Here is a little pandemic/Pt. Lookout connection that I want to pass along.
Similar to what’s going on currently with the medical professions gearing up to fight the coronavirus, the Spanish flu of 1918 presented similar challenges. This article discussed one technique used back then that involved placing patients outdoors to get sunlight and fresh air. An excerpt from the article follows:
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| https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065 |
It reminded me of a conversation that I had some years ago with a lady who had visited Pt. Lookout and stopped in Buzzy’s Country Store on her way back up the road. Turns out she was a medical historian of sorts and knew all about the hospital at the Point. As we discussed it I gave her one of Buzzy’s souvenir prints of it.
She then proceeded to point out and explain several things to me about the construction of the hospital. She noted how the wings of the hospital were constructed in a spoke wheel fashion such that each had easy access to the center courtyard. She then told me how the positioning of patients out in the courtyard to get fresh air and sunlight was part of their treatment and therapy.
(She also pointed out that the building outside the circle (lower left in photo) contained the hospital staff and doctors as a way to keep them separated from the patients.)
Jason Babcock posted the following Spanish flu-County item on Massey’s You Know You’re From St. Mary’s:
Ringo has my antidote for anything that ails you: