Army medical services in the field / [War Office].

Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Army medical services in the field / [War Office]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Supply of medical equipment in the field 277. Medical equipment for an expeditionary force is held in depots of medical stores in the theatre of operations. These depots are supplied from the medical stores depots in the United Kingdom or under special arrangements from other countries. Base depot of medical stores (General Depot, Medical Section or Medical Branch Depot) 278. Allotment.—A base depot of medical stores is provided for each 150,000 of the strength of the force. It is equipped initially with sufficient stocks for two months’ maintenance of that number. A base depot is usually located in a port area, The floor space required is approximately 50,000 square feet. ane 279. Organization.—A base depot of medical stores is organized in five sections :— (a) Central control section (Headquarters). This section exer- cises administrative control and maintains the medical equipment accounts. All issue and receipt vouchers pass through this section, which enables the officer in charge to take provision action for replenishment of stock. (b) Traffic section. This section is divided into two sub-sections, one of which handles the inward traffic, the other packing and dispatching outward consignments. (c) Supply section. This section is responsible for binning all receipts from the traffic sub-section, and for selecting _ stores to meet issues for outgoing consignments according to the indents received from Central control. It is divided into three or more sub-sections to deal with the full range of medical equipment. (qd) Repair section. In this section minor repairs are carried out by R.A.M.C. tradesmen. (¢) Regimental section. This is responsible for all matters connected with the interior economy and administration of the unit. It is usual to attach a section of pioneers or to employ local labour for the handling of bulk equipment within the depot. _ 280. Role.—The role of a base depot is to maintain adequate stocks of medical equipment and to despatch supplies to the medical units for which it is responsible in base and L. of C. areas and to advanced depots of medical stores (para 218). 281. A Returned Store and Repair Section R.A.M.C., including a R.E.M.E. sub-section, is established in selected base depots of medical stores, to carry out major repairs and also to provide mobile repair teams to visit hospitals, etc., and effect a maintenance