The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-02-24

Every person should have some notion of
what ought the be done when certain acct
dents occur, particularly those that require
pended respiration from any cause, includes
all cases OF this kind. Usually accidents of
this sort happen when no physician can be
obtained early enough to save the sufferers
life. Suspended respiration from drowning
Is not induced by water entering the lungs
or stomach, but by excluding aic from enter
ing the respiratory organs, checking res
piration, as ia drowning, or by a cord clos
ing the windpipe, as in hanging; or by dense
and irritatating smoke in burning building;
or by carbon gases, as in an unused we'll; or
by the escaping of burning gas in an I'M
ventilated room, all induce the same result in
the same way. They are all cases of suffo-
cation that shortly emo In death. Evidently
the first thing to be done is TO restore res
piration. How can this be done?
Drowning is not common emergency,
but 1t is real one. Remedies must be APP
piled at once, or death is certain. If this
emergency does occur, seize the sufferer at
the earliest moment. Unless the tempera-
ture is at freezing point, treat him at once
and on the spot. Moving him to house,
unless very near, will involve loss of time
and render death an inevitable result, The
treatment should be as follows:
l. Remove all clothes from his neck and
chest.
2. Turn him on his face and place one
arm under his forehead and well-rolled
bundle of clothing under his short ribs, so
that bis stomach may be higher than his
mouth.
8. With dry cotton rag draw gently for
ward the tongue and hold it at the corner
of the mouth, SO that IL may not sink back
and obstruct the wIndpipe.
4. Clean the mouth and throat so that
the outer air may freely pass into the lungs.
3. Rub bis rear chest dry and turn him
upon his back.
6. Rub bis front chest briskly. compress
bis chest, especially his ribs, and then let
them suddenly rise while a second person
closes his nostrils and blows strongly into his
mouth, and now and then apnlies ammonia
water, or spirits of hartshorn to his nostrs.
z. Turn him gently, but completely from
side to side.
8. Let third person rub his limbs ener-
geticay and upwards, so as to aid the flow
ing OF the venous blood towards the heart.
y. In all these processes keep his head
lower than his feet and body. IT he is on his
face, place the roll of clothing under his
short ribs. If he is on his back, place the
same roll under the small ribs of his back.
III. In COMPRISING the chest, one man
should straddle the patient, stoop down and
place one knee upon each side of his lower
chest aud one hand on each side of the chest
directly above the knees.
IL. The pressure should be quickly and
then suddenly relaxed. The man who ofici-
ates at the mouth should blow strongly into
the lungs at the moment that the relaxation
OF the ribs occurs.
IL. As soon as possible cover the chest
with hot fannels and rub the limbs with hot
mustard water.
ID. Turn him alternately upon his face
and back. Press the short ribs downward
and towards each other.
IA. Place him in warm bed as soon as
he can breathe and endure removal, but con-
tinue the several processes until he can freely
and fully fill his lungs.
10. The important means of resuscitating
drowned man are: Cleanse the mouth.
Remove all food and foreign substances,
Nearly all the persons whom we have seen at
the time they were taken from the water in
an insenslble condition, in state of suffoca-
lion, had their mouths full OF food. The
next important point is to turn him on front
and back alternately, and in each position
compress his ribbs and allow them to relax,
ana lessen and enlarge his chest. Blowing
strongly at the moment of relaxation NAV ex-
pand the lungs and ultimately enable them
TO contract and expand spontaneously. Ap-
plying hartshorn to the nostrils is important.
The pressing OF the two sides of the lower
chest and suddenly expanding them does
much towards Inducing respiration. It ex-
pels what little air may be in the lungs and
makes room for fresher and more vitalizing
air to reach the air cells. The compression
should be repeated five times minute at the
outset and be gradually increased to fifteen,
rms course OF treatment should be contin-
ued for three hours at shortest, or until the
patent begins to breathe in a natural Way.
ana tnen IN more gentle way until he can
take full and deep inspiration. Keep him
IN warm bed, give him warm drinks, supply
MIN with an abundance of fresh air. ANY
position In the process of resuscitation that
may increase the volume of the chest should
be adopted. We ought to say that the hu-
man chest is an elastic box. The upper ribs
are fastened to the breast-bone and the SHINE.
The lower ones or floating ribs are fastened
to the spine, SO they are elastic and easily
compressed and readily return to their natu-
raj forms and position. All the measures to
which we have referred are useful in Undue.
ing the great result, natural respiration.
lnhaliDg carbon or any compound of coal
gases produces suffocation from which per.
sons may be recovered, If seen in due season.
Inc proper treatment is as follows: Give
me sunerer an abundance of fresh air, soak
nis ,eet, and rub his limbs and body in mus
"a. .o ,, waLef, apply rough friction briskly. Rub
Inc iimos upwards, and, as soon as able, give
MN gentle walk in the open air, and, in
geEerai, Mest MN as If he had been drowned.
Dome years ago we were called tn visit
family of ten. They had slept 20 hours.
They went to bed at 10 or earlier on Saturdav
evening, and did not awake until Z p. NJ. on
Sunday. On investigation we found tina: the
father was in the way of covering his furnace
ire at bedtime with wet ashes and then leav-
ing the funnel free to carry away the carbon
gases created by lessenipg the burning of the
coal. But on this nearly fatal night he for
got to open the valve in the funnel, that the
gases generated might pass into the open air.
Inc only thing that saved the family from