Arizona republican., 1901-05-24
SHOCK ACCIDENTS
What Bystanders Should Do to Re
 store a Victim.

In the May issue of the Railroad Di- gest Is an article on the subject of Electric Shock Accidents" portion of which will be interesting to repro duce for the reason that in these mod one at every turn, there is no telling when a person may receive a shock, and not one bystander in a hundred would know the right thing to do while waiting for the arrival of physician.
 The article shows that in many cases a person might be resuscitated by prompt action, while if nothing were done for him till the doctor arrived it in many cases the result of the shock is merely suspended animation. that may be restored by quick and proper action The article says in part:
 The method of resusctation is, briefly. to produce artificial respiration, just as one would do with persons who had been partially drowned. and. of course, to send for medical aid with as little delay as possible. The manager speaks with confidence of the 'Laborde' system. He says that recent experience has shown that this system has been very successful. It is therefore the duty of those who are in position to render assistance to such sufferer, after get ting him free from the electric wire or cable which had caused the shock. to resolutely persevere in the work of restoration by inducing artificial ren- piration, not only up to the point where the patient exhibits signs of returning consciousness. but until he is able to breathe freely and regularly without assistance. after which rest and warmth will hasten complete recovery.
 ''Dr. Peter J. Gibbons of Syracuse, N. Y.. by reques., gave the Royal Cana dian Humane association statement struck by lightning or shocked by dy- mamie electricity, which the association published, with other matters. in pam phlet form. Dr. Gibbons has devised special apparatus. but the general direr- tions he gives are. briefly. that the res cuer should not waste precious time taking the patient to a house. unless the weather is intensely cold. He says, secure return of breathing first, pro- tectng him from severe cold by coats, blankets etc. if necessary. Keep by islanders off fifteen or twenty feet, place him on his back. loosen all tight cloth- ing. remove false teeth and foreign bodies from mouth and nose. if any are t., Sylvester's method, or 70 any of the well-known methods for resuscitating from drowning. remembering that there is. in electric shock cases, no water to be expelled.
 "In this connection it may be interest," ing to give an account of an accident which Prof. d'Arsouval reported to the French Academy of Science He says: "A sudden sparkling of one of the dyna- mos of the electrict light station at St. Denis. near Paris, indicated a short cir cult on the line. The dynamo was quickly cut out and stopped. The volt meter reading was 4,5OO volts between two wires, and the ammeter read 750 mille-amperes on the wire. The acci- dent occurred at place where three wires were supported eighteen feet above ground on a bracket fastened to a stone wall. The bracket carried sev- cral cross-piecef and on the lowest sat the laborer who had received the shock, holding the conductor with one hand. He had been sent up to fasten tee- graph wire he held. and thus short cir cuited the current through his hand back to earth. The man had therefore received a 4,500 volt current of fifty five alternations per second. perhaps for several seconds. and when found fully quarter of an hour had elapsed since he received the shock. He gave no sign of life, and it took another half hour to remove him from his perilous position and stretch him on the ground. The attempt was at once made to cause his lungs to act by moving the arms alternately up and down, but without avail. The mouth was then forcibly opened and the tongue was pulled out and allowed to recede. this being the best method of producing respiration artificially. The lungs actually began their functions almost immediately. Two hours later thu man was able to Sptdk. Ilc Hdu Oil HIS fdlt, Dut otherwise was not ir iured.
 "The Electrical Review has for some time past reiterated its belief that the electric current does not kill. The Re- view even doubts the ability us the cur rent to cause death in the case of a criminal who suffers what is called electrocutlon. If the contention of the Review Is correct. and if the use of the methods advocated by Dc. Gibbons are efficacious. then it is of the utmost inn portance for the public at large, and particularly those who have to do with electrical machinery on our railways and in shops and factories, not to be
 misled by the apparent stamp of final- ity which the practice of Infiicting cap- ital punishment by means of an electric current seems to put upon the whole question. In the light of such facts as are at present obtainable, the only ob- vious. rational and humane course to adopt Is for the onlooker, in every case
 of proeotration due to electric shock, to
 act promptly upon the belief that the | sufferer is not dead but only tenn