Women Being Enrolled for War Service Training SIGNING UP…Miss Joye Hibbert (seated), is helping four Ogden women fill out application blanks for the training course as nurse’s aides given by the local chapter of the American Red Cross. Left to right, the women are Mrs. Louis Hall, Mrs. Robert Jaikes, Mrs. Chester J. Olsen and Mrs. Lou DeGoode Three hundred volunteers are needed for the new course, but the number so far signed is far below that goal. OFFICIAL CALLS WOMEN TO AID Nurses’ Helpers Would Be of Material Benefit Mrs. Leonard G. Diehl, chairman of the Weber County Red Cross chapter’s nurse’s aides, today appealed to women to enroll for training. “Now that we are at war, we are faced with an acute nursing shortage, not only in Ogden but all over the country,” Mrs. Diehl pointed out. Nurses are being called daily for service with our armed forces, both at home and abroad. To meet the urgent needs of hospitals the office of civilian defense, together with the American Red Cross, has issued a nation-wide appeal for 100,000 women to volunteer as nurse’s aides. Emergencies Cited “In case of an air raid or epidemic of ‘flu’ such as accompanied the last war, our present local nursing resources would prove inadequate to handle the situation,” Mrs. Diehl said. “We have a community responsibility here in Ogden to see that our civilian services are not only adequately maintained but that we are prepared for any eventuality. We can only do this of a local group of competent and hard working women will volunteer o assist our graduate nurses. By earning how to perform simple outine duties in hospitals, these nurse’s aides can release the graduate nurse to do more technical work, which only she can perform. N addition they will have the satisfaction of knowing that they are playing a vital part in our war effort.” Course Explained An extensive 80-hour training course for volunteer nurse’s aides is starting October1. Women, American citizens, physically fit and willing to serve at least 150 hours per year without pay are eligible for enrollment. The first half of the course will consist of 35 hours of classwork, with a qualified graduate nurse as instructor. The training center will be the Dee hospital, where the volunteers will spend 45 hours of supervised practice. After completing the course, the nurse’s aide is expected to give the first 150 hours of service in hospitals and later she may be assigned to clinics or other health agencies. Her duties are many and varied, but her work is always supervised by a graduate nurse. All those wishing to volunteer should apply at once to the local Red Cross office. A consultant is on duty at the city-county building every week day from ten a.m., until four p.m. FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1942 MORE NURSE’S AIDES NEEDED Nearing the close of national Red Cross nurse’s aides enrollment week, Mrs. Sophie Reed, chairman for Weber county chapter said Saturday that response has been good but insufficient and that enrollment will probably continue this week. The course, which will be taught by Mrs. O. C. Hammond, R. N., will begin early in October. “More and more women are beginning to realize that the nursing situation in Ogden is critical,” Mrs. Reed said. “Every nurse’s aide becomes a nurse’s helper and thus relieves the trained woman from many of the less technical tasks, allowing her to have more time for the actual nursing duties. “Women find they can thus release more and more of the trained nurses for actual war service, thus being an aid also to the men in service who might need those nurses.” In many cases, Mrs. Reed said, women who are not able to take an active part in the war program are finding that by taking the children of some wanting the nurse’s aide training and caring for them three hours a day, five days a week for six weeks, they can do their bit also. “Ogden needs 300 nurse’s aides,” Mrs. Reed said. Chairman Speaks The need for volunteers was described as extreme by Mrs. Leonard G. Diehl, chairman of the volunteer nurse’s aide corps. “As many as 50 aides could be placed at once in Ogden if they were only available,” Mrs. Diehl said. “Already a number of women have received their certificates. Many are enrolled at present, but as only 30 can be trained in one class, the progress is necessarily slow.” She explained that the reason comparatively few had volunteered for this special service was that requirements are so high and the hours of training so rigorous. “One possible cause,” she continued, “is based on an assumption which we want to dispel completely. Many think that nurse’s aides will be given the dirty work’ to do, and will be made virtual slaves to the regular registered trained nurse. This is altogether false.” She then explained that aides work as assistants to graduate nurses and their work consists of making beds, giving baths, taking temperatures, pulse and respiration, assisting with non-sterile dressings, and helping with food trays. They work under supervision of graduate nurses. They are on call 24 hours a day in case of disaster. The requirements are rigid, Mrs. Diehl went on to explain. Women wishing to qualify for this particular type of service, must be American citizens, between 18 and 50 years old, and have the equivalent of a high school education. They take an 80-hour training course and must give 150 hours’ service annually. A physical examination is also required and the standard first aid course must be taken with the first year. The nature of the course requires that applicants be conscientious, serious-minded individuals, who are sure that they will see the thing through once they have begun. “Once again,” Mrs. Diehl said, “I cannot emphasize too strongly the pressing need for volunteers for this type of service. We don’t have to wait for bombings and explosions. The need is here right now. “We are appealing to patriotic women of our nation to volunteer for our nurse’s aide corps and to render a great service to humanity and to victory for the decent democratic way of life. “Surely the women of the Ogden area should welcome this opportunity to serve as nurse’s aides during this great national emergency.”