Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-26
TO RELIEVE COMA.
A Hospital Stewards Explanation Of
Treatment

Il entered a cafe the other evening and
was treated to surprise. as well as gain
ing a piece Of Information which is valua-
BILE for everybody to know, but which
everybody does not know remarked a
well-knoWn correspondent this morning.
'At the end Of the bar sticking out in
front were the four legs of a chair turned
down back to the floor. and over the eleva-
ton of the chair thus formed were the feet
and legs of a man.
Around the four legs of the chair and
the two legs of the man were grouped sew
eral men, including one two members of
the United States Hospital Corps. thought
they were trying to suffocate the recumbent
man, and was about to expostulate when
one Of the hospital corps explained:
1T looks as If we were trying to kill him
by causing rush Of blood to head, doesn't
it?' he inquired of me, well, we-are not try
ing to kill him. but We are endeayoring to
cause the blood to rush to his head, and
that win bring him out of the coma, or
faint, which he Is in and save him.
Men and women fall In faints in the
public places of all cities every day, and
until the ambulance or a physician comes
not one person in a hundred In a crowd
knows what to do, and. In fact, ninety nine
out of a hundred Will do the wrong thing.
This man, a big, powerful fellow. a
stranger. dropped like a shot to the floor
as he was about to pay his check. Most
people would have elevated his head. and
poured brandy down his throat. But We
elevated his feet over the upturned chair so
as to cause the blood to return to the brain
Why? Because his face was white We
just unloosened his collar band, lacked his
feet up. and continued the hospital stew
ard, you see his white features are gradual
ly becoming normal his eyes are opening.
his natural color is coming back, and we
now lift him to his feet, so.'
"And they pulled the big fellow up. blink
ing and staring, but very grateful to the
stewards. who had perhaps saved his life
"'You see,' resumed the hospital steward
there are several kinds Of coma, but there
are two great fundamental causes to be
borne In mind in these emergency cases:
=" First, as in this case, where the pa
tents features are white, 1t means that you
must elevate the feet to cause the blood to
return to the brain, and under no circum-
stances elevate the head; don't forget this
and.
or red, indicating a rush OF blood to the
head. or a semf-apoplectic condition then
elevate the head and depress the feet and
in each instance unloosen a mans collar
band, and in the case of a woman her
dress. Many are the persons whose lives
have been sacrificed just because those who
attended them elevated the head in all
cases.
The heart has a hard time of 1t in all
cases of coma, and where the valves are
weak they sometimes are too enfeebled to
sustain the pressure Of a contested circula-
ton, and they just quit working overtime
the patient passes out, as the press reports
put IT, not having recovered conscious
ness" when he or she might have been
saved had either Of these two simple sug-
gestions here given been put Immediately
into effect by those on the ground"