South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-06-06

nown by his remarkable specialized
knowledge only the most desper-
ate cases, those requiring intricate
surgical knowledge, were brought 20
them. II was noted by a close OBJ
erver OF these two men, that the
subjects operated on by one OF them
almost invariably succum bed-whiIe
those operated on by the other sur
geon almost invariably survived.
The curious observer was conf
Dental friend OF the resident physi-
clan or the hospital. RE wanted 10
know
Just what" he queried. lis the
difference between these two dis
tinguished operators"
The difference" returned the
house physician. "oh. about twenty
minutes. ] should say"
There was the secret-20 minutes
difference i'm the time Of performing
an operation. one man was def,
swift sure The other was sure,
but slow. His too deliberate meth
DDS kept the nervous system Of the
patient under too long strain, and
the system frequently could not sur
yive the shock. The other man was
like fash-he cut and slashed-in
jiffy he was through. Through,
GO minutes sooner than his brother
surgeon. That % minutes meant
life on the one hand-death on the
other
II you've got friend or relative
in the trenches. there is one picture
that keeps recurring 20 your mind.
A thousand times YOU see this boy
meeting instant death. Your youns
friend hasn't one chance in 10 thou
sand Of being instantly killed. The
number of bullets that ind their
mark in the brain, or that pierce
any vital organ. is extremely limit
ed The great loss Of life upon a
battlefield does not result from
wounds Immediately fatal. The great
danger in this war Al in all wars, is
from wounds. not in themselves i'm
mediately fatal. but wounds that be
come serious only with the passage
Of time Flesh wounds may be en-
tirely superficial, and yet may be
come terribly fatal The victim
may bleed 10 death. ne may suffer
exposure. Infection, fever, pneu-
monia-from his enforced exposure
-gangrene. mortihcation--dea
In such case, why does ne live
and get well. if he lives? Why does
he die. If he dies What is the diff
ference? The answer is. time. The
answer may be. 20 hours or 20 min
utes.
Suppose it were possible 10 pick
up every wounded man the instant
that he's hit. 10 remove him swiftly
from the battlefield or the trench 10
first class hospital, 10 give him the
immediate attention Of nurses and
surgeons. II that picture were true.
the fatalities in our armies would
be almost inhnitesimal
Look on the darker picture. Your
young friend goes over the top in a
big allied drive. He is wounded in
the leg. IL is big drive-hundred
OF thousands OF men enga ged-hun-
dreds killed nstantly-thousand
upon thouSa nds suffering with
wounds. most Of them superficial
and seemingly unimportant. Your
young friend is disa bled but for the
present he feels 20 unusual. discom-
fort Shock sustains him. He feels
that very shortly ne will be picked
up and taken in 10 an emergency
hospital where his leg can be fixed
up. He is disappointed-no one
comes. Terrific pain sets in-with
the fiammation heavy fever.
Twenty-four hours go by. Finally
he is picked up. He is rushed 10 a
hospital as fast as possible. consid-
ering the number OF wounded men.
and the limited number OF ambu-
lances He reaches the hospital
The nurse looks at his leg-she calls
a doctor. They both shake their
heads-they ought 10 have had the
man hours ago. All right. he thinks
10 himself, they'll take care Of him
now. But ahead OF him is a wait
ing list Of groaning wounded men.
There's nothing for il. he's got 10
wait his turn Hours pass The
wounded come in dozens. Medical
supplies give out-medicine gives
out. Dressings give out. There are
not enough surgical instruments to
go around. Finally. with your man
at the height Of a raging fever they
get TO him and operate. Twenty
hours before an operation would
have been unnecessary. They re-
move the leg-a leg which had
suffered a superficial wound, not
dangerous in itself but which be-
came dangerous only with the pass
age of time But gangrene already
has set init is followed by morti-
fication. The boy suffers the tor
lures OF the damned He dies-is
glad 10 die.
Now, what's the answer? Would
20 minutes have saved him Pos
sibly. Would an hour ana 20 min
utes have saved him? Quite likely.
Would three hours and 20 minutes
have saved him. Almost certainly.
yes Five hours certainly would
have saved him. He died because
there was a delay Of hours or NM
utes-that's the dinerence-time.
Now. what's the trouble? Where
does the fault lje2 why didn't ,hey
get YOUR man fixed uD 50 his life and