The British Interned in SwitzerlandPicot, Henry Philip
History
The British Interned in Switzerland
Picot, Henry Philip
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Swiss
Association, supplemented by a donation from the B.R.C.S., London. The
services of Mr. Woods were entirely honorary: all expenses, both
professional and personal, were met by him, and no fees or charges of
any sort were accepted under any circumstances.
The following summary will give some idea of the magnitude of his work:—
Total number of patients treated 1,229
Visits 6,033
Operations 9,725
Restorations (dentures), etc. 673
Mr. Woods laid himself out to give as full dental treatment as though he
were in his own private consulting-room at home, and to avoid the
suggestion or appearance of merely giving the bare essentials of dental
treatment. The fact that 99 per cent. of the officers, and about 80 per
cent. of the men, consulted him, shows how entirely he obtained the
confidence of all ranks, and how necessary a dental service was. He was
able, by a series of lectures and demonstrations, to impress upon all
his patients the extreme importance of dental hygiene.
Writing on the subject of his work, he mentions that, like all other
members of his profession, he had been anxious since the outbreak of the
war to be of service to his fellow-countrymen, and when he saw that Ps.
of W. were being transferred to Switzerland, he felt an overpowering
desire to offer a dental service to them. That this loving desire has
received a wonderful fulfilment, the foregoing record amply shows, a
fulfilment towards which he was so well assisted by Mrs. Woods, who gave
up all her time and strength in the furtherance of her husband's task.
It is a pleasure to add that Mr. Woods received the heartiest support of
Captain Dr. Llopart, the Directing Medical Officer at Mürren, and of the
Swiss Dental Service.
As regards the provision of artificial limbs, it is casting no slur on
the Swiss medical authorities and Swiss artisans to say that they were
unable to meet the demands of the Interned. In Switzerland, as in other
countries, trained artisans skilled in this class of work were lacking,
and the type of limb in use was in no wise suitable for the demands of
modern life; in short, good artificial limbs were unprocurable in the
country, and though some of the men were fitted out locally, the
majority preferred to wait in the hope that a more suitably-designed
limb would have been evolved before their return to England. A few
officers were supplied with artificial legs by a Lyons firm, with which
they were satisfied at the time, but whether these compared favourably
with the home product I have not heard. Lady Dorothy Dalrymple did
useful service at Château d'Oex in supplying peg-legs, which proved most
useful.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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