Military sanitation for soldiers serving in hot climates / by Robert J. Blackham.

  • Blackham, Robert J. (Robert James), 1868-1951.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Military sanitation for soldiers serving in hot climates / by Robert J. Blackham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    It is not, however, mei-ely the officers’ duty to take care of their men’s health, it is their duty to take care of their own and to see that their men look after themselves. In this relation a general officer with wide Indian experience, SirR. C. Hart, V.C., very truly says; “Even an elementary knowledge of sanitation saves many lives and much suffer- ing. People contract sickness frequently with fatal results as a consequence of the ignorance and carelessness of their neighbours, it is therefore the duty of every individual in the community to pay strict attention to the simple rules of health.” The King’s Regulations now require that all officers must pass in hygiene before promotion to the rank of captain but as yet no regulations exist making sanitation a subject for the examinations of non-commissioned officers. As the spur of an examination is often necessary to produce our best mental paces it is hoped that non-commissioned readers will present themselves for the certificate in Military Sanitation recently instituted by the St. John Ambulance Association. It may help the student to point out that hygiene or sanita- tion, whichever you like to call it, has been defined as a science which has for its object to make growth more perfect, decay less rapid, life more vigorous and death more remote. At one time it was thought that the prevention of disease was merely a matter for the doctors and did not concern either layman or fighting men, but this view is surely not tenable as the preservation of health is a personal and not a purely medical matter. It is the duty of the cleric to preach the Gospel but the salvation of the individual must depend on his own indivi- dual exertions. Similarly, it is the duty of the military surgeon to preach the gospel of hygiene, but it is ihe business of the fighting soldier to carry his precepts into practice if he wishes to survive a tour of service abroad and return to his friends in