The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-08-08

Min lCIIa q 3. SAVING


L.IEE SA WING
j. Haskiin &
aacRaHse1e1po1s,eo5,see,e1snara1e1ea.a1S
Iexpetts. In the first place, The ma
Ijortty of teachers aim at the goal Of
lspesd. and therefore teach the crawl
stroke which enables one to pass rap
| idly through the water. but is not
adopted to distance swimming orIcun-
ltinued exertion. The result Is that
the average swimmer: who has re-
Iceiyed his instruction from teacher
iof this kind, is unable to swim any
distance with the load OF an uncon
cause htss natural stroke precludes
swimming without the use OF his arms
and because his legs have not been
sufficiently developed to sustain him-
self and his burden by kicking alone.
The breast stroke, which includes q
powerful '.kick' with the legs. or any
of the strokes which include the
Scissors Kick are far preferable to
the crawl or other speed strokes, in
the opinion OF life saving authorities.
Again the Instruction at the major
fty of public schools Is deficient In
that 1t fails to teach the pupils how
to proceed to the work OF rescuing
those who are strug Cling In the wat
err The mastery 1ot swi INNING strokes
Is but one branch OF the art Of life
saving of the most elementary ma
ture-it is essential that the swim
mer know how to approach the drown
ing person, how to take hold of him.
how to break his grip and how to dis
pose OF his weight SO that he will not
be too much of a burden In swim, ming
toward safety. 1t is the duty OF the
city to teach all this, say the swim
ming experts. because upon the city
|devoIves the responsibiltty for the
lives cost by downing In public
swimming places.
From Behind.
"a drowning person should always
be approached from behind, say the
Red Cross life savers. because TINS en-
lables the rescuer to obtain the best
hold and also to approach unobseTveds
Therefore catching the struggling man
before he is able to offer resistance.
Violence is hardly ever necessary In
saving people from the water and the
man who strikes drowning person
In order to loosen his hold ts usually
nnversed In. the art5 OF life saving
+ a firm grip by the hair is the metn-
cd generally advocated in saving wo-
men from the water, both because 1t
allows the rescuer to have one hand
freesto swim with and because It gives
him q good Leverage upon the body of
the woman he is saving. "A mass Of
hair firmly gripped will not cause the
victim much pain and what little dis
comfort 1t locations 1t more
than Offset by the. ease with which the
rescue may be erected.
In the case OF a drowning man tits
usually best to secure hold with
both hands upon the back OF the
drowning persons head. the thumbs
above the ears and the fingers cury-
ing back Of the ears and down the
side OF the neck, care being taken not
to cut of his breathing in any way,
as this would tend to make him strug-
gle the more. In this manner, it is
comparatively easy for breast stroke
ing Inconvenience by the additional
weight of the man he is saving. A
side stroke swimmer should put his
right arm about the body of the
drowning man, and, holding him close.
swim with his left arm, keeping the
others body as much out OF water as
possible by floating on the back.
Red Cross Method.
The method of resuscitation of par.
TALLY drowned persons. as taught by
the Red Cross experts, consists Of lay
ing the victim face downward on a
floor or the sand, with his arms ex-
tended above his head. The rescuer
then kneels astride the body and al
ternately presses and re1axes upon the
region just below the ribs, thus slim
ulating breathing as far as possible.
In this method, the tongue will take
care Of itself and all the fluids in the
body will naturally work themselves
out through the throat and mouth.
This operation should be continued
for at least half or three-quarters Of
an hour, with the substitution OF
pulmotor If one is available.
In this connection 1t Is interesting
to note that the Red Cross life savers
teach an entirely different method Of
saving co1ored persons than white
due to the fact that negroes almost
always sink ike p1ummet, thelr3
bodies being usually much more solid
sons. A negro viii generally go
right to tie bottom, his hands above
his head and will struggle much less
than will a white person He is
therefore harder to reach, but much
easier to handle.
Bu0ys Advocated.
The maintenance OF life saving
buoys at convenient points along the
water front and the detail of police
menswho know how to swim and how
to save lives in the water to guard
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