The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-08-08
FIREMAN SPARE THAT CHILD

In spite of the efforts of recognized author-
 ties on physiology and resuscitation to protect
 the public from the menace of breathing ma chimes, there seems to be a determination on
 the part of certain fire department officials, whose political appointment scarcely qualities them to have an opinion on such a subject. to help the manufacturers of these dangerous
 lung pumps to dispose of their stock to unwary | municipalities
 A correspondent sent a circular describing the kind of machine he says his town employs | in cases of drowning, electric shock, carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke asphyMation. The machine appears to be an inhalator-that is an inflatable bag and cylinder of oxygen and another cylinder of carbon dioxide, with a gauge to mix these in the proportions of 93 or | 95 per cent oxygen with or per cent car- bon dioxide. That part is fine. The carbon di! oxide oxygen mixture administered in con- Junction with prone pressure manual respira- 1 tion is a valuable aid in any case. But such Q simple apparatus would not bring fancy | price, so the manufacturer has to add what he calls "resusctator"-th inevitable pump. Worse, the circular carries several pictures of | brave firement pretending to resusctate vic- | tins, and in every instance the victim is posed lying on his back That would be grave mis- belly--prone. not supine. By turning his face | toward one side the mask of an inhalator may l be applied quite well as though the victim | lay on his back.
 | There arc two very good reasons why pumps | or breathing machines or lung motors or pull l in emergency work. First, it has been amply | proved that prone-pressure manual respiration | is more efficient in making the dead or uncon- scious breath than in any machine. Second it | has been found that the machine is dangerous too likely to overdistend and fatally seri- | ously injure the lungs But never mind the | second objection. Why monkey with the spec | tacular machinery when every man, woman | and child carries always a more efficient | means of resuscitatng? Fire chiefs, clerks, and superintendents may | as well spare me their letters of pained pro-
 test am not amenabie to that sort of thing. | l am stating here a plain truth. and defy | anybody to controvert it.
 | The nick towns are no longer good prospects | for the slick agents who sail these dangerous | and unjustfabe breathing machines. But the | big graft-rdden cities still absorb consider | able share of the dead stock makers of such | gadgets have still to get rid of
 This plea of mine vii probably meet with | nothing more than a snarl from the big shots | who are getting theirs from the sales of these
 machines to unwary municipalities. They will | hasten to confer with the interests that pay tho 1 "cuts' on how best to deal with such criticism.
 They may even get testimonial from some | medical politician who is in it with them. But who cares about that? ask the brave fireman who serves on the squad crew in charge of | the machine whether he would want his own child exposed to the needless risk of rupture of | the lung or air embolism by such Q machine applied with the best of intentions? QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS The old Hokum Bunkcm saw an article of yours which told of some
 doctor who has discovered a method of remov-
 ing wrinkles and scars by injuccting sOme- thing. (S. Z)
 Answer-The article was not mine. My ad- vice is to give wide berth to any doctor who pretends to remove wrinkles or scars. Guess Not
 I want your remedy for kidney trouble My Kidneys are not active enough, and the urine Is sometimes cloudy and heavy looking. Docs | this mean diabetes or Bright's disease? (H. B.) Answer-My remedy for such trouble is a
 pat on the back and the advice to forget it or else consult physician
 Cancer @ Member of family returned from hospital where she had an operation for cancer. Friends say I must boil everything with which she comes in contact. (R. J. H.)
 Answer-Simp1e soap and water cleanliness | is ample sanitary protection against any infec- ton from such a case. Cancer itself. is of course not communicable The cleanliness is for | safety against ordinary septic infection such
 as any one might get from contact with dis charge from boil. abscess or an infected wound.