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12
No arrangements have up to the present been made for the notifipation by wireless
to the Port Sanitary Authority of the time of arrival of inward vessels requiring the
attention of the Boarding Medical Officer, but advance information is frequently given
to the Authority by shipowners, agents and others who have been in wireless
communication with such ships, particularly when infectious sickness has occurred
on board.
A Customs launch is always on duty in Gravesend Reach, and the Boarding
Medical Officer goes off with the Preventive Officer to hail every vessel arriving from
" foreign."
The Preventive Officer questions the Master as to where the vessel is from, where
berthing, the nature of the cargo, whether all are well on board and whether any
sickness has occurred during the voyage. If the Master reports the occurrence of
sickness or if the vessel has called at an infected port, the Medical Officer goes on
board and makes such enquiries as are indicated.
But owing to the increasing trade of the Port and to the improvements which
the Port of London Authority have carried out in the River and docks it has, in recent
years, become more and more difficult for the Officers of His Majesty's Customs and
your Medical Officers to carry out their respective duties from the same launch.
The Preventive Officer of His Majesty's Customs must hail every ship from
"foreign," and your Medical Officers must examine carefully ships in which cases of
sickness have occurred or which have come from ports where the more serious
infectious diseases are prevalent. Consequently, if the Customs launch remains
alongside until the Medical Officer has completed his inspection of a big ship or
examined an obscure case of illness, other ships which arrive in the meantime must
wait for pratique even if they have no sickness on board and are not from scheduled
ports. If, on the other hand, the Customs launch leaves the Medical Officer and
carries on with her normal duties, the Medical Officer may have considerable trouble
in getting back to his station. These difficulties may occur at any time, but are
particularly serious when fog or stormy weather have already caused delay.
Towards the end of 1929, therefore, your Worshipful Committee, after very
careful consideration, decided to build a boarding launch for the use of the Medical
Officers at Gravesend. During 1930 plans and specifications were drawn up by your
Consulting Engineers, Messrs. Dudgeon & Gray, Ltd., in consultation with your
Medical Officer, and, having approved these, your Worshipful Committee placed the
Contract for building the launch with Messrs. W. J. Yarwood & Sons, of Northwich.
The launch is expected to be delivered during April, 1931, and will be named the
" Howard Deighton." She will be a steel-built, twin screw vessel, having a length
of about 70 feet and a beam of 14 ft. 6ins. She will be fitted with two Gardner
Diesel Engines of 96 B.H.P. each, and have a guaranteed speed of 10½ knots per hour.
Aft there will be a Medical Officer's cabin fitted with two bunks, a settee, table and
chairs, a dispensary cupboard, lavatory basin, crockery cupboard and book shelf.
Forward there will be sleeping accommodation for the crew, with separate single cabins
for the Navigating Officer and Engineer and a double cabin for the deckhand and boy.
On deck there will be an ambulance room fitted very much on the lines of a police
ambulance, so that either four stretcher cases or eight sitting cases can be carried.
When the new launch comes into commission it is hoped, with the assistance of
the Pilots, to arrange for wireless messages to be sent to the Port Sanitary Authority
from ships which are required to be boarded by the Medical Officer on arrival at
Gravesend and for such ships to fly, when within the limits of the Port, a flag signal
by day and a light signal by night indicating that the Port Medical Officer is required.
When a healthy ship from an infected port has only just sufficient time to catch the
tide she may be permitted to proceed up stream above the Boarding Station with
the launch in attendance while the Medical Officer completes his inspection. Such an
arrangement will increase the efficiency of the work of the Port Sanitary Authority
while avoiding delay to shipping.
To avoid frequent changes in the list of infected ports, which would lead to
confusion, the Medical Officers are instructed to board all ships which have come from