“The formation of the
Ontario Emergency Volunteer auxiliary, for the purpose of coping with the
influenza epidemic, is an excellent movement in harmony with the spirit of
these times of unselfishness and sacrifice. The object is to give these women
workers a hurried training to fit them for the duties they will be called upon
to perform.”
Hamilton Spectator. October 17, 1918.
The ever-deepening crisis of
the Spanish influenza in October, 1918 was prompting all sorts of emergency
measures. Additional hospitals were opened on a temporary basis by the Hamilton
Board of Health, although it was difficult to get enough nurses due to the widespread
shortage, and the fact that nurses were not immune to being laid low by the ‘flu.
Almost immediately the new
hospitals, just as was the case with the already established hospitals, were
filled to overflowing.
The idea, initiated by the provincial
board of health, was to provide nursing care, in the homes of those who had
been stricken by the disease. Local municipalities were instructed to form
organizations to procure and train as many volunteer nurses as possible, as
quickly as possible:
“ These women – S.O.S., or
Sisters of Service – will act as volunteer assistant nurses, or go into the
homes and nurse influenza patients. Mrs. Henry Carpenter will organize the
local branch immediately.”1
1 “Fighting
Influenza”
Hamilton Spectator. October 17, 1918.
There was a strong initial
reaction to the call for volunteer nurses:
“So far twenty women have
volunteered to Mrs. Harry Carpenter for service under the banner of the
Canadian Emergency Nursing league, and in the course of another day,
arrangements will be made for the opening of a lecture course by physicians,
when a local branch of the league will be formed. Any woman who will volunteer
for this work, in case her services are required, is requested to communicate
with Mrs. Carpenter at Regent 2333.”2
2“Cars
Must Travel With Open Windows : Stop Order Will Be Enforced, If Necessary, at
Certain Periods of the Day : Only Four Persons Allowed in Elevator at Same
Time - Other ‘Flu’ Restrictions”
Hamilton Spectator. October 17, 1918.
A proper organization needed
to be formed for the oversight of the volunteer nurse auxiliary:
“A meeting of the board of health was held
this morning, at which plans were made for the organization of a local branch
of the Ontario Emergency Voluntary Health auxiliary, which has been authorized
by the provincial board of health. It was decided to hold an organization
meeting at the city hall on Monday afternoon at 4 o’clock, at which all
citizens who have the interests of the public health at heart are asked to
attend. It was stated that the meeting does not come under the prohibitions of
the board of health, as it is directly incidental to the stamping out of the
disease.”3
3“6,600
Flu Cases Here Since Outbreak : Car Windows Open, Passengers Shivered ; Masks
in Public Not Approved By M.H.O. : Are Useless and Probably Harmful”
Hamilton Spectator. October 18, 1918.
The Hamilton City Council
Chambers were filled for the public organizational meeting of the Sisters of
Service. Although the number in attendance vastly exceeded the number of people
allowed at any public meeting as per the Board of Health ban, health officials
ruled that as the meeting was called for the purpose of investigating ways to
deal with the epidemic, the attendance rule could be overlooked:
“About fifty representative citizens attended
the meeting called by Mayor Booker yesterday, for the purpose of organizing a
local branch of the Ontario Emergency Health Auxiliary to help fight the
Spanish influenza. The mayor briefly explained the object of the meeting and
then requested Mrs. Henry Carpenter, who was appointed by the government as
vice-president for Hamilton, to outline the work which the auxiliary would be
called upon to do.
“Mrs. Carpenter stated that
since she had received notification from the government of her appointment
about a week ago, she had been working in conjunction with the board of health,
and had succeeded in organizing two classes of 75 and 100 volunteer workers
who, through the kindness of Doctors Holbrook and Mullen, and Miss Insole, had
been instructed in the many ways they could help in cases where nurses were
unavailable. This was only a temporary means of dealing with the situation, and
a strong organization of medical, professional and business men and women was
required in order to accomplish the results desired. She suggested this
organization be formed at once.
“Medical Health Officers
Roberts told of the great task devolving upon him in fighting this epidemic.
The board had done everything possible, but with the hospitals full and in many
cases whole families down with the disease and no one to wait upon, a very
serious proposition was before the city. An advertisement in the papers for
nurses had resulted in seven or eight offering their services. These nurses had
made over 300 visits, their visits covering periods from 2 to 24 hours, and
many calls had necessarily gone unanswered. He congratulated Mrs. Carpenter on
the splendid work she had done.
“Norman Clark, chairman of
the board of the health, commended Mrs. Carpenter for the work already
accomplished, but said a regular committee should at once be organized. He
suggested that either Mayor Booker or Controller Thomas W. Jutten be appointed
president. Mrs. Carpenter, Vice-President, as per request of the provincial
organization, and that a secretary be appointed by the executive committee.
These suggestions were acted upon, Controller being elected president. The
matter of financing the scheme was completely in the hands of the city, and
while the expenditure should be judiciously and wisely considered, no money should
spared in assisting to stamp out the disease.
“Dr. Mullin thought that the
best possible means had been used from the very first by the board of health.
Panics, created by false statements, did much harm and he considered that if
citizens knew that everything possible was being done for their welfare,
exaggerated statements would not have any adverse effect upon the people. The
medical profession had done, and is doing, everything within its power to
assist the board and help the people. Twenty-five per cent of the men in
practice in this city have been hit by disease, two or three of men very
seriously, and one, Dr. Graham, had died from it. In two weeks, 6,000 cases had
been treated, so that while people should realize the necessity of looking after
those not in hospitals. ‘The disease,’ said the doctor, ‘spread more largely
those those who have not taken the disease, two or three before the patient
feels ill, and it is during that time that there is the greatest danger to
others. Whether one wears a mask or not is a matter of fashion. It is not an
absolute protection and must be used with judgment.’
“The organization proposed
was declared by the speaker to be one of greater importance to the country than
any Victory loan yet launched, and the help of every individual, and the help
of every individual was needed, he said.
“T. H. Pratt deplored the
time lost in organizing committees. He thought that with the two hospitals
filled to capacity and two emergency hospitals also full, committees of ladies
should be set to work at once and that instructions be issued by the board of
health.
“Dr. John P. Morton,
speaking for Russell T. Kelley, president of the board of trade, moved that the
board of trade be a committee to get in touch with the male organizations, and
the Local Council of Women, be a committee to get in communication with ladies’
organizations and have a large executive appointed with representatives from
all the local clubs and societies. This resolution was carried and meetings
will be called by the presidents of these two organizations at once.
“”Dr. Duval, of the Canadian
Chiropractic college, offered the assistance of the young doctors who are
studying there at present.
“A strong appeal is made to
all who can give assistance of any kind to do so without delay. Those who are
unable to give time to nursing are reminded that the I.O.D.E. has opened a
kitchen at the First Methodist church, where dainties are being prepared for
those who are unable to secure them. Workers who can only give part time will
be given an opportunity of helping stamp out the epidemic if they will
volunteer their assistance to the officers in charge.”4
4“Organization is Effected to Fight
Epidemic: Volunteer Health Auxiliary Branch Formed : Two Large Classes Already
Assembled : Executive Composed of Representative Citizens”
Hamilton Spectator. October 22, 1918.
Less than a week later, an investigative
report on how the Sisters of Service effort was progressing, appeared in the
Hamilton Herald:
“During the course of the past few days, a
Herald man visited some of the houses where volunteer were stationed. The
conditions under which the brave women were fighting the influenza were
appalling and well-nigh unbelievable. At one place, a dirty, little one storey
frame house, the front parlor was occupied by a half ton of coke and various
other articles. The other small front was occupied by four persons – a man
sixty years of age, a woman of 22 years, and their two children. Besides the
‘flu’ another more dreadful disease was only too evident. The adults were not
married and the place, one of two or three such houses, had long borne a
disgusting reputation, according to statements made by neighbors. One nurse,
without help, had to wash the diseased people, and scrub up the whole filthy
place, a negro ordering her about, meanwhile. The mother has died, the father
is dying and the two children, whose little bodies, in addition to being racked
by ‘flu’ are suffering from another disease.
HAD HARD TIME
“In the house, one nurse
stayed on duty, alone, for 38 hours and had to go 24 hours without food. After
defending herself against several foreigners who did not know that the
proprietor of the place was dying and who tried to enter the place late at
night, the nurse was forced to call the police for protection.
“ ‘They’re short of nurses,’
she said, ‘and yet they leave a nurse and two little kiddies in a place like
this instead of taking the children to the hospital and releasing the nurse for
other duty.’
COULDN’T GET FOOD
“ ‘When,’ the nurse added,
‘I asked the board of health for food because I could not leave my patients, my
request was referred to the relief department. Yesterday, through the efforts
of Relief Officer McMenemy, the children were admitted to St. Joseph’s
hospital. And when Dr. Roberts, four or five days ago, was asked to come and
investigate the house the house in which he sent me a volunteer nurse, he came,
with Inspector Shain, put his head inside and hastily withdrew to the alley,
where he called me and told me ‘it wasn’t so bad.’ On being told that it was
too much to ask a nurse to clean up such a place, Dr. Roberts told me that it was
troo much to ask a nurse to clean up such a place, Dr. Roberts told me that if
I couldn’t do the work, the department could quite easily get someone who
could.’
ANOTHER BAD CASE
“At another house in the
west end, to which a nurse was sent, the same filthy conditions prevailed. The
nurse was left alone with a man, his wife and two children. The wife died of
the ‘flu’ and the others were dying. Just about an hour before the man died, he
became delirious, and, in a very angry mood, got out of bed. The nurse rushed
to the door and asked the people who were clustered outside to hold the two
children while she tackled the man. No one would raise a finger to help and,
while the people looked on, the nurse had to shield the children and handle a
200-pound man alone.
COULDN’T GET RELIEF
“Several other cases on
which nurses had been left without relief for 30 and 36 hours at a stretch were
reported by the nurses to the board of health, with a request that they be
relieved. One nurse said that the answer she got was : ‘You’ve got to stay
there whether you want to or not. WE haven’t anybody else to send.’
“And yet one more nurse was
ordered, shortly before midnight, to leave three or four dying people alone and
go to another address. Dr. Carr begged her to stay at her post, but the board
of health had ordained otherwise and the people were left to their fate.
MENACE TO PUBLIC
“And, regarding the board’s
failure to investigate conditions properly, it was stated by nurse that two
fruit stores were continuing to do business, the proprietor of each flitting
from the room where his wife and children were dying of the ‘flu to the store
where the fruit was offered for sale. Dozens of people suffering from the
disease were sending their laundry to public laundries, too.
SAYS THERE
ARE SLUMS
“ ‘And only three weeks ago
I saw a long article in a Sunday school paper with this caption, ‘Hamilton Has
No Slums. Thank God,’ ” remarked a nurse. ‘Why, if the board of health would
only open its eyes and investigate, it would find that conditions here are far
worse than in New York or London, England.
WITHOUT HELP
“The volunteers, too, claim
that they are left alone in places where the dying people’s own relatives won’t
come, and where no one will come near enough to help them. At one place a
nurse, after cleaning up a filthy home, had to soak two girls of about 15 years
of age in olive oil for three hours before it was possible to remove the dirt
from them.
HEAVY EXPENSES
“And for all this, volunteer
nurses received $15 per week. No matter whether they have done practical nurses
for five or fifteen years, this is their salary. Trained nurses receive $20 to
$25 a week. In addition, nurses’ uniforms must be changed every day. Their
laundry costs more than five dollars a week and they have to supply their own
meals generally their own masks and disinfectants, and pay $1for each injection
of serum they receive, just like any other individual.
“ ‘If I die from want of
serum and other things, it will be the board of health’s fault,’ one nurse told
a member of that body.
“ ‘You’re paid for that,’
was the answer she received.”5
5“Twelve
More Deaths Here Due to Influenza : They Charge the Board of Health With
Neglecting Them : Some Terrible Places : Houses in Which Some Have Worked Are
Breeding Places of Disease”
Hamilton Spectator. October 28, 1918.
There was no immediate
solution for the nurses or the board of health in dealing with shortages of personnel
to meet the demands. Many nurses toughed out the situation , while resignations
were also very common.
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