Annual Report the Surgeon General United States Army Fiscal Year 1959
PUBLIC INFORMATION
The Army Medical Service maintained the policy of keeping the public, both civilian and military, fully informed of its outstanding activities and achievements. The objective of the information program continued to be that of instilling and maintaining confidence in the ability of the Army Medical Service not only to conserve the fighting strength of the troops but also to provide the American soldier and his family with the best possible medical care. Particular stress was placed on publicizing actions taken during the fiscal year to improve the outpatient service provided for dependents of military personnel. Wide publicity also was given to contributions made by the Army Medical Service to military and civilian medicine, especially in the fields of research and development, preventive medicine, and supply.
The TLO (Technical Liaison Office, OTSG), along with the Office of Public Affairs, Department of Defense, and the Office of the Chief of Information, Department of the Army, took an active part in keeping the public informed of the AMEDS' historic biomedical research program conducted under the sponsorship of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. These activities consisted chiefly of preparing and issuing press releases, fact sheets, and photographs, as well as answering biomedical questions raised by representatives of the press and periodicals in connection with the two separate launchings of primates (monkeys) into space during December and May of the fiscal year.
As a means of promoting public awareness of the need for civilian as well as military medical preparedness to meet any national emergency, AMEDS personnel presented a mass casualty care program at the seventh annual National Medical Civil Defense Conference sponsored by the Council on National Defense of the American Medical Association on 6 June in Atlantic City, N.J. The AMEDS program was a 1-day condensed version of the Army's 1-week course in management of mass casualties given at the Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Centers. This was one of the highlights of the annual American Medical Association meeting, attended by about 15,000 civilian and military physicians from throughout the United States. To familiarize civilian physicians with the capabilities of the helicopter ambulance, TLO arranged for the display, at the meeting, of an AMEDS helicopter from the 57th Medical Helicopter Ambulance Detachment, Fort George G. Meade.
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At the annual AMEDS Personnel Procurement Officers' Workshop held at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in June 1959, the chief of TLO outlined the interrelations between information and personnel procurement activities and stressed the importance of the role that the information officer could play in aiding in the procurement of officer personnel. He encouraged all AMEDS personnel procurement officers and counselors to contact information and technical liaison officers within their areas in order to arrive at a better understanding of their common goal. In this connection, TLO during the year advised and assisted OTSG procurement officers in preparing procurement data for dissemination through such media as press, radio, and television.
The Technical Liaison Office assisted the Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces by publishing and distributing 10 reports submitted by members of that Society who were assigned to temporary duty as consultants to The Surgeon General for the purpose of visiting Army medical treatment facilities in oversea areas. The reports embodied the observations and recommendation of these civilian specialists.
Clearance of 1,053 technical papers, original articles, speeches, and films was obtained through TLO, and 64 manuscripts were under review at the end of the fiscal year. During the year, 156 static exhibits were displayed at meetings of professional, medical, and allied organizations throughout the country. A special exhibit illustrating the activities of the Army Medical Service was constructed for the annual traveling exhibit tour sponsored by the Secretary of the Army. This AMEDS contribution to the exhibit tour, entitled 'This is the Army, '59,' was on display in 10 large cities in the South and the Southwest.
