"Filing the gaps": Canadian voluntary nurses, the 1917 Halifax explosion, and the influenza epidemic of 1918.

During the Great War, St. John Ambulance established a reserve of approximately 2,000 casually trained nursing volunteers as Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses, or VADs, who assisted in military hospitals at home and overseas. During the 1917 Halifax explosion, and the 1918 influenza epidemic, VADs provided substantial assistance to qualified medical and nursing personnel. This paper considers their record during these specific events, arguing that despite the potential for VADs to undermine the status and job security of qualified graduate nurses, they proved instead both a valuable asset and a positive influence for the future development of Canadian nursing.