CONTINUING the story of Dr Ted Blomfield. Last week's story covered his life after university and with the army.
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Dr TED's last duty with the army was processing discharges at the Engineering Department at the Showground.
Demobbed himself, he then joined Dr Scrivener's practice in Gordon.
During his army service he had earned six pounds a week, but he and Flo were still broke, so they had to live with an aunt.
Catherine, their first child was born in Gordon.
Oddly enough, just diagonally cross the road was where Dr John McKee was practising.
Dr Ted found his first taste of general practice very challenging and very interesting.
One day he was talking to his cousin, Hal Blomfield, on the phone and he mentioned there was a deceased practice in Pambula, and “how about coming down to the Far South Coast?”.
Dr Leving of Pambula had died suddenly, so Dr Ted bought the practice.
He was the only doctor at the Pambula Hospital and had to supply his own instruments because the Government wouldn't.
They may still be seen down at the Bega Pioneers' Museum.
With a surgery every day in Pambula, three days a week in Eden, once a week in Merimbula and once a month in Towamba, he had little time for anything other than medicine. It also wasn't unusual to be called to Mallacoota or Genoa.
With no chemist, dentist or vet in the area at that time he found that activities such as dispensing medicine, pulling teeth and stitching dogs were all part of the service.
He had to make up all his own medicine and one time he had prescribed and made up a mixture for a rheumatic condition for a woman and when she returned he asked her how she was.
“The medicine didn't do any good, I don't feel better and the cork keeps on popping out of the bottle,” she said.
Dr Loftus would come to the hospital once a week to help with the anaesthetic, otherwise matron would give them.
Dr Ted had to tend to some terrific accidents from those working at a pine plantation near Jigamy which burnt down. Timber cutters, many unskilled, were sent in to retrieve the logs, so they often had nasty axe cuts, with two or three coming a week to be treated.