Report on Pelican Island Small Pox Hospital during the epidmeic, 1902-3 / by J.F.E. Bridger.

  • Barbados. Board of Health.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report on Pelican Island Small Pox Hospital during the epidmeic, 1902-3 / by J.F.E. Bridger. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    ( C 33731 I IHfc- lP£(: lu .:p Keport on Pelican Island hinall Pox Hospital during the Epidemic. 1902—3. IJrid^etmvii. Barbados May 25th lt»03. SlE, I liavo the honour to onclose herewith niy Re]>ort on the Small Pox Hos2>it:il at Pelh'an Island for transmission to His Rxeelleney the Aetini;- Governor. I have. Ac. The Honourable The Colonial Secretary (Actinu’), Barbados. J. F. E. BFJDGEB. Report on Pelican Island Small Pox Hospital. Date of niipoi/itinent. On August 19th 1902 I)r. Browne transferred to my care the Small Pox patients at Pelican Island. He had been in medical charge of them under the Sanitary Commission- ers of St. Michael’s Parish. The resjjonsibilitv for the management of the Island now rested with the General Board of Health. The controlling authority was no longer 2>aro- chial but central. At the time of my taking charge there were in Hospital 48 patients, of whom 18 were males, and 30 females. The convales(;ent amongst thesi- occupied what are known as the Deckers’ Quarters on the island, the sick were warded in the original Quarantine Hosj)ital. All the cooking arrangements were being carried out at the St. Michael’s Almshouse, the diets being sent down daily to Pelican Island. There were three nurses employed at the Hos|ntal. Ep to this date the dead had been buried at sea. It will be best to follow the growth of the institution under different head-;. Nurses. E:u-h of the three Nurses, that I found at Pelican Island, had charge of a ward containing twelve patients, the remaining twelve of the original 48 were the convalescents, and were accommodated as stated above. I This arrangement demanded fi'QUi eaZh nurse both day and night duty, and .so her elhciency as a nurse was diminished. This fact as well as the daily increase in the number of patients necessitated a larger nursing staff. In considering the employment of nur.ses the question of jiay was also taken into account. The Sanitary Commissioners had been giving 81.00 per diem. This the Board of Health changed to $3.00 per week. No one of the three original nurses resented in any ivay, other than a natural grumble, the reduction in their ])ay. I appointed one of them nurse Piiider to be head nurse, and her pay was fixed at $6.00 per week. His Excellency the Governor visited the institution during my first fortnight there and in reply to his rpiestion if there were any con>])laints, one of these original three nurses broached the subject of ]>ay. The result was that they got an increase to .$3.-oO. Every new nurse howevw came on at $3.00, the increase to 83.50 deiiending on their behaviour, and the character of their work. 'Ihis increment was of great use in keejiing the work up to the mark, for one could always make it a minus quantity on the pay sheet. An immediate increase in the nursing staff being necessarv, advertisements were put in the local jiapers requesting apjilieations from suitable j)ersons. The result of this was that aiiplications ])oured in. The class, and the qualifications of these apjilieants varied extremely. One api)licant stated “ that she had had seven childnm and had nursed them all ; ” another “ that she knew all diseases.” The chief difficulty that presented itself to one in the choice of these persons was the fact that the great majority of them were unvacciuated. Those that were vaccinated had in most cases been so done only perha|)s the very day of application. Owing however to the urgency of the situation, one accepted persons, otherwise suitable, who had been vaccinated within 2 or 3 days, although one had to put iqi with the serious inconvenience of their going off duty after a few days on account of their arms. The staff was strengthened as the increase in the number of patients demanded. The maximum was reached on October 12th when the nursing staff numliered 24. Taking the nursing staff as a whole they did their work well. Although at first those who had had no hospital training showed compunction in handling cases, yet that was a fault sof>n remedied as they were weeded out, and this served as a stimulus to those who were left behind. As the epidemic declined, and it became necessary to dispense with some of the staff, to avoid having to make invidious distinctions when all had done really good work, the simple jilan of letting each nurse decide her fate by lot was adopted, anil proved satisfactory. There were two nurses who develoiied smalljiox.