The first khamsin, however, which blew warned every one concerned that patients could not be treated satisfactorily in tents in midsummer. At the request of the medical officer in charge, two rooms in one wing of the main building were given over to bad infectious cases, and the camp in the grounds was abolished. The arrangement was unsatisfactory. The cases did not do as well as might have been desired, though this was attributed to an alteration in their type; and renewed efforts were made to devise a better arrangement. Finally a portion of the Abbassia barracks was obtained, and converted into an excellent venereal diseases hospital to which the venereal cases were transferred.
The Mena camp had been struck, and the troops sent to the Dardanelles; the First and Second Stationary hospitals had moved to Mudros; and the First Casualty Clearing Station had been transferred to the Dardanelles. Consequently the pressure fell almost entirely on the First General Hospital, and the Venereal Diseases Hospital thus became the only Venereal Diseases Hospital in Egypt.
Close to the Palace Hotel there was a large pleasure resort, known as the Luna Park, at one end of which was a large wooden skating-rink, enclosed by a balcony on four sides. This building was obtained, and was railed off from the rest of Luna Park by a fence 13 feet high. The infectious cases from the camp were then transferred to it. A camp kitchen was built, and an admirable open-air infectious diseases hospital was obtained. It became obvious, however, that the skating-rink, which with the balcony could accommodate, if necessary, 750 patients, might better serve as an overflow hospital in case of emergency, and accordingly efforts were made to obtain another infectious diseases hospital in the vicinity.
Eventually a fine building known as the Race Course Casino, a few hundred yards from the Heliopolis Palace, was obtained and converted into an infectious diseases hospital providing for the accommodation of about 200 patients. With its ample piazzas and excellent ventilation it formed an ideal hospital, and was reluctantly abandoned at a later date owing to the development of structural defects which threatened its stability.
The position, then, at this stage was that the First Australian General Hospital consisted of (1) the Palace Hotel, ever increasing in its accommodation as the furniture was steadily removed and space economised, its magnificent piazzas utilised, and tents erected in the grounds for the accommodation of the staff; of (2) the rink at Luna Park, which was now empty and ready for the reception of light cases overflowing from the Palace; of (3) the Casino next door to Luna Park, which had now become an infectious diseases hospital; and of (4) the Venereal Diseases Hospital at Abbassia, which soon became an independent command though still staffed from No. 1 General Hospital.
Preparation in Anticipation
At or shortly before this period, however, the authorities had become aware that wounded might be received from the Dardanelles at some future date in considerable numbers, which could not, however, be accurately estimated. Accordingly a consultation was held between Surgeon-General Ford and Surgeon-General Williams (who arrived in Egypt in February), Colonel Sellheim, who was the officer commanding the newly formed Australian Intermediate Base, the O.C. of the First Australian General Hospital, Lieut.-Col. Ramsay Smith, and Lieut.-Col. Barrett. It was decided to authorise the expenditure of a considerable sum of money in making the necessary preparation, on the ground that if the wounded did not arrive the Australian Government would justify this action, and that if the wounded did arrive a reasonable attempt would have been made to meet the difficulty. Instructions were accordingly given to buy up beds, bedding, and equipment, which would inter alia provide at least another 150 beds in the Infectious Diseases Hospital and 750 in the rink. At first iron beds were purchased, but it was impossible to obtain deliveries of iron beds at a rate exceeding 120 a week, and there were (practically) none ready made in Egypt. It was during this period of expansion that the donation of 130 beds made to Lieut.-Col. Ramsay Smith in Adelaide proved to be so useful.
It was, therefore, quite certain that full provision could not be made in time if iron beds were to be used, and accordingly large purchases of palm beds were made. These are very strong, stoutly constructed beds, made of palm wood. They are quite comfortable and last for several months. The drawback is that they are liable ultimately to become vermin-infected and that their sharp projecting struts are very apt to catch the dresses of those who pass by. We were able, however, to obtain them with mattresses at a rate exceeding 100 a day. They were ordered in practically unlimited numbers, so that shortly there was accommodation for the 900 patients referred to. In addition a large reserve of beds and mattresses had been created so that they could be placed in the corridors if it became necessary.