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If the patient is not seen until the acute stage is over, and the
discharge has become contaminated with germs from the skin,
the fingers or towels, a different treatment is adopted. In severe
cases an effort is made actively to disinfect the surface of the
tissues irritated by this contaminated discharge. The method
used is that known as Zinc Ionisation. The electric current is
used to introduce the active agent Zinc at the surface of the
tissues.
The economical treatment of chronic discharge from the ears
in school clinics, is as far as the writer's experience is concerned,
based on the use of Zinc Ionisation. It is reserved for the severe
and moderate cases. In slight cases careful cleaning of the ear
and blowing powder into it suffices to get rid of the irritation
caused by the contaminated discharge and the ear recovers.
The above is an outline of the treatment followed at the clinic.
Written appointments are made for the children, and the nurses
visit the homes when necessary. This part of the work ensures
the willing co-operation of the mothers of the children by minimising
the time they have to spend at the clinic, and it means
comfort and absence of friction to the nursing and medical staff
who work there.
The writer wishes to record his indebtedness to Mrs. Morris,
Miss Jennings, and Mr. Rushton.
Audiometer Clinic.— Dr. Friel, in his 1931 report, described the
Audiometer, an instrument designed to test the acuity of hearing,
and his 1932 report stated that your Committee had actually provided
an audiometer.
Owing to the delay in obtaining the sanction of the Board of
Education for the additional Specialist Sessions necessary to deal
with those children discovered to have defective hearing, the full
scheme was not put into operation until the early part of 1933.
Hearing tests are now being carried out on one session per
week in Junior Schools and so far the 8 year-old age group has
been covered. The tests are carried out by Messrs. Smith and
Rushton, who have met with difficulty in obtaining the co-operation
of the children in some schools. Broadly, the degree of
co-operation of the child varies with the natural intelligence and,
indeed, it is reasonably easy to pick out border line mental
defectives if the children's reactions are closely watched while the
testing is in progress.
All children discovered to have a certain defined hearing loss,
are referred for Dr. Friel's examination at the nextl following
fortnightly clinic.
A photograph is shown of an Audiometer test in progress.