Pat's Note: I wondered how long it would take for security issues were
used to obscure the origin of this outbreak.
Creative, I'll give them that. They proibably just thought that the
large mortuary might come in handy
I wonder what they will make of this in Hamilton and Ohio. Incredulity
probably.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article4214994.ece
June 25, 2008
C. diff hospital was built for nuclear war
Vale of Leven hospital has massive mortuary and kitchens to deal with
atom bomb victimsMelanie Reid
The Scottish hospital at the centre of a hygiene row was secretly
designed to act as a military treatment centre in the event of nuclear
war.
A BBC television programme to be shown tomorrow will reveal that the
Vale of Leven hospital, where nine people died recently from
Clostridium difficile, was the first hospital built in Scotland after
the NHS came into being 60 years ago.
It was unveiled to the public in 1955 as a glittering symbol of the
new welfare state, yet its real purpose was altogether more chilling -
to deal with casualties in the event of a nuclear strike on the West
of Scotland.
The hospital, in Alexandria, Dunbarton****re, was built by the Ministry
of Defence, which handed it to the NHS to manage on the understanding
that the military would retake control if an atomic war broke out.
The MoD expected survivors from a nuclear strike on Glasgow and the
Clyde ****pyards to flock out of the city to Loch Lomond for safety.
The hospital incor****ated measures to cope with such a massive
emergency. Walls between departments and wards were made of a flimsy
material so that they could be kicked down to accommodate hundreds of
patients suffering from the effects of a nuclear attack. Extra
mattresses were stored in the basement and the kitchens were made
three times bigger than normal to cope with extra strains of feeding
casualties and refugees.
Chillingly, the mortuary was also designed super-size to accommodate
hundreds of extra bodies.
Dr William Thomson, medical superintendent at the hospital between
1963 and 1966, revealed that he was even taught how to catch, kill,
skin and cook a rabbit so that he could pass on the skill to
survivors. He said that he and others who knew of the plans were told
to “keep quiet about what we saw”.
“The theory was that atom bombs would be dropped on industrial cities
and they thought that particularly the West End of Glasgow would be
affected,” he said. He said that it was expected that survivors “would
emigrate or escape to the shores of Loch Lomond”. “So the Minister of
Defence thought it would be a good idea to build a hospital here to
accommodate refugees from the West End of Glasgow. If the bomb was
dropped, the partitions that separated blocks to make them into wards
.... would all be knocked down to leave big open spaces where injured
people could be brought in and laid on mattresses.
“As well as that, the kitchen of the Vale of Leven was three times
larger than was needed for a hospital of this size. That was so that
they could feed the refugees who they thought would be on the banks of
Loch Lomond.
“Another slightly macabre thing was that the mortuary was much much
larger than a hospital this size required.”
Dr Thomson said that he and other doctors were told to expect every
kind of medical emergency.
“There would be burns, there would be flying fragments of glass and
flying fragments of brick, you name it. In a whole town, with an
explosion like that, everything would be flying at people, so there
would be every injury under the sun.”
He said that he was given unorthodox training to help survivors in the
aftermath of a nuclear attack. “We were taught how to teach people how
to catch rabbits, skin them and cook them. We were also about the
sorts of things you could pick - what sorts of mushrooms were edible
and those that weren't,” he said.
“It was so that they could live off the land. We were taught that so
we could teach people when we went back.”
The precautions, thankfully, were unnecessary and the Vale of Leven
hospital went on to play an im****tant - albeit more routine - role in
the NHS.
Pills, Potions & Patients - Scotland's NHS at 60 is broadcast on BBC
Two Scotland on Friday at 9pm.
--
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com
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