CHAPTER 10.1
GENERAL
The health and safety record established at Eniwetok Atoll during
the period between January 1949 and June 1951 is impressive, Much has
been said about reports concerning unsanitary camp conditions at various
times during this period, but the record speaks for itself. Certainly
cases existed in which sanitary and safety measures were ignored or
neglected,
However, none of these cases indicated a continous course of
neglect over periods of time, and investigation always revealed that the
lapses were invariably attributable to special circumstances.
Generally, the health conditions on Parry Island and the islands to
the north were on a par with any well regulated stateside commmnity. The
incidence of the usually encountered illnesses was normal, This condition
is not surprising when one remembers that a complete physical examination
of each overseas employee was required prior to employment and that the
record of examination was approved by LASL personnel before execution of
employment agreements, This procedure was established at the inception
of the project and, while at times it caused difficulty in mobilization,
it appears to have been well worthwhile.
The single job-incurred fatality which happened during the Project
was the result of an unusual chain of circumstances, A worker on an MBoat coming along side a tug had two toes crushed between the deck of the
M-Boat and the strake of the tug, A tourniquet was immediately applied
to the involved leg and the man removed to the Eniwetok Island Hospital.
Upon arrival there the tourniquet was removed in preparation for surgery
by H&N and Army surgeons. Shortly thereafter the man died. An autopsy
performed thereafter in Honolulu revealed that crushed bone particles had,
upon removal of the tourniquet, travelled through the blood stream causing
Pulmonary and cerebral embolism.
Such a record, details of which are given hereinafter, is not a
matter of chance, It is the result of a well conceived and well executed
program which took into account the type of personnel employed, living
conditions, the availability of recreational facilities, insect control,
and the whole host of other related factors.
The necessity for dust
control, for proper sewage and trash disposal, for radiological safety
education, for the provision of recreational facilities and moral aides
and for rigid control on the dispensing of liquor had been foreseen and
all been recognized as necessary, and were in the plans and executed,
10-1