Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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desirable such treatment should be tried who cannot be admitted
to any Sanatorium. These are sometimes too advanced
for it to be wise to send them a distance, but openair
treatment would certainly prolong their life, diminish
infection, and in some cases sufficiently restore them as to
enable a resumption of ordinary duties. Many eases, too,
who have had temporary treatment at a Sanatorium find it
difficult or imposible to continue the open-air treatment
at home as is desirable. For such cases the plan of using
an open-air shelter, erected in the garden, has been tried
with success in Edinburgh, Paddington, and other places.
The use of such shelters also prevents infection in the home.
In July, 1910, the Public Health Committee decided to
obtain two shelters of a type used in Edinburgh and
Paddington, to be lent to needy consumptives for use in
their garden or back yard. These, however, did not exclude
the rain and cold winds, and were accordingly altered,
after inspecting shelters used by Dr. Lyster of Great Baddow,
at that village with great success. The new shelters can
be closed by canvas or wooden shutters (see illustration)
on each side, or can be entirely open above 2 ft. 6 in. from
the ground all round. Five additional shelters of this type
were provided in 1911, and two cheaper shelters made
in Street, Somerset, making a total of nine now in use,
seven by men and two by women.
The results have been completely satisfactory. The
patients use them mainly for sleeping at night, while they
perform their duties as far as possible during the day.
These shelters can be used in all weathers. They can be
taken to pieces and transferred from place to place. A
photograph of one is reproduced on the opposite page.