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1
Town Hal1?
Kensington, w. 8.
7th August , 1941.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington.
I have the honour to submit my annual report on the
state of. the public health in Kensington in 1940.
As in the previous year the report has been considerably
curtailed, but detailed records of the year's work are available
for inspection.
When air raids on London commenced at the beginning of
September, the Council's A.R.P. casualty services,, consisting
of eight first aid posts and gas cleansing stations, five
mobile units, two large stretcher party depotB and ancillary
units, were found to be ready, and, in spite of the lack of
previous experience, tho personnel met all demands made upon
them with skill and promptitude. They withstood all pressure
and much credit is due to the large number of A.R.P. workers
who accepted long hours of work ???
When night bombing commenced, the public air raid shelters
in tho borough began to be used extensively as dormitories
from dusk till dawn every night. These shelters had not been
constructed for sleeping purposes, and there thus appeared to
arise a potential danger to the health of the public from overcrowding
and the spread of epidemic disease. To meet this
contingency, a whole-time medical officer, a health visitor,
and a sanitary inspector were immediately allocated to deal
with health problems arising in shelters. The Emergency Committee
appointed a number of general medical practitioners and
nurses to work in these shelters,. Shelter medical aid posts
were established where necessary. Happily there was no outbreak
of infectious disease. Although it is going toe far to
say that the steps taken by the Emergency Committee were mainly
responsible, there is little doubt that the measures adopted
did contribute in securing a complete absence of epidemic
disease conditions in tho shelters throughout the entire winter.
The administrative work in connection with Civil Defence
duties imposed on the public health department very heavy responsibilities.
In the first eight months of the year training and
preparation for dealing with casualties were carried out on an
intensive scale, and in the last four months there was much
work thrown on officers in the department in connection with
the raitls which occurred. These duties over-shadowed the
normal public health work, but nevertheless this was carried
out by 'he staff quietly and thoroughly throughout tho twelve
months.
The Emergency Committee and every member of the staff
appreciated that bad health and epidemics, by hampering production
and wasting useful lives, can have an adverse effect on
the. war effort, and thus postpone ultimate victory, It was
this knowledge that kept public health problems fully in front
of their minds, notwithstanding the additional responsibilities
of Civil Defence duties.
From a public health point of view the year was a satisfactory
one, and no doubt this yas due in large measure to the
evacuation of children to reception areas. Indeed, no disease
appeared in epidemic form.