Remarkable organization
In 1915, the Hospital of the Ocean had over 1,000 hospital beds. Its organization was very much up to date and supported by remarkable logistics.
The hotel was the central building. Its 150 beds received those with wounds to the cranium, face, chest and abdomen. Each floor included a doctors' office, a pantry-kitchen, a bathroom and lavatory. The ground floor housed the management, a secretariat, two operating rooms and the sterilization facilities.
From 1915 on, the surrounding villas and prefabricated buildings multiplied their capacities for accommodation tenfold. They contained hundreds of beds, a pharmacy, a radiological service, a dentistry, a bacteriological analysis laboratory, and a unit for producing and repairing surgical instruments, as well as workshops for the fabrication of orthopaedic and dental prostheses.
This included dining rooms for the wounded, a refectory for doctors and nurses and a mess for military personnel; stores of provisions, a butchery, a bakery; kitchens and storage for the extensive dishware. A disinfection service, laundry, linen storage and ironing rooms - all operating at full capacity. A water tower supplied the site. Two Red Cross farmssupplied much of the food.Other foodstuffs were brought daily from the Markets of Paris.
65 vehicles served to transport the wounded and trucks were used for provisioning all the services.