279. Técnicos psiquiátricos en la Marina.

Hace ya unos meses recibí un tubo de cartón que en su interior llevaba alojada una alargada fotografía de 70 x 24 cm, imagen que hasta entonces había permanecido enmarcada desde los tiempos de la II Guerra Mundial en algún lugar de Sarasota (Florida, E.E. U.U.). La compré en una de esas subastas a la que me he aficionado en busca y captura de curiosidades psiquifoteras.

Y esta lo era, al menos para mi. Retrataba a 37 técnicos psiquiátricos (PHM de 1ª a 3ª categoría) de la Marina Norteamericana, posando en pulcra formación para la eternidad. En el centro (y en fotos separadas bajo la ordenada formación) los responsables del equipo: E.C. Howard (R.N. o enfermero registrado) y J.O. Lawrence (M.A.A. que no acierto a adivinar su significado).

Fueron muchos los barcos que actuaron con fines hospitalarios y de evacuación con ocasión de dicha contienda, y para quien estuviera interesado puede ampliar información en "WWII Hospital Ships". Obviamente no es ninguna novedad la existencia de dichos navíos, aunque quizás es algo menos conocido la importancia que los "técnicos psiquiátricos", junto a psiquiatras y enfermeras psiquiátricas, tuvieron junto con otras especialidades principalmente quirúrgicas:

"Six months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, there were 12,000 nurses on duty in the Army Nurse Corps. Few of them had previous military experience, and the majority reported for duty ignorant of Army methods and protocol. Only in July 1943 did Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, Commanding General, Army Service Forces, authorize a formal four-week training course for all newly commissioned Army nurses. This program stressed Army organization; military customs and courtesies; field sanitation; defense against air, chemical, and mechanized attack; personnel administration; military requisitions and correspondence, and property responsibility. From July 1943 through September 1945 approximately 27,330 newly inducted nurses graduated from fifteen Army training centers.

Nurse anesthetists were in short supply in every theater of operations, so the Army developed a special training program for nurses interested in that specialty. More than 2,000 nurses trained in a six-month course designed to teach them how to administer inhalation anesthesia, blood and blood derivatives, and oxygen therapy as well as how to recognize, prevent, and treat shock.

Nurses specializing in the care of psychiatric patients were also in great demand. One out of every twelve patients in Army hospitals was admitted for psychiatric care, and the Army discharged approximately 400,000 soldiers for psychiatric reasons. The Surgeon General developed a twelve-week program to train nurses in the care and medication of these patients.
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Veteran nurses also brought home with them valuable skills and experiences, increasing their professional status and self-esteem. The Army had trained significant numbers of nurses in specialties such as anesthesia and psychiatric care, and nurses who had served overseas had acquired practical experience otherwise unobtainable" (The Army Nurse Corp).

Aún así, de igual forma que los pacientes a los que atienden, los técnicos psiquiátricos aún hoy deben hacer frente al estigma que acompaña al enfermo psiquiátrico, tal y como April N. Sarani (Behavioral Health Tech de primera clase, antes Psych Tech) se encarga de señalar, desmontando mitos acerca de las labores por ellos realizadas.



BIBLIOGRAFIA.

Bellafaire, Judith A. The Army Nurse Corps in World War II. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Accesible en http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/72-14/72-14.HTM


Pdillard. Behavioral Health Tech (Psych Tech) Myth Buster, 2011. Accesible en http://navymedicine.navylive.dodlive.mil/archives/347

WW2 US Medical Research Centre. WW2 Hospital Ships. Accesible en http://www.med-dept.com/articles/ww2-hospital-ships/

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