What if John Snow Had Been a Local Health Officer?

David Bishai and Jessica Bishai



Wiliam Farr -General Board of Health-                                                                                                                                Friday Sep 1, 1854 
Dear_John,                                                                                                                                                                   
I am writing to remind you of our upcoming engagement to conduct a site visit and inspect your inventory of anti-syphilitics.  I would thank you to remember that the continued funding on the syphilis grant is contingent on your regular reporting of the number of syphilis cases your program treats.  Our site inspectors will be there promptly at noon on Monday.
Yours respectfully,
William

P.S. I thank you for your correspondence about the supposed “outbreak” of cholera on Broad Street yesterday. As you report no more than  70 cases (a trivial sum in my opinion), I believe it best to focus instead on preparing for the site visit.


_
John Snow -Broad Street Surgery-                                                                                                                                     Friday Sep 1, 1854
Dear_William,                                                                                                                                                              
URGENT
I have not forgotten about the site visit.  However, I must state that my opinion regarding the matter you have deemed “trivial” differs tremendously. Sir, it is imperative that the General Board of Health delay the site visit so that we may respond to the cholera crisis.  The number of cases has doubled since our last correspondence, and there is a general air of panic and distrust among those who reside on or around Broad Street. Your familiarity with my character will surely prevent your surprise at my having taken preclusive action, but I have conducted a series of interviews that have indicated to be that those who have drunk recently from the Broad Street pump are the very same who later fell ill (a finding I have confirmed with careful records).  I must ask you to please send a team of public health nurses and registrars into that neighborhood to warn its residents that taking water from the pump may present a danger.

Your humble servant,
John



Wiliam Farr -General Board of Health-                                                                                                                                  Monday Sep 4, 1854
Dear John,                                                                                                                                                     
Indeed, my knowledge of your character has tempered my surprise at your interviews (which I have come to learn impeded your preparation for the site visit), but I must say I am disappointed that you chose to disregard my orders.  May I remind you that your staff and funding depend on the contracted deliverable of syphilis cases treated with unguent of mercury. The Broad Street Syphilis program reports are over 30 days overdue.  If you continue to insist on the postponement of the site visit, we will unfortunately have no choice but to terminate your funding and shutter the Broad Street health department.  It should not escape your notice that syphilis is a treatable disease, but cholera is not, and I ask you what use there is of making a  map of Broad Street’s ghosts.  Please desist from your efforts on cholera and get back to the important work you have been assigned.

Sincerely,
William


John Snow -Broad Street Surgery-                                                                                                                                    Monday Sep 4, 1854
Dear_William,                                                                                                                                                               
I am sorry to have caused you inconvenience in having missed the site visit, but I cannot claim to regret my actions.   I only hope your trip to Broad Street alerted you to the general chaos and mass exodus taking place in Saint James Parish. This plague is the worst I have seen in 30 years. You must understand that this abhorrent matter left me no choice but to leave the office such that I could meet with the Parish council and ask that they remove the handle from the Broad Street pump. I sincerely hope we can reschedule the site visit for a more apt time (i.e. after the dreadful disease is handled).

Your humble servant, 
John



Wiliam Farr -General Board of Health-                                                                                                                                Monday Sep 4, 1854
Dear_John                                                                                                                                                                      

It is rare to the point of absurdity that a public health officer gains two black marks against himself in one day.  The insubordination you showed in missing the site visit was overshadowed by the audacity of meeting with the St James Parish Council without consulting the General Board's office of governmental affairs. I fear I have lost your fidelity and you have lost my trust. I pray you stop all this nonsense about cholera at once and get back to the work to which you have been assigned by your superiors at headquarters.

Sincerely,
William




 
John Snow -Broad Street Surgery-                                                                                                                                       Monday Sep 11, 1854
Dear_William,                                                                                                                                                               
I am sorry to have caused you unease. You may have heard the news by now that the handle was removed from the Broad Street pump last Friday.  Presumably due to this change, there has been an observed reduction in cholera cases.  Please do not trouble yourself to reschedule the site visit.  From now on, our unit will fund the public health work we do by offering more clinical services.  In addition, the leaders of St. James Parish have promised to collect for us local funding as a sign of their gratitude etc.   I offer you more good news as it pertains to your particular interests: the chastened morals of the population after the cholera outbreak seems to have reduced the cases of syphilis. 

Respectfully, 

John 

Comments

  1. AravindaApril 5, 2021 at 7:43 AM

    Hmm now that the morals of the population have been chastened, I hope the General Board of Health reexamines its morals as well.

    ReplyDelete

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