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