, 1886-04-27
ealeE CHAPTER ON AccIpgNrs.
ne Very Careful When Handling an In
tnred Perron-CHses of Fracture


ne Very Careful w'hsn Handbag an In
tnred Per-on-CHses of Fracture
Ae Inverness last summcr, l saw from
a distance a little boy fall from the high
wall near the bridget being at the other
side of the rivera height OF probably
fifty feet. A sturdy Highlander marched
round and shouldered him. From the
shrieks of the lad thus roughly mounted,
/ felt sure a bone was broken, and found
out afterwards l was right.
The accident puts me in mind to say
here that we cannot be too careful in the
manner we lift or carry a person who
has received an injury of this kind. OH
fancy, il you can. the agony produced
from, say. a fractured thigh rudely
handled, the jagged end Of khe zone per
haps thrust through the quiyering flesh.
Keep a wounded or injured person on
the level if possible; be very, very gentle.
The handiest Of all stretchers is 4 large
shutter or door, with a mattress or pill
lows on it. Or a plaid or blanket used
as a hammock will do, or a net-ham-
mock itself II one be handy.
While n party is carrying home, or
to a chemists shop, the injured person,
some n must be sent to procure surgical
assistance. The sooner surgical aid is
got, the more chance OF a speedy re-
covery will the patient have.
Be careful not to give brandy in in
juries to the head. You might commit
a fatal error
Just a word about street accidents.
Somehow or other, in such cases, one of the
crowd usually turns out to be a surgeon;
but il not, let one be speedily fetched.
Meanwhile, ask the crowd, with all the
respect due to crowds in the latter end
Of the nineteenth century, TO stand back
and give the patient air. On a summers
day he may do better, for a time, out Of
doors than in a shop. l got a man on to
a hand-cart oncc. and there he remained
till the first shock OF the accident was
dispelled. But l kept the crowd at bay,
and as quiet as possible. Nothing is
more likely to make bad worse han a
yelling crowd, crying, DO this OF do
that, round and injured man.
Il can carry him to the orspital easily"
said a burly shore-porter in Aberdare
n day, "or any two on EN-"
But" l answered, lit isn't a case Of
carrying simply, but conveying gently.
Go and get a stretcher and another man
to help you"
There are three kinds of fractures: The
simple fracture, where there is simply
a swapping Of the bone in two without
any w%ounding OF the flesh or tissues that
ture, where there is a wound of the flesh
caused by a broken end of the bone be-
ing thrust out through flesh and skin;
the comminuted or shattered fracture,
where the zone or bones have been
broken into several pieces.
In all cases of fracture, surgical aid
must be resorted to; the only thing justi-
fable by a layman, is to give the patient
as much ease as possible before or after he
has been placed on the stretcher. II a
simple fracture, the limb may be gently
extended. II a compound, the clothing
over it should be ripped up the seam,
and some attempt made to staunch the
flow Of blood by cold and pressure. II
the fracture be not an open one, but
seems comminuted, here again gentle ex-
tension may be had recourse to, and the
clothing over it removed or ripped up,
especially if at all tight.
When an injury to the chest occurs,
with a suspicion OF fracture Of the ribs
or even collar-bone- you car not be too
careful how you lift and bear the sufferer
away. Rough handling in such cases
may result in the w~ounding OF the lungs
by the broken end of a rib, and this will
lead ON to Inflammation, ending mayhap
in death even.
Well. about the bed. Common sense
should tell any one that a feather bed,
for instance, would be out OF place.
Yes, because it soon sends the fractured
limb out Of place again, however well
set. A horse-hair mattress over an ordi-
nary one-providing the one beneath be
levels the best, though the manufact-
IRE Of mattresses has Of recent years
made great strides for the better, and
there may be others that will do as well
As horse-hair.
What you ave to bear in mind, how
ever, is that the mattress must be tolera-
bly, hard inc firm, and level above all
things. Probably a cradle will be neces-
sary to support the recumbent weight OF
the bed-clothes. Bed-clothes should be
warm and light, even in winter, but in
summer never SO warm as to cause per-
spiration.-Family Physician in Cassell's
Magazine.