The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-09-26
THE BREATHING MACHINE IN THE
 BACKWARD BURG

According to pictures of the tragic fire in
 Pittsburgh, as published in the newspaper, that
 city has not yet seen the light. In the pictures
 brave firemen were shown going through the
 motions of resuscitating victims of the fire with
 a pulmotor, lungmotor, or some such air
 pump apparatus.
 If these news pictures were actually pictures
 of occurrences at the fire and not just posed
 pictures made to gratify the vanity of the fire
 men, it would seem that the victims Of the hre
 were not given a fair chance.
 Certainly the application of such breath ing machine pump is antiquated and unJus- tifiable in this day of enlightenment. If the edu-
 cational spirit of the burg Is so anemic that the irement of the town are to be permitted to pull
 such stunts in time of real disaster, then there
 must be something radically wrong with Pitts burgh.
 to resuscitate victims of drowning asphyxa- tion with "pulmotor'-but one likes to as- part of the reporter who gets the story second- hand or by long distance communication, and that in fact no such atrocity has been perpe- trated. Whatever the pictures and the stories rc.J say about it, there be no question that prone-pressure artificial respiration, by the Schafer method, is always safer and more ef- fective than can be the use of any breathing
 machine. And in any community that is out of the dark ages there should be available for such emergencies inhalators to provide oxygen and carbon doxide mixture for the victim to inhale while the prone pressure artificial respi- ration is being applied. An inhalator Is not
 
 | even a fireman It is merely couple of tanks | or cylinders of compressed oxygen and carbon dioxide, and infatable rubber bag from which the victim may inhale the 93-7 per cent mixture of oxygen and carbonic acid gas Gear | bon doxide). It adds much to the value Of the prone-pressure manual artificial respiration or resuscitation, but 1t Is Of no use without sucn manual artificial respiration.
 Carbon dioxide, you see, is what makes us I breathe Oxygen does not make us breathe; he ceases breathing altogether for from two to | eight minutes Give him few whiffs of diluted | carbon dioxide, anything up to or per cent | in air or oxygen. and he will breathe deeply | and rapidly.
 | So for heavens sake, Pittsburgh, cut out the comical Fireman Save My Child act and give your smoke asphyxiated victims a chance. Any Boy Scout or Girl Scout can show the dumb eggs in the health department, police depart 1 ment the fire department how to resuscitate. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Superfuous Advice Have been taking 10 grains of calcium lac-
 tate three times day for periodic sick head aches. and I am glad to report that now feel | fine. have taken the tablets for three weeks. In your article you said to take them Tor at
 least 10 weeks. Kindly tell me what to do after | the tenth week. (Mrs J. o. L.) Answer-Why bother now? If your head
 aches stop that long you'll soon forget al! al!
 about the treatment anyway. If you're dead by that time you won't need my advice. Boy Big Eater But Thin am 17 years old and in perfect health, but I gain no weight. I weigh about 105 pounds. eat a great deal, and the right kind of foods, but 10 minutes after meal am ready to eat | again. am always hungry. Can this be tape | worm? co. B.)
 Answer-No, it takes very little to maintain | a tapeworm Most persons who have tapeworm are we'll nourished overnourished and have | just ordinary appetite You should have a thor | ough physical examination by your family doc | tor. and perhaps a course of insuln treatment | to help you gain weight.
 Cataract
 Would alum water be injurious to the eyes? have dissolved my tonsils by gargling with a teaspoonful of alum in quart of water. have heard that alum would take cataract on the | eyes. My mother has cataract. (Mrs B. s. S.) Answer-Cataract is not on, but in the eyes. Cataract is clouding or opacity in the crystal line lens Therefore no external remedy can remove cataract. Alum water would be ex- tremey irritating and injurious to use in the eyes, except under the care of the oculist. Cracked Ice
 Please advise me if it is harmful to eat from a pint to a quart of cracked ice daily. (Mrs J. Answer-It is harmless.
 Holding the Breath In reply to query about holding the breath you stated that the normal individual can hold his breath 40 seconds. My sister and tried out of curiosity, and neither of us can manage moro than 25 seconds. Does this mean anything in particular? (E. J)
 Answer-No. but when one cannot hold the breath 40 seconds or longer 1t suggests eofne impairment of the circulation. You should have AA f-s ns-@sA s-->,<A GsA &a aznDs