Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 24]
viewed the Inspector of the hospital, asking him if I might dress and look after the Englishmen in the Exchange Barrack, to which he gave his consent. I was not long in the barrack when I discovered that some of the British wounded were placed in the same beds that had been previously occupied by Russians suffering from consumption and all sorts of infectious diseases. I decided to have the place washed out and thoroughly disinfected, separating the Russians from the English, giving them strict orders to keep themselves clean, and for the British to prevent them coming near them. The next thing was to get the men washed and dressed, but I was unable to procure a bath tub. I had to take the patient, lay him on a table and wash him with hot water brought from the cook-house in a basin or bucket, either at 5 a.m. or 4 p.m. I found it hard to keep either a basin or bucket as the Russians used to pilfer them and sell them to men in the other barracks. After giving them a wash, I had to get a few Englishmen to help me in dressing the men as I found it impossible to lift them without assistance.
I remember one poor fellow, an Englishman, who had been wounded in three different places, with his knee-cap blown off and his leg in a splint. After being in my charge a few weeks, I noticed his wounded knee discharging more than it should, and upon a close examination of the wound, I discovered a piece of bone projecting from the side of the knee. I thought I must get the advice of the doctor, so immediately went to the hospital and interviewed him, and he came to see the patient. The first thing he asked