Dear Friends:
Nothing like accuracy to combat mythology.
I had been told and read about the version of Ms Nightingale in the
Crimea. Never really investigated for myself.
From Wikipedia:
"Florence Nightingale's most famous contribution came during the _Crimean
War_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War) , which became her central focus
when reports began to filter back to Britain about the horrific conditions
for the wounded. On _October 21_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_21) ,
_1854_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1854) , she and a staff of 38 women
volunteer nurses, trained by Nightingale and including her aunt Mai Smith, were
sent (under the authorization of Sidney Herbert) to _Turkey_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey) , some 545 km across the _Black Sea_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea) from _Balaklava_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaklava)
in the _Crimea_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea) , where the main
British camp was based.
Nightingale arrived early in November 1854 in _Scutari_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Üsküdar) (modern-day _Üsküdar_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Üsküdar) in _Istanbul_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul) ). She and her
nurses found wounded soldiers being badly cared for by overworked medical staff
in the face of official indifference. _Medicines_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine) were in short supply, _hygiene_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene) was being neglected, and mass _infections_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infection) were common, many of them fatal. There was no equipment to
process food for the patients.
Nightingale and her compatriots began by thoroughly cleaning the hospital and
equipment and reorganizing patient care. However, during her time at
Scutari, the death rate did not drop; on the contrary, it began to rise. The death
count would be highest of all other hospitals in the region. During her first
winter at Scutari, 4077 soldiers died there. Ten times more soldiers died
from illnesses such as _typhus_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhus) ,
_typhoid_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoid) , _cholera_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera) and _dysentery_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery) than
from battle wounds. Conditions at the hospital were so fatal to the patients
because of overcrowding and the hospital's defective _sewers_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewer) and lack of ventilation. A sanitary commission had to
be sent out by the British government to Scutari in March 1855, almost six
months after Florence Nightingale had arrived, which flushed out the sewers and
improved ventilation. Death rates were sharply reduced.
Nightingale continued believing the death rates were due to poor nutrition
and supplies and overworking of the soldiers. It was not until after she
returned to Britain and began collecting evidence before the Royal Commission on
the Health of the Army, that she came to believe that most of the soldiers at
the hospital were killed by poor living conditions. This experience would
influence her later career, when she advocated sanitary living conditions as of
great importance. Consequently, she reduced deaths in the Army during
peacetime and turned attention to the sanitary design of hospitals."
As always, LACTNET is a fabulous place to live in.
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Lactation Consultant, Philadephia Department of Public Health
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty, Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com
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