Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-07-26
BACK TO LIFE.
How the Apparently Drowned can be Resuscitated
Artificial Breathing the Modern Devce--A
Case in Point
From the New York MALL

How the apparently Drowned can De HeSuscItateo
Artificial Breathing the Modern Device---A
Case in Point.
From the New York NALL
A reporter for the Mail and Express
was walking in the vicinity of the Fulton
Ferry few days ago, in the company of
one of the officers attached to the life
saving service. There was rush of peo-
pie on the Fulton Market slip, and the
officer and the reporter joined the crowd
TO see the excitement. cit was moth
ing" one of the spectators said, turning
to go away; "only a boy drownedp
The life-saving officer, however, seemed
to take different view of the drowning
of boy, and he hurriedly elbowed his
way through the crowd til he was at the
waters edge, with the reporter at his
elbow. Three of the fishing schooners
were tied up at this part of the pier side
by side, and on the deck of the third lay
a naked boy apparently dead. Half
dozen market men and fishermen stood
by, saying that the boy was dead and
that that was all there was of it. The
Life saving officer sprang aboard the
nearest schooner. and was Immediately
stopped by a policeman who was on
guard-for the boy had been out of the
water for some time.
sSStand back, said the lfe-saver, ST
am a physician" and, followed by the
reporter, he was soon on the deck on
which the drowned boy lay.
The oficer-physician felt the boys
skin, felt his pulse, drew up one of his
eyelids and looked at the pupil, and
asked one of the bystanders how
long the boy had been out of the water.
ssYou can't get no job here unless
you're an undertaken" said one of the
men. "He was stuck In the mud most
ten minutes, and he's been layin' here
ten minutes more; so, if you fetches him
10 life, it'll be little resurrection, and
don't you forget it. "
The officer paid no attention to the
mans opinions, but devoted his whole
time to the boy in way that seemed to
indicate some hope OF saving the life
that was apparently gone. The boy
could not have been colder or more APP
parently Ifeless If he had been dead for
week.
The officer opened the boy mouth, an
operation that required some force, and
found it full of mud. Pulling the lower
Jaw down as FAR as possible, he intro
duced one of his fingers and carefully,
but quickly cleaned it out. There was
enough mud IN the mouth to choke the
boy If he had not been N the water at
all. The officer whisked off his coat.
rolled it up INTO a pillow and laid it on
the deck. With the assistance of two or
three Of the bystanders, he turned the
boy over on his face and laid him so that
the coat-pillow was directly under his
stomach. Taking the boys two ankles
IN one of his hands and giving them to
one of the men to hold up SO that the
patients feet were several feet higher
than his head, the officer pressed care
fully, but firmly IN the region of the
small of his back, and Immediately a
stream of water gushed out of the boys
mouth. 1t had been all this time in his
lungs, waiting only for proper treat
ment to help it out. The boy was then,
after a minute or two of this exercise,
turned over on his back again and the
hand on the boys right side and the
other on his left, just over what are
known as "the short ribs" the officer
gave them powerful compression, and
then suddenly let go. The instant he
took off his hands the ribs sprang back
to their natural position and draught of
air rushed into the lungs. This was re-
peated dozen times or more, bat still
the boy was to al appearances corpse.
"Oh, give Us 9 rest on that, :" said
another OF the men. "The boys dead,
and that settles it. Can't You let a
drowned boy alone?"
The assertion that the boy was dead
seemed to be only too true. He looked
like piece of marble: and the reporter
suggested that it was not worth while to
make any further efforts.
"Why," SAID the officer, /" haven't
begun yet. The boy may live and he
may not. But he's going to have fair
chance for his life, anyhow. Stand back
little all of you, and give him little
more air.
Disseminating for moment the arti-
fetal breathing process, the officer took
one of the boys hands between his own
and began to slap 1t vigorously, at the
same time setting three of the bystand-
ers at work on the other hand and two
feet. The reporter relieved the officer at
the slapplng business, and the latter re-
sumed the rib-squeezing process, COM
pressing the boys frame till he must
have cried for mercy if he had been con-
scious. With four men slapping his
hands and feet, and aD expert trying to
start his breathing, the boy must have
been unreasonable indeed had he been
dissatisfied. But he still lay as dead as
a stick, and, happily, unconscious.
After about five minutes of this treat
ment, very much to the surprise of the
market men and. the reporter, and great