What to Do Before the Doctor Comes
By Mary W. Paulson, M.D.
ANY lives are saved by knowing what to do in case of emergency. One must have cool head and quick action to make use of this knowledge. Many persons know what to do, but at the necessary moment they "lose their heads," and hence their knowledge is absolutely useless. There are many emergencies continually arising in every-day life the results of which are serious. We may first consider that of hemorrhage. Some one has cut his finger or toe or some portion of the arm or leg, and the result is a severe hemorrhage. Often a physician could not reach the place in time to save the life. What are you going to do? If the hemorrhage is coming from some portion of the hand or arm, a handkerchief, or any piece of cloth that can be got hold of, or possibly a piece of rope, can be tied around the upper arm, and a pencil or stick placed in the double knot that is used in tying, and the knot twisted by this pencil. In this manner the blood supply will be shut off in the arteries going down the arm, and thus the hemorrhage will be stopped. If the hemorrhage is from the foot or the lower limb, the same should be done as on the upper arm, excepting that the handkerchief should be tied around the upper thigh. If the thigh is very fleshy, place in the handkerchief a small stone or piece of wood on the upper inner surface of the thigh. This will make greater pressure upon the blood-vessel. The lives of children oftentimes can be saved in this way, as they frequently so injure themselves as to cause severe hemorrhage. Any mother can save the life of her child by these simple means. A hemorrhage from the lungs is very alarming when it comes suddenly. The patient coughs up bright red, frothy blood. Immediately his strength seems to go. Have the patient lie down, with the head and shoulders up. Get your patient quiet as soon as possible. Keep your own nerve steady. If there are any uncontrollable nervous persons in the room, put them out. Have the patient take small lumps of ice. Put cold cloths on the chest. Ice is better if you can get it, otherwise the coldest water you can get should be used. Keep changing these cloths, keeping the chest cool. Also put a cold compress or an ice-bag on the back, between the shoulders. Notify a physician at once, but above all things keep the patient quiet, and do not alarm him in any way. While a hemorrhage from the lungs alarms us, a hemorrhage from the nose is not usually so alarming. This is because we do not realize the seriousness of nosebleed. It can become very serious, and needs attention. Loosen the clothing about the neck of the patient. Place him on his back, with the head elevated, and apply cold cloths over the bridge of the nose and also to the back of the neck. Firm pressure may be made on the nose by the thumb and finger. If this does not stop the hemorrhage, pieces of gauze may be pushed up and back in the nose, so as to stop up the nasal passage. If clots form in the nose, leave them alone; they of themselves will stop the hemorrhage. Another common accident is that of burns. One of the first principles in the treatment of a burn is to protect the tissues from the air, and this should be done by some material that is non-irritating to the tissue. In the first place, if the burned portion is covered with clothing, this should be removed. But the clothing should not be rapidly torn off. It should be cut open and taken off very cautiously, care being exercised not to pull off any of the tissue. Better soak off the clothing that is on the burn, with oil, such as sweet-oil. Then place over the burn a piece of soft cloth that is thoroly saturated with an oil—olive-oil, or sweet-oil, or equal parts of linseed-oil and lime-water or picric acid. If you can not get hold of any of these quickly, then use wet starch, or the white of an egg, or wet flour, or cloths soaked in soda-water. Do not use vinegar, or acids of any kind, and do not cover the burn with absorbent cotton, as the cotton will stick to the flesh. It is important that all of these articles used should be clean, in order that the burn may not become infected with germs. When burns are very severe, covering a large part of the body, the patient has to be put in a bath the temperature of the body, about ninety-eight degrees. This relieves greatly the shock of the burn to the nervous system. In case the clothing gets on fire, an effort should not be made to run away from the fire, but rather to lie down at once and roll the fire out, or to lay the body down and throw onto it a coat, or a blanket, or something of that kind, which can be quickly got hold of, to put out the fire. Do not try to find water, but instead use a rug, a table cover, or anything else of that nature which can be found. Care should be taken to place the rug or blanket over the chest first, to protect the face from fire. Something in the Windpipe
Another accident that frequently happens to children, and sometimes to adults, is that of swallowing into the air-passages some foreign body, thus producing choking. Immediately the head should be lowered—in fact the victim should be stood on his head, with sharp slapping or percussion upon the back. Oftentimes the foreign body can be dislodged by running the finger down the throat and pulling it out. If a foreign body gets into the ear, do not try to poke it out with something handy. You are apt to push it further into the ear and make a great deal of trouble. A drop of oil put in the ear and afterward syringed out with a little warm water, provided the pressure of the water is very light, will sometimes help in removing this particle. What shall we do in case of a faint or unconsciousness? In a real case of fainting the face is pale. There is not enough blood in the head. The patient must be laid out flat, the windows opened, and everything arranged for plenty of fresh air. Loosen the clothing about the neck and about the waist. Then stimulate inspiration by percussion on the chest, or by slapping the chest with cold water, or by simply bathing the face with cold water. How frequently we see just the opposite done—people crowding around a person who has fainted—sometimes simply out of curiosity! Such people should be driven back, and opportunity given for the patient to be straightened out on his back. If, after gaining consciousness, the patient is very weak, a little aromatic spirits of ammonia will stimulate him. Give fifteen drops in a little water. During the warm months of the summer, many persons lose their life because of sunstroke. Others are disabled for life, seeming never to regain their nerve force. In case of such sunstroke, pour cold water over the back of the head, thoroly cooling the head. The patient should be put in as cool a place as possible, and cold should be applied on the chest. If practicable, the patient should be immersed in a cool bath. Do not give any stimulants. What shall we do in case of suffocation either by gas or by smoke? Oftentimes persons in a lifeless condition are found in a room in which gas is escaping. Immediately remove the victim to the fresh air, and perform at once artificial respiration. This is done by loosening the clothing, first placing the patient in an absolutely horizontal position, with the head low, and a pillow rolled up tightly placed under the shoulders. Open the mouth, and force the jaw forward. Grasp the patient's forearms firmly as close to the elbows as possible. Press the elbows to the sides of the body, driving the air out of the lungs. Then slowly bring the arms in a circle outward and upward until they are stretched back and above the head, pushing them well back, thus expanding the chest, and raising the chest as high as possible by a strong pull on the arms. This should be repeated no faster than about fifteen to twenty times a minute. This movement has to be kept up sometimes an hour or more. At the same time it is important to know that nothing is in the13throat. If the tongue drops back in the throat, it should be pulled forward. The rest of the body should be kept warm, or the limbs should be thoroly rubbed to promote circulation therein. This same movement is necessary in cases of drowning. It becomes necessary first to turn the drowning patient over on his face, thoroly shaking the body in order to get all the water possible out of the lungs. Then the patient should be turned upon his back and artificial respiration used, as described in the foregoing. It is also necessary in cases of morphin poisoning or other cases of poisoning where the respiration has stopped. Many lives are saved by this simple yet important procedure. Bites from Poisonous Animals, etc.
It sometimes becomes necessary to know what to do in case of bites from dogs or other animals, or when a rusty nail is run into the foot. If the flesh has been perforated, the blood should be pressed out of the wound at once, making firm pressure above the bite, thus preventing the poison from being carried into the system. Then the wound should be thoroly washed with warm water, and the raw surface in the wound touched with carbolic acid; and immediately following this, wash it with alcohol. Great care should be taken in the use of carbolic acid, as it is very easy to burn the surrounding tissues. Touch only a drop to the exposed tissues, and immediately follow with alcohol. Some antiseptic ointment may then be used, such as carbolized vaseline, and the wound bandaged. In case of bee stings, apply lime-water or plenty of baking-soda. Poison-Ivy and Poison-Oak
Poisoning of the tissues with poison-ivy or poison-oak is a common accident in some parts of the country. If the correct application is made at once, much trouble and serious complications may be avoided. The best treatment is the use of the fluid extract of Grindelia. One part of the extract should be combined with nine parts of water and applied to the skin as a lotion.