Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-08

- acciuent likely 10 nappen on NUM-
ing trip. may oftentlmes prove Of ines
Unable value. The hunting season Is
now at hand and the following advice
to fishermen and hunters by Horace
Kephart is, therefore. particularly timely.
Mr. Kephart fs the author OF Camping
ana woodcraft," ISSUED by the Outing
Publishing company, and the Information
here given is taken from that volume.
The present article ie boiled down for
the use OF men OF no surgical experience,
who may suddenly ind themselves
wounded, or with an injured companion
on their hands, when far from any ply
eician, and with no special surgical ap-
pliances.
In operating upon eomrade, the main
thines are to keep cool, act promptly and
make him feel that you have no DOUBT
that YOU can pull him through all right.
Place him in a comfortable position ana
expose the wound. If you cannot other
wise remove the clothing quickly ana
without hurting him, rip 1t up the seam.
First stop the bleeding, If there IS any,
then clease the wound; then close it. IL a
cut or torn wound; then apply steril-
tied dressing; then bandage it IN place.
OF course, IL The injury is serious, You
will Immediately send messenger not
footed for a surgeon, provided there is
any chance Of getting one.
AS for the patient himself, let nm
never say die. Pluck has carried many
a man trimamphantly through what
seemed the forlornest home. Let me take
space for an example or two.
Kit Carson once helped to annpotate a
comrades limb when the only instru-
ments available were a razor, a handsaw
ard the kinRbolt Of a wagon. No-a man
In the party knew how to take up an
artery. Fine teeth were filed in the BACK
OF the saw. the iron was made white hot.
the arm was removed, the stump scared
40 as to close the blood bessels, and
the patient recovered.
Charles f. Lumuis, having fractured
his right arm SO badly that the bone
protrasied. and being alone in the desert, !
gave his canteen strap two fiat turns
about the wrist, bucl<led IL around cedar
tree, mounted a nearby rock. set his
heels upon the edge and threw himself /
backward. He tainted: but the bone was
set Then, having rugged splints TO the
injured member with his left hand ard i
teeth. he walked fiftv-two miles without
resting before he could get food. and
finished the T00-mfle tramp to Los An
Feles with the broken arm slung in
bandana
Richardson tells of a Montana trapper
who. having his leg shattered in an In
dian fight. and finding that gangrene was
setting in. whetted one edge of his big
hunting knife, fled the other into a saw,
and with HIS own hands cut the flesh and
sawed the bone, and scared the arteries
with hot iron. He survived.
To Check Bleeding
A. 49,, ~ orfl lv 6xy
raising the injured part as high as you
can above the heart, and pressing very
firmly with thumb or finger either on or
into the wound The patient can do this
for himself. and can control the bleeding
until his hand gives out, There is record
Of an Austrian soldier who stopped bleed
ing from the great artery of the thigh
for four hours by plugging the wound
with has thumb; If he had let go for a |
nii ute he would have bled to death
Observe whether the bleeding is Rrterial
or venous. If ii comes from vein the
blood will be dark red or purpIish and
will flow in q steady stream. Press upon
the vein below the wound; then prepare a
clean pad (compress) and bind it upon the
wound firmly enough to stop the bleeding
permanently.
If an artery is cut the blood will be
bright red. and it will probably squirt
in Jets. Try to locate the artery above
the wound between it and the heart byl
pressing very hard where you think the I
artery may pass close to a bone and
watch if this checks the flow. When you
find the artery, then, if the wound be in
leg arm. head or any other place where
a tourniquet can be applied, proceed as
follows:
Tie strong bandage handkerchief,
belt, suspender, rope, strip of cloth
ing) around the wounded member, and
between the wound and the heart.
Under it, and directly over the artery,
place a smooth pebble, q cartridge, |
piece of stick, or other hard lump.
Then thrust q stout stick under the
bandage. and twist until the wound
stops bleeding. The lump serves two
purposes. ii brings the most pressure
where it will do the most good and 1t
allows passage of enough blood on
either side to keep the limb from being
strangiled to death.
il the position of the artery above |
the wound cannot be determined then,
in case of q gaping wound that woudl
be hard to plug, apply the torniquet |
without any lump, and twist it very
tight indeed. This can only be done
for a short time, while you are prepar- |
ing to ligate the artery; if prolonged |
1t will kin the limb and gangrene will !
ensue. In case of punctured wound |
such as q DulleI mole, II Is DeIIer TO 4
push a plug hard down in the wound |
itself leaving the outer end projecting
so that a ban6age will hold the plug
firmly on the artery. This must be
done. anyway, wherever a tourniquet
cannot be used.
The above expedients are only temper
airy. for cut artery. If of any conside-
rable size. must be ligated-that is to
say permanently closed by tying one or
both Of the severed ends. To do this you
must have at least pair of sharp-pointed |
forceps or strong tweezers. Perhaps you
may have to extemporize them-if you
have no iron, make little pair Of to4gs
by heating the middle of a green hard
wood stick, bending over, and then shap-
ing and fredericksburg the ends. Get /
hold Of the end of the artery with this. /
draw 1t out and have some one hold it.
Then take a piece of strong thread that /
has been sterilized in boiling salt water.
make a loop in it as for q common knot,
but pass the right hand end of the thread
twice around the other, instead of once
lsurgeon's knot-it will never slip). Slip
this loop down over the forceps and |
around the end OF the artery, and draw
tight. II the vessel bleeds from both /
ends. ligate both. When an artery Is
merely ruptured. not severed. cut it clean