| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding busy week; visit to Miss Gatliff; their departure for the Croix d'Or to avoid starting another month with Mme. Delattre, while avoiding travelling in early October; Miss Gatliff has been bringing her figs from Jacques Delattre; she is now to bring dates instead; at the annexe they often have cheese, grapes, jam or chocolate as pudding, and the last two are special as the chocolate only comes through the Service de Santé; luxuries come through the military authorities at Lyon; civilians have a much harder time; the annexe has had a busy few days but everyone has been very helpful; confusion over trains coming in with wounded; arrival of three officers, one of whom had an epileptic attack which stopped his heart; the doctor revived him, but it took four officers to hold him down until morphia took effect; he hurt his arm during the fit, and she has been massaging it; he comes from French Guiana and is very pleasant and courteous; trouble with dressing patients on the verge of fainting; one had a pierced arm, the other part of the right hand missing; an average of 2,000 a day are being evacuated from the front line and one front line hospital had 3,200 come in from the field in one day; the losses are appalling; some wounds are arriving in Valence gaping open, there having been no time to sew them; conversation with Mme. Soureillat on the treatment of wounds, as Martin has returned from the petite formation of St. Vallier where they still use old methods and wounds turn grey; sulphurised ether is the standard treatment at the annexe; infected wounds are washed out with the Dakin or Carrel disinfectant; description of regular procedures; method of dressing wounds at various stages; use of silver nitrate, tincture of iodine and aristol powder. [Letter breaks off without signature] |