medical

"Station Hospitals rendered general medical and surgical treatment for those areas where there were sufficient military populations to justify their maintenance, but not sufficient to justify General Hospitals. They were usually located at most Posts, Camps, and Stations for hospitalization of local personnel. In the Zone of Interior, such Hospitals were housed in buildings and received names, while in the Communications Zone, they were set up in tentage or improvised housing, and here they were numbered. Bed capacities varied from 25 to 900." Source: www.med-dept.com/articles/ww2-military-hospitals-general-...

This would have been around the time of the Battle of The Coral Sea when American Defence personnel were based in Brisbane and Townsville to help defend the Pacific Region.

A rail ambulance is a vehicle used for medical transportation services on railway lines. The first rail ambulance in Queensland, Australia, was introduced in 1918, with the last withdrawn from service around 1990. The rail ambulance was usually a specially equipped petrol-engined rail inspection trolley, funded by a local community, with a railway employee volunteering to drive it when necessary. The initials QATB stand for Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade. Queensland is a vast, relatively unpopulated area, where providing services to remote communities in a cost-effective way has been a continual challenge. Railways were built from 1865, and in many areas provided the major form of transport until a significant road improvement program was commenced by the Queensland government from the 1960s. It was in this context that the mining community of Blair Athol introduced the first rail ambulance in 1918, in order to enable injured people to be transported to the nearest hospital at Clermont.[1] The idea rapidly spread, with rail ambulances being introduced at Dalby (1919), Mount Mulligan (1920), Roma and Charleville (1922), Goondiwindi and Baralaba (1923), Cloncurry (1925) and Blackall (1941). Other towns known to have had a rail ambulance at some stage include Charters Towers, Pentland, Atherton, Ravenshoe and Millaa Millaa. The last rail ambulances were withdrawn in 1990 from Mareeba and Blackall, as by that stage road ambulance services were available through the State. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_ambulance

The primary role of a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) member was that of nursing orderly in hospitals, carrying out menial but essential tasks - scrubbing floors, sweeping, dusting and cleaning bathrooms and other areas, dealing with bedpans, and washing patients. They were not employed in military hospitals, except as ward and pantry maids; rather, they worked in Red Cross convalescent and rest homes, canteens, and on troop trains. The role of VADs did not significantly evolve between the wars. VADs in the Second World War were given more medical training, but they were not fully qualified nurses. They worked in convalescent hospitals, on hospital ships and the blood bank as well as on the home front. In 1943, the government created the Australian Women's Auxiliary Service (AWAS) to control the large numbers of VADs employed by the military. In 1967, the VAD movement became known as the Voluntary Aid Service Corps (VASC). Source: www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/vad