Page:Doctors Aweigh.djvu/31

6 The hospital ship Solace was anchored in the harbor. Some of the patients she carried had been transferred to the hospital. The white-painted ship became a mecca for the men swimming about in the oil-covered water. Approximately 141 patients were received on board the Solace. "Many," according to Captain George Eckert (MC), U.S.N., chief surgeon, "were so seriously burned as to be unrecognizable. Those who were conscious tried to mumble their names. But no one whimpered. Their morale was high."

At the hospital, the problem was how to handle such a flood of terribly injured men as quickly and as competently as possible. This was solved by Captain Hayden and his executive officer, who quickly examined each man brought in and assigned him to a place in one of the twelve wards or sent him directly to the operating suite.

Many patients were unconscious, or too badly injured to speak. Forty-seven per cent of all the cases brought to the hospital were burned. Many were thickly coated with fuel oil. Practically all were in a state of shock.

The Navy is a stickler for records. All through a man's career in the service, whether just for a hitch or for life, two careful, up-to-the-minute, detailed accounts are kept of him. One is his service record; the other is his health record. The service record is kept in duplicate. One set goes with him from ship to station, in the keeping of his commanding officer; the other set is kept in Washington at the Navy Department. Whenever anything happens to the man — from an abscessed tooth to a citation for distinguished service — it is immediately written into its appropriate place in his record of health or service. In the stress and confusion of battle or during such a raid as occurred at Pearl Harbor, there is no time to search a man's health record before attending to his needs. But Navy regulations and sound common sense decree that every effort be made to keep a record of his injuries and the treatment given them, as his continued treatment and future pension claim depend on these records.