With Remembrance Day this weekend we take a moment to remember those who have fought for our country, our rights and those who are still fighting. We remember and reflect upon their sacrifices, that have allowed us the freedoms we enjoy today.
An article done for the CBC below talks about some of the health care and Orpinton Hospital that set up on of the first occupational therapy programs. As a part of that program modalities such as hydrotherapy and massage therapy were used to help rehabilitate and treat the wounded soldiers.
Remembrance Day was first recognized in 1914, it is also the year that the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario was created to regulate and govern the practice of massage therapy.
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Orpington Hospital
Canada's
contribution to the First and Second World Wars is recognized and
remembered all over the United Kingdom, especially around Nov. 11. Among
the ceremonies in 2009 was the unveiling of a historic mural at a
hospital in Orpington, Kent.
The mural commemorates a once-famous hospital that was paid for by the people of Ontario.
In 1915, the Ontario government donated $2 million to build a
treatment centre for soldiers wounded on the battlefields of France. It
was a huge amount of money for the time, and the hospital became one of
the most up-to-date in the world.
Fully staffed by Canadian doctors and nurses, the Ontario Military
Hospital treated more than 25,000 badly injured soldiers between 1916
and 1919. The majority of patients were Canadian, but the hospital also
saved the lives of soldiers from Britain, Newfoundland (then a British
colony), Australia and New Zealand. Thanks to state-of-the-art
treatment, just 182 patients died — less than one per cent of those
admitted to the facility. Those who didn't make it are buried in what's
know as "Canadian Corner," a graveyard in nearby All Saints Church.
One of the Canadian doctors who worked at the hospital was Thomas McCrae, brother of John McCrae who wrote the poem In Flanders Fields.
Forced to deal with soldiers suffering from horrific facial injuries,
Thomas McCrae was an early pioneer of plastic surgery in the Ontario
Military Hospital.
The hospital also set up one of the first occupational therapy programs for shell-shocked survivors of trench warfare.
The hospital, renamed the 16th Canadian General Hospital during the
war, was torn down in the 1960s. It has been replaced by the modern
Orpington General Hospital which now boasts a Canada Wing, as well as
Ontario, Quebec and Mackenzie King wards.
Hospital officials hope the new historic mural will be a constant reminder of Canadians' sacrifice and life-saving service.
— Ann MacMillan, CBC News
from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2008/11/07/f-remembrance-day.html
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Ever wondered how Massage was used during the First World War?
A short video on the history of massage please click here
Thank you Veterans and Active Duty Military Personnel
Lest we forget
