CHAPTER VIII
THE DIVISION OF SANITATION AND INSPECTIONa
ORGANIZATION
The division of sanitation, chief surgeon's office, A. E. F., eventuallybecame, in very large degree, an office of preventive medicine whereinall activities relating to that subject were centralized.1 However,this centralization was not complete until December 26, 1918, when therewas transferred to the sanitation division the subsection of venereal diseases,which in the division of urology had theretofore pertained, with the otherprofessional services, to the division of hospitalization.2
CHARTIII.-Scheme for organization of division of sanitationand inspection, chief surgeon's office, A. E. F.
When the chief surgeon's office, A. E. F., was organized, July 28, 1917,the prescribed activities of the division of sanitation were as follows:3In charge of sanitation of camps and quarters, laundries, disinfectionand delousing, health of command, report of sick and wounded, statisticsand sanitary reports. Subsequently these activities were somewhat modified,several of them being transferred from the Medical Department to otherdepartments of the American Expeditionary Forces. Thus, General Orders,No. 31, G. H. Q., A. E. F., January 21, 1918, directed the provision andoperation of laundries be vested in the Quartermaster Corps, and that portableshower baths, taken by organizations into the zone of the advance, be installedwhen necessary by the engineers. General Orders, No. 60, G. H. Q., A. E.F., April 20, 1918, provided that the personnel of portable disinfestorsbe furnished by the engineers, and that of portable laundries and bathingunits by the Quartermaster Corps. Concurrently with this transfer of someof its responsibilities, the sanitation division assumed others which hadnot pertained to it originally.2 By General Orders, No. 29,G. H. Q., A. E. F., February 14, 1918, general sanitary inspectors wereprovided for, and though these officers reported on a wide range of subjects,in addition to sanitation, they were essentially a part of the divisionof sanitation.
aConsult also Sec. II, Vol. VI, of thishistory, wherein a fuller consideration is given the activities of thisdivision.
134
On March 6, 1918, the chief surgeon prescribed that the division ofsanitation be organized into the following sections:2 (1) Sickand wounded records; (2) laboratories and infectious diseases; (3) inspection;(4) epidemiology. Though the last-mentioned section was established whilethe chief surgeon's office was yet at Chaumont-that is, during the earlypart of March-this outlined organization was not effected immediately.2On March 31, the division of sanitation was redesignated the division ofsanitation, sanitary inspection, and sanitary statistics, with duties moreclearly defined and established than they had been during the formativestage of its activities.4 On May 5, 1918, the laboratory servicewas separated from the other professional services5 with whichit formerly had been operating under the division of hospitalization, tobecome a part of the division of sanitation, though formal orders concerningthis transfer, and the reorganization of the section of laboratories andinfectious diseases as a part of the division of sanitation, were not publisheduntil July 20, 1918.6
The organization outlined above was retained until December 26, 1918,when, as previously stated, the division of urology was transferred tothe division of sanitation from that of the professional services.2
ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS
In view of the organization described above, the administrative functionswhich were included within the jurisdiction of the division of sanitationand inspection may be classified as follows:2
(a) The receipt, record, and analysis of reportsof disease and injury.
(b) The receipt and review of monthly and specialsanitary reports.
(c) The selection, supply, and direction of laboratoryservices for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, for theprotection of water and food supplies, and for research by experimentallaboratory methods in all matters pertaining to personal hygiene, physiology,the science of nutrition, pathology, and bacteriology, as they bore uponthe problems of the armies.
(d) Inspection of areas and premises occupied bythe troops together with such examination of men, singly, or in groups,as was required in tracing the origin, distribution, and spread of causesof noneffectiveness, whether due to communicable disease or to other cause.
(e) Correlation of the reports of disease withthe reports of sanitary conditions, troop movements, weather conditions,military operations, or other essential factors, to the end that epidemicsmight be brought to an end promptly and their recurrence prevented.
(f) Collection of data for statistical purposesto serve as a basis for the direction of sanitary policies during the presentemergency, and for the service of students and administrators in the future.
(g) The selection, training, and appointment ofqualified officers and enlisted men to serve the functions above described.
(h) Collection and publication of information dealingwith preventive medicine.
(i) Maintenance of liaison with other divisionsof the Medical Department.
(j) Maintenance of liaison with the medical services,both civilian and military, of our Allies, and with conditions of diseaseamong our enemies, which might affect the health of our troops.
OFFICE CONTROL
Communications between the division of sanitation and inspection andother divisions of the Medical Department passed through the office ofthe chief of the division. All but routine reports were submitted directto the chief of the division.2
135
By central control of correspondence and of reports concerning personneland supplies, at the offices of the chief of the division, and of the directorof laboratories, provision was made and responsibility placed, for allactions taken.2
MEETINGS AND LIAISON
Meetings of the heads of the subdivisions at the office of the sanitationdivision, at Tours, or at the central Medical Department laboratory, atDijon, provided frequent opportunity for the discussions of new problemsand agreement upon policies affecting the division of sanitation.2Through the deputy of the chief surgeon, at General Headquarters, the chiefof the division of sanitation was kept constantly informed of the changingproblems of the general staff.2 Through the surgeons of armies,or of the administrative sections of the Services of Supply, he was keptin touch with the needs of combat troops and of organizations in the Servicesof Supply, from the moment of their arrival at the ports of debarkation,to arrival at their station in the Services of Supply, or at the front.2Officers,-e. g., sanitary inspectors and laboratory experts-charged withduties pertaining to the sanitary services, were assigned to the largerorganizations of combat troops, to sections of the Services of Supply,to hospital centers, training areas, and other large commands.7When the size of an organization did not justify the assignment of an officerto such service exclusively, one was charged with sanitary services ofthe command in addition to his other duties.7 Officers chargedwith sanitary duties thus served all commands from the largest to the smallest,and through these agencies, by successive echelons of responsibility, thesanitation division exercised appropriate supervision in its specialtyover all elements of the American Expeditionary Forces.7
Close contact existed between the divisions of sanitation and hospitalization,particularly in matters pertaining to infectious diseases.7These included the venereal diseases, after the subsection charged withthat specialty was transferred to the division of sanitation as describedabove. The laboratory division was in especially close liaison with theprofessional services.7
The location of the headquarters of the division of laboratories andinfectious diseases at Dijon, while the office of the chief surgeon waslocated at Chaumont, and then at Tours, caused at times, especially afterthe chief surgeon's office moved to Tours, delay and inconvenience to theoffice of sick and wounded and that of epidemiology, but difficulties incommunication were reduced to a minimum by the almost daily telephonicand telegraphic communication, exchange of reports, and the frequent conferencesheld by the heads of the subdivision.2
The sanitation division also maintained close contact, in matters pertainingto bathing and disinfestation, with the Quartermaster Department,2and through its laboratory division with the laboratories of the ChemicalWarfare Service.8
The division also maintained contact with the French civil and militaryservices, in matters pertaining to sanitation and epidemiology, throughthe medical officers of the French military missions at general headquartersand at headquarters, Services of Supply, and through the French medicalofficers in each of the French regions in which American troops were stationed,or through which they passed.9
136
PERSONNEL a
(July 28, 1917, to July 15, 1919)
Brig. Gen. Walter D. McCaw, M. C., chief.
Col. Percy M. Ashburn, M. C., chief.
Col. Daniel W. Harmon, M. C., chief.
Col. Henry A. Shaw, M. C., chief.
Col. Haven Emerson, M. C.
Col. Henry C. Fisher, M.C.
Col. Daniel W. Harmon, M.C.
Col. Paul C. Hutton, M.C.
Col. Howard H. Johnson,M. C.
Col. James C. Magee, M.C.
Col. Robert U. Patterson,M. C.
Col. George Walker, M. C.
Col. Linsley R. Williams,M. C.
Maj. George Blackburne,M. C.
Maj. Robert H. Delafield,San. Corps.
Maj. John S. C. Fielden,jr., M. C.
Maj. Bascom Johnson, San.Corps.
Maj. Frank A. Ross, San.Corps.
Capt. George J. Anderson,San. Corps.
Capt. T. L. Harrington,M. C.
First Lieut. Howard H. Antles,San. Corps.
First Lieut. Arthur B. Crean,San. Corps.
First Lieut. Arthur E. Nelson,San. Corps.
First Lieut. Dennison Walcott,San. Corps.
REFERENCES
(1) Report from Lieut. Col. J. F. Siler, M. C., directorof laboratories and infectious diseases, A. E. F., to the chief surgeon, A. E. F. (undated). Subject: Activities of the division of laboratoriesand infectious diseases, from August, 1917, to July, 1919. On file, HistoricalDivision, S. G. O.
(2) Report of the division of sanitation and inspection,Medical Department, A. E. F., May 31, 1919, by Col. Haven Emerson, M. C.On file, Historical Division, S. G. O.
(3) Report from the chief surgeon, A. E. F., to the commandinggeneral, Headquarters, A. E. F., April 17, 1919. Subject: The Medical Department,A. E. F., to November 11, 1918. On file, Historical Division, S. G. O.
(4) Memorandum from the chief surgeon, A. E. F., to thechief of staff, A. E. F., April 1, 1918. Subject: War diary for week endingMarch 31, 1918. On file, Historical Division, S. G. O.
(5) Circular No. 25, chief surgeon's office, A. E. F.,May 5, 1918. On file, Historical Division, S. G. O.
(6) Circular No. 40, chief surgeon's office, A. E. F.,July 20, 1918. On file, Historical Division, S. G. O.
(7) Report on "Sanitary reports, monthly and special,"October 7, 1921, by Col. Haven Emerson, M. C. On file, Historical Division,S. G. O.
(8) Report from the chief surgeon, A. E. F., to the SurgeonGeneral, U. S. Army, May 1, 1919. Subject: Activities of the chief surgeon'soffice,
A. E. F., to May 1, 1919. On file, Historical Division,S. G. O.
(9) Letter from the chief surgeon, A. E. F., to Sous-Secretaired'Etat du Service de Sante, section Franco-Americaine French mission, G.H. Q.,
A. E. F., March 8, 1919. Subject: Epidemic diseases inthe A. E. F. On file, A. G. O., World War Division, chief surgeon's files,710.
aIn this list have been included the names of those who at one time or another were assigned to the division during the period July 28, 1917, to July 15, 1919.
There are two primary groups-the heads of the division or the section and the assistants. In each group names have been arranged alphabetically, by grades, irrespective of chronological sequence of service.
