Omaha daily bee., 1910-10-21

The deliberations Of few learned bodies
bear more directly upon the welfare OF
the travelling public than those Of the
American Association of Railway Surgeons.
which IS now in annual session I'm Chi
caEo. While the great trunk lines daily
are adopting the most improved methods
for safeguarding their passengers and
crews. they are at the same time making
great advances along the line OF allevia-
ton OF suffering when. through negli
Rerce or unavoidable circumstances the
toll Of life and limb is taken. Today every
important railway system In the country
maintains surgical department. The
chief surgeon has on his staff com
petent physician in every hamlet along all
the lines OF the system, and I'm some OF
the more densely populated sections there
is a surgeon within five miles Of every
point on the road. so that the time re-
quired in sending aid to the injured has
been reduced to a minimum.
As soon as a railroad accident occurs in
which any persons are injured, a report
Is telegraphed to the chief surgeon But
before he can forward instructions, the
same message has carried the call to the
nearest physician Of the system. The
latter goes Immediately to the wreck,
armed with his emergency box. II the
number OF injured Is large, the chief
surgeon will order additional help to the
scene Of the disaster, just as general
would order up reinfOrcements in battle.
Usually the local surgeons are required
by the employing road TO keep constantly
at hand an emergency box containing
bandages and dressings for from fifW to
200 major wounds The emergency box is
supposed to be sealed and never TO be used
except in cases OF railroad accidents.
When once the seal is broken the surgeon
has instructions not only to replenish his
supply. but to sterilize afresh all of the
bsndages which remain unused.
At the last session Of congress a bill
was introduced by a member of the house
which provided that every train engaged
in interstate traffic must be equipped with
an emergency box, The bill never was
enacted into a law as the opposition was
very keen. Among the arguments adj
vanced against the measure was the state
ment that in case OF wreck the emergency
box would, in nine cases out OF ten, be In
accessible when most needed The most
potent argument against the box, how
ever, was that IL would be broken open
continuously by trRinmen to get bandages
! for minor wounds and that when a real
emergency arose It would be found that
the bandages had become infected. This
| dangerous fact would be overlooked from
| time to time by Quase- physicians, who, in
their haste to render aid would use unclean
| dressings thus producing infection in
wounds which might otherwise Yield read
lily to treatment. The opponents Of the
! emergency box urged that competent ply
sicians always reach the scene of a wreck
within q short time after the disaster and
that the only thing to be done in the mean
| time is the staunching of the flow of blood
and that dressings applied during the ex-
citement and confusion Of the accident are
seldom satisfactory.
i In the interest Of speed and efficiency
the chief surgeon OF one of the largest
railway systems in the country recently
Issued to his corps of 600 surgeons along
the line, supply of splnts which he had
| ordered made according to his own ideas.
| These splints are thirty inches long and
are composed OF three strips, each three
fOurths OF an inch wide. These strips are
glued to shellaoed muslin, so they will be
| waterproof. II the broken bone is q thigh,
the full length, three-piece splint is used
II a finger. one Of the three-fourth inch
segments is cut off to the desired length.
II the fracture is a forearm, two OF the
segments are sufficiently wide. BY having
the SpuuGS ulhoo IN blFlpa they can De
rolled together into small compass and
easily carried by straps. like headless golf
sticks When the three segments are used
they can be made to conform to the cur
Vature OF the limb as there are interstices
of an eighth Of an inch between each of
| the segments.
railroad surgeon never attempts to
carry many instruments in an emergency
box as smputstion of limbs at the scene Of
wreck is never imperative. One chief
surgeon, who has been handling wrecks
for more than thirty years, gave the follow
ing Isolated case of an amputation at the
scene of the accident. A brakeman had
fallen between two freight cars while his
train was going up mountain side The
chief surge N, who was a passenger on a
passing train, saw the fall land rushed to
the mans side. Both OF the latter's legs
had been crushed below the knees and
when he was lifted to a stretcher his two