The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1889-03-06
HINTS FOR EMERGENCIES.
WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF SUDDEN
HEMORRHAGBS.
Valuable Suggestions as to the
Treatment of Persons Bleeding
From Cuts or other Injuries.


From Cuts or other Injuries.
Mayor W. II. Gardner, port surgeon
at the Washington ID. o. barracks, re-
Gently delivered a lecture on hemor-
rhages and their treatment. 1t should be
known in the first place, he said in the
the Stars report, and always remem-
bered, that the arteries are the tubes
which carry the blood from the heart to
all parts of the body, while the veins
conduct the blood from the extremities
back to the heart. The wounding of
these blood vessels are the most common
injuries to which mankind is liable, and
when the rupture pertains to the arteries
the result is speedily fatal if not sub.
jected to immediate and proper treat
ment.
Suppose that one should be cut in the
arm, which is so often the case when, in
a difficulty, one is warding off the blow
of an assailant. If a blood vessel is
severed the victim turns pale, sickens at
the stomach, q cold, clammy sweat col
lects on the brow, and the pulse weak
ems and runs up from seventy to eighty
to 1870. What should be done. Avoid
excitement, crowding the patient or
giving a stimulant. In nine cases out of
ten mistaken kindness administers
liquor, which of all things is the worst,
as it excites the heart to vigorous action
and increases the flow of blood. Bear
this in mind always, he said. If the
blood is bright red and comes from the
wound in interrupted spurts it is from
the artery, and compress, or tourni.
quet, should be placed above or between
the wound and heart. A compress can
be easily made by twisting a handker-
chief and tying a heavy knot in the
center and then tying the handkerchief
loosely around the arm, placing the knot
first tied directly over the artery, which,
it will be found, runs down the inside of
the arm. A cane or short stick, or in
the army, bayonet, will answer, should
be run through the blight or loop on the
outer side of the arm, and the handker-
chief drawn so tightly by twisting the
stick that the pressure of the knot will
stop the flow of blood until the arrival
of a physician. Should the blood be
dark scarlet, or pour from the wound in
a steady stream, it is from a vein, and
the compress should be placed below the
wound and on the outside of the arm.
1t is often necessary to place a compress
on both the inner side and outer side of
the arm
A stab IN the back is nearly always
fatal if a blood vessel is cut, owing to
the difficulty of getting at the vessel to
stop the tow of blood. In such cases
the work of surgeon is all that can
avail anything, and too often even that
is unsuccessful.
Thigh, leg, or feet wounds, when
blood vessels are severed, are treated
much in the same way as the arm. Cuts
on the inside of the thigh or leg are most
dangerous, rs there the femoral, or main
artery, lies exposed, and unless com
pressed at once man would be dead in
ten minutes. The position of the fem
oral artery can be ascertained by feel
ing with the hand, rs its pulsations are
in unison with the throbbings of the
heart. General Packenham, who COM
manded the English forces at the battle
of New Orleans, January =, 1919, was
wounded through this artery and bled
to death before II surgeon could arrive.
The artery of the legdivides Just be-
fore the knee Joint into three smaller
vessels, and in case Of hemorrhage from
cuts or otherwise il is best, he said, to
apply the compress directly and firmly
over the wound. The same rule obtains
in wounds of the hands and feet. Hemor-
rhages of the head, chest and abdomen
are almost universally fatal, for the rea.
son that it is difficult to get at the severed
vessels to stop the now or to ligature
them, or from the laceration of some Wis.
cous whose integrity is necessary to life,
or from Inflammation from the passage
of a pre-. .ectile or weapon. At the same
time, however. minislrations to the af
flicted should not cease until the victim
is inevitably dead, for in many instances
injuries which at first sight seem to be
necessarily fatal have been recovered
from.
Dr. Gardiner cited as an example his
personal observation of the body of the
late General FaInsworth, on which he
counted thirty Two scars received in
battle from shell, shot, swords, and bay
onets, many of them seemingly fatal,
though he recovered and lived to die
quietly in his bed as a Christian. He
also personally knew General Schuyler
Hamilton, who, when aide to General
Scott during the Mexican war, was,
while carrying an order, pierced through
the body by Mexican lance, the weapon
entering the back Just below the right
kidney and emerging from the front of
the abdomen. lie recovered and served
in the late war.
Perhaps the most wonderful instance
of reco, cry was that of a man working
on "A railroad in Massachusetts,. While
ramming a blast in rock the powGer
was ignited and premature explosion
ensucd, blowing the steel rammer, about
two feet long aud one inch thick, through
his head, entering below the lett eye and
coming out at the top of his head. lie
recovered, went to California aud was in
business there many years. When he
died he willed his skull to DR.. Henry
Bigelow, theattending physician, and it is
now in the med cal museum at Harvard.
The Texas Pony.