Armstrong – Table of Contents

including Charles Armstrong, moved from state to state serving in as many as three
areas”.
By December 1, 1918 the epidemic had reached the peak and had begun to
subside. A second wave in the spring of 1919 did not reach the same degree of
prevalence of the 1918 outbreak, but requests for help still came to the Service, and,
unfortunately, many of the requests could not be honored. Also by February 15, 1919 the
$ 1 million dollars appropriated by Congress was exhausted, and little or no aid was
available during the second wave of the epidemic.
The paper work associated with the epidemic was a problem because many of the
recruited clerical help were unfamiliar with the arcane regulations for registering
information and the forms for disbursing compensation to the newly hired medical and
nursing personnel. Also, many of the regular clerical workers were stricken with
influenza and unable to give assistance for long periods. Eventually all the pay vouchers
were processed, and the funds were distributed in the proper amounts.
The suddenness and intensity of the epidemic and the thin availability of the
Regular Corps of Commissioned Officers of the PHS prompted the establishment of the
Reserve Corps of the PHS. After influenza became epidemic, the Congress passed the
legislation establishing the Reserve Corps, but the authorization came too late to be of
any value during the outbreak of 1918 (1). The Public Health Service, in cooperation and
aid to the states, was able to accomplish much good in helping to alleviate some of the
suffering of the affected communities despite limited resources, personnel and effective
therapeutic or preventive measures.