The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-07-13

final blessing, before going into
practice, by his old medical spon-
sor. The young man had just about
left the room when the old gentle
man called him back and said,
Charlie, one thing more. Remem-
Der, don't do too much"
| heard Of an elderly lady who
was shopping with her daughter
and came out Of store and simply
slipped and fell on the pavement.
She was Immediately surrounded
by a group Of first aiders fresh
from their class, all Of whom
shouted, Don't touch her! Don't
touch her! Don't pick her up.
Don't lift her head" The poor old
lady kept saying, Give me a hand
and let me get up" but the bevy
of first aiders surrounded her un.
Ill finally her daughter came along
and raised her to her feet. There
was nothing the matter with her
and all she needed was a friendly
hand.
Treating Burns
Another first alder said in an
swer to a question: in case of as
phyxia, remove distractions from
the mouth. such as the tongue"
'ln case of fire, put it out" "ln
case Of bleeding head wound, put
a tourniquet around the neck"
am inclined to believe that the
most frequent wound that will oc-
cur in civilian practice during the
emergency will be burns and | am
also inclined to believe that most
burns should be left to profess
sionsl first aid teams. Certainly
the best thing to do for a person
with a burn of any extent is to
wrap him in a blanket and convey
him as gently as possible to hos
pital for emergency treatment.
Kinds of Burns
A burn is two or three kinds OF
liability. In he first place, it is
an open wound that may become
infected. Most burns are contami-
mated because they are exposed to
the air, to people lowering over
them, allowing bacteria from the
uncovered nose and throat to fall
upon them and not infrequently
they are grossly infected with
home remedies rhat are supposed
TO be antiseptic in nature.
Prevention Of infection is prob
ably the most important single fac
tor in the treatment of burns. For
that reason cover the patient up
with even a reasonably clean blan-
ket or sheet anu take him to a hos
pltal where a surgical team in
mask, gown and rubber gloves can
handle the wound.
Grease Dressing
For a long time the standard
treatment for burns was to cover
them with sterile oil or sterile
grease. Lately ! understand in
some places this treatment has
been criticized. Yet | heard one
Of the most prominent surgeons
in Boston who has had large ex-
perience with burns say in a talk
that he believed he would rather
have his burn covered with sterile
vaseline or sterile grease than any
thing ne knew Of. He preferred a
grease dressing TO the use Of tan
mic acid and the various sulfa
drugs. Therefore, the best treat
ment for small burn is simply to
cover it with a sterile piece OF
gauze until a surgeon is available.
In large burns the second liabili.
" which occurs is the loss Of blood
plasma from the open wound. This
causes diminished blood volume,
decreased heart output, stagnation
of the circulation and the whole
picture Of what is called thermal
shock. This can be treated by a
blood or plasma TRANSMISSION.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
F. L. B.;-Will Sal Hepatica
cause hardening Of the arteries!
have been taking it for about
nine years.
Answer: No.