History of Medicine

History

An Open Access Journal

The work of the Russian Red Cross in pre-revolutionary Transbaikal

DOI: 10.17720/2409-5583.v5.2.2018.03c

Sergey D. Batoev
FSAEI HE I.M. Sechenov First MSMU MOH Russia (Sechenov University)
8 Trubetskaya St., building 2, Moscow 119991, Russia

Beginning in 1867, training nurses to work in military hospitals became a priority for the Russian Red Cross Society (RRCS). From 1884–1906, the Transbaikal Region was a part of the Priamursky Governor-Generalship, in which, until the mid- 1890s, there were no sisters of mercy societies or appropriate training courses. In the region’s vast territory there was only the RRCS’s Nerchinsk local administration, which did not demonstrate signifi cant activity. The troubled foreign policy situation in Eastern Siberia and the Far East necessitated the opening of additional military infirmaries and outpatient clinics, and the organization of systematic training for field nurses. In order for medical and social work to provide a more complete coverage of the border region and for more direct organizational and methodological leadership, a Transbaikal (Chita) local RRCS administration was established in the Transbaikal Region in 1894. Its center was located in Chita and headed by the military governor. As a result, the process of training nurses, the organization of nurses’ societies and the opening of infirmaries and outpatient clinics was systematized. Given the general shortage of qualified medical specialists and medical institutions, the work of the Transbaikal RRCS’s local administration was significant. On the basis of the Chita and Verkhneudinsk infirmaries that were created, surgical, therapeutic and obstetric care as well as treatment for socially significant diseases was improved. Hospital beds for rural residents were provided, as well as vaccination and, when necessary, anti-epidemic programs. As a result, in the first quarter of the 20th century, local Transbaikal RRCS committees under the leadership of the Transbaikal local administration played an important role in increasing the availability of medical care to the Transbaikal population.

Keywords: history of medicine, Transbaikal region, Chita local administration of the Russian Red Cross, nurses’ societies, infirmary

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