The availability of physicians and nurses that were authorized to practice medical had remained an unresolved issue. The USPHS initially planned for one physician to be appointed to every 1,000 inmates, and one nurse for every 200. Nikkei physicians and nurses were employed to adhere to the high demand of medical attention in the camp hospitals but still were not sufficient for the camps. (Fiset, Louis) However the Japanese medical officials and Caucasian doctors were frequently uncooperative. Generally the hospital staff at Gila River, did not trust the CMO and believed that his/her racism resulted in a strained relationship with them. At Tuke Lake, the CMO named Dr. Pedicord, used to refer to the Japanese physicians and patients as “Japs”.
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The most disturbing of the harsh camp conditions was the climate and geographical location of the centers. Several camps were quickly established in hot arid deserts, some assembly centers in horse stands. One former prisoner accounted his young son’s loss of hearing in one ear from “heat-induced fever and dehydration”. (Gwenn M. Jensen) Relocation camps were located in dusty and windy locations. Tuke Lake was built on a former lake that contributed to its dusty conditions. Effects from the dust included Coccidioidomycosis or Valley Fever, which was ubiquitous in the Gila River camp of Arizona. (Gwenn M. Jensen) At Amache camp in Colorado, reoccurring dust storms were experienced about four times a month. Coccidioidomyocosis was also prevalent in Gila River and Poston. The harsh conditions also heighten asthmas rates. By August 1944, the CMO of Amache reported frequent “transfers of asthmatics” to areas with less dust. At Manzanar in California, dust storms caused Dr. Mary S. Oda, a former prisoner, to lose her older sister to asthma. Her sister entered without any health issues and died within 7 months from a fatal asthma attack. Dr. George Hashiba, a Tule Lake surgeon, saw the dust as a contaminating factor to sterile environments during hospitalizations in the operating room. (Gwenn M. Jensen) Even consumption of the food provided was
The most disturbing of the harsh camp conditions was the climate and geographical location of the centers. Several camps were quickly established in hot arid deserts, some assembly centers in horse stands. One former prisoner accounted his young son’s loss of hearing in one ear from “heat-induced fever and dehydration”. (Gwenn M. Jensen) Relocation camps were located in dusty and windy locations. Tuke Lake was built on a former lake that contributed to its dusty conditions. Effects from the dust included Coccidioidomycosis or Valley Fever, which was ubiquitous in the Gila River camp of Arizona. (Gwenn M. Jensen) At Amache camp in Colorado, reoccurring dust storms were experienced about four times a month. Coccidioidomyocosis was also prevalent in Gila River and Poston. The harsh conditions also heighten asthmas rates. By August 1944, the CMO of Amache reported frequent “transfers of asthmatics” to areas with less dust. At Manzanar in California, dust storms caused Dr. Mary S. Oda, a former prisoner, to lose her older sister to asthma. Her sister entered without any health issues and died within 7 months from a fatal asthma attack. Dr. George Hashiba, a Tule Lake surgeon, saw the dust as a contaminating factor to sterile environments during hospitalizations in the operating room. (Gwenn M. Jensen) Even consumption of the food provided was