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(2) Apart from whether staff of the Port Health Authority work in the new building or not,
the essential first step towards co-operation in the working of the new scheme would be to
equip the two Port Health Authority launches at Gravesend and the "Hygeia" with radiotelephony.
(3) At a later stage and for convenience of administration of the whole Service, the two
launches operating on the Upper River (from Rainham to Teddington) should be equipped with
radio-telephony. The Port Health Staff would then get experience of working radio-telephony
pending the completion of the P.L.A. Building, and the radio-telephony facilities could then
be readily linked up and transferred into the new building.
(4) It seems evident that when the new building is ready with its Operations Room fully
working, it will be essential to have the Duty Medical Officer available for instant call to the
Operations Room. From there, for example, he could talk to a Master or a Ship's Surgeon of an
incoming ship while the ship was still at sea. He could discuss the nature of any illnesson
board and the disposal of any patient, and as to whether he could dispense with the usual
boarding when the ship approaches Gravesend and allow it to proceed to dock at Tilbury,or
elsewhere. Out of this indeed could develop in the Port of London a system of radio-pratique
such as they have used for years in New York, a system which greatly facilitates the quick
turn-round of shipping.
(5) It seemed doubtful to your Medical Officer whether the equipment of any of the Port
Health launches with radar would be practicable at any time but he is convinced that itis not
necessary to consider it at the present time.
With these considerations in mind further consultations were held with the representative of a
firm which specialises in this kind of work and which will be doing all the work in connection
with the Port of London Authority's new scheme. The representative of this firm put forward a
helpful plan which could be implemented in three stages as follows:—
Stage 1
That the Hulk "Hygeia" be fitted with a fixed Station equipment and the "Alfred Roach"
and the Howard Deighton" be fitted with mobile equipment to work into the "Hygeia".
It would be essential to employ high powered equipment in order to give a range extending
westward approximately to Rainham and eastward to Chapman Buoy.
In stage 1 the three vessels could work as a self contained unit straight away.
Stage 2
The office at Guildhall could be fitted with a Fixed Station equipment to work into the
'Alfred Robertson , which would be fitted with mobile equipment. In view of the fact that the
"Frederick Whittingham" does not carry any power supply at the moment, this vessel is not
included in stage 2.
Stage 3
It is assumed at this stage that the "Hygeia" will no longer be required and that the operation
of the equipment will be transferred to the new proposed Port of London Authority Operations
Room at Gravesend. By placing the aerial on the Tower of the Port of London Operations
Building, a considerable increase in range could be obtained.
If the maximum possible range from this area is required, it will be necessary to place the
Fixed Station equipment at a remote site on a hill near Gravesend (Windmill Hill is ideally
suited for this purpose) and control it remotely from the Operations Building.
The "Frederick Whittingham" has been brought into the scheme at Stage 3 when it is assumed
that the vessel will be fitted with the necessary power supply.
By progressing this installation in three stages, no equipment will be wasted or have to be
changed unnecessarily and in Stage 3 it will be possible to integrate the Scheme with that of
the Port of London Authority and by various switching in the Operations Room enable calls to be
put through from the Port Health Authority's vessels to:—
(a) Ships in the river (if fitted).
(b) The individual Dock Masters of the Port of London Authority (subject to Port of London
Authority approval).
(c) Customs Authority (if fitted).
(d) Any other vessel operating on the Port Health Scheme.
The Port of London Health Committee agreed to participate in the Scheme and sanctioned the
installation of the equipment envisaged in Stage 1, i.e., that the Hulk "Hygeia" be fitted with a
fixed station equipment and the "Alfred Roach" and the "Howard Deighton" be fitted with
mobile equipment to work into the Hulk "Hygeia".
SECTION vn-SMALLPOX
1. Name of Isolation Hospital to which smallpox cases are sent from the district
Long Reach Hospital is situated on the south bank of the River Thames about eight miles
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