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who will receive the same training as the doctors of the
Curative Units.
Both Nursing and Curative Units are to serve as
supplementary staff to army field and base hospitals.
Training of Nursing and Curative Units will begin
in August. Six Red Cross units of each type will be sent back from the field and go through a very brief course of training principally for the purpose of standardizing organization and
working procedures. It must be noted that the Red Cross units
when organized last December were sent to work without any training and with only the briefest of verbal and written
instructions.
(4) Preventive Units (chiefly for sanitary and preventive work, with training in first-aid, medical - especially infectious diseases, and nursing practice).
The Preventive Unit is to carry out epidemic prevention work along the lines of communication among communities
arising out of the war, e.g. highway and railway builders,
and industry workers, refugees, as well as soldiers. A
total of 170 men and women doctors, nurses, and dressers,
and 20 army doctors completed this type of training during the month of June. The second class of 80 is now undergoing
similar training.
The course for each group lasts four weeks. Emphasis is laid on the practical aspects of field work. Lectures are limited to two hours a day and theoretical discussions are avoided whenever possible. Teaching is mainly in the form of demonstrations and drill in field procedures, which have been developed on the basis of simplicity, economy, and practicability
under /