Healthcare

Healthcare has changed a lot in the last 100 years.

To get help you had to travel a lot further for example you had to travel all the way from Tauriko to town just to get a tooth fixed. Travel was by car on rough dirt and metal roads.

Prices were a lot cheaper and medical care was a lot more painful because they did not have the right technology to stop the pain.

Getting sick was a BIG issue because of the way that the communication worked. It was hard to ring the hospital to get help; it was easier just to get the people around you to help. For example if you had a boil you had to get your family/friends to help stop the pain.

If you were really sick the doctor would come to your house or you would travel to town to get help from the hospital. My grandad remembers when his good mate was accidently shot by the grandfather while he was rabbit hunting; there were no ambulances so the community all supported each other with medical care.

Mr Melville remembers when there was a polio epidemic and he had to stay away from school for three months.

We have heaters today to prevent us from getting hypothermia but 100 years ago they used to make a big fire in the middle of the classroom to keep them warm. My grandad remembers one of the classrooms catching on fire.

I think we should be grateful for all the technology that we have today to prevent us from pain and to help us to get high quality medical care.

By Katelyn D