HENRY P. DAVISON, American Red Cross, Chairman. M. GIOVANNI CIRAOLO, Senator, Italian Red Cross. Dr. F. BLOCK, Swedish Red Cross. Dr. M. CALMON DU PIN E ALMEIDA, Brazilian Red Cross. Dr. E. ANDREAE, Argentine Red Cross. Dr. A. DEPAGE, Senator, Belgian Red Cross. The VISCOUNTESS NOVAR, Australian Red Cross. Dr. F. SVENDSEN, Danish Red Cross. Dr. YEVREM ZUJOVIĆ, Yugo-Slav Red Cross. M. R. B. BENNETT, Canadian Red Cross. SIR CLAUDE H. HILL, Acting Director General, Vice-Chairman. The above order of names follows the date of appointment The Bulletin of the League of Red Cross Societies is Teleph.: Stand 1900. Telegraphic address: LICROSS Subscription for one year: 5 francs (Swiss). Red Cross Building. Dr. Sylla Monsegur has proposed the building of an edifice for the Argentine Red Cross that would consist of several wings in which it is planned to house the Red Cross offices, the training schools for men and women nurses, the Junior Red Cross, a school for Child Welfare, a public library for social hygiene and physiology, etc. Junior Red Cross. The Argentine Red Cross announces that the organisation of an Argentine Junior Red Cross is the result of the initiative of the League of Red Cross Societies. Plans for obtaining the co-operation of the school teacher for enrolling the children and for making effective the proposed aims of the Society are under way. A registry for membership has been opened in the offices of the Red Cross where the children desirous of joining the Red Cross will be enrolled. BELGIUM. - Relief in Russia. The 50,000 Belgian Francs donated to the League by the Belgian Red Cross for relief work in Russia and recently allocated by the League to Russian relief under Dr. Nansen, have been used for the purchase of ten car loads of rye which are now en route to Moscow for the use of relief organisations at work there. BULGARIA. Red Cross Publications. The Bulgarian Red Cross has decided to translate into Bulgarian two of the League pamphlets, The Elements of Hygiene and Combattez et évitez la Tuberculose, and has requested the League to furnish plates for illustrations. Junior Red Cross. - The president of the Bulgarian Red Cross has written to express his appreciation of the League's action in sending Mr. Barton to Bulgaria to establish their Junior Red Cross and their gratitude for the work accomplished by Mr. Barton while there. CANADA. Public Health Nursing in Canada. The great progress which public health nursing has made in Canada was demonstrated during the annual meeting of the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses, held in Quebec last summer. One entire day was devoted to the proceedings of the Public Health Section, and reports were read from various provinces describing public health activities. A summary of these reports is given below. Nova Scotia. In view of the necessity of creating a competent central organisation for supervising and coordinating the work of the local board of health, the Governor-in-Council has been authorised to appoint an inspector of health, three divisional medical health officers and a superintendent of the nursing service, as well as the requisite number of public health nurses. Provision has also been made for the establishment of one or more public health clinics in each country. In order to provide qualified public health nurses, a special training course was established at Dalhousie University in March 1920, but the demand is so great that two classes of graduates have proved insufficient to meet it. The Provincial Red Cross Society has donated $ 25,000 to the Provincial Department of Health for the maintenance of a trained public health nurse in each county for one year. By last summer twelve counties had begun this work, and it is expected that by the end of the year every county will be supplied and will undertake the financial support of these nurses. During the summer of 1920 the Red Cross in Nova Scotia equipped and sent "health caravans" for demonstration purposes to the most remote parts of the province. These caravans comprise expert medical, dental, and nursing services, and do excellent health propaganda. The largest towns maintain their own nurses, Halifax employing a staff of four. The Victorian Order of Nurses is also doing admirable work in the cities. New Brunswick. Considerable progress is being made in public health work in New Brunswick. After the successful child welfare exhibit of September 1920, when 60,000 people were given instruction, the local Red Cross organised a tour of the province, a graduate nurse being employed to explain the policies and administration of the Provincial Health Department. As a result of the successful Health Week" held last spring throughout the province, numerous public health associations were formed for child welfare, tuberculosis and the fight against venereal diseases. A school for public health nurses was opened by the Victorian Order of Nurses to meet the demand of the rural districts, the Red Cross covering the expenses incurred by their training. The Provincial Health Department is also active in combating venereal diseases and has appointed three medical officers to preside over clinics and register cases. This Department has received financial support from the local Red Cross for its public health and nursing activities. Quebec, Public health nursing in the province of Quebec is carried on by the Victorian Order of Nurses, of whom there are between 60 and 70. In addition, there are 33 nurses engaged in similar work for the Metropolitan Insurance Company, while the Public Health Department of Montreal employs 17 physicians, 34 public health nurses and one dentist. Child welfare organisations are doing important work in the province, Montreal operating 36 milk stations. There are also 2 baby camps in public parks with nurses and physicians in daily attendance and dispensaries for tuberculosis and infant mortality are being established by the Superior Board of Health. A Health Drive" was organised this year by the Child Welfare Association. The establishment of a course for graduate nurses at McGill University last year marks an epoch for the nursing profession in Canada; 26 nurses are already employed in industries. Ontario. The demonstration of public health activities by the Provincial Health Department is being developed with great success. The local Red Cross is paying the salaries and expenses of eight public health nurses for one year, these nurses being controlled by the Provincial Health Department. Municipalities have been quick to learn from this example and already seventeen have definitely decided on having their own public health nurse. Another innovation of the Provincial Health Department is a motor tour through the province, known as "The Child Welfare Special, which holds clinics in various places. Great efforts are being made in Ontario to improve the education of nurses. During the summer of last year two courses were organised by the Department of Education for nurses engaged in school work, and a third by the Health Department and the local Red Cross. In September of the same year a Department of Public Health Nursing, financed by the Ontario Division of the Red Cross, was established at the University of Toronto, where fifty nurses were enrolled, of whom forty-seven received diplomas last spring. Manitoba. In Manitoba the Provincial Board of Health employs 43 trained nurses for public health purposes throughout the province. This department co-operates with many social and government bodies, particularly in the interest of child welfare. Five new child welfare stations have been opened in the past year, making a total of seven now in operation. In June 1920, an agreement was made with the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society, whereby three nurses of the Provincial Board of Health are stationed in unorganised or isolated districts, these nurses being controlled and supervised by officials of the Provincial Board of Health. The Red Cross Society provides the furnishings of the cottage or rooms where the nurse is stationed, also salary, equipment, and nurses' expenses. The nurses' residence includes a hospital ward, which is also used as a health centre. District nursing is done by two organisations. One is the Margaret Scott Nursing Mission, with a staff of five graduate nurses, two pupil nurses from the Winnipeg General Hospital, and one service sister who is not a nurse, but who goes into the homes and assists when needed with housekeeping problems. The other is the Victorian Order of Nurses, which maintains a staff of thirteen. These nurses, in addition to routine public health nursing, have started Mother Craft Classes" and Mothers' Clubs, which are helping to meet the need for more pre-natal instruction. "" The Department of Health in Winnipeg employs four nurses for tuberculosis nursing and clinics. This department also controls the bureau of Child Hygiene, which employs thirteen nurses. Hospital Social Service employs four nurses. During the past year a pre-natal clinic has been established in connection with the out-patient department of the Winnipeg General Hospital. Nutritional clinics have also been started and have been very successful. Alberta. In Alberta, a public health nursing service was inaugurated in 1918, when four nurses were trained, equipped and sent out to various parts of the province. This staff has now grown to twenty-one. It is of interest to note that not only are these nurses registered in their own province and graduates of recognised training schools, but they are also graduates of the course in public health nursing given by the University of Alberta or of a similar course in a recognised university. Special instruction in maternity work is given the nurses, rendering great service, as they are often established in a territory with no doctors. The very difficulties and dangers of the country render the nurses' services more valuable, especially in reducing the percentage of infant mortality. Prince Edward Island. No organised public health nursing had been done on the Island till the Provincial Red Cross Society made arrangements for a nurse to commence educational and demonstrative work in February 1921. |