Stories from Deli

Lancet, 1899

THAT the true spirit of colonisation is largely developed in the people of Holland is shown by their intelligent and humane management of their possessions in the East Indian. Archipelago. Five of the principal private companies in North-Eastern Sumatra maintain well-equipped hospitals for the benefit of their coolies and other dependents, while even the smaller associations of planters have established huts where skilled medical and surgical aid can be obtained. The following description of the Bangkatan Hospital, which is the property of the Deli-Maatschappij Company, is from the pen of Dr. L. MartinI who for five years has been at the head of the institution.

1. Three wooden pavilions painted white, standing on cemented plinths, double-roofed and thatched with palm leaves, each 60 metres long by six broad, and containing wooden cot& for 50 patients.

2. A kitchen covered with sheet iron, including rooms for the cook and his assistants.

3. Latrines situated on the bank of the river, of which the water serves , for flushing purposes.

4. A pavilion, 20 metres long by eight broad, surrounded by a verandah which is used as a waiting-room. It contains an operating-room with two metal-topped tables, one of which is reserved exclusively for patients suffering from ulcers of the leg, a study for the medical officer, a consulting-room fitted with a large glazed window and a microscope table, and a store for necessaries and dressing materials. In the verandah double-current irrigators are suspended containing a solution of boric acid for the use of the numerous cases of catarrhal and blennorrhagic conjunctivitis.

5. A small mortuary with zinc-covered table.

 6. A building which serves as a dwelling for the coloured staff.

7. A covered shed for the convalescents during the heat of the day.

Every patient on admission receives hospital clothing and, if necessary, woollen garments. Cases of diarrhoea, dysentery, and cholera are accommodated in a special pavilion. Every article that was made use of for their conveyance to hospital is disinfected with creolin. It is worthy of note that none of the attendants of this pavilion have ever contracted cholera or diarrhoea.

The personnel of the hospital comprises one medical officer (European), one assistant apothecary, one chief superintendent (Chinese), one chief superintendent (Javanese), one ward servant (Chinese), one operating-room attendant (Chinese) who is also charged with the – duty of taking temperatures, two Sikhs from the Punjab who act as policemen, night watchers, gong-strikers, lamp-cleaners, and orderlies, one gardener with two assistants (Javanese), one market gardener (Chinese), one washerman (Tamil), and one cook and assistant (Chinese).

The pay drawn by these men, in addition to their food, amounts to $130 per annum, or at the present rate of exchange about £13. The cost of a patient per diem is about 2d.

Drugs, instruments, and appliances are all procured from Germany with the exception of chloroform and gutta-percha which are purchased in England. From 30 to 401b. of the hydrochloride of quinine are used annually. In 1891 out of 991 patients 196 died, a mortality equal to 19.8 per cent., but the following year the death-rate was only 9.2 per cent., and since then it has still further decreased. In 1895 the number of cases treated was 1731, the deaths numbering 106, or 6.1 per cent. The prevailing disease is paludal fever

A COOLIE HOSPITAL IN SUMATRA. The Lancet (British edition), 1899, Vol.154(3976), pp.1315-1316