gel' more quickly),
followed by a s ingle full day a month later, with some home-work to be done in the interval.
Two other point s are perhaps worth mentionlng. First, such courses do not relieve Area Staff of the responsibility of giving su fficien t preliminary training to enable candidates to derive full benefit
SOME TIME ago I said that I was going to publish ideas for fund raising, but the response from readers has been low. [n fact only one person responded. Surely there's more than one person with some ideas? Anyway, here are a few of my own and next month I'll offer s ome more and perhaps there will be more ideas forthcoming.
Auction
A straightforward auction can be organised with gifts of all kinds. Some it e m s may not be of s ufficient value to be auctioned, so sell t hem at stalls around the room. It might a lso be possible to obtain some item s from a dealer on a sale or return basis.
Try to obtain an experienced auctioneer an d hold the auction in a private house if possible. If you can, make the event a social occasion as we ll as a sale, perhaps with some free refreshments - ideal public re lation s.
Car wa hing
This is a good, regular way of raising funds, with a never ending supply of cars if the charge is not too high. Well organised and wit h good equipment, this should raise a good sum.
Double your money
Take a chance and give every member some money - say £1 - and give them a week or two to double it. Records can be kept of the way the money is u se d and the most enterprising ideas given publicity
Open gardens
Try to arrange a group of three or four people to open their gardens for a day. They don't have to be large gardens but it helps if they are of different styles. Make a co mbined entry fee and supply a small map with every ticket to enab le v isitors to find each garden easily Contact with local ga rden associations wou ld be very helpful.
International evening
Hold a soc ial evening with a foreign theme, servi ng food and dressing in the fashion of the country chosen. A good social eventhelp for which you should be able to get from the Tourist Office of the country co ncerned.
Jam making
if you can get the fruit and s u gar as gifts, large scale jam making can be very profitable. Sell the jam at the local market.
D of E's Award Scheme
With the alterations to t he 0 of E sc heme , which came into operation on March 1 this year, came a much greater opportunity for members of St John to participate. Many of our own proficiency su bjects are now accepted as qualifying for sec tions of the award. In add ition, registering for the sc hem e e nti tle s individuals to make use of a number of valuable facilities only normally open to sc heme members.
Some opposition to the scheme came from members in the past who felt that
from the course; this we found very important. Second, the system has the advantage that, if the candidates are wisely selected, outright 'failures' in qualifying for promotion become almost unheard-of; some can be passed for promotion straight away , while a few others are referred back to their Area Staff for a little more
CADET CHAT
by JIM
taking part would be detrimental to the work of cadets towards the Grand Prior Badge. This is, however, not the case and in fact both schemes can be mutually beneficial. Over the coming months I hope to highlight details of the scheme, but if you are interested and would like further information obtain a handbook from yo ur Area County Duke of Edinburgh St John liaison officer, or send a cheque for £1.50 made payable to 'T he Order of St John' to Mrs Vicki Bee vor, I Grosvenor Crescent, London SW IX 7EF.
Record books and other publications are availab le from the same source, as indeed is any in formation or assistance that is required. [ hope t ha t we shall see an increase in the numbers of our cadets who take part in this internationally accepted
Find the Tovvns
WHILE I served in the RoyaL Navy, I visited many different places. Hidden somewhere in the grid are 53 towns that I visited. They are spelt in all directions, but always in a straight line. List the towns and the country you think each is in I have ringed one town just for starters. Some letters are used more than once, others not at all. Answers will be published next month.
Dennis Capel, D I G Tring ComNned Cadets
brushing-up of certain s pecified weaker point s before they quaJi fy. Anyway, a big 'thank you' to Avon for their initiative in adopting the scheme so promptly. I know that they'll never regret their decision to do so, for it will pay rich dividend s in t he improved quality of leader ship at divisional level. and highly regarded scheme.
Games
Cat and Mice -a quick game to warm up!
Layout chairs for all but two cadets. One cadet is a cat, the other the mouse The mouse is chased by the cat and the mouse can 'hide' in a hole by sitting on a chair, thus forci ng another mouse out of his place. When the mouse is caught, the cadets swop roles.
Submarines
Line up half the cadets blindfolded, standing with their legs wide apart and with feet touching the feet of the person next to them The remaining half have to crawl between their legs without being caught.
Blindfold drill
Blind fold your squad, then give them simple orders - turning, dressing, etc. Finish with right dress, then remove the blindfold so that cadets can see their positions.
Squares
Another blindfold game requmng skill. Blindfold a team of at least six and give them a rope tied together to form a continuous length. Tell them to make a square - and watch the results!
Send to
If you have anything to contribute to this column, please send it to 'Jim', 57 Morgan Crescent , Theydon Bois, Epping, Essex CMI67DU.
AH I LSKB I HTAE ESA I GONM F N S U TI LON DO NIN H A I GET 00 RELMRBSAVANNAHNICETU EPAPORGSFYHAMKEYWEST EOMUPEPSNPACNOTLIMAH PCSROSIANTLBCWHOTENT ONTBATHURSTYMLEAVZDO ROESELLIESRAMOROSEAU
The following telegram was despatched to The Queen Mother on the occasion of her birthda y on August 4:
A ll members of St John Ambulance at home and overseas, with humble duty , con vey warmest congratulations and affectionate greetings to y ou Ma'am on th is happy anniversary.
A s Commandant-in-Chief (Nursing), your Majesty 's shining example and support for our 'Year of Nursing' is an inspiration and encouragement to us 01/. Maurice Dorman Chief Commander Moyra Browne Superin tenden t -in-Chief To which Her Majesty has been gra ciously pleased to reply as follows:
I am extremely touched by your telegram of good wishes on my birthday and send my very sincere thanks to you and t o all who joined in your kind message.
E li z abe t h R Commandant-in-Chief Nu rsing Corps and Divisions.
GETTING AFLOAT
I hear that a 48ft narrowboat equipped with an electric-h ydraulic lift to give easy access for passengers confined to a wheelchair has been ordered from Coles Morton Marine, Stockport A 4 to 6 berth boat, the Doubloon, as she ' s to be named , will be equipped wi th a handbasin and WC suitable for disabled people, and a shower p lu s handbasin at conventional level.
The chair lift has been specifically des gned on the scissors principle with all moving mechanism hidden from harm's w a y It is hoped that Doubloon will enable more physically disabled people to take holidays w ith their families Doubloon will be featured in Blakes catalogue for 1981, the International Year of Disabled People. She will be based at Stone , Staff s , and operated by Midland Luxury Cru isers Ltd.
THANKS JOSEPH!
When members and some 70 guests of Lan
AROUND and
ABOUT
BY THE EDITOR
ce r t if icate in 1940 , became cadet superintendent in 195 1, later to take over the Ambulan c e D ivis io n He was made a Ser ving Bro t h e r in 196 4 a n d is also chairman of Ne ls on C en t r e committee
Mr Smith , who ha s been s uppor t ed n hi s St John work b y hi s wi f e A nnie (a former member), was pre se nted with a car riage clock by the Pen n ine A r ea C omm issioner D. O Lund. Well done , Joseph! STAMPS
Manchester's Asso ci ation Centre , wh ic h celebrates its centenary th is yea r, s iss uin g a hand stamp on a speciall y co mmiss ioned Cotswold cover t o co incide wi t h th e issue of
sports stamps on October 10.
T h e cover c o sts £ 1.50, payab le to St John Amb ul a n ce, f rom Mr 1. Tootell, 84 Assheto n Roa d , Manc h ester MI0 6WE.
Also the Jersey Postal Administration are produc ing a set of five commemorati ve stamps for Operation Drake for the completion of t h e round-the-world voyage of expe d ition. T he stamps, de s igned b y Gordo n Dr um mond, depict the principal activities carried o u t during the voyage (See art ic le o n p.228).
Detai l s from: Mrs B. Caldwell , Operation Drake, C I O West Surre y Ches h ire Home, Go d a l ming, Surrey
LA Y I NG IT ON
I h ear t h at S h rops hir e held a combined SJ Council/ Brigade fund raising weekend over J ul y 4 to 6, wh ic h was organised by a committee under the chai r manship of VicePreside n t and Co un ci l member Lad y Forester. £2,300 was raised.
flower club s was opened at Sh
bur y'S St C h ad's C h urch, w h ere, in t he eve n in g, was a lso a pia n o concert which was atten d ed by P r incess A lice, Duchess of G lo u cester. A cadet guard of ho n our lined t he c hur c h steps for t h e Duchess's arrival. T he flower festiva l continued through Sa tu r d ay w it h refres hm ents and souvenirs o n s ale at t h e n ear by Cou n ty HQ. As funds were b e in g ra se d towards buying a new a m b ul a n ce, o n e of SJA Shrophsire's amb ul ances was avai lab le for inspection in the c hu rc h courtyard.
O n Sunday 400 members led by the new ly-r efo rm ed SJ A band marched to the ch u rc h w h ich was fi ll ed to capacity, for a s pe cia l service of tha nk sgiving to ma r k the j ubil ee o f t h e St Jo h n Counci l in Shropsh ire. An investit ur e was held d u ring the serv ice, and afterwards members were reviewe d by t h e H igh Sheriff, Lt Col R. C. G. Morris-Eyto n Sock 'e m , in other word . (See photos).
FILMS
W E' R
E
HE R E!
Fro m September 1 1980, the Central F ilm Librar y in tro d uced a free r eturn serv ice for a ll b o r rowe rs. W he n two or more films have been d eli vere d togethe r Securicor will collect after sc
in g an d return them to the
Central Film Library at the Library's expense. The films can be on free loan or on hire, or a combination of both. To anyone borrowing two or more free loan films, they really will be free, as there will no longer be return postage to pay.
There are over 300 free loan titles available, and a selection of those suitable for schools is listed in a free mini -catalogue.
This can be obtained from the Central Film Library, Bromyard Avenue, Acton, London W3 7JB
SECRETARIES UNITE!
The following thoughts come from Headquarters Association Secretary Tony Bland:
If the Secretary writes tactfully, he's verbose.
If he is brief he is tactless.
If he drafts a report he is wrong
If he doesn't, there is nothing to work on
If he speaks to the committee, he's butting in,
If he doesn't he's useless.
If he sends a reminder, he's a pest,
If he doesn't, he's slack.
If he asks for resolutions, he's cheeky,
If he doesn get things done, he 's incompetent.
If the meeting 's successful, it's the committee,
If it's a failure, the secretary's to blame
If he asks for instruc t ions, he's no initiative,
If he doesn't, he's swollen-headed.
Ashes to ashes dust to dust , If others, won't do it, the Secretary must!! GEAR
Working from my office at home deep in the countryside (tractors and combine harvesters are the only 'life' I see when walking the dog) I dress informally, to say the least. And in the winter, of course, its wellies and oilies. My wife often moans about this 'Not like when we were in London,' she says 'You were always well turned out then.'
So when I go to London, to spend the day at Headquarters, I always make an · effort'- although I admit when it's hot the effort isn't very great. But at this time of the year - autumn - I'm always in a
quandary about what to wear as I leave home very early in the morning. Will it rain - be cold - or hot?
Last week before leaving for the big cit y I decided there was a good chance of it being pretty warm, so I told my wife wouldn't wear a tie 'Not wear a tie to go to London , she said. 'You must!' So I put on a tie (l always do; it's rather like when tell her wanted the water she'd boiled the eggs in for shaving - after she's poured it away .) So off I go in my usual style - clean shirt and tie - to London. Well, as it happened , that day I had to see Sir Maurice Dorman , then Chief Commander but now our new Lord Prior. I called at his office. 'He'll be back at about one o ' clock,' his secretary said. 'He's downstairs taking a first aid course I went back soon after one, popped my head around the door of his office, but saw only the back of a young chap in blue denims talking to the secretary. I was abou
to withdraw when the youngster turned (he was also wearing a white turtle -neck pullover - very stylish) - and then I realised it was the Chief - I mean the Lord Prior.
I've got an answer for my wife now.
TRAVELLING FELLOWSHIPS
You have until November 1 1980 to get in completed application forms for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust travelling fellowships for 1981. No special qualifications are needed. If you are a UK citizen and have a project which fits into one of the categories for 1981, all you have to do is explain on the application form where you want to go overseas and how you would benefit from it. You also have to show how your newfound experience would be used when you return.
Details and projects from The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, 15 Queen's Gate Terrace, London SW7 SPR.
WANTED
Director of Supplies John Webb (St John's Gate, London EClM 4DA, tel. 01 253 6644)'asks if anyone has a piano they want to get rid of, as he knows of a young
who is desperate to play the keyboard but can't afford to buy an instrument.
FOCUS ON SAFETY
The Council for Educational Technology, 3 Devonshire Street, London WIN 2BA, has published a booklet entitled Focus on Safety, a guide to the safe handling and operation of audio-visual
Copies
(Left) Wilts ASO Arthur Whitcher on duty at the Oasis Centre, Swindon w ith Covingham Division's A I C Nigel Sheppard
C Cpl Sarina Sheppard and N /C Sharon Whitcher - and B g Daddy, the wrestler. Which is Big Daddy?
Humberside's Miss St John 1977 and chairman of Sheffield's Interlink, DIS Jennifer Whitehouse links arms for life with Lawrence Allen, DIS
The expedition's floating base Eye of the Wind a 150 ton brigantine
After Operation Drake's visit to Panama and the exploration of the 17thcentury Scots colony of Darien in Calidonia Bay (where ramparts and bastions of the old colony were uncovered and 17th -century Scottish pottery, clay pipes, coins and nails were found - confirming that this was indeed the 'lost city') , Claire Bertschinger went into hospital in Panama with a virus infection. After complications following an operation, it wasn't until October 1979 that Claire was fit again, when she flew to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea to rejoin Operation Drake. A two-hour fast motorboat journey along the coast took her to Buso scientific camp.
I ARRIVED here at Buso yesterday. It's a beautiful camp site on the edge of the forest, under palm trees and by the sea shore. It is the main camp for the scientists and is also the Walkway base camp and I'm here to run the medical centre on my own and to help with anything else that needs doing I can treat the local villagers as well.
We live in huts made f rom bamboo with slatted floors raised 2ft off the ground The roof cover is palm leaves and it's pretty watertight - in any case what does come through the roof drops down through the floor to ground level below. We have 'fresh' water in the camp; it's pumped from the river which separates us from the village of Buso. It is very very hot and humid (only about 6° south of the equator). There are very frequent tropical storms, when the rain buckets down for a few hours, and then the sun comes out again.
In the first two days I had four cases of malaria in spite of them taking prophylaxsis maloprin, and there are lots of ulcers etc. Everything turns septic and takes ages to heal. I hold surgery every day for the Expedition members and the villagers arrive any time of day - mostly with fevers and ulce rs The mothers carry their babies on 228
Round the World
their limbs practically drop off. So I've asked for a volunteer from one of the village girls and am teaching her basic hygiene - home aid .St John style. I'll give her a few baSIC reqUirements _ antiseptic solution, antiseptic cream, gauze, bandages, plaster, antibiotic powder, etc. She can't read of so I've taught her to smell creams and lotIOns before using them. Always to use only boiled water and pieces of dried boiled cloth if necessary, so that they don't only have to rely on the medicines I'll give them when we leave; they can use what they have. Before I came, their wounds were just left and many of the ulcers they've had for years! And I've drawn little pictures to show how to use tablets - a picture of mother/father, child, piccaninny and infant, opposite 1-2 tablets, Y2 tablet, \14 tab let. How about that!
ingredients - flour, tinned marg., evaporated milk, baking powder, coffee, sugar; and from my hidden store [ got a bar of chocolate and melted it and wrote 'Happy Birthday' on top! I made some flap-jacks too - they always go down well and help to conceal the creepy-craw lie s in the oats!
Did [ ever tell you that we have a short service every Sunday morning? We stand together on the beach under the palm trees, say the Lord's Prayer, read a couple of lessons sing a hymn and say a prayer. It lasts about 10 minutes and is quite good.
their backs in bags made from leaf fibre and slung from their foreheads. The children sometimes give us beautiful shells - you know, the ones you put to your ear and listen to the waves breaking on the seashore - like Grandma had.
I've just done the round of the 'Ioos'. They are rather primitive and have to be cleaned every day with disinfectant and water - and then lime put in, followed by petrol, and then set alight. Boom! - it's quite impressive! One day someone put in too much petrol and burnt the whole thing down - shelter and all.
I was up river yesterday helping to collect tree trunks to build a pier. We met a dugout canoe coming down river carrying a local lad who had badly cut his foot with a machette while working in the hills. He had vines tied round his ankle and thigh to act as tourniquets, but they weren't doing much good and had been on for four hours! We brought him back in our inflatable and I gave him a jab of penicillin and sutured him while the whole village was straining to look through the windows and cracks in the walls of the medical centre hut! He's now doing fine. If we hadn't been here they would have bound his wound with a dressing made from leaves and mud, and hoped for the best. Lae is a day's journey away for them.
When the village piccaninnys are brought to me with a fever I give them chloroquine crushed on a spoon in jam - it tastes really vile so I give them a sweet to suck afterwards! There's been a lot of diarrhoea and vomiting around, and I haven't felt too good myself lately. But no-one gives sympathy to a nurse! Flies, flies everywhere, writhing itchy maggots in the latrines - very hygienic!
I went up the Walkway on Sunday with Willy, the botanist I knew at Panama. I had to write down what he was dictating and I was stretched out on the walkway, flat on my tummy. A branch fell off from
above and landed on my legs. I lo oked around to see if I should shake it of f. I looked again and it was moving. Yes, it was a tree snake! I lay quite still and waited till it slithered off and fell to the ground 100ft below. Quite like old times, I thought! We have porridge for breakfast everx morning - don't ask me why in this hea t, but it's there and so we do. This morning I realised that there was more than just oat s in my porridge, there were maggots too ! And we've been making porridge ou t of that box of oats for a couple o f day s. r suppose there's no reason why we shouldn't eat them if they're well cooked; in fact we had more out of the same box the next d ay. But by the third day they were crawlin g so much that we decided to open a new pa cket after all!
A speedboat has just appeared dashing in over the horizon. Six of us are invited out to dine in Lae! There is a mad rush to get things together and off we go at what seems like 60mph The speedboat owner is Chris, 37-ish, a bronzed Australian manager of a chromium mining camp down the coa st. I borrowed clothes from his mother and then we were whisked off to the best restauran t in town - oysters, steak, ice cream, strawberries, etc. Just four hours sleep on th e floor and then woken at sun-up to da sh back to our camp in Buso, and back to work. Did we really spend the night in Lae?
I'm enjoying the bit of community health that I do here. Cuddling the babies while I treat them for fevers and sores and trying to teach the people little points of hygien e by example, like washing hands and keeping sores clean, etc. But it gets a bit frustrating when Tubuna (grandma) decides to blow her nose with her fingers and then proceeds to wipe them on the floor of the medical centre! We will be closing do\,rn the Buso camp soon now and I feel sad at leaving the villagers with no medical care. They seem to rely on me more and mory. They will just go back to doing nothing to their sores until
For the last few days I've somehow become a radio operator in my spare time. I do schedules at 07.30hrs. and I8.00hrs. They're amazed at my patter - so am I! We often have to use phonetic alphabet whe n it is stormy and the communications are difficult - 'I spell - Delta, India, Foxtrot, Foxtrot, India, Charlie, Uniform, Limey, Tango - DIFFICULT - Roger so far, over'. And the messages vary in length from about 50 to 200 words and can take quite a time to transmit. Of course, we have a chat as well and I've struck up an acquaintance with the Lae operator Pronto'. He's promised to take me out to dinner when I get back to civilization. He describes the most mouthwatering menus _ while I sit and drool and then go off to eat my tinned pilchards and dried eggs. Oh well, I managed to make a cake for s omeone's birthday yesterday
It's now December 2 and we've just arrived back in Port Moresby from Lae. We closed down the Bu so camp toward s the end of last month and everything was transported by boat to the Operation HQ at Ute. Lots of things have w these last few days and it is now certaw that [ will not be home for Chri stmas. What with difficulties in getting flight s fixed up from Hong-Kong to UK by RAF Transport, and one thing and another, I'm going to stay on and help in the next pha se of Operation Drake in Sulawesi (Celebe s) Indonesia. Of course , all the arrangement s are made in conjunction with the Indonesian Government and there is a small liaison group being set up in Jakarta, the capital, and I'll be going there in a few day s time. So for the la st few days I was at Lae HQ I spent most of my time with t he S i g n a 11 e r s I ear n i n gab 0 u r a d .1 0 communications. We pick up AustralIa, UK, The Eye of the Wind, and outlying patrols. They all have set t Imes and frequencies for daily calls The signaller ha s given me times and frequencIe s to call him up from Djakarta and I ' ll be
From Lae to Port Moresby we flew in an old Da kota plane of the Indo ne sian De fence Force. It was great fun. Slung canvas seats along the sides and a bar above yo ur head to hold on to during take -off landing (like in the old war films). The pJiot had to take a stretcher case to a place in the hill s about 1 Y2 hrs out of our way a nd the medical attendant wanted to be brought ba ck to Lae afterwards There was a bit of an argument about this and so I
Port Sudan J A nursing membe of Harlow Combined Division Claire Bertschinger nurse of Operation Drake, gets fully involved in expedition work u si ng a portable man-pack - the same as we had in Panama - I hope I'll be able to get through O.K!
Operation Drake s two year route of adven1Ure around the world
SJA's CLAIRE BERTSCHINGER, nurse with Operation Drake, goes on to Papua New Guinea
volunte
er e d to ac as m e d ica l a t te nd a nt. So m y S t J o hn a ir- atte nd a n t r a inin g a nd exp e ri e n c e c a m e in handy o n ce mor e a nd all
wen t we ll. The patient was a la dy s uffe r ing
fr om c ar c inomatosis a nd had not long to live Sh e wa s going home f rom hospital and her husband and little daughter were a ccompanying her. The plane was not pressurised and it was very nois), and cold inside so I gave her my cardigan. She needed a few pain killers and oxygen as we flew at I I , 000ft between the mountains
Jakarta Hilton International Hotel, December 9 my la te s luxury abode. I a rri ved h e re late as t night from Port M oresby via Hong-Kong, and wa s met by Sand y E vans and Wandy Swailes , with whom I ll be working as a liaison team.
The y told me that we had some cheap rooms to s tay in - and then I found myself here! T here are five free rooms at our di spo sal and we get 25 070 reduction on a ll food The hotel s r eally brea t h taking , beautifull y don e in raditional Indonesian style Car v ings on the ceilings and walls in red and gold and in the recep ion are t w o g iant Buddhas s miling a welcome ; and incen s e burning and orchids everywhere.
Tr a di t ional batik wall hanging s a nd wicker furni t ure and t rimmings - truly amaz ing!
W e ll be g ue s t s to all the top people and I ' m told t h a t I ll ha ve to ge t some nice clo t he s t o w ear for da y time and evening - w hat a lau g h , I c an t really believe it ! By the w ay, m y ru c k s a c k ha s broken so I'll have to get a ne w one - or maybe I ll just patch it up.
It 's t wo da ys later and I 'v e been offered ho s pit a li t y by a n expatriot lady wi th an 18-mon t h- o ld ch ild and a hu s band awa y She's k indl y lent me some ver y s mart
'Man y y oung people, I belie ve, long to have the chan ge of tasting adventure, oj achieving something through personal endeavour or s imply giving service where it is needed. Today, however, there seem to be few oppor tunities available to satisfy these aspiration s.
Th erefore, I am particularly pleased to be s o closely associated, as Patron , with Opera t ion Drake - a two year, round the world expedition for young people
Ope ration Drake will help brin g to f ruition a number of scientific and
cl ot he s a nd shoes to wear so that I can carry out m y d u ties of entertaining etc! We've a so b een given an office in the British A m e ri ca n To b acco Co bui lding and they've lent u s a va n and a d ri ver; nobody drives them se lves h ere ! Li fe is very hectic a t the mome nt, an d there's no time to write, eat o r s leep. Wa n dy is ill and in intensive care w ith p a l pitatio n s, hypertension and irr eg ul a r p ul se, so I'm having to do most of the w or k. I m leaving for Sulawesi on
O PERATION DRAKE
A me ssage from HRH
The Prince of Wales
c o mm u n ity proj ects in several parts of the wo rld but it wi ll also provide many young ex plo rers wi th the adventure of a lifetime. Th ese young people will return from their ex pe dit i on after experiencing the sa tisfa ctio n of working alongside peop le of man y nat i ona l ities, in arduous surround ings towards a continuous end.
The great es t rewa rd for the young explorers participatin g in Operation Drake an d workin g alo ngside seasoned scientists and explorers will be enh anced awareness of their o wn p erso n al capab ilities and t he practical exp erience of co- opera t ion wi th people of oth e r na tions
This is a un ique opportunity for young people not only to benefit from th is ex p erien ce but a lso to contribute to better int ernational u n derstand ing '.
S aturda y lunchtime
JOIN a lo c al di vis ion a nd mem b er s of h e area s taf f at a 'C oun try Fayre' (a fete).
L u c k y o h ers were ea rl y an d h ad been. h a rd a t w or k fo r a co u p le of hours w h en I arri ved t he refo r e I was n ot invo lve d in 'hum p in g' ta ble s ar o un d. The div isio n are runn i n g a cake/ p o p corn sta ll a nd t h e area staff a sec o ndh a nd bo ok stand. Many people a re ar o und o t h er sta ll ho ld ers say it is no t a s good as us ua l'. The first aid post is mann e d b ut vaca n of casua l ties. The Boy Scou ts h ave r igge d u p a ro p e-bri d ge which look s a bi h airy (especia ll y at lOp a crossin g !) a nd it may, if we are unlucky, bring in work late r
O ur b ooks go q u ite well - espec ially go o d pa per b acks (remember that). The po p co rn a p pears very popular .. treacle c o rn, bu tter sme ll s. Perhaps we could sell eve n more if the cadets sold it like cinema ice-cream-gi r ls around the arena where the Fire- b rigade are displaying.
T h en clouds darker and darker. The first few spots, h en rain All pack up. Fifty qui d Is it enough? Eight people for five or more hours - £1 per hour net it is eas ier to work for your living!
A S T JOHN WEEK by A r ea Surgeon
Tues d ay, all day
The expedition s Avon inflatable finds problems on the Watut River in Papua New Guinea December 2 1 with four othe rs in a Boogie boat (a converted Chinese j un k) - IOoo miles across the Java Sea. I m Lo ld iL's as bad as is sounds and I've n o idea when we'll get t h e re. I' ll be t h ink in g of you a ll on Christmas Day w h en I open th e stocking you sent me - i n mid ocea n. Happy Christmas and Luv to a ll.
Photographs by Operation Drake. Published by courtesy of Nurs ing Times
THE expedition is organ ised by an executive committee chai red by Ge n eral Sir John Mogg, GCB, CBE, DSO, who became Deputy Supreme A lli ed Com m ander, Europe before ret i ring. The D irector of Operations is Lieutenant Colone l John Blashford-Sne ll , MBE, RE, who at 41 is one of today's most experie n ced exp lorers, having led 17 exped i tio n s includi ng the British Trans-Americas and Zaire River Exped i t ions and the first descent of the Blue Ni e. Operation Drake a lso has the s u pport and expertise of the Scient i f ic Exp lo ration Society and of a carefu ll y se lecte d team of personnel who have led an d b ee n in volved in these a n d m a n y o ther s u ccessful exped i io ns.
S und ay: A r ea Parade
It is sti ll raining. I am pleased for two reasons. Firstly, there will be no marching and saluting, a constant embarrassment to the in expert (me), and secondly, I can wear sta n da rd uniform and not shirt-sleeve order since that is still soiled from yesterday.
A ll goes off well - nearly. The parade gro u nd is marked out in pouring rain by the Area Secretary who hasn't got the message that the open air touch has been cancelled. The Vicar talks too much. (Vicars and commissioners have much in common!) The parade itself is conjoined with a cadet enrolment and is, I believe, very good for them.
I h oped to get a couple of hours of fishing in after the parade, but failed.
Mo nd ay evening
A basic first aid exam. The usual struggle to assess widely varying abilities and degrees of articulation. Fel ow examiners agree that this class is 'not up to the usua l standard'. More than usual are failed. We notice that res u scitation is much better but at the expense of basic commo n sense in dea ing with si mp ler m atters.
(Right) Chatter after the parade is dismissed. And (be ow) competitions - especially Brigade F nalscan take thei toll on the best· of us
Aeromedical. In compa n y wit h a St John SRN from near Grant h am we set off to collect a lady with a head injury, and st ill unconscious, from Rennes, France, a nd to return her to Birmingham. An uneve n tf u l few hours mostly spent in a s u pe rvisory capacity. This is a very glamorous p art of St John work and I always set off quit e excited then get very cold feet and a twitchy sphincter as pick-up time comes near There is always do u bt about the con d ition of the casualty unti l he / she is se en a n d t h e surprises one gets are not invariab l y pleasant ones!
Seven hours or so on duty. Twenty minutes on the ground in France and thirty seconds of that in the loo!
Wednes d ay, 9-10 am
A lecture at the local polytechnic; fractures, poisoning, stroke, dia b etes, epilepsy and convulsions. This was the last lecture b efore their examination and although my plan was to deal with the theory of fractures, the class themselves wanted a quick recap of about half the syllabus. I tried to oblige an d wonder what they did in their planned revision session.
Thursday, 9 am
Another examination. This time for a class of lecturers and technicians at a colleg e of further education. T h e can d i d ates mu ch closer to each other in ac ad emic background and since there were fewer of them, we were a b le to chat about the significance of the areas whe r e they ha d n't quite grasped the su b ject. I think we all enjoyed it and some learning took p lace on both sides.
T h ursday, 11 am
Lectured to a small group of prospective hairdressers for about forty minutes and we t h en had a discussion about the relevance of first ai d for the next hour. I was late back fo r my surgery and missed coffee.
I spent the evening planning a lecture regime for n ext term and writing a few letters. T he la tter task is one at which I am notoriously tardy. Booked some lectures an d presentations for the autumn and went to a quick meeting of the Training Committee. A good deal of discussion took place but mostly it wasn't about training, merely ab o ut personalities.
Fri d ay, 7.30 pm
Our Area Staff Dinner. A social occasion, very pleasant, hardly anyone talked 'shop' and then not for long. Unfortunately I had to leave early as I was driving to Knebworth early the next morning to go on duty at the pop -festival.
S a t urd ay
And oh yes, I went to work and did two or three surgery sessions and my home visits every day during the week except Sunday. That was a St John week that was A.FH
Director of Ope r ationsLt. Col. John B as hf o rd·Snell
Simulated casualty awaiting treatment in examination
Functions
IN GENERAL su ch aids to learning are substitutes for a real experience which at an early stage in the learning process may be unsuitable. Thus simulations of the real experience may then be used when:
1. Things are happening too quickly or slowly.
2. Events are too complex.
3. Objects are too small to be seen clearly or too large to be manipulated.
4. Processes are too dangerous to permit live observations.
5. Events are taking place at some distance.
Thus in 1 above a two dimensional substitute in the form of a slow motion or speeded up motion film sequence would assist learning by altering the time sequence of the real movement.
When correctly and creatively used such aids can assist in learning by:
Projected aids: cine projection; slide/strip projection; episcope projection; video CCTV.
Use Three general observations from a review of the research literature:
1. Students do learn from A V materials
2. Amount learned depends on how appropriate the aid is to the learning objectives and the properties of the task to be mastered
3. Learning from A V materials can be enhanced by instructors in the following ways: A) Obtaining student participation, active learner groups. B) Using devices to call attention to specific points or areas in the topic (eg questions, discussions, assignments, projects.) C) Repetition of student exposure to the A V materials. In selecting audio visual materials, therefore, one needs to look carefully at both the objectives set for the task and the task itself so that the A V materials satisfy the needs of both.
Chalkboard
The chalkboard, or blackboard as it is more popularly called, is a relatively simple piece of equipment with fairly low capital and maintenance costs. It is a device by which
The chalkboard has many advantages .. •
says CYRIL HANCOCK
The chairman of the Visual Aids Committee, Dr B. G. Lucas, is always anxious that authoritative articles upon all aspects of audio visual aids should be continually published in the St John Review. He's always delighted to solicit works from acknowledged experts in the audio visual aids field and he is delighted that Mr Cyril Hancock, of the Bolton College of Education (Technical), has produced this splendid paper on non-projected aids.
real objects or situations can be presented in simpler graphical form together with written statements or summaries of what is being explained. Invariably the graphic symbolisation is accompanied by oral exposition thus making the presentation audio-visual.
Advantages
Relatively low cost.
Wide range of written and graphical illustrations can be presented.
Can be used for detailed formal drawings.
Can be used as scribble pad or summarising device or sketch pad.
Provides on going reinforcing summary of what is being said.
Can also be used as magnetic or white board display system.
Voice, face, and reinforcing written or sketch summary are localised in same focal point area.
Relatively slow appearance of writing and sketches on the board provide slow learner with built in assimilation time, unlike OHP where images may be rapidly changed.
Disadvantages
High degree of skill required to use it effectively.
Cost in use is high - instructors work has to be removed at end of session, cannot be re-used.
Generally useful only for small groups.
Physically tiring and dusty in operation.
Types of board
Wood: Plywood, chipboard, or solid timber panels - on easel or fixed to wall, or sliding panels on wall or free standing with sliding counterpoised panels, or folding wall mounted panels.
C loth: Invariably continuous roller panels - fixed wall mounted roller board; free standing roller board; green or black background, white panel if required for
lower on the chalkboard can be quite rapid, although legibility is more critical than speed in presenting information accurately. In general a combination of upper and lower case is to be preferred.
General principles of layout
Careful consideration should be given to the arrangement of information on the chalkboard prior to its execution. This is important because:
The chalkboard should set an example to s tudents of a sensi ble and orderly presentation of information.
A clear layout of work on the board ass ists the learners in organising their thoughts abou t the topic being taught and fac ilitates the development of concepts
The sig h t of a well organised and professio nally pre sented chalkboard display develops the learner's respect for the instr uctor 's expertise.
projection. Permanently drawn graph or lined panels for shorthand, music, bookkeeping, etc.
Ground glass: Black or green panels, fixed or electrically moved up and downbest possible working surface.
Chalks
Ordinary: Soft, dense white line , easily snapped, very dusty, easily rubbed out. \
Coated: Soft chalk coated with film of shellac to reduce dusting on hands. End of chalk to be scraped to remove shellac to prevent 'screeching' on board in use.
Dustless: Harder, heavier chalk, gives greyer line and is 'greasier' in use on the board.
Colours: Generally the best colours for reflecting light are light green, yellow and orange. The other colours give very bright light at the chalkboard face and at short range give reasonable light reflection. But colours such as blue or red need very bright illumination indeed. With inadequate lighting such colours often cannot be seen at all from the rear of the class.
Location of chalkboard
Locate board so that maximum light available falls on the front of the board, and so that whole area of panel is visible from all parts of the classroom. When using roller boards, adjust height so that illustrations can be seen from rear of class. Check that there is no 'glare' or 'shine' on board surface when viewed from an angle.
Writing styles
Upper case or capitals. Generally used for main headings and sub-headings. More care required to produce good result, more difficult and tiring to read quickly.
Lower case. More rapidly written, more legible and easier to read. Hence its use on motorway signs.
Script or longhand. Tendeni:;y to be more illegible and, due to personal writing style, more difficult to read.
With practice the speed of writing in
Attention should be paid to the following points:
See that the board surface is in good condition, matt and free from shiny spots.
Pay attention to the size and spacing of the lettering It should relate to the size of class and available lighting. Use headings and sub-headings to provide variety of layout. Avoid overlarge letters.
Look carefully at the relationship between the written text and sketch or drawing information - arrange in logical sequence.
Use colour chalk to emphasise words, phrases, parts of a sketch.
Vary intensity of chalk line to emphasise or highlight features of a drawing.
Techniques
Hold chalk with stick in palm of hand and fingers near to the writing tip to exert maxi-
1980 YEAR OF NURSING
Rome, July 5-19
by AIM Donald Borzoni (329 St Pancras)
WH EN we se t off for our duty in Rome little did we realise what fun, adventure and interest it would be. We stayed at the Casa Pa ll o t ti, near the centre of Rome, a wellappointed hotel which at one time had been the seminary of the Palantine Fathers, and where the present Pope stayed during the election of Pope John Paull. The room he used and it s effects remain today as he left them; and in the church attached to the hotel are t he remains of Saint Vincent Pallott i.
We worked in g roups of ten, from 8 am to 4 pm, on alternative days at the Instituto San Giovanni Battista, a ho spita l for hemiplegics run by the Association of the ital ian Sovereign Military Order of Malta. It was ev ident from t he outset that the hosp ita l st aff were not sure what to expect from u s, and I think they learned from us as well as we from them. However, after a war m and courteous welcome, we set to work on the wards. The hospital was clean, the food good, and the staff good-natured. We found the nursing methods slightly different from those practised over here. Having so me understanding of Italian, I was able to ask questions about the various methods u se d, and learned that there was a great shortage of money for equipment and training
Our first impression of the attitude of the staff to the patients was one of surprise. The patients are expected to do much more for themselves, unaided, than would be ex-
mum pressure on end of chalk. Do not hold as a pencil, as this results in very faint line s due to lack of pressure.
Use arm or elbow to finger action, not wrist action.
Hold chalk at an angle of approximately 30 degrees to the board surface, and rotate chalk in use to produce and maintain a point on its end, thus producing lines of unvarying thickness.
Write at eye level, and move to the right as you write to maintain a level line. Where outlines require to be repeated use a cardboard cut-out of the shape and chalk around it.
When drawing parallel lines, as in pipework diagrams hold twin chalks in hand to produce simultaneous lines. For shading large areas use the flat not the end of the chalk.
Control rate of presentation to allow assimilation time by the learners.
West Germany
ASO Mrs Joy O'Neill , of Havant Hants busy cleaning beds at Kalk Krankenhaus Ko n West Germany - a hospital of the Johanniter Order
pected in British hospitals. On consideration, we felt that perhaps the Italians are not entirely wrong on this point. In Britain we ten d, in general, to be understaffed and pushed for time, which means that we are tempted to do more in the way of dressing, washing and transporting patients in order to save time. But perhaps we may be guilty of eroding some of the patient's independence and desire to do things for themselves. It is certainly a point worth thinking about.
During our visit we were privileged to attend a Papal Audience, an exciting and moving experience. We also visited the house of the Knights of Malta, where we were taken on a conducted tour by Prince Tuminov, a leading dignitary of the Order. This included being allowed to enter the chamber where, for many centuries, the Grand Master has been elected.
Our uniforms caused many mistaken impressions. We were taken for British policemen, Vatican guides, airline pilots and stewardesses and - a new order of nuns! Having had similar reactions from
At the Priory of Sco tl and s nursing home in Aberdeen - Sg Jones and Chr stine Pinchbeck bo th of Avon's Wes on-Super- Mare No 1 Nursing Division , getting a patient out and about the British public from time to time, we were amused but not surprised.
On our second night in Rome , a small group of us were out sightseeing when we saw two cars and a motor cycle collide. One car caught fire and there was a small explosion. True to the traditions of St John Ambulance , we charged to the rescue of the occupants of the vehicles, language and culture being no barrier where the injured are concerned. Mercifully th ere were no serious injuries. Rome is a fairly sensitive area due to the activities of the Red Brigade, and armed security police and machine-gun-toting 'carabinieri can be seen everywhere The accident explosion brought one carabinieri running, whitefaced and trembling. At that point my Italian - not exactly brilliant to begin with - deserted me, and all I could think of saying was 'E nglish nurses '. Fortunately the municipal police and the fire brigade were quickly on the scene, so the situation was soon under control.
The whole fortnight was a great adven· ture, for which I shall ahvays be grateful.
FIRST AID TRAINING IN SCHOOLS
from Bruce M. Coltman, Area Staff Officer
I read with interest the article by Mr Harris (August Review) on the a bove subject. We in Northumbria have been teaching first aid in school s f or ne a rl y two decades and have received a moderate r esponse in terms of recruitin g for our divisions when the student s reali sed that we had something to offer.
Our initial a pproaches were along two avenues:
(1) By instructors and medical lecturers being invited to two Teacher Training College s where it was felt that the prospective teachers of physical education, crafts and home economics should enter their careers with a current first aid certificate. What started off as an option is now (some two thousand teachers la t er) a compulsory subject, and from this there has been a spin off with some of these students arranging for first aid to be taught in their schools.
(2) The Duk e of Edinburgh Award Scheme. We went out of our wa y to improve the service that we were offering to this scheme; costs were cut to the bear bones and the instructional material was tailored t o meet the requirements of the scheme Our Coun t y Liai s on Officer for the D of E went out with a good promotional package. It should be remembered that before y oung people go off on their ex peditions they must be trained in first aid and who better to train them . The results have been very encourag i ng.
From an initial scheme of teaching in schools, our instructors and trainees have been taugh in several more specialised schools, like t ho se for the h a ndicapped, the deaf and dumb (and were better per s ons for h av ing ex per ie nced that challenge), and those in our count y appro ved for the detention of juvenile offenders. Further course s are now being arranged by" one of our centres with the Manpo w e r Services Commission for young people who face the problem o f long t erm une:'1ployment with few qualifications
The an sw er to M r Harris's problem is one of communicationbet wee n S t John and the schools, both at national level , county, area , and he mo st important in St John Ambulance - Divisional level. Let us not dela y, for he who delays is lost.
I w as also very interested to read that we should revert to metal badges When did we c hange? It was my impression (I may be wrong) t hat they were intended for u s e with the epaulettes on the shirts of male membe r s in s hirt sleeve order, and for our lady officers in 'working garb ', and not for 'Dress' uniform As a wearer of these sewn on bad g es , t he y are the best thing t hat has come out for many years. W ha t I cannot understand is why we have been so far behind all of the other organisations and services, who adopted their use nearly a decad e ago. When u sed as intended, for indoor or hot we a ther dress, or even dirt y du ty uniform t hese badge s and the cloth tubes that the y are supposed to be attached to are a god send, and very easy to wash, w ith no more pulling out of brass pins. N e wcastle upon Tyne Bruce M. Cottman
MY YEAR OF NURSING
from John A. Alderson, Divisional Superintendent
Ha vi ng ju s t r e turned from the St John of God Hospital, Scorton, N orth York shire , 1 w anted to sa y that thi s was the mo st wonderful duty I have ever done. I learned more in a week at the hospital than any other place.
I made man y friend s and wa s able to help in the two wards , St M ar y's (male) and S t Jo seph 's (female), with dres s ing s, taking pulse and t emperatur e , and became ex pert at bedmaking, urine testing, et c. But of c our se I g ot a g ood start when I was in the RAM C I T A. B y c hoi ce, I worked a full d a y f rom 7 . 30 to 19.30 so that I could learn a s much as possible during my short stay.
The hospital is magnificent, the staff most helpful, and the ho s pitality second to none And I had an open invitation from the Nur sing Director to re t urn whenever I want to What more could one ask?
The SJ Year of Nursing is wonderful. R eigate John A. Alderson
AMBULANCES AND SJA
from D. Haselgrove, Divisional Officer
Ma y 1 congratulate Mr Newlan on his letter Ambulances and SJA ( Augu s t Revie w) , for he has hit the s ubject f air and square on the head. If a division is to have an ambulance then it should be
equipped to a standard set b y headquarter s, a sta n dar d wh ic h must, I think, be in line with the DHSS stand a rd s, b eca u se as the writer points out the public generall y do not n o t ice w h o is operating the ambulance service and expe ct a ll amb u la n ces to give the same service. If a division wishes to c arr y ex tr a equi pme nt over and above the standard all well a nd good pr o vid ed that t rai nin g is g iven and maintained Having reached a s tand a rd fo r ambu lances, the crews should also have a standard in ambulan ce a id training. Like Surre y, we hold ambulance aid training a nd un t il a me m ber h as satisfied a senior officer and the divi s ion 's nur sin g officer of his knowledg e in this field he cannot be an a tt end a n t on our a m bulance
Our training covers such thin gs a s a mbul ance n ursing, removal of a patient from home to ho s pi t al (i nclud ing li fting u p and down stairs), legal awarenes s , multi-po s tur e t r o ll ey stretchers and carrying chairs, mechanical re s u sci t ator s, oxyge n therapy and entonox, and many other subject s T hi s t rai n n g is b acke d u p every six month s by refresher training and b y wo r king o n th e ve h icle (this year we will cover some 10,000 miles and tra ns p o r t so m e 400 pat ients).
Some are normal wel f are p at ie n ts b e ing moved from home to a day centre, while s om e are ver y ill a nd may i n fact be on their la st journey. In this situat on t h e cre w n ot o n ly have to deal with the patient but also with di s tres se d r el a ti o n s.
All this means a lot o f wo r k a nd t r a ini ng whic h is absolutely essential if we are to mainta i n a f ir s t c lass ambulance service.
Marlowe Combined Division D. Hazelgrove
from Bruce T. Brown
I reply to Martin Ne wl a n 's lette r (August Review) with t hese questions :
I. Does i matter if the R egular s h ave to be called to as s ist , and how many ca s ualtie s need t o be m ove d to hos pita so quickly?
2. What do the RA C m ean b y tw o amb ul ances'?
3. What is an 'ambulan c e ?
The Brigade h as in r ecent ye ar s b een gui lty of creating and encouragin g a gro w ing divi s ion b et wee n itse l f and t h e regular service.
One day t here w ill be a need for the Br ig ad e t o ca ll for reg u lar ba ckup at a major catastrophe where cove r is b ei ng prov ided by the Brigade. On this occasion th e B r igade will not only have to be prompt in recogni s in g t he need a nd re qu est the ass ist ance soon enough, but may have to con rol it w h e n it arrives. Currently we appear to be hell bent on competing w ith th e regu lar service and this attitude ma y let u s down on t h e d ay.
I recenty saw the Brigade and R ed Cr o ss s h a re a dut y governed by the RAC rules for motor s port. No le ss h a n nin e a mbul ances were considered to be about right to d ea w h anyt hi ng that ISO cars, driving over S. S miles o f rough park land , co ul d throw at the 70,000-plus s pectators The fir s t aid c ov e r p rov id ed fro m the nine ambulances was available to no more than O.S m iles of th e track (a liberal estimate) and to less than S 070 of th e c ro wd T h e a mbu lances could not be made mobile in le ss than 10 minut es and t h ere was no foot first aid cover. If seven of the ambulance s h a d b ee n ef t at home and their crews redeployed, the cover w ould have in c r ease d to SOD?o With two or nine ambulance s at thi s dut y and a reall y bi g acc iden t, the regular service would have to be c alled in; a nd ava ila bl e Brigade transport would have been better employed not a kin g casua l t es to
hos pit a l bu t t r a n s f e rring th e m to regular vehicle s What t II t h use ro ey
S re c el s, reS USC it a tors, a nd a variety of s ophi s ticated th en ? equipment
I .s u s p ect t h at O Uf H eadqu a rter s s taff are not a s divorced from rea lit y a nd m ay be clo se r to it th an tho se of us who work at ra ss roo ts h ave been p re par ed to admIt for s ome time g Sutton Co ldfie ld Bruce T. Brown
AUSTRALIAN IDEAS from S Coldrick
You r rea der.s be in te r est ed in two schemes run by St John Amb u la n ce m t hI S reg JOn w h ich is a ne w ly-de veloping area north west of Sy dn ey, N ew So uth Wal es
Name d FA ITH - F irs A id Community Trainin a nd F Ir st A Id In T h e Hom e - the schemes s et out to fac Ji Jt les for peop le to lea rn fi rs aid a nd also to demonstrate th d for s u c h k n ow ledge. e nee FACTS 0!1 c ommunit y group s and run s cour s es for volun.tee: bu s h -fI r e f Ig h te r s, junior s port s clubs youth etc, a nd for t h e f ir st time in N S W a cour se for blind and partIa ll y SIg h te d
FAI.TH se nds lect u!ers to sc h o ol s t o a lk to the paren ts' commJttees an d p rOV id es d e m o nst ra to r s to " t h I VI SI ome s WI th sW lmmmg Po? s .(t h e re are m a n y h er e) t o s ho w how t o do mouth-tomouth reSUSCitation.
The chemes started. i n Febru a:y 197 9 and in th e fir s t 12 m o n t h s over obta m ed t heI r fJISt ai d cert ifica te a t the 71 c o SJAA, Hills District
Stanley Coldrl ck
DAY HOSPIT A L
from C. Po well, JP , MB, FRCP (Edin), Area Surgeon k n the account of a D ay Hospita l in News fr om Scotland (Jul y was to read of e der l y peo p le bein g r e ferr ed to as hgenatnc ; most flDd the use of h e wor d n thi s way ver y off en si ve I ave n eve r calle? my two daughters 'pae d iat ric s' ! I also ou t, arising f r om the sa m e a rt icle , th a t he g r ea t maJ?flty of t hose other people, per h aps serious ly ill f or w h o m b ed s are. urgently needed' are also elder ly. Sel1for Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine University of Liverpool
C. P owe ll
RADIO EQUIPMENT
from David S. G ee , Div sional Superintendent
Over the last 12 18. months a great dea l o f i nt e re s t ha s been s ho wn b by Dlvls.lO ns in t.he use of ra d io in th eir ambulan ces a nd y ID IVI ua at vaflOus dutIes.
are told in Brigade Reg u lat io ns w hat mu st N OT b e u se d bu t per. It wou ld be better to te ll us w h at CAN b e d d h avaIlabilIty of equipmen t. u se an e be ,Possible for an in format ive fea t u re o n thi s s ubj ect t o SJSa ned lD t thbe Revdiew, e pecially no w that it a ppear s that IS 0 e rna e lega l ?
Sowerby Bridge
THOUGHT S ON
from an e x· Cade t
Da vid S Gee
been in these co lu m n s t ha t the member ship book b e bo an Identity car d B u t h ow m a n y of u s ca rr y the member s hi wa ll ets or mt o w hich a s m a ll ca rd w ould hoid A e member h ip book does n ot ca rr y a pho t o graph of the mo t;r. nd wh at about ca d ets, w h o ofte n n ee d ID ca rd s mo r e t han s .
co It a lso been t h at me mb e r s should not be a llowed to t h e Grand P n o r Awa rd as a n a dult As a n e x-c ade t who bro h . e GP. awa rd as a n adult I WO UId be s orr y to see this rule t lD, as It m ea n cad ets stay ing in th e cadet di vision so ca n ga m t h e awar d w h e n the y would otherwise accept Ion. cadets find h e a d u lt di v sion s no t a s exciting a s the cadet in b a d ge. o f ten a
NEWS from SCOTLAND
THE Scottish Priory is proud to have received two Certificates of Honour from the Grand Priory.
The first is awarded to John Watt, of East Kilbride, who on July 9, 1979 was staying on the island of Barra in the Hebrides. He was returning in the small hours with seven others from the Saturday night dance in the neighbouring island of Vatersay, when their fourteen foot boat was caught in a sudden gust of wind and capsized, throwing them all into the water.
John Watt, helped by the other men passengers, was able to bring two of the three women in the party within reach of the upturned boat. The third woman, however, Mrs Anna Maclean of Castlebay was trapped under the boat and although John dived repeatedly in an attempt to free her, this proved to be impossible. But he was able to retrieve the oars, and' to paddle the boat to the shore. He then swam several hundred yards across the Sound to Barra where he made his way on foot to the nearest tefephone, half a mile away, and raised the alarm. All survived with the exception of Mrs Maclean, thanks to John (aged 22 at the time), who as the citation says 'at great personal risk saved the lives of six of his friends'.
The other award is to Mr D. Watson Law, CSt], Supervisor of St John Cadets in Scotland. During a trip to Cyprus in September 1979 Mr Law was one of a party
WALES
visiting the ancient castle of Kolossi in Limasol (one of the strongholds of the Knights of S t John in the fifteenth century) when a gentleman ahead of him stumbled
On the worn steps and would almost certainly have fallen a considerable distance, and been severely injured, but for Mr Law's prompt action in checking his fall, 'at great personal risk'
Central Area Committee of the Order, and its Association, participated in the annual Farm Fayre at Stirling on September 6. Each year the Order in that area raises a considerable sum of money at the large 'all charities' fund-raising day organised by Stirling District Council in its grounds at Viewforth.
In Glasgow the problem of finding a new home for the residents of the St John Hospice at Langside has been solved at last
with the purchase of premises in Mansionhouse Road. This h as been made possible, in spite of the currently high prices for property, through the generosity of an 'anonymous' friend of the Order.
Visitors from overseas to St John Headquarters in Edinburgh during the summer have included Mr and Mrs Sven Nilsson from New Sou th Wales District St John Ambulance, Australia; Beb Qu a li sc h efski Corps Superintendent of Sun s hin e Coast Corps, Queensland , Australia; Sharon Waterman, Nursing O ffice r, Papakur a Division, Auckland, New Zealand ; and several interes ted friend s from the USA. A party of Humber side Cou nt y Cadet s from Hull visited Pitlochry in lat e July; Admiral Beaton, KStJ Cha irm an of Perthshire and Kinross St John Committ ee, was able to get in touch with them.
OVERSEAS
NORTHERN
Malaysia
The founder of SJA Sarawak, Datuk Ang Lai Soon (right), who is also chairman of the SJ Council and Commander SJA, was recently conferred the Darjah Sri Paduka Mahkota Johor (SPMJ) by the Sultan of Johore - the highest award the state of Johore can confer on an individual in Malay sia Restricted
New Zealand
Gwenfs Tredegar Division members - Cheryl Hurley, Jill Taylor, Glenys James Jane Evans and Diane Richardson - receive Priory for Wales plaques presented by Assistant Chief Commissioner C. J. Parry (a former cadet of the Division), for gaining their Grand Prior Awards. A nice gesture
Mr D Watson Law, Supervisor of Cadets in Scotland here with Denny Cadets receives a Certificate of Honour
News from Divisions / Centres
Ambulances designed for the job
Pilcher-Greene have designed and built tough 2-wheel drive ambulances and medical vehicles for over 50 years. Our range comprises:Bedford CF Dual Purpose coach-built Ambulances for emergency and patient-transport wurk; made to Area Health Authority requirements
A range of Bedford CF and Ford Transit Ambulance conversions available with cab and interior design options
For every facet of urban medical vehicle demands Pilcher-Greene make the Ambulance or Welfare Transport to suit.
(4-4).
(3.S).
(8).
11. Short, sharp, shooting pain (4) 12 Cutting part of an instrument (4). 13. Decease d of recent date (4). IS General feeling that one is unwell and feverish (7) 17 Ethnic group in contest of speed (4).20. Ruptured veins in a Scottish glen (S). 21. Nutritiou s fruit (3). 22. Palindromic principle (S). 23 Pane broken by low tide (4). 2S. Equal the performance of another strange bird with 13 Across (8) 27. A strange tale for a web-like tissue (4). 29 Astringent and styptic salt (4). 30. Gatewa y for vein carrying blood to the liver (6). 32. Inflammation of nasal mucosa (8). 34 External ap plica tion for muscular aches and pains (8). 3S A police disturban ce with a lo ss of hair (8).
Down
1 Discomfort produced by air or other gases in stomach and intestines (10). 2. End of the day for a girl (3). 3. Correct and authentic (2.S). 4 Article about an Anglo-Saxon freeman (5) S. Encapsulated t umour containing fluid (4). 6 Drug preparation from ten mad mice (10). 7 . Comes near to staffs of Bi s hops (6). 10. Exhaustion due to loss of water and salt by excessive sweating (4). 14. Cartilaginous flap at the entrance to the larynx (10) IS Encountered a prefix denoting change (4). 16. Giving peaceful death to he hopelessly ill (10). 18. Part of median nerve for a girl (4). 19. Signal for billiard player (3). 24. Our grip turns to a chronic s ick condition (7). 26. Contraction of the pupil due to light or drugs (6) 28. It follows former way out (4).29. A changed rota for an artery (S). 31. Lie north in the spleen (4). 33. Applied locally to reduce swelling and relieve pain (3).
If you're planning, c harting, lecturing, teaching, training, controlling, programming, or just doodling, make it clear - with Magiboards.
Only Magiboards offer the visual aid versatility of whiteboards, chalkboards, mobile stands, year planners, graph boards, flipcharts, pinboards, marker pens, magnetic displays, even music teaching boards.
We make ordering clear too
A simple-to-usemail order catalogue, illustrated in colour, makes everything clear. Send for yo ur free copy today.
RE VIEW
TH E CATHEDRAL City of Wells probably possesses a rich er selection of architectural treasures, both religious and secular, spanning the past thousand years of our hi sto ry, than any other provincial city in Britain. It is clai med that in none of our other cities are so many ancien t buildings still standing and still being put to their or igin a l use, so that Wells provided a glorious setting for the an nual Visitation of the Order of St John which too k place there on September 20. Though the f o recasters had given warning of heavy storms coming in f r o m the Atlantic to break the fine autumn weather, t he su n shone till well after mid-day on the Saturday and de spi te a little occasional drizzle in the afternoon th e sto rms held off till dusk. This was particularly fortunate be cause it enabled the impressive processions of the O r d er and of religious and civil dignitaries to go fo rward, as planned, by an unusually long outdoor r ou te from the Bishop's Palace to the Cathedral. Only on o u r return was there some slight drizzle, but not enoug h to disrupt proceedings nor to damp the ent hu siasm of the St Audries band who entertained us wi t h t h eir accustomed high standard of music and coun termarching on the Palace lawn.
Sin ce the entire service was held in the nave of the Cathedr al, which has a nave altar in front of the choir scree n, there were problems of seating for the tightly pa ck ed congregation (consisting mainly of St J ohn Am bul ance representatives from the counties of Av o n and So merset) and of finding enough space f o r ceremo nial movements; but these difficulties were admir a bl y o vercome by those responsible for planni ng the d etails, and the arrangement had the gr eat ad van t a ge of enabling the whole congregation to see, a s well as he ar, almost everything that took place and to parti cipa te in a most inspiring act of worship to a far greater extent than if - as so often happens in . Cathed ral services - their view had been blocked by t he
THE FULL pageantry of almost 1,000 years of the Order of St John, from the historical robes of the Knights to the familiar black, white and grey uniforms of today's members, was seen at Wells Cathedral on Saturday, September 20.
A congregation of about 1,200 members of the St John Council, Order, Association and Brigade, drawn from the counties of Avon and Somerset, attended the first Order service to be held at Wells Cathedral. And the highest echelons of the Order walked in procession from the Bishop's Palace. They included the retiring Lord Prior, Lord Caccia; the Chancellor, the Earl St Aldwyn; the Bailiff of Egle, Lord Grey of Naunton; the then Chief Commander, Sir Maurice Dorman; Chapter General and the Knights and Commanders from the two counties; the Lord Lieutenant of Avon, Sir John Wills and the Vice Lieutenant of Somerset, Captain David Tudway Quilter.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Wells ,. The Very Reverend Patrick Mitchell, who received the Avon and Somerset St John colours and laid them on the altar. Among the civic leaders who attended this unique occasion was the Mayor of Wells, Mrs Christina Baron; and the High Sheriffs of Avon and Somerset, Mrs Frederick Towill and Mr John Lindley.
The band of St Audries Division, Somerset, played before
Order Service at Wells Cathedral
Sir Maurice Dorman, then Chief Commander precedes the great banner of the Order and officers and commanders of Chapter General and after the service on the lawns of the adjoining Bishop 's Palace After the service the Lord Prior presented 26 Grand Prior certificates to ambulance and nursing cadets outside the Bishop's Palace.
Myra Meredith, PRO A von. Photos: Jack Garland Sermon by The Bishop of Bath and Wells FOR ME there could be only one text today - the words breathed a few inches from my ear when I was invested as a Sub-Pre late of our Order. 'Weary not,' said the investing officer as he hung the cross round my neck, 'Weary not in well doing.' I shall never forget it. It is Galatians chapter 6, verse 9. I think that we're over the worst with the denigration of dogooders. I dare to believe that this is because people have come to realise, rather more, how vital it is for our soc iety, as for any, that the voluntary spirit of caring for the other fellow nourishes and abounds. You who make up the bulk of this large congregation today do good' continually through your membership of the St John Ambulance Association and Brigade in Somerset and Avon. You demonstrate (for all to see through the well-known uniform) that with no thought of material gain in m,ind you are giving time to help people. Much of the work may be boring and repetitive; as in fighting a war, there are only brief moments of excitement. But you are doing this job in the very best tradition of the early members of St John in the Mediterranean, and you are following the lead of Duke Godfrey, and the Blessed Gerard and others who founded a The band of St Audries Nursing Cadet Division on the lawns of the Bishop's Palace -
(Above) The Lord Pr io r Lord Caccia, receives six wine goblets engraved with the Malt ese Cross from Major John Greener, Comma nder of Avon, to mark his retirem ent from Order service. ( Right) Avon members who received Grand Pri or certificates with (L to R) Cty Comm. Anthony Robinson CSO (NC) Miss Joan Frieze, CSO(AC) John Creech and Cty Supt Mrs Marina Dolman new order of Hospitallers in the opening years of the twelfth century. St John has stood for 'not weary in g in well-doing' ever since then, and I want to pay public tribute to da y to t he front line troops in these island s who have been at it through St John Ambulance since the 1870 s. Well done, and thank you from Chapter-General, with a s pecial word of co ngra tulat ion to the cadets , not forgetting the St Audries band. Well done and tha nk you , if I may presume to say this on suc h a memorable occasion, from the people of Britain. You have come to be relied upon. 'Weary not in well doing.'
Now we are an Order of chivalry, always to be ready to respond to new opportunities of exercising humani ty and courage, wherever these may be used. I believe that we have two new fields to conquer where these qualities we admire and aspire to can and should be severely tested.
The first chance is at home:
Bristolians present do not need me, from the comparative calm of nearby rural Eng land , to remind you of the riots in St Paul's this spring. But let St Paul speak to the St Paul's situation: 'Weary not', he encourages us, 'in we ll doing.' And the plain truth is that, waiting for our unpatronising concern in the urban areas of Britain, are hundred s of thousands of black Englishmen who are growing up, have grown up to the second and now third generation, to feel that white Englishmen broadly-speaking despise them, and that they are the drop-outs of our society. How right then was the St John Ambulance Annual Conference in June to pick for its theme its determination to be in the van of those coming to terms with multiracial Bri tai n. I hope you realise it is now the deliberate policy of the Association and Brigad e to start recruiting in Southall and Solihull, in the big black areas of Eng land and the small one in Bristol, the smaller one sti ll in Bath Black people just as much as white ones far prefer helping people to being helped themselves. We Christians who deri ve our inspiration from a dark-skinned Jewish Christ, we above all people must be men and women with no co lour prejudice. We who have grasped, however inadequately, the duty of caring for our neighbour, can now give the lead in welcoming into our membership and becoming friends of the West Indian or the Pakistani or West African who has known no home but Great Britain.
'Rule Britannia' sang the delirious crowd of youngsters at the last night of the Proms a week ago; I didn't see many black faces there, and such things will no doubt take time; but that song need be no nostalgic echo of a great and (I firmly believe) good Empire that has gone, if its descendants take up with courage the legac y it has left us. The iniquitous National Front dare to hold Union Jacks aloft as if it was British to be anti-bfack; they are confronted by a rabble shouting Marxist slogans which are equally abhorrent to most of us. What is needed is that ordinary English people s hould come to care positively and hopefully about the black presence in Britain. Will you all do just that? A sustained effort in good race-relations by the Christian Knights of St John, deeply involved in politics as we have been from our beginnings (indeed it was our whole raison d'etre 800 years ago) but tarred with no extreme right or left -w ing bru s h, co uld do untold good for the peace and prosperity of our nation in the 1980s. 'Weary not in well doing.'
So first at home and then abroad, on a similar theme in this shrinking world of ours! I believe that we in the Order should bravely tackle the out-of-date situation whereby it is only the white Commonwealth countries - Australia, New Zealand , Canada, etc. - which have Priories or Commanderies. After the end of the Second World War, as the great surge of independence began to sweep through what were then British territories, red on our schoolboy maps, all over the world, the very natural thinking at St John' s Gate was that it would be unwise to give Priory status to St John people in countries where non-Christian rule was now the norm. No one could te ll how a Christian Order such as ours, let along the Christian Church as a whole, would fare. But what a different world we are living in today. The Church in Africa, for instance, under indigenous leadership is growing far faster than it is in Britain. It's nothing for a Tanzanian bishop to confirm 500 people on a day when I will confirm 50. And this is the same Africa where there is fearful famine and human need of all kinds - exactly the situation where the things our Order stands for cry out to be done. 'We own you' went the formula for new members of St John in mediaeval times, 'we own you for a servant of the gentlemen who are poor and sick.' It is precisely among the world's casualties that we are called to operate. And it is where those casualties are so large that we should be working under Christian Churches which are at once wholly national ones - and therefore not suspect as expatriate missionaries can often be - and also strong in numbers. Furthermore , Islam today is no enemy, but a world religion we gratefully and increasingly cooperate with, whose leaders welcome a sword drawn in the cause of human need.
The existing Commandery in Zimbabwe, the only one in Africa, surely offers us a natural lead-in to a new policy. At a time of great uncertainty in that same country, after bold and creative work by British diplomats this spring, let a small group go out as soon as possible from Chapter General, and set about, with our Order people there , to work for black and white leadership of a newly constituted white and black Commandery. If this proves, as it may, too difficult owing to a lack of African Christians of sufficient standing i n the newly emerging nation, then we must look to Kenya, igeria, India, where hundreds of thousands of Church members , many in positions of influence in government, the professions, the armed services, can begin to see that white people claim no corner in knightly irtues. Could not these two initiatives - in a field where so much good must be done in God's name over the next few years - be a real contribution we could make to national and world peace, a fine flowering of our long tra ditions of our splendid ceremonies so happily carried through here today? For remember our Ancient Rule and Custom: 'Soldiers of Christ', run the noble words, 'are de igned only to fight for His glory, to love reverence, and preserve justice, to favour, support and defend the downtrodden This is their duty, their calling a nd the manner of life they have embraced.'
I like that. I am proud of it. By the Grace of God t h at rule and custom shou ld , n practical, 20th-century ways go on being ours , both at home and abroad, as members of this Venerable Order. 'Weary not,' confreres, ' in well doing.'
MYTCHETT 1980
Members from 21 countries at SJA's International Training Convention
How's this for St John world-wide?
Just one group of members from Canada Australia, Tanzania, Barbados, Cyprus Singapore, Nigeria, Bermuda, and the UK
Tanzania, looking aher a patient during the hospital
THE FOURTH St John Ambulance International Training Convention, which took place at the RAMC Training Centre, Keogh Barracks, Mytchett, Hants from August 9 to 23, was easily the mo st ambitious convention held to date J48 delegates from 21 countries attended, including 37 from the UK.
CNO Rosemary Bailey and Dr G e orge Steele, from Cumbria, were the joint masterminds behind Mytchett ] 980 and together they organised and ran the trainin g events. As this year is SJA s Year o f Nursing, the training programme laid particular emphasis on nur s ing rather than first aid. During the first week dele ga tes were split into multinational syndicate s for five periods of nursing ins t ruction and t hre e of first aid.
Rosemary Bailey, in her talk called 'Meet Harvey' introduced a white rabbit of the same name, and discussed various methods of teaching nursing with limited re s ources Many other useful and entertammg presentations were made by the national groups.
As part of the fortnight, several outings were arranged which proved to be more than just social excursions. For example, on the visit to Oxford, under the direction of Dr Terence Ryan, Commis s ioner for Oxfordshire, delegates visited not just the city but also the new John Radcliffe Hospital and called on the SJA Abingdon Division for lectures, demonstrat on s , displays and competition s. A wh irlwind tour of London followed, which includ ed a visit to the Houses of Parliam e nt Westminster Abbey and St John 's Gate. Friday, August 22, wa s the fin a l da y It was also Open Da y , when m a ny distinguished visitors saw fir st aid and nursing demonstrations pe rf ormed b y the delegates.
(Below) Evacuating casualties from the of the
The highlight of the programme ca m e on Saturday, August 16, with a full- sca le evacuation exercise following an e xpl os ion in a chemical work s 'Oper a t on Nightingale'. The simulated di sa s ter sce ne was given added realism with the help o f 30 casualties from the Ca s ualtie s Union , supplemented by a further 40 ca sualti es from the syndicates, plus addi t ional st a ff who had travelled s pecially to M ytchet t to help in the event.
The main point of the exerci s e wa s to give delegates the opportunity to practi se nursing skills in a hospital environment. They were able to work alongside doctors ward sisters and staff nurses, and test their owl). abilities under pressure. At fir s t th e Army was not too keen on the idea of transforming its Training Wing into a hospital for the day But it proved so successfu l that very soon nobody wa s in any doubt as to its feasibility and training value.
During the second week, delegates in their ndividual syndicates were rigorou s ly tested on their first aid and nursing abilitie s. They were also asked to prepare fir s t aid and nursing demonstrations for display on Open Day, Friday, August 22.
Througho ut the fortnight there were a number of excellent evening presentation s. These included a most enlightening talk by Dr Duncan Guthrie, Chairman of the London Committee for the International Year of Disabled Persons, about the year's Child to Child programme. Mr Ian Fletcher, the Assistant Surgeon-in-Chief, gave a new insight into the history of St John Ambulance. And finally, CNO
Guests included Major - Gen. P e t e r Leuchars, the C-in - C Lad y Mo y ra Browne, Supt-in-Chief, Dr J Graham , Surgeon-in - Chief, Dr Powell, Dir ec tor of the Order of Malta Ambulan ce C orp s, and either the High Commi ss ion e r s or representatives of the ov e r s eas c oun t ries represented. The Con v ent ion c lo se d on a musical note, with a c onc e r t and mar c hing display from the popular Band o f t h e W
h Guards, resplendent in full dr
and bearskins.
Michael Kratzer of W Germany s Johannit e - Unfall - Hilfe g
e treatment' from Mrs Margar e Walsh, of Ireland , during the op en displays -----
Mit chell of Wiltshire and Liz Jackson of Lincolnshire attending Marguerite Day of St Austell
THE CHRISTMAS festivities were over and becoming happy memories. A new year was about to begin and we were wondering what it would have in store for us in the City of Leicester Area. One thing was certain, the 'regular' duties at race tracks, parks and cinemas would still be with us. But would the new year pose as many anxious moments as the previous had done, with more requests for first aid cover than we could comfortably cope?
These were some of the questions that had been going through my mind when the evening paper dropped through the letterbox. Opening the paper, the headlines hit me - The Queen and Prince Philip to visit Leicester. I read on. The date would be MaT\::h 14 and the object of the visit was to open the new extensions to the Royal Infirmary. They would also visit Messrs Jones & Shipman Ltd, machine tool manufacturers in the city.
It was obvious that our services would be required at some time during the visit, but we would have to wait for the official plans to be announced Many questions raced through my mind. Would we be asked to cover the whole route? Would officers and members be able to take time off work to carry out the duty? What ambulances and communication arrangements would be necessary?
The answers to these questions would not be known for some time, but this should not stop us from making preliminary arrangements. I immediately rang Ken Harrison, the Area Secretary, and asked him to include the visit on the agenda for our monthly Divisional Officers' meeting. At the meeting officers were asked to compile lists of members who would be available '. I realised that many of them would be working and so I contacted my colleagues Mick Mardon and Mervyn Lewis, superintendents of the Western and Eastern areas, to ask what assistance they could give
The official route was released a week before our Area Staff Officers' meeting at the end of January; there was to be a walkabout in the area of the Town Hall and at County Hall. Street maps were hurriedly
PREPARING FOR A ROYAL VISIT
Plan - plan - plan. But Old Man Weather just can't be planned
by
G. K. SHAW, Area Supt
available.
A casualty at County H a ll , Leices ter, during the Queen's visit
photocopied and the route marked. The route was then divided into sectors and staff officers appointed as sector commanders. I would co-ordinate the operation, assisted by Harry Coxon, my ASO (Public Duties). The Land-Rover and mobile unit was booked for the day and the Eastern and Western Areas would provide ambulances if required. The Commissioner approached the Police for more details, but at that time the plans had not been finalised.
The February Divisional Officers' meeting came and went without any further information being available, although names of members who would be available were coming in steadily in all Areas.
By the middle of February I had a t elephone call from County Police HQ asking us to cover both walka bouts and it was also agreed that some of our members would be positioned along the main road leading to Messrs Jones & Shipman Ltd.
The route itself would not be covered. The BRCS had also been asked to provide cover for he Town Hall walkabout. the -la st two weeks in February proved to be extremely busy. Requests had been received to staff a first aid post, together with the BRCS inside the Town Hall. Jones & Shipman Ltd had asked for some of our members to be on duty within the factory perimeter And the Royal Infirmary had informed us that they would like some of our members, together with other organisations, to be posted along the route in the hospital that the royal party would take. Consultations took place between myself, BRCS, Police and officials of the city and county authorities - and at last our plans took shape.
The City Area would cover the Town Hall, Royal Infirmary, and Jones · & Shipman Ltd. The Eastern Area would cover County Hall. And the City and Western Areas would together cover the main road leading to Jones & Shipman Ltd.
The mobile unit and an ambulance would beposted -on one side of the County Hall and a first aid tent would be erected on the other side. County Hall would provide a doctor and their nursing staff would be
By the end of the day hundreds of children · had been affected and the Section Commander, Area Supt. M. Lewis, had got permission to allow them into the restaurant, fire station, and even buses, in order to get them warm again. Cups of soup were being dispensed at the mobile unit.
I was proud of our cadets who, with the other organisations, braved the elements without sustaining one casualty, although some looked rather exhausted.
Dr Adkinson, our Area Surgeon, would be on duty at the Town Hall walkabout. We were advised that the Ambulance Service would deploy ambulances at points along the route and so our ambulances would be used as radio bases and a back - up. The Com munications Officer, ASO K. Brewin, would set up a control centre at County HQ.
The number of people on duty at anyone place was agreed between ourselves, the police, and the authorities. We had more volunteers than were required and so those who were not allocated to a specific duty were placed on a reserve list in case of emergencies.
At last the arrangements we re finalised; the Staff were briefed and orders issued. We only had to wait and hope for a fine day
The day dawned grey, overcast and cold, although the sun was making a brave effort to break through the clouds Those of us who were privileged to be at the Royal Infirmary met at 9.1Sam and at 9.30 I reported to control that our party was complete. A short time after, the Town Hall sector reported that they were complete and operational. Operation Ro yal Visit had commenced.
Her Majesty arrived at the Infirmary on time and looked very smart in her red coat and black velvet hat. We all had a good view of her as she passed on her way to the opening ceremony. The highlight, s o far as we were concerned, occurred as the Queen was leaving. She stopped, turned and came over to me to ask about the members we had on duty. Were they all local and did they all come from Leicester Divisions? I was able to assure Her Majesty that they did.
Meanwhile Prince Philip had caught up with the rest of the party and was now talking to our Nursing Members, some of whom appeared overawed.
In conversation with the Lorp Lieutenant immediately afterwards, he told us that the Queen was always very conscious of the fact that she was the Head of the Order of St John.
By now it was (aining heavily and very cold. While the royal party went to the Town Hall I went across the city to County Hall, where I found our members (there were about 60 on duty) busy treating children suffering from the cold and wet.
despite the conditions. The firm gave eac h child a flag and sweets , which kept t hem happy. As we passed to and fro in front of the crowds we were greeted with cheers and waving flags, to which we gave responses!
While the royal party was having lunch, I left County Hall for Jones & Shipman Ltd, arriving there at about 2pm. The schoolchildren and families of employees assembling there were a happy crowd
LAST MONTH I gave you some ideas for fund raising events that you could arrange and this month I have some more. But reme.mber three important public p.OI.nts when considering any fund ralSlng actIvIty.
Aim for originality. An event or project which has not been done to death, or has a new twist, is more likeJy to attract publicity.
Keep in touch with your local press and radio contacts. Give them all the facts and always invite them as guests and friends. And treat them as such!
Start advance pUblicity in good time -,and keep information flowing regularly
Forum or Brains Trust
A forum on controversial subjects with well-known personalitie s on the platform -a local MP, the editor of a local newspaper, an interviewer or disc jockey from the radio, or any other figure - can result In plenty of publicity and at the same time plenty of money.
Empty bottles
These ,!re often worth while collecting and by taking the advice given in the booklet Save and Recycle that I mentioned in the February 1980 issue should be very profitable.
Pantomime
A . C:hristmas pantomime is a good way of ralsmg funds and having fun at the same time, or you can try any form of entertainment provided by your members.
Mile of pence
An old idea not seen much now but still a good way of raisin g money. Get the local pubs to accept the pile of pence idea - to an upright yard. Weigh a celebrity with COinS Advance publicity for these events is an,d if. you can involve a celebrity thIS will bnng In added publicity.
HA VE YOU ANY OTHER IDEAS? IF SO, PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME. Keeping in touch
In. issues I have told you about some DIVISIons that have started their own newsletters for circulation to members. I have received copies of many bf these and they seem full of good ideas. To help some of who think that setting up such a scheme mIght prove difficult, I have found a very useful booklet published by the National Association of Youth Clubs that might help. The booklet, entitled 'C lub Newspapers and Publications', is written by Ron Gargrave and costs only 2rr-p. If you want a copy write to N.A. Y.C, P.O. Box 1,
After touring the factory, the Queen and Prince Philip walked past the assembled crowds to the cars. Prince Philip stopped to ask DO (R) L Jones if he had been busy. Mr J ones was able to tell the Duke that we had only three casualtie s at the factory, to which the Duke rep li ed 'I expect they are all frozen stiff!'
At Spm we advised the Medical Centre that we were leaving the factory and I contacted our control, advising that the
CADET CHAT
by JIM
Blackburn House, Bond Gate, Nuneaton, Warwicks.
Point of Order is the title of a book also from N.A.Y.C, written by Janet Hunt which explains the workings of and meetings and offers useful advice on running them. The book is illustrated and contains a useful glossary. For only SOp it is good value and is available from the address above.
Programme fillers
Some to do in that spare time during your meetIngs:
operation was completed. We made our way home tired, wet and cold, but happy that we had done a good job and that the operation had been carried out exactly as planned and without any serious hitche s We had about 100 people on duty during the day. In addition to the children at County Hall, only 12 casualties had been treated in other sectors and only four of these needed hospital treatment.
I was pleased with the way everyone, from area superintendents to member s had co-operated efficiently and cheerfully, upholdIng the very high standard which the public has come to expect from the Brigade even in such appalling weather conditions.
The Union Jack - do all you r Cadets know what flags make up the Union Jack?
The Country Code copies from H.M.S.O.
Cloud formations.
T. V. theme music quiz using a tape recording.
Learning. serr:aphore or other means of communicatIOn.
Call my bluff - a very easy game to prepare.
The Silvester method of resuscitation
The fireman's and other lifts. Have you ever thought o f:
Asking your Nursing Officer to arrange a talk on 'Aids for the elderly and/or disabled?
Illustrating your lectures on the Knowledge of the Order with pictures from the posters supplied by Tourist Offices of the countries concerned?
Contributions I rely very r,nuch on YOUR ideas to help me produce column. If you have any ideas please wnte to me I would also like to hear froT? you if you have any suggestions as to subjects that should be covered in the column. Please write to 'Jim', S7 Morgan Crescent, Theydon Bois, Epping Essex CM167DU. Find the
HOW successful were you in finding the 53 towns that D I G Dennis Capel, of Tnng Cadets, VISIted while serving in the Royal Navy and which were In our quiz grid last month? Well - here [hey are and their counrrtes. We mus! admit .didn 't find them all, and only hope they're all T there! (A free year s subscnptlOn to the Review to theftrst person who proves o vv n 5 one lVasn't in the grid.)
(IN DIA) ( FRANCE) (SINGAPORE) (FRANCE) (PORTUGAL) (DOMINICA) (NORWAY)
LAY INSTRUCTORS
33 counties were represented by 154 delegates, writes London PRO Walter Hoadley, at this year's seminar of London's Association of Lay Instructors, held Sept 13 to 14 at Whitelands College, S.W. London.
Dr Kirkman, Director of Studies, SJA Greater London, spoke on the essential need for lay instructors to strive for the highest professional standards in t heir work, and also on the Health and Safety at Work Act and its implications on St John Ambulance. The Act is already law, he said. But the big question so far as we are concerned is whether St John training and certificates are to be approved. Hence the need for the highest standards.
Other subjects covered at the seminar were: First Aid for Animals, with a real dog (aspirin can kill a cat, we learned); Laryngotomy Resuscitation; and at the open forum t hree members from SJA's national headquarter s were present to answer questions. One point that everyone seemed to agree on was that reassessment of la y instructors should be every three years.
This interesting seminar draws an everwidening audience every year. This year, for instance, for the first time there were eight members fro m Scotland's St Andrew's Ambulance Association, as well as representatives from the BRCS and the RAMC. The Association is obviously going to play an increasingly important role in the work of St John Ambulance.
NOTTING HILL
While everyone was very thankful that this year's Notting Hill Carnival was not marred by any serious disturbances, precautions had - as usual - been taken by London District in the closest co-operation with the London Ambulance Service. In fact this cooperation was so effective that, apart from the colour of uniforms, they could have been one organisa ti on There was the same close-kni t co-operation with the Police, and a liaison officer was with each of the Brigade's ten mobile unit s, which were suppor ted by ambulances and foot patrols of ambulance members.
AROUND and ABOUT
WHAT'S GOING ON IN THEWORLD OF ST JOHN
TAKE \i THREE SJA GIRLS
Three girls of Folkestone Combined Division who enjoyed their Br igade 1980 projects. IL to R) N / M Karen Sma les , a member for 7 years, cruised in the STA schooner Sir Winston Churchill. NI M Jennifer Clare , 8 years in SJA, went to the Mytchett Training Convention And Sgt Mrs Diana Moon-Parvin , 5 years a member spent two weeks at the RAF Hospital Akrotiri, Cyprus, on a Year of Nursing project. Photo: Folkestone Herald)
There were, of course, a number of casualties, as to be expected at any carnival attended by many thousands, including some minor injuries to the police. But the latter were the result of playing football and other games at the various holding centres, including one case of sp lit trousers! (No photo, pLease.)
Such co-operation between St John, the statutory Ambulance Service and the Police throughout the country cou ld only benefit everyone, says London District.
YEAR OF N.URSING
Sheila Puck Ie, PAO(N) at Brigade Headquarters, who has had a hectic year co-ordinating the arrangements for the training projects for the Year of Nursing, asked me to thank everyone who has written to her after being on a project. She is delighted that the whole exercise has been
A WORD WITH
...
At the Silver Jubilee Trust Fund exhibitions put on in Felixstowe, Prin cess Anne stops to chat to Cadet Leader
Sally-Anne Good and Cpl Neil Parkins, who represented Felixstowe Division. The resuscitation model, bought with money from the Fund is used throughout the Coastal Area for public lectures
such a success and that so many mem ber s have felt that their particular project was so worthwhile and enjoyable. Her only regret is that there just isn't time to answer each letter personally.
We, the Review, hope to publish further reports.
SJA CRUISES 1981
SJA Sail Training Association cruises on the three-masted schooners Malcolm Miller and Sir Winston Churchill for 1981 will be from Sept 20 to Oct 3. There will be twelve places for sailormen from Southampton to Plymouth, and twelve places for sai lor girls from Southampton to Dover. Age limits are 16 to under 24 on May 1 1981. Applications, to be made through Commissioners, have to be at Headquarters by January 31 1981.
TEN TORS TREK
I hear that Exeter Ambulance Cadet Division (0/0 Miss L. Ogden) entered a team for this year's Ten Tors expedition which is run annually as an endurance test for youngsters by the Army on Dartmoor.
Over 2,000 13-to-19-year-olds set off this year for the 24-hour (camping overnight) 35, 45, or 55 mile trek, the distance to be covered depending on the age group.
Miss Ogden reports that, after rriany weekends training, four of Exeter's junior team of six comp leted the 35 miles. One who dropped out sca lded himself while cooking supper. He was treated (correctly!) by a team mate, who then arranged for him to be brought back to the base camp. Proficiency badge subjects were put to good use during t he trek, of course. (See photo.)
BY TH E EDITOR
MIND BENDERS
Find the fir s aid word o r words in the clue. The nu mb e of ette r s in the answer s given.
Mixed up prout s difficult to rouse (6)
2. Ju s gaze about you. (5)
3. Reg ul ating a motorcycle'S speed. (10)
4. Remove the pea to give beer a face (4.4)
Answers: Upside down - are at the bOllom of page 250
Exeter cadets are now looking forward to the 1981 event - when they hope to enter 35-mile and 45-mile teams.
TO PRESIDENT
I hear that Mrs Eileen Waters, who retired recently after being County Superintendent Berk shi re ince 1967 , has become President of the newly-formed Littlewick and Knowl Hill Nursing Cadet Divi s ion, which is attached to Maidenhead Division. The designate member in charge of the Divi s ion is the Rev Philip Elston, the local vicar.
WELL DONE PETE!
Newcastle upon Tyne 's Novocastrian Ambulance Division were delighted to hear that their former Nursing Officer Peter Dodd s, now N.O. of Bromsgrove Combined Division, recently gained his Diplom a of Nursing (London), one of the highest qualifications in the profession.
The Isle of Sheppey Division's A I M Brian Pullinger is the proud father of two Grand Prior s Badge daughters - and there should be a third. !Right) Sharon, 17, now a nursing member, obtained hers n March 1980 While Jane, 15, received her certifica te from Princess Anne at
(Left) Meet Darren Weeks, Cadet Leader of Northants Rushden
A former cadet and noted speedway rider until he was badly injured last year , 32- year-old Geoff Bouchard of Birstall Leicester, having a break between laps at a SJA sponsored walk at Mallory Par k which raised over £2 000, Geoff was sponsored to more than £200
Peter is now Senior Nursi ng Officer at The Hollymoor Hospital, Northfield, Birmingham.
FELLAS AND AMBULANCE
In a letter from Kettering I've been told that the Cytringan Nursing Division has now admitted male s into their ranks, bought an
ambulance and that three of their nursing members - Audrey Collier, Sue Ea lden and Judith Turner - recently took a patient in the amb ul ance on a 600 mil e round trip to Hawick, Scotland, The girls at he helm caused some consternation among lorry dri vers on the motorway, it see m shey just couldn't believe t h eir eyes An all girl ambulance crew! On
PLEA
APOLOGIES
My apologi es, Camborne Division, CORNW ALL - for moving you to Dorset in the September Review. But I knew it was in a nice warm part of Old England Paula Wolsey joined Pr oject '79, the Norwich Community S ervice Agency which assists unemployed school leavers last July and immediately came to
helping the
Secretary. Useful for the trainee and St Jo hn For other Counties information, the scheme is sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission
Co n tribu tio n s on any subject relating to St John and its far flung activit ie s are al ways welcomed for t h e R ev ew, but when typewr itten (which is preferable, of course) please allow treble line spac in g a nd w id e margins on eit h er side of the paper, as many printer'S instructions have to be inserted into your text. Otherwise everything has to by retyped, which is very time cons umin g. For submissions in long-hand, please give all name s (people, divisions, towns) in CAP ITA L LETTERS - it is so easy to misread someone e lse's writing!
MIND BENDERS (a nswer)
·dJE.:I .1>'
·l!U!1l10J 4.l ·r
Miss Eve yn Boocock, who retired recently after 16 years as Secretary to the Order Council o Leicestershire, and has been connected with SJ since 1941, receives a gold watch from Council members presented to her by Mr L Lee, the retiring chairman. Cty Comm Ernest Hudson (right) presented Miss Boocock with a radio and cheque from the B rigade
choir screen and the chancel arch. This in creased partIcIpation added to the inspiration derived from h e congregat ional singing, the choir, organ and trumpeters, the prayer s and r eadi ng s, and the eloq uent and thought - prov ok in g sermon preached by the Bi s hop of Bath a nd Wells (see p. 242).
After t h e processions had withdrawn, a pleasantly inform a l gathering was held in t he Pal ace forecourt, at which the Lord Prior prese nt ed, among other awards, Grand Prior 's Badge certificates to a splendidly lar ge assembly of cadets and excadets from the two counties - but do the g irl s always so heavily outnumber the boys among recipients of the supreme award for all-round efficiency in cadet training?
Final y, Major John Greener (CStJA for Avon) presented to Lord Caccia a beautiful set of g la ss goblets engraved with the order device, t o mark his ast official engagement in t h e United Kingdom as Lord Prior of St John and to express the gratitude of St John in the two counties for his inspiring le adership of the Order during the past eleven years.
It was a great day, and all of us who had the good fortune to share in it are immensely g rateful to our hosts for their admirable organisation and generous hospitality
More closely knit
Last month I referred to three items in the September Revie w which had cau ed me special deligh t by recording the fu Ifilment of three of my 'pipe dreams' of earlier years -a nd that rare experience always gives one a thrill because t's in the nature of pipe dr eams to remain for ever in the realms of fantasy! But I only identified, and enlarged on, one of them, the recently authorised training and as essment courses for pot entia l officers and NCO I wonder if any r ea d ers tried to guess the other two, and got t h e answer right. The fir twas described in Maureen Upton's article 'Going Quadrilateral (pp. 196-7), and the seco nd in the account of an exerci e e ntitled 'Swanex Beach Explosion' (p. 206). Of course there was nothin g absolutely new abo u t either of these item s, but they proved that some important developments in Brigade training and organisation which were extremely rare (and, in the case of quad ' di visions, unheard-of) some 15 yea rs ago a r e now being discovered to be 'a good t h i ng ' and have come to stay. I'm not s u ggest in g that a'Q uad' division is n ecessarily better than four sepa rately registered A N, A/C and N/C divisions or two divisions combined either 'horizontally' (ie, one A & N and the other A /C and N /C) or 'vertically' (ie, one A & A/C a nd the other N & N/C) - and if you refer t o BGR .19 you' ll find that a ll these permutations have been offic ia ll y approved since 1974 Four separately registered divisions working together in close harmon y are bound to achieve greater Success than a s ingle 'quad' division in
which there's di sco rd. In the final ana ysis it all depends on the quality of t h e leadership, and, given good leade r s, the o dd s are heavily in favour of a s ingle 'q uad di vis ion forming a far more closely-knit CSt John family unit' than four se parate division s could ever hope to do. And without enlarging on other advantages of the 'quad', [ can confidently assert that its cadets are much more likely to look forwar d with enthusiasm to being promoted to adult membership of a division to which they already belong (even though their training has in the main been sepa rate) than if they were se parately registered. So if yo u want to know more about how it works, please take a look back at Maureen Upton's article.
False alarm
Now for the 'Swanex Bea c h Exp losion' and the importance of reali sm in Br igade training. We've long ago given up laying someone down on our HQ floor and tying to his jacket a label bearing the words 'Unconscious with wound on forehead caused by fall from cliff'. We expect our 'casualties' to be as realistic as pos sib le in their make-up, their acting, their reacting to the treatment given, and the setting in which they're found. That's all to the good, but at best it barely reaches 750/0 of absolute realism. We sho uld aim at sometimes attaining 90% realism, and it seemed to me that Swanage had achieved hi s aim. And the following points are worth noting: the exercise was a total
AUDIO VISUAL
AIDS WORKSHOPS
Headquarters is pleased to announce that it has secured the services of Philip Adams, formerly Sec reta ry Visual Aids, as an occasional lecturer. Philip gives a light-hearted 'workshop', running for about one hour , on the use of projected vis ual aids in training. It is suitable for Lay Instructors' courses, County or Area training days, AGMs and s imilar functions.
All expenses for such visits will be funded by Headquarters, although offers of overnight accommodation will be appreciate d.
Requests for this workshop should be sent to John Hammond, Medical Secretary, (under whose direction Philip will be working), St John Ambulance HQ, 1 Grosvenor Crescent,Lon don SWIX 7EF.
su rpri se to the first -aiders taking part; it was 'carried out in co-operation with other services - the Coastguards, the Lifeboat service, the Ho s pital se r vice and the P olice; the sett in g was absolutely reali stic, even down to the crowd of sur pri sed watchers on the promenade and the beach, a crowd to which the Mayor and other local dignitaries were added by special invitation; and it occurred as part of the division's annual inspection, thus demon strating to the inspecting officers the 'high standard of practical training' referred to in BG R .119 sub - para (b).
Even so, my pipe dream hasn't yet been fully realised, for what I dreamed was that a day would come when every divisional inspection always had a realistic surprise item as part of its programme, even if carried out on a far less ambitious scale than at Swanage. But I know it can be done, for at t he beginning of 1970 I warned all division s in the county of which I was then Commissioner that a surprise item would occur during the course of every divi sional inspection that year - and it did! But truth always turns out to be stranger than fiction, and so it was that while I was going round the ranks inspecting a parade of three divisions including a Police division (of which some members were in Police uniform) an ominous crash was heard down the road. A team of first-aiders was instantly sent to the spot, closely followed by an ambulance and a Police motorcyclist. Mercifully the casualties were not serious, and some amusement was caused by a passer-by remarking 'How did they all get here so quickly?' I found it hard to persuade some of those on parade that I hadn't designed the whole thing, and that my surprise item was yet to come! It takes a TOt of planning, made all the more difficult by the need for a very high degree of secrecy, even if the incident only involves (as on one occasion) a well -tr ained elderly Nursing Member simulating a heart attack while standing on parade. But it s 100% worth it, as I know that D I S Mrs Field s and her S\ anage Combined Division will now be able to assure you. And I shou ld like to offer them my warmest congratulations on so worth-while and successfu l an enterprise.
Just one word of \-yarning to the planners: the Di visional Surgeon and Nursing Officer should if possible be involved in the planning, for that' one of the mos t important contribution they can make to our training. But even if that' impo sible to arrange, the planner must take into his confidence any doctor or profe sional nurses who happen to witne s the incident, especially if it involve conditions uch as angina or in ulin overdo e. It could be the real rhing, even if an identi ca l imulated condition had been pl anned, and our profe ional if pre ent, will no doubt feel bound to che k up on this; and it only fair to warn them of the likeliho od of it being no more than an 'act'
2. Name the bones
Questions and Answers
6.
10. If the heart is NOT beating it will be shown by the following:
A. The casualty's colour remains or becomes when visible
B. The pupils are
C. The carotid pulse
11. The body possesses certain built-in mechanisms that tend to stop bleeding spontaneously. For example:
A. The blood will
B. The cut ends of the vessel will
C. The blood pressure
D. The skin vessels
12. Name the fractures
Test No.1 - Answers
1. Recove ry position.
2. a. Ph a langes. b Metacarpal. c. Carpal.
3. a. Phalange s b. Metatarsal. c
4. a. Immovable joint. b. Ball and socket. c. Hinge. d. Slightly movable.
5. a. L ung s b. Heart. c. Diaphragm d Liver. e . Large inte st ine. f. Small intestine.
6. a. Oesophagus. b. Trachea c. Diaphragm. d Stomach. e. Spleen. f. Kidney. g. Ureter. h. Bladder.
7. a. Liver. b. Stomach. c. Gall bl adde r. d. Pancreas e. Large intestine. f. Appendix. g Small intestine h Rectum.
8. a. Prevent infection. b Absorb discharge. c. Contro l bl ee din g. d. Avoid further injury.
9. A dressing encourages BLOOD TO CLOT which encourages healing to occur.
10. a. Colour blue / grey. b Widely dilated c. Cannot be felt.
11. a. Clot. b. Contract. c. Fa ll. d. Constrict.
12. a Open. b. Closed. c. Comp li cated. d. Greenstick.
13. a. The over s tretching of a muscle b At a joint.
14. a. The cerebro- s pina system. b. The autonomic system
IS. Unconsciousness. a. Asphyxia. b
Head i nj ury wit h damage to brain c. Shock d. Fainting. e. Stroke. f. Poisoning. g. Heart attack h Epilepsy. i. Infantile convu lsions. j. Diabetic emergency.
16.
a. Human crutch. b. Pick-a -ba ck. c Fireman's lift. d. Two-handed seat. e. Kitchen chair method. f. Fo ur -ha nd ed sea t. g Two-bearer
A job is done
When the Bishop of Dudley blessed our new first aid unit THE ambition of Worcestershire's Uptonupon-S evern Division since it was formed has been to h ave a f ir st aid unit to
to all it s duties a nd function s in the area. The unit wou ld have to fulfil many roles, the obvious one being the care of t h e ill and injured , of cou rs e ; but a n other of equa l importance wa s the care of the amb ul ance and nursing staff - s o that they cou ld care for the patients.
There has been much correspondence in the St John Review on the pro s and con s of ha ving a well-equipped ambula n ce, but as a divisional s uperintendent who lik e s o many others h a to k e ep awary eye on ca s h now, I was not in fa vour of an expen s i ve vehicle which mi g ht be u ed in earnest but once or twice a year. I saw our Divi s ion's need as a well-equipped first aid unit to use as a treatment centr e and ho ldin g unit only. After all, in' that what SJ A is all abou t? We are very fortunate in Upton in having a sma ll firm that s pecialises in servicing and maintaining the ty pe of carav a n s used for family holiday s. And the Hereford and W orce s ters hire C ount y Council ha ve been se llin g of f th e ir 'den ta l trail e r units in favour of se lf- d r iv e c a ravanett e So we bought one of the se cara v ans, a very sturdy vehicle and took it along to our local se rvi ce engi neer , Fred Law s on Fred looked at t he caravan, s miled and then shook his head sadly Our dream, it seemed, had suddenly gone mad. The theory, Fred explained, was fi n e , but it wo uld be a very big job to carry out our plans
However, the Divisional Surgeon, the Nursing Officer and the Superintendent retired to their respective corners to draw a rough plan of their suggested layout of the unit wit hin the limita tions of the dimen s ion s of the caravan. And it was ama zi ng ho w simi lar the re ults were!
The back of t he caravan h ad to be pulled out and r ep laced by one with double doors wide e n o u gh to take a stretcher. The interior had to be gutted and o n e bulkhead moved a few feet. So the decision was made and work began, with Fred looking more and mo re unhappy eac h tim e I loom ed up in h is workshop. Progress was slow - or nil. Or s o it seemed o me. The carpenter had taken measur e ment s and gone home. An electrician came, saw, shook his he a d and went. E quipment and the bills arrived. And still our dre a m was nothing but a grey, oppre ss ive hulk with no s ig n o f c h a n ge
All of a udden things began to improve
The back was out. The interior had been relined. New furn i ture was bein g fitted. The progress injected new interest in everyone. Fred actually started to greet me when I arrived. The carpenter was obviously putting heart and soul into his craft, for now a surgeon's couch was fitte d , an d adjacent a sink unit with work surface, cupboards and drawers under. The kitchen unit was built into the front section , fully appointed w ith f ri dge , ga s burn er, hot a nd cold running water. The elec rician had insta ll e d a battery c ha rging unit, so that we could plug into the m a ins or run off our own batter y Recharging si mpl y mean t plugging into a m a in s after each duty. As eve rythin g ne ared completion, a lo ca ga r age sup pli ed a paint spray to finish the exterior Our oppressive giant was becoming a beautiful first a id unit
The fini s hed j o b w as e xcellen t And Fr ed \-vas s o delighted t h at he is no\\' looking forward to con vert i ng a n orthodox. caravan in the same wa y - b ut ev en be tt er next time, he claim s. W hen the time cam e for the dedica t io n ceremony, the Bishop of D udley \\ a vis it i n g Upton and he ver y kin dly agreed to bless our new born. For th e D i"i ion, t h i was one of our proudes t moment I n fron of our Pre id e nt , Mr Joann e D a\\e. and the Co unt y N ur ing O fficer, udr'y Myer cough - wit h Are a Supt Char I Wilce keeping an eye on t he proceedingour Cou n ty Commis ione r a ccepted Uptonupon -Severn Division new f ir t aid un it from one of the major local co n tributor, Mr Tustin. A job "vas done. And a n ew one \\ as about to begin. Ch arles Dempsey. D '/ !J(
SPECIAL DUTY UNIFORM - LONDON
from Mrs Lesley Borzoni, Nursing Member
Having read the most recent issue of London District Orders, I have to write to you regarding DO 4649, which states 'Nurses driving or acting as an attendant on ambulances must wear grey dress NOT trousers when attending Public Duties '.
As a regular and long-standing ambulance driver and often attendant with my division, I have to admit to a certain horror that this apparent step back into the nineteenth century engendered in me. I must point out that my concern is not simply with my own feelings of modesty.
In order to do a job correctly and efficiently one must not only have the theoretical qualifications, but must be able to actually perform the task in question. In ambulance work this invariably involves lifting stretchers, wheel and carrying chairs, which are often heavy and awkwardly designed, demanding correct (kinetic) lifting and handling for patient well-being as well as personal safety. Ambulance work also involves, particularly in accident and emergency work, getting in and out of awkward places, climbing up and down steep steps, over and under walls and barriers, through narrow doorways, and so on, and this is only in London! I pause to imagine what our colleagues in the counties have to contend with. It is surely apparent that this type of work demands a no-frills, hard-wearing, practical working uniform, allowing maximum freedom of movement and good all-round protection. Regretfully, as far as ambulance work is concerned, the grey dress fulfils none of these functions adequately. Surely it is quite senseless to agree that dresses are impractical for non-urgent removals and other dirty duties (as of course they are), but are suitable and indeed compulsory for Public Duties, many of which are accident and emergency dutie s, such as New Year in Trafalgar Square, Lewisham, Notting Hill Carnival and other demonstrations, where speed and minimum restrictions are essential?
I am sure that this directive was not issued without due consideration, but I would be most interested in the logic behind it.
329 Sf Pancras Division Lesley Borzoni
The following clarification of D / O 4649, Special Duty Uniform, nursing personnel on ambulances, has been issued by London District HQ:
Nursing personnel driving or acting as attendants on ambulances are not permitted to wear Special Duty Uniform on ceremonial duties in London, eg, Trooping the Colour, Buckingham Palace Garden Parties, and similar duties.
At public duties in Central London such as demonstrations and New Year's Eve, and local divisional duties where appropriate , the Special Duty Uniform can be worn, but this must be in accordance with dress regulations and a beret should be worn at all times.
Other occasions when Special Duty Uniform can be worn must be ?uthorised by District Superintendent or Area Superintendent (N).
INTO EUROPE
from R. E. Gale, Area Superintendent (A)
I was delighted to read about the Banbury Cadet Band's venture into Europe (Sept Review), which must have thrilled them and given onlookers much pleasure. The photo of the band marching through Ypres does them much credit, but I am less happy with the other photo at the Menin Gate.
Briefly, examine the positions of 'At Ease' (or Stand Easy). Note all the hands are at sides, or in front of the body. And many have the backs of the hands to the front, which displays an unnatural stance. I also note that the Flag Party with the flag in the 'Carry' position stood' At Ease', when it should be at 'The Order'. I am also puzzled why (a) the Cpl acts as bearer with a Div Supt as escort, and (b) why not a cadet officer and two senior cadets as Flag Party instead of those selected?
Perhaps this sounds hypercritical, but I genuinely believe that if we are going to parade, especially at important functions such as this with its military overtones, then we should pay a lot more attention to detail.
Having moaned, may I conclude by congratulating Banbury on their enterprise and enthusiasm and perhaps sum up by saying Don't spoi the ship for a hapath of tar'
Bristol Reginald E. Gale
CADET CAMPS
from a Divisional Member
Many counties now have 'County Camps', when cadet officers take cadets to camp either within the county or away to another county. These camps are normally very good fun and enjoyed by all concerned.
I am wholeheartedly in favour of camping, but do feel that the County Staff Officers who are always the commandant of these camps are somewhat 'past it'. They may be very good at paper work and excellent staff officers, but as most have not run a cadet divi sion of their own for some years they are out of touch with cadets. They also appear to be under stress during a whole week at camp with children.
There are many divi sio nal superintendents and young officers who are very experienced campers (most having obtained camping warrants) who are far more adept at the day-to-day running of camp s and are more readily accepted by the cadets. I know of such people who are far more efficient and quicker thinking than some of the older officers and ha ve new ideas that they are not allowed to bring forward.
In cadet divisions we are trying to keep cadets intere ste d in St John and what better way than to take them to camp. But how can we hope to do this when we have staff officers with old fashioned ideas who work very begrudgingly with young officers?
Could it not be made a rule that when an officer is promoted to County Staff they break free of camping and hand over to young cadet officers who actually run the divisions. I am sure they feel we cannot cope but I can assure them we can and we will, given the chance!
Any County A Divisional Member
AMBULANCE ROMANCE by Apoplectic
Television has much to answer for. For one thing people who could be potential Brigade recruits stay at home to watch. This is a much easier way of occupying a cold winter's evening than going out to learn and develop a skill they may have a need for one day.
It does something else. It creates a rom a nti c image of ambulance work. There is something exciting about the driving of an ambulance through busy traffic with blue lights flashing and two-tones blasting away. Few TV ambulances make any journey which does not require the use o f light s and horns. Well, that's the way it looks. The professional am bulance driver knows different.
It is not exciting, risking life and limb racing through crowded streets attempting to reach an emergency quickly because there probably isn't a first-aider at the sce ne Few occasions require the rescued casualties to be whisked away under the cover of the beacon and horn s.
Brigade vehicles are even less likely than regular ambulances to have need to this last resort. The problem is that it is the TV image which attracts many recruits to the Brigade. Disillusionment soon sets in when reality replaces the dreams.
Do we place the wrong emphasis on our vehicles? W. Midlands
USE OF ENTONOX
from B. W. Nicholls
Apoplectic
As a Nurse of ten years' experience, mostly in intensive care unit s and anaesthetic departments, I am am;:tzed by the attitude of some people to the use of oxygen without making any reference to the dangers of the inexpert use of entonox, which is a mixture of oxy gen and nitrous oxide in equal parts.
I have myself seen Brigade personnel use entonox in a dangerous manner by holding the mask for the patient and thus forcin g administration, instead of letting the patient hold the mask for himself. And, having in mind the ill effects that can in certain cases
be caused by nitrous oxide inducing or aggravating low bloodpressure, I have had to stop Brigade member s from giving to badly s hoc ked patients or casualties su ffering from head IOJ u nes. I feel that divisions would do far better to purchase and learn how to use a good ambu bag and aspiration unit which safe r, and incidentall y less expensive, than oxygen or entonox eqUipmen.t.
West Oxford Division
B. W. Nicholls
from Tom Quinn, AIM and Student Orthopaedic Nurse Martin Newlan (Sept Review) asks readers to share his 'amazement' at the CNO's state ments regarding t he use of oxygen by St John lay members. I have spent a fair amount of time working with anaesthetists of all grades, and have been given the impression b.y these doctors (both directly and indirectly) - and they do kpow a bIt about oxygen and the respiratory system - that oxygen IS of very little value in the first aid context. In fact, one consultant anaesthetist (who is a senior member of St John) told me in a letter that perhap s the only condition likely to prove needy of oxygen therapy in a first aid (remember that's we're supposed to be dealing with) situation is carboxyhaemogloblO - carbon monOXide poisoning. Of course, oxygen u!1d.er a resuscitator is a different matter altogether, as It IS an active hfe-savlOg measure. Administering oxygen for other conditions (suspected, perhaps, not diagno sed by a qualified practitioner) may well prove fatal - and that doesn't get us anywhere.
I am not saying that all SJ A members are a potential hazard when dealing with slightly sophisticated equipment (oxygen and being examples), but having travelled round a number of dIVISion s I can only say that some member s are potential menaces, no matter how reliable some of their co lleagues may be. Entonox, 10 my experience, is a valuable aid to patient-care, b<?th for the and the first-aider. Of course, the regulatIOns governlOg the administration of the gas should be carefully gone into - perhaps nursing officers and surgeons would oblige. Oxon Tom Quinn
CALLING GWEN AND KATHLEEN
from Mrs C Boultwood , aged 87
During August a group of us (I'm 87 and due to a heart condition and arthritis cannot get about too well) went to Mundesley Holiday Camp, Norfolk, for a holiday arranged by Walthamstow Council. We were accompanied by two St John nursing member s - Gwen and her friend Kathleen, who work at Wanstead Hospital and Leytonstone Handicap Hospital respectively - who were so kind and gave every minute of their time to us.
We just wanted to say THANK YOU, Gwen and Kathleen. Walthamstow Clara Boul/wood
AND HELP CAME
from Mrs D. Griffiths, DNO
Many thanks to readers from all over the country who answered my plea regarding the officer's lightweight dress (Sept Review). It seems I have not been the only one who has experienced difficulties in obtaining this uniform. Offers of home-made patterns , suggestions of wh ere to obtain material, and how to contact dressmakers, etc, have all been forthcoming.
My particular thanks, however, go to Area Supt (N) Mrs N Co?ke (Leeds Met. Area) who has had the initiative to approach a local flrI? who are now supp lying these dresses made - to-measure. In case thiS information is of interest to other readers, the firm is: Leodian, Bridge St, Leeds. The price for the uniform is £23 95 plus VAT Once again, many thank s to everyone who wrote to me. Manchester Diane Griffiths
Editor: Glad to hear so many readers responded to this ca ll. May I just add that this is where the Review can be so helpful to everyone - by sharing informa tion and ideas.
AMBULANCES
from D. Symes, SRN
Much has been written in the Review in recent months regarding ambulances and equipment. Before making any sweeping judgement I feel each division's needs should be assessed My own division in Wrexham uses ambulances. We need them. Many of our duties are at isolated locations and far from the nearest public telephone. Also many of our duties require an ambulance on the field before they can be held. Sometimes we work with the full time service at large event and have on occasions requested an ambulance from them, even when ours is present, to transport a patient from a duty wholly covered by us. The criteria bein g what is best for the patient. Thi
Greater Manchester
must b e our guide, the full time service does not have a God given right to move all injured persons.
the ir value has
As for equ ipment , of course all ambulances must carry the basIc equipment fo r t ransportation of patients in safety, and ma intenance Of a clear airway, respiratory support and Items for control of h ae morrhage and support of fractures. Both our ambulances
ca r r y an extensive range of patient care equipment. I too wa s astonished by M r Newlan (Review Sept), at the alleged comment by h e Ch ie f N ur sing Officer and feel in fairness that she must have b een misquote d. Surely no professional nurse could fail to see a d v ant a ges of oxy gen in such conditions as m yocardial in far ction or respiratory arrest. Even although oxygen a drug and sh ould be treated with the same care as any other drug, It
m us t f o rm part of the basic equipment of any ambulance. also use En t ono x a lt h ough the set is mine and therefore only avaIlable wh en I am o'n d u ty. It has proven its value in many situations and p r e vented much suffering I should like to see this also included as a ba sic item on all St J ohn ambulances.
Ot her i ems of equipment should be provided to meet the needs o f each d ivision. O ne wa y of doing this is to correlate information from t h e p r evious year t o p r oject what ma y be required. We do this by co mpleting a form showing the typ e of duty covered and type o f in jury t reated
L a st year, fo r example , we treated some patien.ts : These cons ist e d o f 100 wounds , 25 fractures 58 1I1Junes to J01l1ts , 15 unc ons cious patien ts, 22 burns and 90 mis cellaneous injuries. Of th es e 56 we re a ke n t o hospital in our ambulance s We ther e fore were abl e t o project t h e workload for the nex t year and equip accordinglr We h a d p rov en t h e ne ed for well equipped a mbulances at cert ain du ties and the nee d for wound cleansing and dressing items Th e poi n t of this is tha t apart from the basic we shou ld n o t a im at a duplication o f the full t Ime service s equIpment.
O ur n eeds are d i f fer ent. Also a full time ser vice ambulance may treat one or t wo pat ien ts then return to base for re-stocking. Ours may well pro vide t h e ba se for treating 20 + patients at anyone event. We then need bulk stocks of items. The difference bet ween o ur s and t he fu ll time service' s equipment s hould be d ic ta t ed b y nee ds and not the s kill in u se A s r egard to tr a ining , it must be mandator y that member s ta k in g equipment on duty a re able t o use it correctly. However in to ce r t ain specialist it ems, re s uscitation bags and mechamca l resu sci t a tor s, these re quire practice to use to the full a d v antage We t he r efore provi d e a brook airway in each ambulance an.d 111 a resuscitation kit t hat can be used by those members lackmg the ex perien ce with t h e other re s uscitation aid s which are also carried I fe el most strongly that the Brigade must look criticall y at its own and oth ers practice an d be prepared to accept new concept s o f care on ce
LONG SERVIC
Comb m ed D IvlslOn s longe st ser ving me mb e r - Mr Leo nard Burd e n ,. wh <? th e Brigade at t he age o f t we lve in 1916, obtamed 11lS flfSt aId certIfIcate at 14 in 1918 a n d h is fi rst a d u lt cert ificate in 1920 whe n h e was 16 Ev ery year Le o n ar d has passed a re-examination. In 1950 he was m ade a Serving Brother and has held all
p h ysiology. Leonard holds ce rti f icat es: Ho me N u rsing, Hyg iene , Food Ha n dling; Anti-Ga s 1916, G r ade 1 I nst ru ctor; Teaching Certificate (including training) A R. P S S p ecia l I n struc tor; Senior Instructor, RegIonal T ra ining Sc ho o l, in c h arge of first a id and rescue.
He a lso t r ained first aid crews fo r th e new Br a dford A mbul a nce
Se r vice at t h e start of the National H ealth S er v ic e, and wa s ca p tain o f a succe ssfu l compet ition team. In 1922 h e wa s a repre sentati ve f or t h e No rthern Area a t t h e R oyal Re v ie w at th e opening of W e mbl ey
Sta di u m Bradford
C A LLING THE NCB
K. Brear (on from T. H iggins, Ar e a Sup e rintendent (A)
W h en we read the hi story of St J o hn Ambulanc e , we fmd th e rai lways , po li ce and coalmining indu s tr y in th e fo r efr o n t in for m in g divis io n s. British R a ilway s, the P o li ce o r gan isat ions r ecognise the long service o f thei r st a f f m flfSt a id act ivities b y award ing long s erv ic e m edal s, m ost of wh Ic h can b e wo rn o n Briga d e u niform Bu t whe n is the Na ional Coal Board g0 1l1g t o f all m to Im e a nd ack n owle d ge on a nation a l scale the long ser vice give n b
t hei r emplo ye es n administering
s t a id t o their workmate s , ofte n in very hazardo u s condition s ? We ha ve some NCB employ ees. who h av e b ee n first-a iders
He
OUR NEW HOME
IT HAD b ec om e obviou s for s ome year s that the Mansfie ld Road HQ of Nottin g ham C ity Area , whi c h we had occupied for over
Rooms we re too s mall ; re s tri ct ion s h a d been put on the use of t h e forecourt ; and t he r e was now 'n o p arkin g' i n approach road s. So we had to find a n ew hom e.
Afte r look ing a t man y b u il di ngs we s aw the old Q u een's Drive
Po lice S t ation (no w Queen s Walk ), w hich the police had vacated t hree y ears pr ev iou s ly T he buildin g ha d been badly va nd a lised bu t we could s ee tha t re f urb is h ed it would make a f in e HQ, so we set about bu yin g it f r o m the Nottingh a ms hire County Council.
We re ce ive d t he keys in Jul y 1979 and while ASOs Bennington and Sha w s p e nt a week cl earin g d e bri s from t he building , fund raising started in earnest. Le t te rs to t h e C ha ri ta ble Trust and local firms produc ed e n o ug h mo n ey f o r so me work to s tart on a part of the building O t h e r wo r k w ou l d h ave to be planned a s a nd w hen we found the m o n ey, so f und r a is in g presse d on includin g a sponsore d p a rachu t e j ump b y N i ta Be nso n of th e Nottingham Evening Post , whi c h produ ced £600
Mean w hil e o u r two ASOs had b ee n jo ined b y Mrs Bennington and ASO Towl e to work on the b ui ld ng , with occa s iona ll y othe r members a nd Ba rri e Dunb a r h elp i ng wi h decorati n g. Professionals were brou g h t in f o r th e plumbin g, wir ing joinery and building, many of t hem doin g t he wo r k at cost. It wa s now time to think of opening da y a nd it was d ec id ed to c ombine · thi s with the Area's annual in sp ec tion and a s near S t John 's Day as possib le June 22 1980 wa s t o be t he da y.
Everything we n t we ll - eve n the wea her. The inspection was tak en by the Nottin g h a ms hir e C ommander SJA , Commander A. S. Morten s en RN acc ompani e d b y t h e Ar ea Co m missioner, D r A. J Ma scari And th e n follo we d the op enin g o f our new HQ by the cha irman of Nottingham s hi r e C ount y C ouncil , Cllr C. L. Hempsall. There wa s a s h o r t ded ica ti on s er vice by the Rev Alan Maydock, vicar of St John 's C hurch Bilbo r ou g h And then we a ll proudly wal ke d into our new home Come and see it if you're in the a rea
Ou r ho m e is o pened - o ff icia ll y
For your home - at specia l C hr istmas price s ! BEAUT IFU L 18TH-CEN TURY COUNTY COACH
G
PRINTS An exclusive serie s of 46 reproduction map p rin ts ta ken from origi n a l f irst editio n li ne en gravi n gs dated 17 87, by J ohn Cary. P r in t ed in
Nevvs from Divisions / Centres
Mid lot h ia n (3) 10
nt ion of disease ( 1 1). 11. Rece ss in s p le ni c
hea d (5) 12. Try -out a dia gn ost ic procedure (4) 13 An c ie n t India n civ ili sation (4) 15. Di sco n te n ted muttering s comin g, per h aps, from the heart (7) , 17 P neu m atic app liance for pr eve n tio n of b ed sores (3-4). 19 No t yet p rof icient (7). 21. Neat aim n t hi s grave intell ectual defi c ien cy (7) 22. Scab ies (4) 24 Ha l t a ma le di s order (4) 25. Fundamen ta l one is i n broken scab ( 5). 28.
In sensibili t y t o pain (1 1). 29. Compre ss reducing pain and s we ll i ng (3). 30. Arter y in m ax illa o r tars us (5) 31. Cleans e o f path oge ni c micro-org anism s (9).
D o wn
1. Sutu re m aterial f rom an y Lond o n centre (5) 2 Aller gic s kin re actio n pr o duced b y for e ig n prot ein (9 ) 3. Adam' s is t he thyr o d cart il age (5) 4 Got li st for s pa ce b etween the vocal cord s (7)
5 Ina b ility to ex pres s though t b y s p eec h (7). 6 A lkaline sec ret on of the liver (4) 7 Po is on o u s sub sta n ce pro d uced by bac t eri a f r om ox in ti n (5) 8 Longin g f or h o m e, bu t cou ld be lo s t a gain (9 ). 14
Faith fu l r ibs (4). 15. Woman w ho h as borne more than on e c hil d (9). 16 The olecranon a nd coron oi d processes are part of it s uppe r extr e mity (4) 18 The s mall one is very mu c h longer than the la rge o n e (9). 20. Arr ived with pain b ack aga n? (7) , 21. Com p le te a bse n ce of mi cro-o r ga ni s m s f r om a purul e n t infection (7). 23. Professorial seat (5). 25. Main o r ga n of t h e ce n tra l nervous system (5) 26 Box fo r the thora x (5) 27 As tart an d e n d is back in a lar ge p a r t o f th e earth (4),
SOLU T ION TO CROSSWORD No 10 (80 )
Across : 1. F a ce lift; 8. Hay fev e r 9 A t he roma; 11. Twinge; 12, Edge ; 13 La te ; 15 Ma la ise; 17. R a ce; 20. N ev is; 21. Nut; 22. T e net 23 N eap; 25 E mu.l ate; 27 Te la; 2 9 . A lu m ; 30 Portal; 32 Rhiniti s; 34 Li niment ; 35 A .l opeci a
Down : 1. F lat ul ence; 2 Eve; 3 In ord er; 4 Th.a n .e; 5. Cyst; 6, Me d ic am e n t; 7. Verges; 10 H e at 14 E p ig l ott is; I S Met.a; 16 E u t hana s ia ; 18 An ne; 19 . C ue; 24 Pru r igo ; 26 Myosis; 28. Ex.it; 29 A o rta; 31. Lie n; 33 Ice
ADVERTISEM ENTS
First Aid dressing case
• MANUFACTURED FROM HIGH VISIBILITY INTERNATIONAL ORANGE COLOUR PLASTIC
• STRONG AND DURABLE
• WIPE CLEAN
• COMPLETE WITH "SNAP IN" STORAGE BRACKET FOR FIXING TO THE WALL OR VEHICLE SIDE
• OPENS FLAT
• PARTITIONED INTERIOR
FREE - WITH EACH ORDER FOR A FIRST AID DRESSING CASE , A MINr PERSONAL FIRST AID CASE, VALUE £1.45 (Offer closes 31 Dec. 1980)
• CLEAR PLASTIC INTERIOR COVERS WITH MAGNETIC FASTENERS TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM RAIN AND DUST
• CONTENTS EASILY SEEN
• DIMENSIONS 16 11 x 11 % II x 611 approx PRICE £21.50 incl. VAT & P&P THE NEW IMPROVED RANGE OF MOBYLE FOLDING CARRYING CHAIRS PRICES ON APPLICATION
Belt Pouch for Ambulance Personnel
Specially designd to carry scissors , forceps, examination torch, pen and antiseptic wipes.
Price with contents
or empty £4.54 - includes V.A.T. andP&P
Write for detai ls of quantity d iscounts for 10 or more. Des ign variations ca n be produced depending on quantities involved.
ARE YOU INVOLVED IN CHARITY OR SOCIAL WOR K?
ST JOHN REVIE
SIR MAURICE DORMAN was duly installed as Lord Prior of St John by His Royal Highness The Grand P r ior in the Grand Priory Church of Clerkenwell at noon on Wednesday, October 22, in the presence of many robed members of Chapter-General and a large c o ngregation of invited guests,
The Grand Prior entered the Church in ceremonial procession, supported by the Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross and the Executive Officers of the Order , and preceded by the Bishop of Rochester (a Sub-Prelate of t h e Order) who offered the opening and closing prayers. A f ter the Grand Prior had made an address to Lord C a ccia in which he thanked him for all the work that he had done for the Order as Lord Prior, the latter p resented Sir Maurice to His Royal Highness who then installed him in the Lord Prior's vacant chair and a ppointed him to be 'Our Lieutenant and Deputy in the administration and governance of our Most Venerable O rder under Our Sovereign Lady The Queen' _ The ne w ly installed Lord Prior then left his chair and knelt b efore the Grand Prior to do homage. The Grand Prior accepted that homage and directed that proclamation be made accordingly; and when this had been done all present were called upon to stand and salute the new Lord Prior of St John. Finally, after prayers had been offered by the Sub-Prelate, the Grand Prior withdrew from the Church in solemn procession, followed by the assembled congregation, and all who had been present were invited to a buffet lunch in the Chapter Hall at St J o hn's Gate.
Brigade ambulances
No less than 18 letters on the subject of Brigade ambulances have appeared in the Review during the first t e n months of this year. They discussed the best t ypes of vehi cle for the various purposes for which the y may be r equ ired, and the accessories and equipment which the wr i ters considered it desirable (or, in some cases, u n d esirable) that they should carry, with here and there a salutary warning against squandering our funds on the continu ed o n next p age
perhaps unconscious 'sta tus symbolism' of possessing more vehicle s or more highly sophisticated equipment than we require. And from time to time we receive v ery reasonable requests that HQ should issue an official list of standard equipment for Brigade ambulances.
Perhaps the time has come to give this discussion a breathing-space, especially as a Brigade Public Duty Handbook has for some time been in course of preparation, and although the gestation period of a handbook on so complex a subject is bound to be more elephantine than human, there is good hope that it will not now be very long before it sees the light of day.
r was recently privileged to read what is hoped to be its final draft, and I can a ss ure you of two things: first, that the drafting committee have kept a close eye on the correspondence in the Review and have very carefully considered all the points raised in it; and secondly, that it will give us, for the first time in the history of the Brigade, really clear-cut information and
advice on types of ambulance, lists of equipment that s hould be carried, the duties, training and responsibilities of driver s and attendants, the treatment of sp ecial cases, the pro ce dures which may be undertaken by properly trained St John first-aiders and those which must be re s tricted to members of the medical and nursing professions, and our relationship with other voluntary and statutory organisations in both the routine and the emergency dutie s that we ma y be called upon to perform in the 1980's.
I hope that when the handbook appears its information and guidance will be intelligently and loyally observed by all members of the Brigade, even if a few find that it here and there conflicts with their most cherished theories or procedures. Meanwhile, the Surgeon-in-Chief agree s that it would be unwi s e and confusing to publish prema t urely any official lists of ambulance equipment to which even minor modifications may yet have to be made before the handbook appears in print. So please be patient for a little longer, don't invest in any new and more expensive and sophisticated items of equipment unless you have found out for certain that they are both approved and desirable - and I can promise you that your patience will be well rewarded!
Lord Prior installed by Grand Prior
from the ceremony: The Director of Ceremonies then conducts the Lord Pflor of Sf John 10 the falds/ool on wh ich he kneels with both knees puts both his hands be/ween those of the Grand Prior (photo left) and says: I Maurice Henr D orman, a Balilff Grand eros of this Most Venerable Order do homage to thee Lord Pnor for this my Priory of St John and fo; the Lieutenancy and Deputyshlp for the good gov:rnance of Our Order which I hold of thee , and of Our Lfad Y The Queen, the SovereIgn Head of t hi s Most Venerable Order of the Hospital o St John of Jerusalem.
The Grand Prior replies: We accept t hat homage and direct that proclamation be made accordingly.
Take three words Di scussions about the role and the responsibilities of Bri gade members when carrying out public duties, and particularly when transporting casualt ie s by ambulance, often generate more heat than light as a result of sheer ignoran ce of the proper meaning of the three words 'professiona l', 'volunteer' and 'amateur'; and this is particularly so when the discussion turns on the rol e of the Brigade member in relation to that of member s of the statutory ambulance service. Any attempt to provide clear -c ut distinction s between these three words involves treading on rather delicate ground because of their emotive overtones; but I'm none the less going to try, as a s tudent of the Eng li sh language, to clear away so me of the li tter that so often obscures he ssue. The word 'professiona l', when u sed as a noun , is normally accepted to refer to a per so n who earns his livin g by practising so me sk ill for which he has qualified by special courses of advanced tra ining and examination. Used as a n adjective, it may describe anything relating to t hal person's 'profession'; but when used in s uch phrases as 'in a profess ional manner' it often implie s that so meone performing in that manner is not in fact a professional although the high quality of his work might
lead one to think that he was.
The noun 'volunteer' is used to refer to so meone who offers to carry out a task of his own free will and no under compulsion ?r of contract; it most frequentl y ImplIes that h e is not paid for the work that he offers to do, though in ce rtain rare cases (e.g. in the Services of the Crown) it ma y be used to de sc ribe one who, though a 'professional' f r ee ly offers to undertake a particular ha zardo u s tas k that is beyond his normal call of duty. Thus the meaning of 'volunteer' doe s not in any way imply a lower quality of performance, which may in fact on certain occasions be exceptionally high.
The word amateur' means b y derivation 'one who loves ', and properly describes someone who does a job simp ly because he enjoys doin g it, .e. 'for lov e a nd not for money' Its use is somewhat complicated by the fact that it is taken to mean that the performer is not qualified as a so it would be wrong to descnbe a 'professional' as an 'amateur' simply because he cho e to carry out some professional task without remuneration.
To s um up, in so far as this matt e r relate to our first aid and nursing duties:
I. All Brigade member are 'volunteers'
2. None are 'profess ional s' except qualified Doctors and Nurses' but the term may justly be applied: in a sen e stnctly limited to the ski ll s in which they are qualified, to refer (for example) to members of various paramedical professions and professionally qualified ambu lancemen.
3. All, we trust, are 'amateurs' in the true sen e of the word, though by convention it would be incorrect to apply this term to the 'profe siona ls'.
4. It s hould be t he aim of all Our nonprofessionals' to reac h so high a standard of sk ill in carrying out e first aid and nur ing dut ies whIch they are trained to perform that they may ju stly be said to do so 'in a thoroughly professional manner' - but that does not make them' profe s ionals'!
5. Any use of the word 'volunteer' and 'am.ateur' in a derogatory or dl paragmg sense when contrasting them w i t h 'professionals' i a sheer pro titution of two of the noblest word in our language
Now [ rea lly have stuck my neck out hav en't l? But 1 can think back to the wh en , some 20 or more year ago, it often to my lot to help in the training of newly JOIned members of the ambulance ervice in the transitional period of it early development under the Welfare State, and as a 'volunteer' to go out with them on the ambulances so metime s indeed accompanying them on a 999 ca ll to what proved to be the very fir t erious emergency that they had experienced. That was a pri ilege and re sponsibilitv that required very delicate handling I ' m thankful to ay that I made many friends and no enemie among tho e with \\ hom I had occasion to work. Today however I recogni se that I' m definitel a ba' k number ', and if I sti ll had the opportunity and the physical trength to go Out wirh them again as a volunteer ambulance attendant I shou ld be only too grateful to recogni e and accept them a the e \pen and my se lf as the le arner. would only add rhat I hope my attemp ts to throw light on what I sometimes alas far roo contro ver ial a subject ha e not made confu ion wor e confounded, but. on the ontrar)', helped man y of our enthusiastic volunteer in the Bri gade to ee both the re pon ibilitie and the limi ta tion of their ta k in b tter perspective, and in pired them ro perform that task in a truly profe s ional manner.
HRH The Du ke of Glouceste with S Maurice and Lady Dorman after the installation
Special Training Day_ In Bristol
AS PART of the Avon SJA's Year of Nursing , a training day was arranged at the Bristol Royal Infjrmary School of Nursing by Mrs Nora Ford, Area Superintendent for Bristol and North Avon.
During the morning more than 100 members were able to practise their skills at lifting and moving patients, casualty make-up and observation of the patient, as well as becoming familiar with colostomy requisites and their application.
The afternoon session was devoted to a talk on renal transplants by Dr J. Campbell Mackenzie, consultant nephrologist at Bristol's Southmead Hospital, followed by Mrs C. Pullin, of Ham Green Hospital, who explained the intricacies of coping with exotic diseases. Myra Meredith
YEAR OF NURSING
Reports from members who have been gaining experience at hospitals at home and abroad
OspedaJe Evangelico, NapJes, July THE ho s pital itself s a modern building, about twelve yea r s o ld , and is at present dealing with mat ern it y, gynaecology, abdominal and ophthalmic operations and treatments. They have the ground and plans to extend their buildings but, as w ith our own ho sp ital in Jerusalem, their funds are very limited Eventually they aim to cover all classes of illne ss and deserve to succeed in their aims. Their standards are certain ly very hi gh.
We were allowed to walch (and assist in a sma ll way) in all the operating theatre s and the delivery room, and it was certainly an experience I s h all never forget. I think our main assistance to the ho s pital came in making bed s a nd washing patients at the beginning of the day, as there were very few staff free to do the se c hore s. We also transported patient s to and from the theatre and performed numerous other sma ll jobs such as preparing gowns and dres ing s for st erilisation.
Sister In grid Schade made us very welcome, as did Dr Santi and all the staff. Our off-duty time was also made extreme y plea sa nt , as Sister Ingrid took us to a number of interesting places - Vesuvius, Posteum and Ischia.
As well as being of real help to the hospital - as we were told - I am sure we ha ve also widened the knowledge of St John and our work in the world and have made lifelong friends.
I enjoyed my visit to Naples enormous ly and would like to thank all who made the project po ss ible
DSO Mrs E. G. Richardson
West Germany, March
ON March 15 we arrived at St John House in Eaton Place at about 2 pm, and after a Alison Lentha of meal in Victoria we returned to t he club to Bedminster Devon meet the Superintendent-in-Chief, Lady N / C Div, being Moyra Browne, a nd Miss Puckle, the in st ru cted by DNa Principal Administrative Officer. We were Cyril T ippings on a then able to meet the rest of the gro up and digital blood to get to know Mrs Smyth, the SRN in pressure unit, which also records charge of ou r party of six teen. pulse rate We were up bright and early on Sunday
morning to leave after breakfast at 8 am for Heathrow. Our Lufthansa flight took off at 11 am, and we arrived at Bonn airport soo n after mid-day. Here we were met by Frau von Poncet, Head of the lohanniter Order in West Germany, and were entertained to lunch at the lohanniter Hospital in Bonn. By thi s time we had all been allocated to our destinations and we travelled by train from Bonn to Freiburg, a four - hour journey including ha vi ng to change at Mannheim with only four minutes to spare! This was no easy matter with our large s uit cases, but we were very fortunate in finding willing help. Between Coblenz and Mannheim we had a glorious view of the Rhine, with the vines on the banks of the river.
At Freiburg we were met by Frau Hildegaard, the Head Deacone ss at the hospital - the 'Evangelische Diackonie Krankenhaus' - who asto unded us both by the agility with which s he handled our h eavy suitcases and by the speed of her driving. Finally we reached our destination at about 8 30 pm, much relieved to find that this was not, after all, a mental h ospital as we had been led to believe on the trainin spite of being highly susp iciou s at the number of gates and doors which had to be unlocked on arrivaL
The hospital is situated in the centre of Freiburg, which ha s about 160,000 inhabitants. It is a typical German medieval town, with a beautiful cathedral and univer s ity. Part s of the old medieval town can sti ll be seen.
The hospital, an acute general hospital with about 150 beds, is scheduled for relocation in 1981. The new ho spital will be loc ated in a s uburb - Freiburg-Landwasser - and will have 200 beds taking medical, surgical and gynaeco logical cases.
The head nur se at the hospital Frau Oberin Kaufmann, is a member of the Johanniter Schwesternschaft. In the past the hospital has been run by a community of Deaconesses, who st ill carry out some li ght duties in the cafeteria and garde n s. Over the year, however, the number of new members to their Order has been declining, with the result that the hospital is now staffed by 'free' nurses. Frau Kaufmann hopes that it will gradually become sta ffed so lel y by J ohanniter members. A group of about 40 students have just started their three-year training.
The staff of the hospital comprises about 122 nurses, 45 st udents, one C hief Doctor and his ass istant, and six other doctors, 'Pravikantz' or auxilliaries also help in the hospital, many of them filling-in before starting a university course. Nearly all the patients are covered by medical in su rance , while the few private patients pay 200 marks a day (about £50), plus doctors' fees.
On arrival we found that we had been given a comfortable flat in the Deacones ses' House, but as it faced the main road it was very noisy , However, we found that b y going to bed early we were able to copethe first few nights as early as 8 pm.
Promptly at 8.30 the fo llowing morning we reported to Matron's office to discuss our duties. We e lected to work the morning s hift from 6.15 am to 1 pm, with half an hour for breakfast at about 8.30. [n fact we u sually had lunch at about 12 .30, with time off until the evening meal between 5.30 and 6.30 pm. We were put on separate wards or 'stazions', as they are known. These are medical wards dealing with a va ri ety of cases - heart, blood infections, chest infection s, and emergency admissions. The sh ifts of eight nur ses (including male nurse s and the siste r) work alternate shifts - ie from 1 to 8 pm one day, and 6 15 am to 1 pm the nexL. Thi s gives continuity for the patients, as the sa me nur s es who sett le them for the night will get them up in the morning. Night duty appears to be done by just two nur ses on a regular bas is.
The patients were delighted when we spoke to them in German (also the nur ses spoke very little English), and s ince the nurse /p atient ratio is greater than in Briti sh hospitals, we were able to take our time in talking to them. It is an essential rule that 'the patient comes first' and this rule is app li ed mo st consistently.
Our duties were man y and va ried , rangin g from feeding patients to testing blood for infection_
CSO Miss E. Steed and Miss E. Gleadale-Richards
From Notlinghamshire
TWO member s of Worksop Divi sion took part in Year of Nursing project s Corporal D erek Jar v is \-vent to the St John of God Ho pital, Scorton, N. Yorks, for the first week of August, where he worked with Di vis ional Officer (N) Mrs Ruth Laird, of Londonderry Di vis ion He was appointed to St Bed e's Ward ( male geriatric) where he did general nursing dut ies as well as help to dress an amputation. Much of hi s time was a so pent helping with t he mobilit y and general rehabilitat ion of the patients. Cpl Jarvis enjoyed hi visit tremendously and revi sited the ho sp ital a mon t h later when he was warmly welcomed.
ATA
YORKSHIRE HOSPITAL
Corporal Derek Jarvis of Worksop, and DI O Mrs Rut h Laird , of Londonderry at the St John of God Hospital Scorton , North Yorkshire - where many members have written they would love to return to help
One Star Officer Peggy Makeman, SEN, went to the St John Ophthalmic Ho spital in J e ru sa lem, with three other nursing member s from other parts of t he cou ntry, for the first two weeks of September. With her colleagues she worked in all the wards and outpatients clinic, where as many as 200 pa tients are seen every morning. She also watched a cataract operation. The stay included many visits throughout the Holy Land, a spec a l service at St George's Cathedral, and Pe ggy lakeman emphasised how welcome they we re made and how well everyone worked together.
D I O Moon, Worksop Di v, From Haybridge, Wells, Somerset I ARRIVED at the St John of God Ho spital, Scorton, on Sept 13, and after bein g shown to my room there was a knock on the door and two St John member s introduced themselves, saying what a fine week they had had at the hospital and that the food was good. They were now on their way home.
The hospital is run by the Brothers of St John of God , who are trained nurses and work on the wards; 1980 is their centenary year.
The next evening (Sunday) I met 0 / 0 Margaret Clark from Nottingham, and at breakfast the following morning we met 0 / 0 lalcolm Glister from Cornwall , who had arrived the night before_ Our St John group was introduced to [he Director , i'<lr Daly, and I wa s first delegated to the medical ward later to be moved to urgical. The ho pital, which has 125 beds, also has a geriatric ward. The day began at 7.30 am, \\ hen \\e prepared and ser ed patiem breakfa t At 8 am reports were read and in tructions given for treatments during the day. We helped generally in all the work and as i ted \\'ith after-care for the t\\-O major and 16 minor operation per for med during the week. which \\'a mo t intere ting.
The ta ff and [he patient \\'e re very friendly and 1 only hope 1 can go back to corron for another cluty. Thank you for the 1980 Year of 'ur. ing project.
A ,\1 L. J. Collins
Photos: George Gallop
1. Name the fractures:
2. Slings are used when it is necessary to: Afford. and to the.. limb.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Questions and Answers
3. Name these parts of the lungs: A B
4. Name this sling:
6. Name the wounds: A C B D
5. Bandages are made from flannel, calico, elastic net or special paper. They are used to:
A. Maintain direct. over a dressing to bleeding.
B. Retain and in position.
C. Prevent or reduce
D. Provide for a limb or joint.
E. Restrict.
F. Assist in lifting or casualties.
7. The average adult, at rest, breathes 15 to 18 times per minute: True or false?
8. For what fractures is this the treatment? OF THE
MANUAL: 2
A new series by ROY JACKSON and BRUCE COL TMAN, of the Northumbria Police Centre
10. Name this position:
14. In compression (a condition of actual pressure on some part of the brain):
A. The casualty's breathing becomes
B. The body temperature may be
C. The pulse will become
D. The pupils of the eyes will be ...... .
16. What are the two missing measurements: A inches. B inches.
17. This position is the treatment for '"
9. The signs and symptoms of a faint are:
A. The casualty is
B. His face is .................... ... ............. .. .
C. His skin is and
D. His breathing is
E. His pulse is .............. and .............. at first.
11. For what illne sses is the position in question 10 used:
13. Name this sling:
12. Insulin coma is due to an excess of insulin. True or false?
15. The arrows indicate common fracture sites of the face and jaw. True or false?
18. Name these pressure points: A B , .,
19. Diabetic coma is due to an excess of insulin: True or false? A
20, In infant s and young children the respiration rate is 24 to 40 per minute. True or false?
PAVED WITH
A letter to the Overseas Dept at Headquarter s from Surrey enclosed £30 as a donation, with the explanation that the writer's cousin, who lives in New Zealand and is a Serving Brother of the Order, found a wallet in a London street while here for the St Paul's Cathedral se r vice. The wallet had been handed to the Police, but as no one had claimed it the money had been sent to the finder in New Zealand. Hence it was now sent to the Order as a donation.
The streets of London can be paved with gold, it seems Thank you, Mr Cecil Greenwood, of Wairarapa, New Zealand.
LONDON CONFERENCE
The 30th annual conference of SJ A Surgeons and Nursing Officers, held at Guy's Hospital, London, on October 19, covered a wide field of interesting subjects
Although primarily a London District conference , it was also attended by member s from Beds, Bucks, Essex, Kent and Surrey, as well as students from the ho spital.
Eye injuries and diseases were covered by Consultant Surgeon , Lt Col Smart and Major Peter Brown, both of the Woolwich Military Ho spital.
It was interesting t o learn that of all road traffic accidents, 72 caused damage to the head. But the wearing of seat -bel ts drastically reduced this risk of facial injury.
Major Brown, who had just returned from a 'very happy' year at the St John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem said that in hi s opinion any object which
penetrated the eye should only be removed under ste rile conditions. Of h is work in Jerusalem, he had never seen rejection in a cornea l graft; and of acid s and alkalis in the eye, alkali can cause more damage as it is more d iffi cu lt to wash out than acid.
ORDER CONCERT
Ex-cadet, Di visional Surgeon and Corps Surgeon (now r esti ng') Mr K. Walk e r , consultant s urgeon to Ashford Ho sp ital , spoke on fracture of the cerv ical sp in e, commenting that there is nothing so good for it as good nursing.
Nursing Officer Mis s Wendy Pollard , a se nior t u tor at Barts , who went to Canada on a Year of Nur s in g bursary, spoke of her visit and ho w Canadians deal with h ea lth in t h e home.
Dr Colin Daw on to ld the conference about the changes in SJA re-examina tion procedures . Every third year the re-exam must be taken by a doctor or SRN, the intervening two, at yearly interval s, by a lay in structor; but the re-exams must be taken by someone ou tside t he divi s ion.
Di trict Nur in g Officer Cathy Stratton mentioned hat the n ew Nur ing Manual is about to be issued and that s he would like to see more nursing posters avai lable from the Supplie s Dept. Walter H oadley OPERATE OR
A most remarkable, int e r est ing and indeed in s piring true s tory of an event which took
THE Order 's Musical Society, formed recently by the Ladie s Guild to raise funds at home and abroad. held its first concen at th e Guildhall London on October 23. The evening, which was in aid of the Ophthalmi c H'o spita , was atlended by HRH Prin cess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who was greeted on arriva l by Sir Kenneth Cork, la st year's Lord Mayor and chairman of the Concert Committee.
The programm e by The English Chamber Orchestra, conductOr Nic hol as Kraem er, in cluded Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3 and the Concerto for Violin and Oboe, wit h oloists Jo e-LUI Garcia (violin) a nd Neil Bl ack (oboe). The distinguished Spanish tenor , Jose Carreras, sang two Donizetti arias, whi ch were followed, after the int erva l, by Schoenberg'S Verklarle Nachl.
The successf ul concen, sponsored by the National We st minster Bank , should be an annual event, sa id the Lord Prior, Sir Mauri ce Dorman, when he thanked everyone at the end of the evening.
ABOUT
BY TH E EDITOR
MINI) BE IHms
Find thc first aid word or wo rd s in thc c luc
REAL HEART
At a Kent training weekend for cadets, Depu ty County Surgeon Dr D G. Bar ton enl ivened his talk on th e hea rt by producing from
(Left) Princess Alice, Duchess of Glouces ter, on arr iv al receives a bouquet from N M Kim Bu tle r of Mary lebo ne (Right) The new Chief Commander, Major - Gen Pet er Leuchars, with the 'p rogramme girls'
Lady Caccia chairman of the Lad ies' Guild of the Order which has formed the Musi ca Society
place in 1975 on a s mall and remote Pacific island appeared in the October i sue of Reader 's Digest under the title of 'You'll Have to Operate - Or Wat c h Him Di e', by Franci s Richard s. Many of our rea d er have no doubt see n it but we mo st warmly commend it to those who haven't.
NO EAR-RINGS
I lik ed thi note in S JA Suffolk s new letter: 'Nursing Dress Regu lations la y down that with the exception of ring s, no jewellery of any k ind may be worn in uniform. No doubt when the se Reg ulation s were firs t written it was not thought n ecessary t o include imilar in struct ion s in Ambulance Dre s R egula tion. Neverthele it shou ld be c learly under stood that in Suffolk th e wearing of ear rin gs by Ambulance personnel in uniform on parade is nOl acceptab le.' And I till lik e i t.
TRUST'S WORK
Th e Edwina Mountbatten Trust, which was et up in 1960 as a p ermane nt memorial to Counte S Mountbatten of Burma, who was of co ur se Superin te ndent -i n -Chief of SJA whcn she died in North Borneo in February 1960, has as its object the furtherance of those import a nt a nd world-wide causes which s he had 0 much at he a rt.
The c h a irman of the Trust is Marjorie, Ret ed and long serving members of SJA Portsmouth held an afternoon get-together at their HQ recently, when a total of 600 years service to SJA sat down to tea
TO LONDON
Countess of Brecknock , SJA 's Chief Pre s ident, and its 1979 Report show s that the T r ust 's capital h a s now reached a quarter of a million pounds -a fine res pon s e ind e ed f rom friends of the Trust who s upport i s work
Grants durin g 1979 included: for St John Ambulance nur s ing and radio equipment, a nd s u p port for y outh adventure activities
in N o r f olk a nd O x ford s hire; for the Save the C hildren Fund, t h e dev e lopment of a s imple w all-chart for assessing malnu rition , which will be u s ed in underd ev eloped c ountri es; for Tal k ing Books for the Handicapped , 7 childr e n 's books were recorded a s w ell a s a number of grants to in the nur s ing profes s ion.
I m sure Lad y Moun t b att en would have been delighted wi t h the w ork the Tru sand its friend s - a re doing.
HOLIDAY OFFER
St M in v er Quad Division, Cornwall, offers a n y London Di s trict members a free c a ra van holid a y (le ss food) for those who w ould be w illin g to help man their beachhut f irst aid po s t for s hort period s during t h e ir s ta y. Date s on o f fer are July 14 to 28, a nd Augu s t 15 to 29.
R e qu es s through your Di v s ion , please, to DI S T. St r ou t, Rock Ha ven, Rock Road, S M in ver , Wadeb r idge, Cornwall.
INSTRUCTORS
Th e A ss ociation o f Instruc t ors the aim of w hi c h i s t o rai se the s tandard of teaching f i rs a id and allied s ubject s and is clas s ified as a S t John A ss oci a tion C e n t re , carries the
nd free ance instructor s It s offi c ia l journ a l , n ow in it s second year of publi ca ti o n , was rece n t ly taken over b y a ne w e dit o r R oy S h eppard, (Left SJA Cambs t eat about 200 people a day, for ive d ays, at the annua East of Engla n d
Show Her e, whe n the Su pt-inChief L ady M oy ra Br ow n e was vis iti ng h em, N M S usan
Spi ers w as b u sy tending a p a ti en wit h s h ock a te sc aldin g he fi ngers
( Right ) M eet Staff Sg Har ry Co x, 70 of W o ksop D iv sion, Notts, a nd h is sister, Mr s Muri e Mills als o of th e loc al D iv s ion ha s ju s re ceive d hi s 45 years ce tif ca e, a lth ou gh he's be en with t h e Di vis ion for 51 y ears. M urie has 3 1 yea rs' SJA se v ice 82 yea rs betwee n th em
Look w ell o n t , d o n hey?
(Ph ot o: Wor ksop Gua rdia n )
8 Woodsome R oad, Londo n NW 5. I ' m s u re h e wou ld be p lease d t o h ear fro m any Rev iew r eade r s who a re nte r ested in the A ss oc iat o n
TALKING BY THE RIVER
fo rmal wee kenduniform i n ot worn -a n d eve r yo n e brIngs their own accommoda t ion (te n ts, ca r ava n s, etc) and food wit h t h e exce p tion of bange r s, b un s a n d b ee fbu rgers w h ic h are
cooked a the party a n d so ld at a nomina l price
Fifty-five people went to the camp this year, and SJA Warwick s recommends the idea as an ideal opportunity to disc uss St John matters Why not try s ometh ng li ke it?
CLEANER FOOD
[ hear that catering st udents in Bedford hire are being invited to enter a Cleaner Food competition, comprising a po ste r de s ign and an essay, to encourage a greater awarenes of the importance of safety and hygiene in the local food indu try Promoted by the county's Cleaner Food Centre, it is anticipated that 1,000 students will enter the competition, which
Year of Disab ed
1981 is the International Year of Disabled Person, which is spo nsored by the United Nation , The aim of the year is to make more people aware of the challenges and frustration s hat di sa blement brings It is hoped that local and national events will not only inform but al so actively encourage the public to bring about a better lot for the disabled in our world.
John Groom s, with their School Project Kit, hope to provide the youth worker or teacher with the information to assist young peop le in understanding the problems of disablement. Colourful, well presented and compact, the k i t consists of four posters ill ustrating the subject (I) At Home (2) Work (3) Leisure (4) Mobility. To accompany thi s, there are 16 plastic project cards which outline the problems connected with these four areas. A film trip, with a script and cassette tape, provide an excellent visual aid. A set of guide notes is a so provided The kit is avai lable , price £ 12.50, from John Grooms, 10 Gloucester D rive, Finsbury Park, London N4 2LP.
P e n friends
R eaders may reca ll that some time ago I ga ve deta il s of a member who was wil lin g to arr ange St John pen friends. I hear t h at the sc h eme h as developed we ll and has a nu mber of members. If you know of s omeone who would like a pen friend, t hen w r it e to Jan Tiktin, 56 Moorfie d, Ha rl ow, Essex CMIB 7QF. Give detai s of age, sex, and in te r ests.
Fund r aising
I h ave h ea r d from D iv S u pt Mrs J
Pi n n ock, of Andover, who tells me t h at h e r
D ivis i o n recent l y held a sponso r ed
B a n dage In' to ra ise funds for t h e
Di vis o n, Every cadet broug h t a p at e n (a f ri end w h o might be encourage d to oi n lat er) and t h ey were split into gro u ps of
Questions and Answers: 2 Answers
I a. Neck of the femur. b. Shaft of the femur.
2. a. Support. b Protection. c. Upper.
3. a. Bronchi. b. Alveoli. 4. Tr iangular sling.
5. a, Pre ss ure, control. b. D ressi n g, s p lin ts. c. Swe ll ing d. Su p port. e. Movement. f. Carrying.
6. a. I ncised. b Lacerated, c. Contused. d. P unctured. 7 True.
who gave up three weeks of their school ho iday to help at a playgroup for very menta ly handi capped children. With them is the playgroup leader Mrs Anne Vallis, saying: Thanks a lot, Amanda, Barbara, Christine, Carol and Cathe ri ne .' Thanks indeed, gir s - from many others (Photo: Joan Jones)
clo ses o n Marc h 1, 19BI.
T h e competition is an extension of a very successful series of six - hour courses for the oca l foo d in d ustry ru n by the Environmental Health Departments of the four D ist r ict Councils and the county St John Ambulance Associa t ion. Over 300 peop le in t h e county have so far obtained their Cleaner Food Certificate.
CADET CHAT
by JIM
about eig h t cadets, keeping those of the same age and abi lity together. Each group had a n officer or lay instructor to supervise and c h eck the accuracy of bandages. Each cadet had to do 25 b andages, of which 10 had to be for fractures, a nd every bandage had to be d i ffere n t. A list of dressi n gs an d fr act u res was p u on t h e board as a guide.
To get h e m oney in q u ick l y, a p ri ze of £ 1 was offered to t h e ca d et w h o b ro u g h t i n the most m o n ey in 2 1 days.
Ca n yo u suggest any other ways of r ais ing funds n a St J o h n s t y le?
D uk e o f E dinbur g h Awa rd 19B 1 is t h e 25t h ann iversary of th is Scheme wh ic h I h ave b ee n o u t lining duri n g r ecent mo n ths. Hopefull y th e r e wi ll b e an inc rease d r esp on se from ca d ets n ex t year.
F or le ad e r s, t h e fo ll ow ing d eta il s of trai nin g c our ses m ay b e o f int er e s t. M a y 15-17 1981,
Lai th wa te Ce n tre, Kesw ick - P r ac t ica
Co n fe r e n ce for Leade rs. D e t a il s fro m t h e North E a s t R eg o n a l O ffice, Tel. Wa ll se n d (06 32 ) 6 2 5 306. M ount a in Le a de r T r ainin g - c ours es at 113 c en tre s i n E ngl an d a nd W a l es f o r a ll
Friends House, Euston R oad, London WI2BJ.
Expe d ition accom m o d ation
B utlins Ltd have offered free accommodation for groups of up to six young peop le, plus two i n structors, at t h eir Pwllheli (S n owdonia), Ayr (Gall oway H ill s) and Filey (North York Moors) cent r es for the purposes of training and qualifying in the Expedition Section of all levels of the Award. Further details from the Cadet Office, Brigade H.Q. and NOT from Butlins
Queen's Silver Jubi lee Trust The Trust is able to he lp young peopl e t o engage in vo l untary work in thei r community Grants may be awarded fo r a wide variety of projects whic h lead y oun g people to make a lively contribut on in service to others.
Com p etit o n w inn ers
Winners of the Summer Competition fo r a hort account of a cadet s first d u ty were: Ju l ie Smith, Feli stowe Nursi n g Ca de ts, and A n ne Shell ey also f r o m Fe lixstowe. Congratu atio n s to t h e m b ot h - pr zes a nd Cadet Chat badges o n t h e way so on I h ope to be able to p u blish extrac t s of the ent ri es la t er.
C ontr ibutions
If you would like to contribute to t hi s co lumn, please write to 'Jim', 57 Morg an Crescent, T h eydon B ois, Epping, Ess e x CMI67 D U.
The expedi ti o n' s flo at ing base Eye of the W nd a 150 ton brigant ne
HARI SELAMAT NETAL - A Happy
C h r is tma s to you all! It s December 25 and I was up before 6 am this morning to open m y s tocking. Phew! - yes it is hot here and I wonder how Father Christmas felt last night coming straight from the Arctic Circle ! We opened our presents outside, s urrounded by children - and we all lau g h e d and had much fun.
But I had better start where I left off in t he October Review waiting to cross 1,000 mile s of the Java Sea in a boogie boat. Well i didn t happen - we flew instead! That is C h a l Chute and I - from Jakarta to Ujung Pandang (capital of Sulawesi) and then s trai g ht on here to Kendari on December 23 a nd that's w here we are now in this s mall p rimi t ve part, waiting for a boat to take u s and 35 ton s of e x pedition stores and e q u ipment on to Kolonodale in the north, w he re he Sulawe s i Base Camp will be Chal Chute, by the wa y came all the way from th e UK to Java in a cargo s hip with the Op e ration Drake s tore s etc We're staying in a ' hotel but it looks more like a prison - all bare and dark. There s a large hall with a fe w chair s s cattered about, bare w hi t ewa s hed (green ) wall s with bedrooms off. All ver y bare and basic - a chair, table, w ardrobe and bed - all on a stone floor - and in the corner is your private ba hroom! It' s 4 ft by 3 ft and screened from the room. In it is a trough full of w ater and a s mall pail to bailout for a s hower and its drain s through a grid in the floor. There is a ls o a bottomless lavatory bo w l for a loa - but no loa paper! This is mu s lim country and you use your left hand to s luice your s elf with water (but never for s ha k ing h a nds or eating). And t he noi s e above your h e ad? Oh, that's just the rats pl ay ing tag. We pay about £2,25 per day including meal s - traditional Indonesian.
Round the World
SJA's CLAIRE BERTSCHINGER, nurse with Operation Drake, spends Christmas in a remote Indonesian village
I had a par ce l to d e liv e r lo an Indon es ian lady - Maria, the Engli s h t e a c h e r W e were told thal s he wa s al c hurch and s o Ted (QM) and I went to the c hurch It w a s a
Everywhere we go we are surrounded by children, looking, laughing and playing. They are beautiful, with long black hair , and many have large golden ear-rings and the sun flashes silver on their teeth We hir e a dugout canoe to go across the bay to the fi s hing village the other s ide ; the whole village comes out to greet us and we a r e shown their cages full of turtles which the y keep to eat. Then I go and tread on a pie c e of wood with a rusty nail and let out a yell!
I pull it out and they all crowd round shouting 'infection'. Our boat boy grab s my foot and st a rt s beating the s ale with the piece of wood It hurt s quite a bit but I am fascinated and let him carryon to s ee what next. After about a minute of f oot ba s hin g he squeezes the wound to make it bl ee d Then he finishes the job by spitting on my foot and rubbing the spit into the wound! Infection indeed! On the way back I wa s h my foot over the side of the boat in the s ea and then clean it with Dettol from my s mall first aid kit.
Everyone stares at me here becau s e I wear shorts; it's too hot for jean s and I've got nothing else. I don't think they've ever seen a woman in trousers or shorts - s o I've bought a sarong in batik printed cotton which is what all the women wear. It co s me just under £2 after much bargaining in the village market. It's about 2 metres long and joined into a circle; you step in s ide it, pleat it and wrap it around your wai s t. Or you can wrap it round your bust or ev e n put it over your head to shade you from the s un or wear it over one shoulder; it' s very practical and cool and everyone admires me in it. They even admire my big nose; they like big noses here in Sulawesi - and hairy legs!
It's now December 29 and we're on our way to Kolonodale at last, a 30 hour journey. Ted Carradus, the QM, has arrived and we've found a boat to take our
Ri c e, fi s h chillie s boiled eggs in chilli s auc e m e at and ve g etable soup and lots of other s mall delicacies', all presented to your on an enormous enamel tray 2 Y2 ft across and you eat it with right hand or spoon and fork - it's really deliciou s.
W
s tarted by s ta y in g in the hot e l ' a nd th e n moved into a n e mpt y room in th e local Ho s pital' wh e r e we could e r ec t our hammock s and cook our own food (army compo ration s) on a primu s s tov e (I preferred the Indone s ian food but w as in a minority).
The fir s t full da y w e were here in Kolonodale wa s Sunday, December 30, and
h e se r v ice pr oceede d in Ind o n es ia n Mari a ex pl a in e d t o m e h a in h e r co un try a wo m a n w ill r ea ll y o nl y ta lk to a n o th e r
w o m a n and never to m e n ou ts id e h e r fa mil y. S he h e r e lf ea rn s less h an £20 pe r month a n d h e r h usba nd w h o a n
eco n o mi st, h a n o job, apa rt f r o m he lp in g
o ut o m et mes in a s h op (t h ey do n 't need
eco n o mi t i n K o l o n oda e) and t h ey h ave 3
lov e y s m a ll c h i ld r e n . T h ey are s u c h n ice int e lli ge nt peo p le.
On New Yea r D ay I we nl to c hur c h ag a in w ith Ma ri a to f ind that p r act ica ll y h e wh o le se r vice was dedicate d to u s E n g l is h - a n d I was th e on ly o n e t h ere The c hu rc h
wa f ull abou 100/ 150 peop le. Yo u ca n im ag in e h ow m oved I was as M aria
e x pl ai n e d he se r v i ce to me a n d th e n a pr aye r was a id in E n g li h for a ll t h ose p eo pl e w h o we r e far away fr o m h o m e a nd f a mil y a nd fr ie nd s. A nd th e te a r ca m e into m y eyes, a n d w he n th ey saw h ow move d and t o u c h e d I was t h ey a ll ta r te d wee pin g - yes, a ll of th e m It was in cre dibl e a nd
m a d e m e weep eve n mor e, t hin k in g of a ll the se kind p eo p le fee lin g a nd c ryi n g f o r m e ! T hrou g h M a ria a nd th e p eo pl e a t the church I m a d e so me goo d f ri e nd s, a nd w ha t is mor e th ese co nt ac t s h ave e n a bl e d h e work of Our te am to g o ah ea d r a pidl y in th e build-up o f th e ba s e ca mp we a re e s tabli s hin g s om e m i les up h e Ra nu ri ve r. It s aw a y ac r oss t h e ea (l a r ge e tua r y) t o the no r th, a nd o nl y t w o de grees so u t h of the Equator W e n e ed b o a t a nd h e lpe r s to get a ll the s t o r es a nd equi p ment acro ss. Every e ve n n g a fter a hard da y' work, Mari a and I go to vi s it p e ople in t h e ir h o m es (shack s) Ev e rywhere we g o w e ar e offer ed food and drink ( tea) a nd we never r e fu s e or we'll ca li se of fenc e, and s o I m w e ll a nd truly s tu f fed! The y are a ll s o fri e ndl y a nd have helped u s so mu c h So b eca u se I am a wom a n and h a d M a ria 's a ss s t a n ce mo s t of the PR and liai s on work wa s le f t to m e ; and , E ve yw h e r e c hi dr e n , l ookin g , laug hi n g and p ay in g.' Clai re w h a St John b adg e on h er s h irt, among th e familie s who ve in ho u ses on s ilts in Indonesia
eve n i f I a l'vvays we n to b ed u tte rl y ex h a u s t e d I lov e d eve r y min ute.
I 've n ev er b e en in s u c h a remo te p lace.
W e're told t h a t t h e m a il w ill take at least 3
o 4 w ee k s to ge t to y ou b y a ir m a il. T h ere' no te lephon e, no bank , n o c i ne m a a nd n o
TV a nd only a few s hop s of so r ts. Our on ly mean s o f c ommuni c ati o n is b y our ow n ra d io b y C W ( mor se ) Oh ye , t h e r e i a p os t o f f ice, but h ey h ave run out of stamps and h ave to wa it for a boa t to p ick up t h e m a il t o ta k e i t b y se a to Ujung P andang or J a k a r ta, wh ic h i we ll ove r 1,000 m i le away b efo r e it ca n ge t on a pl ane ! P os ca r ds don 't ex is t. C hildr e n follo w LI S e ve r y wh ere a n d ca ll out Hullo IVIi t e r ', th e onl y E n g li h th ey know. I 've now g ot th e m t o say ' Hull o l is Cl a ire'. P e ople crowd th e w ind o ws a n d door s of th e ir hOll se (s h a ck) w h e n we p a s and we eem to be th e fir s t E ur o p ea n m o t of h e m have e v er s een - s o t i a g r ea t no ve lt y for them Th ey ca n t get over m e doin g man' s work like liftin g a nd 'ca rr y in g
heavy loads and chopping bamboo - it' not wo m a n ' work for them. The other evening someone came round to Iaria' with a guitar and we played and ang and I played too. And the n rhey wanred me to dance - modern tyle and I did, and they thought it was great and people came cro wding h e w ndows to ee what \\ a goi n g on. i\l o t of them have a radio and o n e h op h a mo d e rn m u ic blaring away in h e day t i me, b u nobody know an) thing abo u t modern dancing (no TV and no ci n ema). The on y dancing th y do to loca l m us ic p ayed on bamboo flute. Th e ot h er day I watched the local do tor ( D oc Iart i n, love ly chap) perform an appe nd i ecto m . It wa done by torch light w ith a r u t y sca pe l and only a local a n aest h etic Th e r e wa no pain and lhe pa ti e nt wa lk e d in and afterward hopped of f th e ab e a nd walked ba k to bed! Do' l arti n says he's done 400 such operation in t h e a t I m o nth and all were u cce f ul. (continued ol'er/eajJ
RADIO EQUIPMENT
from A. F. Bareham, HQ Radio Communications Officer
Divisional Superintendent D. S. Gee in his letter (Oct. Review) has misunderstood the purpose of listing equipment which for one reason or another is not suitable for use by the Brigade. An explanation of some of the reasons may be helpful - it is not practicable to give these in a Brigade Order.
1. At the present time a lot of surplus PMR equipment is being advertised and many enquiries received requesting permission to purchase.
2. This equipment has found its way onto the surplus market principally for two reasons:
a. Because it no longer conforms to current Home Office specifications and therefore cannot continue to be used.
b. Spare part s are no longer available with which to maintain the equipment to specification.
Either the original manufacturer is no longer supplying spares for the model or has gone out of this type of business. To give examples of these categories Pye Telecommunications Ltd are no longer supplying spares for thei r Bantam model and Ultra Electronics Ltd, who manufactured models such as 3A4, 4A4 and the Lion range, have ceased to make mobile radio equipment for the commercial market.
To expand on this a little, I recently received two letters by the same post. The first was from a County Commissioner saying he had disposed of their Pye Bantams because they could no longer be economically and relia bl y maintained. The sec ond was from a Division who had seen an advertisement for Bantams and requested permission to purchase. It was against this background and in an attempt to reduc e abortive correspondence that the equipment lists were published
There are several reasons for not detailing suitable equipment in some listing; in selecting equipment to meet a Brigade unit's needs a number of factors have to be taken into account, particularly:
a Polarity of electrical syst em of the vehicle into which the equipment is t o be fitte d
b Whether the equipment is to be used in a transportable mode as an alternative to vehicle use.
c. Availability of manufacturers' servicing facilities in the locality concerned.
d PMR equipment already in use by the Brigade unit interchangeability in the event of breakdown.
e. Within t he constraints 'what is the best buy' at the time. It must be mentioned that manufacturers model designations (e.g. Pye 'Reporter') cover a number of types within the family and the selection of the equipment to meet the particular needs within the licence constraints is a matter of technical judgement. The Home Office have recently revised the specifications for a whole range of PMR equipment and as a result a number of models which were formerly acceptable are now outside the new limits and hence the position is further complicated.
County Secretaries have a copy of Notes for Guidance mentioned in Brigade General Regulations Appendix U and individual copies can be obtained on request by those units contemplating the purchase of PMR equipment. For budgetry purposes a figure of £500 per set at today's prices sho uld be used to cover all types. However, remember that general inflation and tighter Home Office specifications will tend to cause prices to rise, but against this there are signs that the general economic position may force manufacturers to lim it their price increases.
I trust that these explanations together with my separate letter on Citizens Band Open Channel will help Mr Gee and others to have a better under stand ing of what at first may appear to be an absurd situation.
Headquarters A. F. Bareham, C.Eng., MIEE CITIZENS BAND/OPEN CHANNEL
from A. F. Bareham, HQ Radio Communications Officer
Enquiries have been received requesting a statement of St John Ambulance policy regarding t he use of Citizens Band/Open Channel equipment in the UK.
The proposals made by the Home Office are, at this time, essentially consultative in nature, although there seems little doubt that Citizens Band /Open Channel will eventually be given the go ahead -a time scale of two years has been mentioned in some quarters. Until the Home Office issue definitive proposals it is too
early to consider a policy statement.
A group of Brigade Telecommunications Engineers are st ud ying the technical and operational aspects of the subject and will make their report to the Commissioner-in-Chief after which a policy statement will be considered.
There are two aspects of note w hi ch arise from the Home Office announcement that the frequency is likely to be of the order of 900 MHz.
1 The cost, at lea st in the early stages and more generally if the projected market does not materialise, is likely to be comparable with that of current generation PMR equipment.
2. The propagation characteristics at this frequency are s uch that the range which could be expected in built up areas, woodland s and the like is ve ry limited
It is interesting to note that since the Home Office announcement the clamour for Citizens Band in the UK has 'gone off the boil'; perhaps reflecting the disappointment of those who had hoped that their illegal 27 MHz and similar equipment would be authorised and possibly big profits made from the large stocks of suc h equipment which are said to be poised for the market.
In the meantime all units are reminded that no radio communication s equipment other than that authorised from this Headquarters and operating on the Brigade frequencie s may be used; to do otherwise would be to risk a substantial fin e , the confiscation of the equipment and damage to the reputation of St John Ambulance.
Headquarters A. F. Bareham, C.Eng., MIEE HERE COMES THE BAND
from R. A. Harling, Ambulance Member
How pleasing it was to see and hear a St John band at the head of the parade along Bromley High Street on September 28 for the annual service of St John Ambulance Bromley at the Parish Church. It was the Southwark Corps of Drums, whose 32 members, young and notso-young, practise at le ast twice a week. They have played at Buckingham Palace, the Royal Tattoo, and have taken the highe st award among thirty SJA bands in the UK.
Three cheers for their young and enthusiastic contribution to St John Ambulance in general and London South Eastern Area in particular!
Of ping ton R. A. Harling
BRIGADE AMBULANCES
from Brian Rockell
My original article in the February Review has generated a series of letters from around the country on the subjects which I covered and much broader issues. The response indicates the very great interest which exists in these subjects. The correspondence from Bruce Brown, Tom Quinn and Martin Newlan has much to be commended Mr Quinn is right that money could usefully be spent improving the vehicle itself rather than purchasing expensive and often unnecessary equipment. In this respect I agree entirely with Mr Quinn, but it would take more than money to deal with the design defects he originally detailed in his February letter.
Martin Newlan's letter in August contains a lot of sense, and there is no doubt that ambulances and ambulance work do encourage recruits and assist in retaining existing members As Mr Newlan says, an ambulance serves many purposes and most of our ambulances
have to be a jack of all trades and consequently become a mas t er of none. Ambulances are often the base to which member s return and in which first aid equipment s laid out at public duties. The normal design of ambulances is not well suited for this purpose and if a spare ambulance can be available for use as a mobile first aid post (when nothing better is available), then that has to serve as best alternative. It cannot be expected that an ambulance s hould be a mobile first aid post and a mobile ambulance at the same event. The thought of assorted dressings, bottles, members' coats, hats and thermos flasks rolling about as the vehicle hurrie s across a ploughed field does not bear thinking about, and what happens to the minor casualties when their first aid post disappear s to the nearest ho spita l in its role as an ambulance?
The requirements of St John Ambulance vary around the country and 1 do not believe it is n ecessary for each vehicle to be identically equipped, for there w ill be some circumstances which require a greater range of equipment. A Division undertaking welfare transport wi ll not require the same range of equipment as a vehicle working on behalf of the Aeromedical Service. Nevertheless, Mr Newlan a nd Mr Haselgrove are correct that there should be minimum standar ds of equipment, so that any vehicle, no matter what its specia li se d use, will at least contain the minimum essential items. Such a list would not be extensive but would contain such essential items as a carrying chair, carrying sheet, bed pan, drinking water. The scale of equipment would be nearer to the Health Service ASAC li st, which is considerab ly more comprehensive than that carried by most St John vehicles.
Mr Brown's letter (Oct. Review) explores two further aspects. There is no need for any disagreement between the services provided by St John ,Ambulance and those provided by the Area Health Authority (no longer is it strictly a County Ambulance Service!) The roles which each undertake are different and each h as its own role to play. Each will find it necessary on occasions to ask for assistance from the other. There can be nothing wrong in this co-operation, and the need for pooling of resources. In June the Government announced that it is considering ways in which non-emergency ambulance work can be undertaken by other organisations. Various speeches have emphasised the necessity of voluntary organisations such as our own in Health Care. There is therefore no reason for bitterness a nd jealousy to exist, and there are many excellent examples of very close co-operation between the different services.
Mr Brown also raises the issue of coverage at events, and there are occasions when duties may be over staffed or under staffed. The level of manning at a duty may not always be dependent upon the need s of the duty, but on the availability of vehicles and members
This may result in understaffing where insufficient members are available, or overstaffing when the event is popular (this does influence attendance) and a greater number of members volunteer. Nevertheless resources, whether manpower, vehicles or equipment, should be deployed in the interests of the requirements of t he duty.
In Mr Brown's example, when the British Red Cross Society provided ambulances, it was obviously easier to provide a greater number of ambulances as both organisations deployed their individual resources. However, the logistics of the duty do not alter the need to have the vehicles correctly equipped in the first place, and excessive cover cannot be an argument for not having such basic equipment as trolley stretchers, which Mr Brown suggests in his penultimate paragraph.
East Berkshire Brian Rockeff
Editor: The subject of Brigade ambulances is temporarily closed in our correspondence columns. Please see AT RANDOM.
DAY HOSPITAL
from W A P Milne, MBE, OStJ , BSc, FlnstR
I regret very much if any misuse of the word' geriatric' has upset Mr Powell (Oct. Review). There are cases when those caring for the elderly infirm at home find themselves unable to carryon, and a hospital bed ha s to be found for the patient. The word was u ed as an adjective attached to such a bed
As stated, one of the objects of the Day Hospital is to try to prevent this occurrence, and we are achieving some success in this effort.
We feel that these efforts to help the elderly infirm, apart from helping the community and their patients, are offering some small help to a financially restrained Hospital Board, which in itself is another help to the community.
Chairman, Dunfries and Gaffoway Order Committee, W. A. P. Milne
Greater Manchester
THE CASH to help fill 'a gaping hole' in the Health Service has been raised by the Motor Agents' Association through an appeal led b y past president Norman Quick of the
The
Commander St John Ambulance for Greater Manchester, by Mr Stanle y Fryer, regional director of the Motor Agents' Association.
Con version of the vehicle, which was carried out by H. & J. Quick at Bur y, included the rearrangement of seats to admit an ambulance trolley bed the add itio n o f heavy duty battery arrangement s to allow for wiring up four different units of medical equipment, and the installation of ambulance hazard lights and a tow-bar.
The vehicle has already been used by St John Ambulance to transport patients between Manchester International Airport and their homes or hospitals
In a letter which spearheaded the appeal , Mr Norman Quick told members of the Motor Agents' Association that the lack of facilities to carry patients to and from the airpor t was a gaping hole i n the Health Service which only voluntary effort and subscriptions can fill'.
FOR THE Priory of Scotland September 1980 was a month of grievous loss On September 1 James Haldane Calder MacLeod, KStJ, died after an illness of some months. He was a man of the highest integrity, generous and sympathetic to all w ork s of c harity. He was an Officer of the Briti sh Empire, a Knight of the Order of St John a member of the Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers. He was Deacon Convener of the Trades House of Glasgow from 1962 to 1964, and he served on the Board of the Merchants House of Glasgow for a long period. He will be remembered particularly for his service to the Order of St John, as a member of Chapter, as Hospitaller, and as Chancellor o f the Priory of Scotland from 1977 t ill 1980, and as a representative on Chapter-General.
Lady Muriel Barclay Harvey, widow of a previous Prior of Scotland, died on September 11.
Ian Austen Laird, CSt], of Kilmacolm, died on September 23. He became an Officer of the Order in 1972 , and was promoted Commander in 1979. He was very generous to t he Order and gave a L and-Ro ver carrying the badge of the Or der to help with the Glenshee Mountain Rescue work. He was a faithful member of Prio r y Chapter.
Captain John Shiffner, OS t J who died on September 30, was a retired Engineer Captain, Royal Navy, who took a keen interes t in the Fife Association s ince its i nception. He became a Serving Brother in 1974 and an Officer in 1977.
A 'Victorian Soiree' was held at the City Cham b e rs, Glasgow, on October 23, b y Glasgow Committee and Association A happy evening was en jo ye d , and nearly £3500 was raised. Artistes and ladie s of the commi t tee wore p e riod costume
The Order of St John will be represented onc e again at the St Andrewtide Service in St Giles Cat hedral on Sunday, No ve mber 30.
A ONE - DAY visit by the Duche ss of Gloucester, Commandant-in - Chief of SJA in Wales, to Cardiff and Newport on Octo ber 4, where she arrived by helicopter, bega n w ith an in s pection at the a i rport of the Priory of Wales branch of the SJA Air Wi ng HRH was pre se nted to the pilots and aircraft owners by Capt Tim Harri s on, Off icer-in-Charge of the Air Wing branch
Six teen pilots operate eleven aircraft, and there are three emergency cars and drivers; sin ce its formation in 1979 the Wing has flown eight missions.
After a visit to Cardiff Castle the D u c hess then called on the headquarters of the South Glamorgan SJA in the Castle Mews, where she saw a road accident demonstration put on by the cadets, many o whom she spoke to.
In the afternoon, during a visit to Allt - yry n Hospital, Newport, the Duchess inspected display boards showing the various activities of the Gwent Health
NEWS troln SCOTLAND
of the Order of St John Central Region raised over £1800 t hrou gh its participation in the annua l Farm Fayre at Stirling on September 6. Central Region Fire Brigade contributed to the Order's Sir Andrew Murray Holiday Home for the Blind , at Strathyr e , the su m of £2 00 after a successful fund-rai sing presentation of the film Towering Inferno (couldn't be more appropriate) at the Allanpark Cinema, Stirling, on Oc tober 20. Edinburgh Sale of Work on October 4 reali sed a sum of approximate ly £ 1800 Appointments
Mr A lb ert G. Crichton, OStJ, has been appointed Chairman of the Dunbartonshire Committee of the Order of St John in place of t h e late Mr Alexander Mennie, CStJ. Mr William Gilmour, OStJ, has s ucceeded Mr Crichton as Chairman of Dunbar tonsh ire St John Association.
Mr William A. P. Milne, OStJ, is now Chairman of the Dumfries and Galloway Committee of the Order of St. John.
Mr John Harley , SBStJ, has been appointed Chairman of Strathkelvin St John Association.
Mr William Gordon, CStJ, presided for the f irst time as Chairman over a meeting of the Council of St John Associations on September 9, when activities of the thirteen Associations throughout Scotlan d were
WALES
Authority Hospital Cadet Division, the o nl y division in Britain attached to a hospital and bear i ng the author ity'S name. The Divi s ion's du t ie s include welfare work on the hospital's wa rd s a nd taking patients for walks or rides in t h e division's ambulance. The Duche ss visited the wards and met cadets on these du t ies.
At the nearb y Co lle ge of Higher Education the Duchess saw a demonstration of nursing training, involving an ex plo sion at a c h em ical works, put on by more th an 130 SJA Nursing Officers.
Before leaving the co ll ege for the airport, the Prior, Lord Abcrdare, presented HRH with a piece of Rumn ey pottery, a plate bearing the Cross of St John and the date - as a memento of her visit.
reviewed.
Mr John S. G. Blair, OBE, TO, SBStJ, BA, C hM, FRCS, w ho recently v isi ted the Ophthalmic Hospital of the Order in Jerusalem, a nd produced a mo st help f ul r epo rt , addre se d the Annual General Meeting of the Perth and Kinross Branch of the Order and its Association on October 29. Over 80 people were present, i ncluding the Chance llor and ome other Executive Officers. The s lid es illustrating the ta lk were very good, showing the laundry h ouse and the n ew equipment presented by the Priory of Scot land to the ho sp ital. Altogether it was a most successfu l eve ning
The chang in g balance of our population makes the care of the age in g and the aged an increasing demand upon the resources of the nation. Aberdeen's 'Sitter Service', Dumfries and Galloway'S initiative in taking the elderly fo r day care to Stranraer Hospital, are examp le s of how the Order of St John and it s Associations in Scot a nd are making their cont ribu tio n in this field. Their example will no doubt be followed elsewhere. Dunbartonshire Associatio n already organises visit to t he e ld er ly, and Edinburgh Committee is looking into the possibilities of providing a Sitter Service in the c it y, w hi ch has a high percentage of e lcl -erly c
NORTHERN IRELAND
,Divisions / Centres
I.
(6).
nest for the buttocks (5). 13 The star role for a poisonous metal (4). 14. Dutch cheese made differently (4) 16. Encircle invertebrate producing f ungu s disease of the skin (8). 19. Girl has nothing wi t h which to catch cattle (5).22 Mus ical part of the body? (5).23 A t rio or none compose a musical composition (8). 25. Chief par t of t he foot (4).27. Cease to fill a tooth (4). 29, Exhortation to silence after influenza produces a red face (5). 31. Time to aid is changed in ear infection (6.5). 32. Beard of corn (3). 33. Cancellou s bone between inner and outer surfaces of skull bones (6). 34. End-organ of sen sory nerve (8).
Down
1. Pain in c hest or t hroat (6). 2. Pains characteristic of early stages of locomotor ataxia (9). 3 Lets out tears (5). 4. Perform brilliantl y (5). 6, Rear part of palate (4). 7. Warm, moist atmosphere (5). 8 Process forming the point of the shou lde r (8). 9. Ulness due to absorption of bacterial secretions into the bloodstream (8). 15. Male voice changes a lo t (4). 17. Part of c hrom osome in large nerves (4) 18 Not a mood producing a dental tumour (8) 20. Drug increasing the activity o f an organ (9). 21. Beak-like process of the scapula (8). 24. A black-e ye for a s mall fish (6). 26. Hard, but brittle slice of potato (5). 28. Drape for a chaplain (5). 29 Overall shape of the bod y h el ps the infi r m to wa lk (5). 30. Re turn it to Y u goslavian hero (4) ,
