Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-06-02
CASES SHOW
GREAT SUCCESS
LOCAL INSURANCE FIRM
CARES FOR THOUSANDS
OF CLAIMS

kDublic has become familiar with
through the publicity given to the eff
| forts of the government in restoring
wounded soldiers to full efficiency, yet
| is not by any means new work. The
Employers Mutual Liability Insurance
company of this city has been carrying
on program of rehabilitation of in
| jured workmen since it's organization
in 1911, and has achieved some re-
markable results with the aid of mo-
| dern surgery
| The work is done under the direc-
ton of the claim department of which
B. E. Kuechle is the head, and is car
ried out along the same lines used by
the government, which gathered the
wounded suffering from the same type
of injury to some central hospital
point where specialists in that form of
| injury could give the best treatment.
Wausau and Milwaukee has been made
the hospital centers for the serious
cases under the company's care and OF
these two Wausau handles the larger
number of cases.
Handles Many Claims
| The Employers Mutual covers four
states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan
and Minnesota, and the number of in
iuries reported for claims reaches
quite a considerable figure, the maxi
mum for month being 2585 for July,
| 1920. During the past months, due
to prevailing unemployment, these fl
CURES have been cut down to some
extent, but there is still continual
average of about twenty cases receiy-
| ing treatment at the hospitals in this
city. All these $500 cases reported
monthly do not require special treat
ment, the most of them, in fact, being
only minor injuries, but there are a
large number of serious accidents and
an average of about five accidental
deaths month.
The Wausau hospitals handle cases
from the territory of northern Michi-
gan and Minnesota, and northern and
central Wisconsin, and most of the
work consists of bone surgary. F'rac-
lures and broken bones that would re-
/ suit in crippled limbs and greatly re-
/ duced, possibly total loss of efficiency
on the part of the injured workman
are taken care of, and the patient re-
turned to work with 100 per cent. re-
covery in nearly all cases
One of the early cases was taken
care of in 1914 A man had one leg
broken in several places, and when
the fracture knit again the leg was
! left badly twisted, and the patient was
hardly able to walk, even with crutch-
es. 1t was about a year and half
after the accident that the man was
| finally persuaded to submit to an OPP
GRAFTON. The injured bones were
| broken a second time and correctly
placed together After the leg was
healed up again there was no sign Of
deformity and the man was able to re-
sumo his work. @3
Six Months to Heal
Last year young man was brought
here from Portage A fragment or
broken emery wheel had struck. his
arm and inflicted a compound fracture,
the two bones of the forearm being
broken and the flesh badly lacerated.
1t took six months to heal, and then
it was found that piece of bone, four
inches in length, had slipped out of
alignment and grown into place so as
to leave a separation of an inch and
a half. He was taken to local hos
pital and a piece of bone from his shin
was placed In groovts cut in the ends
of the broken bone of the arm. The
| PhS&N
and the other was perfect, and the
patient made a full recovery.
Another unusual surgical operation
was performed in Milwaukee in 1919,
A workman had his leg crushed
severely between a belt and pulley,
and the large bone in the leg was
fractured. A triangular shaped frag-
ment was detached, the piece at its
largest point taking in three-fourths
of the substance of the bone, The pro-
blem was to get this piece back and
cause it to grow again. Failure to dc
this would necessitate amputation OF
the leg.
The fragment was removed and tenn
porarily placed in salt solution while
silver plate was applied and the
piece of bone fitted back into place
and fastened with a screw. While this
method smacks somewhat of carpen-
try, the fact remains that the opera
ton was entirely successful. The de
tached bone grew back into place an6
there was no shortening in the les
and absolutely no deformity
Greater Skill
An operation of a different sort, bu
calling for equal, if not greater skill