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lis^.qi 



HARVARD COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 



LIBRARY OF THE 

GRADUATE SCHOOL 
OF EDUCATION 



TRANSFERRED 



HARVARD COLLEGE 
LIBRARY , 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



i 



< 



i 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

A MANUAL FOR BOY SCOUTS AND FOR 
OTHERS INTERESTED IN PROMPT HELP 
FOR THE INJURED AND THE SICK 



BY 

NORMAN B. C OLE, M.D. 

AND 

CLAYTON H. ERNST 

DISTRICT SCOUT COMMISSIONSR, 
SBCOND DISTRICT, BOSTON 




WITH FIFTY-ONE DRAWINGS 
BY WALT HARRIS 



D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

NEW YORK LONDON 

1917 



i\:j/^ izsq. I']. 3 






"l/l-i'L.^}t\\C4C 6<*iw^ 



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Copyright. 1917, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



Printed in the United States of America 



**9{pt only how but why '' 



PREFACE 

We have written this book especially for boys, but 
that has not prevented us from trying to make it of 
service to everyone who is interested in doing the right 
thing for himself or for someone else in that tense 
moment when injury or sudden sickness brings con- 
fusion and pain. 

In the first chapters we have considered the emerg- 
encies that are most dangerous to life, such as shock, 
bleeding, sunstroke, and heat exhaustion. The method 
of grouping them in two classes makes it easy for 
you to read symptoms and to tell without loss of pre- 
cious moments what is the matter with the person who 
needs your aid and what you should do for his com- 
fort and safety. From those most important emerg- 
encies the book goes on to consider accidents that 
through neglect may have serious consequences. Un- 
derstanding of these depends to no small degree on 
thorough knowledge of more dangerous emergencies; 
therefore they find their logical place in the second part 
of the book. In the last chapters we consider the every- 
day accidents which often enough are painful, but 
which, though they need careful attention, are not 
sufficiently serious to touch life itself. There are, of 

necessity, a few inconsistencies in this general plan, 

.. 

Vll 



viii PREFACE 

but the reader can, in every case, we believe, see the 
reason for our grouping. 

It is a pleasant duty to express our thanks to the 
many physicians and Boy Scout officials to whom we 
are indebted for valuable criticisms and suggestions. 
Special appreciation belongs to Mr. Walt Harris for 
his great patience and care in making his drawings not 
only pleasing to the eye, but also accurate from the 

viewpoint of first-aid technique. We feel deeply 
grateful to Mr. James E. West, Chief Scout Execu- 
tive, and to Mr. Franklin K. Mathiews, for advice 
and for generously given aid in developing the book. 
We are also much indebted to Major Robert U. Pat- 
terson of the American Red Cross, who in the midst 
of almost overwhelming duties has taken time to ex- 
amine the manuscript carefully and to give us valuable 
suggestions. 

N. B. C. 

C. xi. E. 



INTRODUCTION 

It gives me real pleasure to say a word with ref- 
erence to the book by Dr. Norman B. Cole and Mr. 
Clayton H. Ernst. Perhaps I have had as large an 
opportunity as anyone in the country to appreciate the 
good that can be accomplished by making available in 
simple language, within the reach of the boy, the 
material included in this book entitled, "First Aid for 
Boys." 

My interest in this publication has been increased 
since I have secured the report from the American 
Red Cross Society to the effect that it is sanely written 
from the standpoint of what should be said to boys 
and especially to young boys about the subjects 
covered. 

The wisdom of the authors in not attempting to 
make this a complete treatise of the subjects covered 
increases the value of the book from the standpoint 
of the boy interested in making himself efficient in 
first aid work. 

James E. West, 
Chief Scout Executive, 
Boy Scouts of America. 



CONTENTS 

PAOS 

I. A Handful of Signs ..•..., i 

II. What to Do 17 

III. Shock and Fainting . 22 

IV. A Little About the Blood and Mors 

About Bleeding 34 

V. Sunstroke and Heat Exhaustion . . 54 

VL Concussion, Skull Fracture, Apoplexy, 
Alcoholic Intoxication, and Epi- 
lepsy 62 

VII. Infection and "Staphy" 73 

VIII. Burns and Frostbites 84 

IX. Poisoning 91 

X. Bandages and Carries loi 

XL Fractures and Dislocations . . . . 135 

XII. Drowning and Artificial Respiration . 156 

XIII. Minor Emergencies 168 

First Aid Kits for Eight Boys ... 191 

Index • 193 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

CHAPTER I 

A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 

One evening in May, 191 5, three boys, on their 
way home after a fishing trip, were walking along a 
railway track outside a small Ohio town. Just be- 
yond a crossing they came upon a dark shape lying 
beside the track. One of the three, a boy whose 
pockets were always filled with "odds and ends," 
pulled out an electric flash lamp and they saw by its 
bright shaft of light that a man was stretched limply 
on the embankment with his legs doubled under him 
in an unnatural position. His face was deathly 
pale, and he was bleeding slowly; now and then he 
seemed to fall into a doze, only to wake again and 
moan and turn his head from side to side. He had 
evidently been struck by the eight o'clock express. 

The boys were not scouts and knew nothing of 
first aid. Terror-stricken, their first impulse was 
to run — run anywhere to get away from the awful 
sight. But something told them that they ought to 



2 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

bring someone who knew what to do ; and all three 
of them ran toward town as fast as they could, 
leaving the injured man alone. It was half a mile 
to the nearest house. By the time they had told 
their story, had routed out the country doctor and 
had guided the whole party back to the sufferer, 
he was dead. 

The point is that these boys were not prepared for 
the emergency and did not give what comfort they 
might have given. It is possible that the man might 
have lived. As it was, he died of injury and loss of 
blood, and most of all from the shock that those 
things brought on. 

What Would You Do? 

Suppose you change this story a bit. Instead of 
191 5 make the date tomorrow; set the scene outside 
your own town and start off down the track with 
two other scouts. When you come to that poor man 
lying there, will you know, what to do, or will yotu* 
good turn go begging for lack of knowledge? 

How will you check the bleeding ? 

Will you know that the man is in shock ? 

How will you know, it ? 

What is shock ? 

Can you explain it to a tenderfoot so that he will 
understand it? Can you tell him just what treat- 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 3 

ment to give the poor fellow at the crossing' while 
the doctor is coming? 

Stop reading right here, turn this book face down 
and think just what you would do in an emergency 
of that kind. 

If you can answer those questions you may be 
able to save a life tomorrow, as this boy did: 

THE BOSTON TRAVELER, TUES., FEB. 1, 1916 

BOY SCOUT SAVES 
LIFE OF FATHER 

MEDINA, N. T., Feb. 1.— While fixing 
an arc lisrht in the power house of the 
A. L. Swett Electrical Company, B. D. 
Timmerman of East Centre street was 
nearly shocked to death. His ^and 
touched a wire which was grounded. 
The current jumped from the arc to his 
head and he received the full charge of 
2400 volts. 

Edwin, his 12-year-old son, who was 
with him, rendered first aid as taught 
him in the Boy Scouts, and then tele- 
phoned for help. Mr. Timmerman was 
revived. 

If you can't answer those questions; if you can't 
remember how to stop bleeding or what the differ- 
ence is between shock and apoplexy or between sun- 
stroke and heat exhaustion; if you don't know 
whether to warm and stimulate a patient or to cool 
him and keep him quiet, you might just as well fol- 
low the example of those three boys in Ohio and run 
away the next time you see someone hurt. 



4 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

It's like being at bat and not knowing whether to 
run to first base or to third. By the time you have 
sat down and studied the matter out in the rule book 
the coach will have released you forever and your 
nickname will be Duffer. 

We believe there are many scouts and scoutmas- 
ters who find it hard to understand and to remember 
those things. Let's sit down and talk them over and 
see if we can make them plain to you. 

Diagnosis 

There are many injuries from which a patient 
will die very soon if the right thing is not done — 
shock, bleeding (hemorrhage), sunstroke and so on. 
They allow you no time for rimning to town to get 
the doctor. 

How are you going to tell what the matter is? 
You cannot see sunstroke or heat exhaustion or 
shock as you can a cut or a broken bone. You must 
reason the thing out, and, furthermore, you must 
do it quickly. 

There is a word that doctors use, "diagnosis." 
It is made up of the two Greek words "by means of" 
and "to know," and it means, as Webster's Dic- 
tionary says, "the act or science of recognizing the 
presence of disease by its signs or symptoms, and 
deciding as to its character." 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 



Five Signs 

Doctors have many signs for which they look — 
very many — ^and you cannot know them all; but 
there are five things that you can easily remember 
to look for and by means of which you can de- 



^evwpeidbuye 



iPk R^A color 

n. 




Gcmscvousness 



cide what the trouble is. There is one thing for 
each finger on your hand — just a handful of 
signs. 

Imagine that you have discovered by the side of 
the road a man who plainly is sick and yet is not 
bleeding and does not seem to have any wounds or 



6 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

any brdcen bones. First, merely by lodcing at him, 
you notice whether or not he is conscious. As 
you read this, stick up your thumb and call it cot^ 
sciousness. Next, still only looking, you notice his 
color; connect that with your pointer finger. Then 
notice his breathing — ^middle finger. 

That is all you can find out merely by looking. 
Now feel for his pidse and think of your ring fin- 
ger. Last, for the little finger, investigate the pa- 
tient's temperature; that is, find out whether his 
body is too hot or too cold. 

There is your handful of signs by means of which 
you can discover or "diagnose" your sick man's 
condition. Dip a fine-pointed pen lightly in ink 
and write the signs on the finger nails of your left 
hand — ^thumb "Con" for consciousness ; pointer fin- 
ger "Col" for color ; middle finger "B" for breath- 
ing ; ring finger "P" for pulse ; little finger "T" for 
temperature. 

Before you can tell whether or not any of these 
signs indicate a bad condition, you must know what 
they are like in health. Ifs as if your small brother 
should ask you to correct his sum in addition. Sup- 
pose it is 3+7+2. Before you can decide whether 
his answer is right or wrong you yourself must 
know that the correct answer is 12. So, for exam- 
ple, with the heart rate, which is counted by feeling 
of the pulse, as we shall show you presently ; before 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 7 

you decide that the rate is too fast or too slow you 
must know what the normal or usual rate is. 

In Good Health 

Take this handful of guideposts then, and let us 
see what they should show when a person is in 
good health. Ordinarily you expect a man to be 
fully conscious (thumb) all the time except when 
he is asleep. That is, he knows what is going on 
round him, can talk, move, hear, see, smell and feel. 

The color (pointer finger) of his skin, as you 
know, is neither pale nor very red, but of a pinkish 
tint. 

Some time when your father is reading his eve- 
ning paper, get out your watch and see how many 
times a minute he breathes (middle finger). You 
will find that it is about fifteen or twenty and you 
will see that his chest rises and falls plainly, yet not 
very much. 

Next take your own pulse (ring finger). Do 
you know how? Get a crowd of your friends to- 
gether some time and ask them to take their own 
pulses. Watch them do it and you will have a good 
laugh, for no two of them will do it alike unless 
they have been taught how, and more than likely 
only one or two will do it right. Here's the right 
way : turn your left hand palm up ; place the tips of 



8 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

three fingers of your right hand on the thumb edge 
of your left arm just above the wrist and move them 
about until you feel the pulse with all three tips. 
Never use the thumb in feeling for the pulse. It 
has a fairly large artery in it and when you put it 
against anything you feel the pulse in your own 



^o/^JfoiuT 




wiifi Jfiree Jimers 



thumb. By using your thumb you can often get a 
perfectly good pulse out of an iron lamp post 

Count the pulse in your own wrist and in several 
of your friends' wrists. You will find that unless 
you have been exercising, the rate is about seventy 
to eighty a minute. It is commonly said to be sev- 
enty-two. 

As to temperature (little finger), you need not 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 9 

know very much. You may never have one of the 
delicate little thermometers that doctors use, but 
you can usually tell by feeling of a person's skin 
whether he is colder or warmer than he ought to be. 
Of course, if he has been in a very hot or a very 
cold place his skin for some time will be too hot or 
too cold; but you will make allowances for that 
The doctor's thermometer, held three minutes under 
the tongue with the lips shut but not the teeth, 
would show you that the normal or usual tempera- 
ture is very close to 98.6° Fahrenheit. 

Now you have a handful of good or normal con- 
ditions. Consciousness — present ; color — ^pinkish ; 
respiration — moderately deep and fifteen or twenty 
to the minute ; pulse — seventy to eighty beats to the 
minute ; temperature of the body— 98.6° Fahrenheit. 

Diagram i 



The sisfns 


Normal 






I Consciousness . • 


Present 


2 Color 


Pink 


3 Respiration 

(breathing) 


Quiet; about 15 to the minute 


4 Pulse 


70-80 to the minute. Varies with 
persons 




5 Temperature . . . 


98.6<^.. Fahrenheit 



lo FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

In Bad Health 

There are two general kinds of conditions when 
the normal signs are changed. In one — and this 
was the condition of the man injured at the cross- 
ing — the whole body, with all its activities, seems to 
be depressed. The person is dazed or sleepy, but 
seldom unconscious; his color is pale, for the cir- 
culation is weak and the blood either has been lost 
or has retreated to the big vessels in the interior 
of the body, leaving the surface bloodless and white. 
His breathing is shallow, that is, he takes only a lit- 
tle air into his lungs at a breath, consequently his 
chest moves up and down but little — ^perhaps so little 
that it looks as if he were not breathing at all — ^and 
because he takes in so little air at a breath he must 
breathe oftener. That is why the respiration rate 
goes up from fifteen to twenty-five or so. 

The pulse rate and the respiration rate are like 
two scouts on their fourteen-mile hike — ^they keep 
together. If the respiration increases in rate, so 
does the pulse; when one is slow, the other is also 
slow. So here we expect to find the pulse rapid, and 
we do. It rises to ninety or a hundred or a hun- 
dred and twenty, and you fiind that the pulse beat 
at the wrist is weak. You see the heart is really 
a pump, and a very successful one. If, when you 
blow up the tires of your bicycle, you force the 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS ii 

pump handle down to the limit each time, you need 
take only a few strokes before the tires are hard. 
But if you push the handle down only half way each 
time it will take twice as many strokes to get the 
same amount of air into the tires. Just so with 
the heart. If it is weak it must beat oftener than 
usual to get the same amount of blood round to the 
brain and the other organs; and so a weak heart 
beats faster than a strong one. 

Last, the temperature is low — ^just as there is less 
heat in the stove when the fire bums low. When 
the vital functions of the body are not working "up 
to scratch" less heat is produced and the body is 
actually less warm. The variation can be only 
very slight, however, for the body is so delicately 
built that a change of only two or three degrees up 
or down from the normal makes you feel very sick. 
If your temperature should drop at this moment to 
95° or 94° all the blankets in the world would not 
keep you warm and you would soon actually die of 
cold. When the skin is pale, the breathing shallow 
and rapid and the pulse rapid and weak, the tem- 
perature is always lower than normal. 

This weakened, depressed -state of these vital 
functions is found in such conditions as fainting, 
shock from any cause, severe bleeding and exhaus- 
tion of all kinds, including heat exhaustion. These 
together we shall call group A. 



12 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



Diagram 2 



The sifims • • • • 


Group A — Depressed Conditions: 
Shock, Fainting, Heat Exhaus- 
tion, Hemorrhage 




I Consciousness .. 


Present, but often dulled. In Faint- 
ing, absent for a short period 


2 Color 


Pale 


3 Respiration 

(breathing) 


Shallow: perhaps somewhat rapid, 
16-25 ^0 ^^c minute 


4 Pulse 


Weak, "thready," rapid; 80-130 to 
the minute 




S Temperature . . . 


Low: 96°-98.6®; skin cool, with 
clammy sweat 



Suppose now that some time you find a sick man 
with opposite signs. For example, he is wholly 
unconscious; that is, you cannot wake him up by- 
touching him or by speaking loudly to him or by 
shaking him gently ; his face and skin are red, some- 
times even purple; his respiration is slow, deep and 
noisy, as if he were snoring very busily; his pulse 
rate, as you expect when the respiration is slow, is 
also slow and the pulse full and strong at the wrist ; 
and lastly, his skin feels warm. You would know 
at once that the trouble was different ; that this man 
was sick in a different way from thet first patient, 
and that probably the first aid treatment would be 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 



13 



different too. You would be right. It is easy to im- 
agine a case in which the wrong treatment would 
mean the death of the patient and the right treat- 
ment a quick return to better health. 

Doctors call his slow, full pulse the "head" pulse 
because it means that the brain has been affected in 
some way. So this setond group of changed or 
abnormal signs points to what we may call the "head 
injuries." They are such conditions as concussion, 
epilepsy, apoplexy, skull fracture, alcoholic intoxi- 
cation and sunstroke, and they make up group B. 

Diagram 3 



The signs 

1 Consciousness 

2 Color 

3 Respiration . . . 

(breathing) 

4 Pulse 



5 Temperature 



Group B — Head Injuries: Concus- 
sion, Skull Fracture, Apoplexy, 
Epilepsy, Alcoholic Intoxication, 
Sunstroke 

Dulled; often absent for hours 

Flushed 

Deep, noisy ; perhaps somewhat slow, 
13-16 to the minute 

Full, bounding, slow, 50-80 to the 
minute 

High; 98.6°-! 130 (Sunstroke) ; skin 
hot; either sweaty or dry (Sun- 
stroke) 



We are putting a good deal of emphasis on these 
changes in the five signs because if you will remem- 



14 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

ber these things you will find it easy to decide, in 
a general way, what is the matter with any sick per-i 
son you may come across ; once you know that, you 
know also what to do for him. And that may mean 
the saving of someone's life — surely the finest thing 
a scout can do. 

To Make You Remember 

If you can't remember these changes easily, 
try this way: let your left hand represent the de- 

o 7 ? ? ? . 



pressed conditions, or group A; on the nails write 
the signs. Take your fine-pointed pen again and 
on the thumb nail, which represents consciousness, 
write "dull"; on the pointer nail, which stands for 
color, write "pale" ; middle nail, "rapid, shallow" ; 
ring nail, "rapid, weak" ; little nail, "low." Then on 



A HANDFUL OF SIGNS 15 

your palm stick a gummed label with the conditions 
in which these signs are found — namely, fainting, 
shock, bleeding (hemorrhage), exhaustion. On the 
other hand put the head injuries and their signs. 
If you find it hard to write with your left hand swap 
good turns with some other scout: write on his 
finger nails and then have him write on yours. 

Now hold up your hands in front of you, palms 
down, read the signs from your finger nails, and 
see if you can tell in what conditions these signs are 
found. Or hold your hands palms up, read the con- 
ditions from the label, and try to tell what signs 
you will find in them. Work it with the other 
scout and make a game of it, counting one for 
every correct answer and taking off one for every 
mistake. The game is ten. 

Now let's roll figures i, 2 and 3 into one and 
look at this whole chapter all together. Do not 
read the later chapters till you feel that you have 
learned these things perfectly, for they make the 
way very easy when we come to the separate sub- 
jects. Don't be guilty of putting the cart in front 
of the horse. Diagnosis comes before treatment all 
the way through the study of medicine. It is plain 
that before we attempt to treat a patient we must 
first know how to go about finding out what the 
trouble is with him. 



i6 


FIRST AID FOR BOYS 






GROUP B 

ad Injuries : Con- 
ission, Skull Frac- 
re. Apoplexy, Epi- 
psy, Alcoholic In- 
xication, Sunstroke 


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GROUP A 

Depressed Con 
Shock, Faintin 
Exhaustion, . 
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CHAPTER II 



WHAT TO DO 



This is going to be a very short chapter, but it's 
just as important as it is short. It will tell you 
something in a general way about first aid treatment 
of sick people — ^the principles that hold good in all 
kinds of emergencies. 

• 

You Find a Sick Man 

Suppose you find a man on the road whose signs 
fall into group A — he is drowsy, pale, and cold, with 
weak, rapid respiration and pulse. Because he is 
cold you must warm him; and you must get him 
wider awake and make his heart and breathing ap- 
paratus work harder if you can. Is that plain? It 
must be, for it is common sense. 

The simplest way of warming him is to wrap him 
in warm clothes — ^blankets if you can get them. 
In cold weather see that they are warmed by being 
held in front of a fire before you put them on the 
patient. Lacking blankets, any clothes will do. Be 
sure to put them under him as well as on top of him, 

17 



1 8 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

for the ground is always colder than the body. If 
he is conscious and can swallow, you can warm him 
inside by giving him something hot to drink; it 
doesn't make much difference what it is, so long as 
it is really hot. 

Sometimes nothing except this warmth is neces- 
sary to make a man feel much more comfortable. 
But it is always a good idea to give him a stimu- 
lant too— some drug to make his heart beat 
stronger and to make him breathe more deeply. 

StimtUants 

The best stimulant is aromatic spirits of ammonia. 
Say that big name over to yourself till you can re- 
member it (better than a boy who asked the drug- 
gist for "automatic spirits"). The dose is half a 
teaspoonful (thirty drops) in half a glass of water, 
and it may be repeated once after fifteen minutes. 
This is by far the best stimulant and should be in 
every first aid kit. 

The next best stimulant is hot black coffee, which 
contains the drug caffeine. This is more common 
than the aromatic spirits of ammonia and has the 
advantage of being a warming agent as well as a 
stimulant. Each cup of strong coffee contains 
about two grains of caffeine, which is the usual 
amount that the doctors give to sick people with 
bad hearts ; so you see what a powerful drug it is. 



WHAT TO DO 19 

That is the reason why any coffee is bad for grow- 
ing persons and why grown people should use only 
a little of it. 

The third drug used as a stimulant, and a very 
poor one too, is alcohol. It is really no stimulant at 
all, but gives some of the same effects. It makes 



the sick man feel better for a little while because it 
bums his throat as it goes down and after a while 
it makes his skin feel warm ; but its effect is brief 
and is always followed by some degree of depres- 
sion. It is usually given in the form of brandy or 
whisky, both of which are about half alcohol. If 
you cannot get either of the other stimulants, use 
one to three teaspoonfuls of alcoholic drink and do 
not repeat it. 



20 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

You Find Another Skk Man 

Suppose you find another man ; this time the signs 
fall into group B — ^the head injuries. He is imcon- 
scious, very red, with a warm skin, breathes deeply, 
slowly, and noisily, and has a slow, full pulse. Here 
again you can reason out the treatment easily. It 
would be foolish to think of giving him a stimulant; 
he is unconscious and cannot swallow; the fluid 
would probably run down his windpipe and choke 
him. Instead of helping the poor man you would 
drown him. Since his body is already too warm, 
you will not try to warm him more, but will get him 
into a comfortably cool place, out of the sunshine, 
and perhaps bathe his face and hands with cool 
water. Above all other things, keep him quiet. Get 
him as far away from noise and bright light as you 
can. 

To sum up: the general treatment for group 
A is warmth inside and out and stimulation; for 
group B, a cool place and perfect quiet. 

Always Remember This 

Before we end this chapter we want to say one 
thing to you, friend scout, that you must never 
forget. It is this : remember that your duty to your 
patient is only half done when you have finished 
your first aid treatment. The second aid and all 



WHAT TO DO 21 

the rest of the treatment must come from a real 
doctor, who knows what he is about. Make your 
man comfortable, overcome the emergency, then 
do not rest till he is in the hands of a physician; 
for the man with the M. D. after his name loiows 
far more about doctoring than any first aid book 
ever written can teach. 



CHAPTER III 
SHOCK AND FAINTING 

Mother Nature is a wise, kindly old soul, who 
has planned things very wonderfully for us. If 
we are too warm, she makes us sweat and grow 
cooler. If we are too cold, she teaches us to gen- 
erate new heat by shivering. If we put our finger 
by mistake into the fire or into boiling water she 
orders certain nerves to tell us of it in about one- 
tenth of a second ; and we usually know enough to 
pull the finger out of harm's way. 

But in spite of Mother Nature's care acci- 
dents will happen ; we fall and break our bones, or 
get badly burned, or lose much blood from a 
cut. 

What does she do for us then, when the pain is 
so great that it seems impossible for us to bear 
it another moment? She can't make that broken 
bone whole again in a minute, or replace the skin 
that the fire has burned away, or manufacture a 
pint of new blood on the spot. 

Says she, "What can't be cured must be en- 

22 



SHOCK AND FAINTING 23 

dured," and sets out to help us bear the pain. She 
can't immediately heal the wound, and she can^t 






do much with the nerve that is carrying the 
sensation of pain to the brain; but the brain itself 
— why — she believes she can fix that so that it won't 
feel the pain so keenly, perhaps not at all. And 



24 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

she goes to work and does succeed more or less in 
dulling the brain. 

That explains why you sometimes see persons 
who, though badly hurt, do not seem to feel much 
pain. They lie quietly, do not move much and pay 
little attention to what goes on about them. Per- 
haps they don't even answer when you speak to 
them; but when you repeat the question several 
times they answer slowly and weakly, but correctly. 
They are not unconscious, only dull. 

SHOCK 

That arrangement of Mother Nature's is a great 
comfort to the injured man. The only trouble 
is that the brain is the master of the body and when 
it becomes dull (the doctors call it "depressed") 
and "lies down on the job," the other organs of 
the body also will shirk their work. Some of these 
other organs, the heart for example, are needed just 
as much as the brain is to keep the body alive. You 
can see how, when the brain is more and more de- 
pressed and the other vital organs along with it, 
that all the processes which keep the body alive 
are more and more hindered and weakened. The 
body is like a great machine slowing down ; it goes 
slower and slow-er and s-1-o-w-e-r — and stops. 
When a man does that we call it dying. 

Often, when a man is badly injured. Nature tries 



SHOCK AND FAINTING 25 

so hard to keep him from suffering pain that she 
depresses his brain too much, and, like the machine, 
the man stops. When this happens after an injury 
you cannot say that the man died from the injury 
directly. He really died from the depressed condi- 
tion of brain and vital organs brought on by the 
accident. 

This drowsy, depressed, half dead condition is 
shock, sometimes called surgical shock. It 
may be so slight that we say the patient is only 
"shaken up." Or it may be more serious and make 
him drowsy and dull and pale and cold. And 
then it may easily be serious enough to cause death. 

A few illustrations will make shock plainer to 
you. 

Slight Injury 

Mrs. Hall, a farmer's wife, started "crosslots" 
to take a pan of hot biscuits to a sick neighbor. On 
the way the path led down a steep slope. Here Mrs. 
Hall tripped, fell heavily and rolled some little dis- 
tance. When she got up her right wrist pained 
terribly and she felt "all shaken up.*' She man- 
aged to reach the neighbor's house but was glad 
to get into a chair. You would have said that she 
was exhausted. She sat there with her head rest- 
ing on the back of the chair and her eyes closed; 
she was sweating profusely and her skin was pale 



26 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

and cold, yet she did not faint. They put her wrist 
on a pillow and gave her hot peppermint water. 
After a while she felt better and could be taken 
to the doctor to have her wrist treated. 

The pain of the broken wrist and the jouncing as 
she rolled down the hill had caused a mild degree 
of shock; the rest and the hot drink were enough 
to overcome the condition of shock and make Mrs. 
Hall feel better. 

Severe Injury and Fright 

One night, on a western railway, a great boulder 
rolled down the mountain side, struck a heavy Pull- 
man car, knocked it off the track, rolled it over and 
broke it open. Fortunately, no one was seriously 
hurt except one middle aged man, who seemed at 
first to be dead. He lay sprawled on the ground; 
he was pale, and did not seem to be breathing or to 
be conscious. A doctor looked him over carefully 
and found that he had a broken leg and a cut on 
the cheek; neither injury however seemed very seri- 
ous. The doctor spoke loudly to him and touching 
him on the shoulder shook him a little. The man 
opened his eyes slowly, whispered something, and 
shut his eyes again. He was not dead then, but 
in severe shock. Notice that you do not say "in 
a shock" or "that a person is shocked." You al- 
ways say that he is "in (the condition of) shock." 



SHOCK AND FAINTING 27 

This man might have died if the doctor had not 
immediately treated him for shock — even before 
he attended to his broken leg. With the proper 
treatment (which we shall presently describe) he 
was soon out of danger and able to have his broken 
leg set and his cheek dressed. The rule is : always 
treat shock first except when the person is bleeding 
severely; in that case your immediate duty is to 
stop the hemorrhage. 

Strong Emotion 

A boy ran away to sea from his home in one 
of the English south shore villages, leaving his old 
widowed mother alone. For years she waited for 
him to come back or to send word. No word ever 
came. Every morning, because of the great love 
and the great grief in her heart, she prayed for 
the boy, and every night, because of her hope that 
he might not be dead and might some day come 
back, she set a light in the window for him. With 
worry and grief and hard work she grew old and 
thin and wrinkled. This went on for nine years. 
Then one afternoon the door opened suddenly and 
on the threshold stood her sailor boy. She rose 
from her chair, speechless with joy, tottered a few 
steps toward him and suddenly dropped dead on 
the floor. Shock, and nothing else, had killed her. 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



A Bird's Eye View of Shock 

Now with those three examples in mind let's put 
all we know of shock together in a few words. 

Cause 

You never saw a caboose start off by itself and 
go racing along the track all alone. It must have 
an engine ahead of it. Shock is like a caboose. 
It never gets started by itself ; there is always some- 
thing ahead of it. That something may be a sud- 



den, severe injury or a strong emotion. In the 
first example above shock was due almost entirely 
to the injury; in the second, to injury plus the 
fright of being in a train wreck at night; in the 
third, to nothing except pure joy. The commonest 
causes of shock are bums, bad fractures, all sorts 
of sudden accidents, fear and joy. 

Reading the Signs (Diagnosis) 

We have spoken of shock as a depressed condi- 
tion. That puts it at once in group A (see Chapter 



SHOCK AND FAINTING 29 

I), and if you will count over your fingers you 
will remember what signs you find in that group. 
The patient is mentally drowsy, but when roused 
answers questions clearly but weakly and shuts his 
eyes again as if he were not strong enough to 
hold them open; he is pale; he breathes rapidly — 
20 to 30 times a minute, and very shallow, so that 
you may have to look closely to see that he is 
breathing at all; his pulse is weak and rapid, 100 
to 130 a minute; his temperature is low and very 
likely he is shivering, even though the day is warm ; 
his skin is cold and probably covered with a cold 
sweat. Beside all this, if you can see that the man 
has been injured or know that he has had a great 
fright or a great joy, you may be pretty sure that 
your patient is in shock and you should treat him 
for shock at once. 

Treatment 

Look back to Chapter II now and brush up on 
the treatment of group A. Get your patient flat, 
with no pillow under his head ; loosen tight clothes, 
warm him and give him a good stimulant — aromatic 
spirits of ammonia or strong hot coffee. Here cof- 
fee is better, since both its heat and its caffeine are 
stimulants. Sometimes rubbing the arms and legs 
gently toward the body will help the circulation; 
but do not uncover them to do it. Keep him quiet, 



30 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

give him air and get the doctor. If there is great 
bleeding you must treat that first, of course, but 
in all other cases attend to shock first. 

Warning 

Now a word of warning. You have probably 
heard of old people who "have had a shock" and 
are paralyzed. That is the common way of say- 
ing that they have suffered from apoplexy. When 
you read about apoplexy in Chapter VI turn back 
and read this chapter over again and see how dif- 
ferent apoplexy and surgical shock are, and you 
will never get the two mixed. Don't confuse sur- 
gical shock with electric "shock," either. The pas- 
sage of electricity through the body, if the current 
is strong but not strong enough to kill the man at 
once^ will bring on surgical shock; but there again 
the electricity is the engine after which, like the 
caboose, comes shock. 

FAINTING 
Caiise 

There are many causes of fainting. Perhaps you 
have read in the paper that when the parachute 
failed to open, or when the lion sprang at his trainer, 
women in the audience shrieked and fainted. A 
hot, close room, hunger, pain, the sight of blood. 



SHOCK AND FAINTING 31 

a sudden clap of thunder, an accident that you see 
happening to others, a bad smell, being sick at your 
stomach — all those things and many more are 
causes of fainting. 

Fainting is like shock because it belongs in group 
A and the patient is cold and pale, often with a 
cold sweat. It is unlike shock because it does not 
necessarily follow an injury or intense emotion; 
the pulse and breathing are little affected, and the 
patient is completely unconscious, although not for 
long. 

Reading the Signs 

The diagnosis is easy. The patient suddenly be- 
comes pale ; falls, if he is standing, or slumps down 
in his chair, and is completely unconscious. He 
cannnot be roused until he "comes to"; that may 
be in half a minute or in several minutes. When 
he does "come to" he is almost at once as well 
again as he was before he fainted. 

Treatment 

What happens in fainting is that the big blood 
vessels in the interior of the body dilate suddenly; 
into them rushes the blood, leaving the brain with 
so little that it cannot keep working — the power 
is cut off from the dynamo. For the same reason 
the face is pale. The reasonable thing to do is to 



32 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

turn the patient upside down and let the blood run 
back to the head. Do this by laying him down, 
with his head low and his feet high; loosen tight 
clothing, sprinkle cold water on the face and chest 
(don't pour it on the patient out of a bucket, but 
dip your hand in the water and flip it in his face), 



and when he becomes conscious give him a stimu- 
lant. Sometimes the smell of ammonia alone is 
enough to "bring him to" (smelling salts, you know, 
are mostly our good friend aromatic spirits of am- 
monia). If the patient is a woman get another 
woman to loosen her clothes. 

Sometimes a light slap on the cheek or the palm 
will stimulate the patient. (We all can remember 



SHOCK AND FAINTING 33 

being very much stimulated by certain slaps with 
a slipper which did not injure us in the least.) 

If the patient recovers quickly and you are sure 
everything is all right you may not need to call a 
doctor. Once in a while an attack like this may 
not be due to simple fainting but to heart failure. 
If you are not sure of yourself always get a doctor. 

SUMMARY 
Shock 

1 Cause : Sudden or severe injury, strong emo- 

tion. 

2 Diagnosis : Belongs in group A. Patient dull, 

pale and cold, with rapid, weak respiration 
and pulse, and often a cold sweat. Patient 
may shiver, even on a hot day. 

3 Treatment: Warm and stimulate the patient 

in quiet, warm place. No matter what the 
injury, except bleeding, treat shock first. 

Fainting 

1 Cause: Many causes: bad air, sick stomach, 

sickening sights or smells, fright, etc. 

2 Diagnosis : Belongs in group A. Unconscious- 

ness sudden and complete, patient very pale, 
cold sweat, pulse and breathing may be un- 
changed. 

3 Treatment : Lower head, loosen clothing, stim- 

ulate when conscious. 



CHAPTER IV 

A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD AND MORE 

ABOUT BLEEDING 

If your scoutmaster should ask what the heart 
is for, every one of you would think it about the 
easiest question he could ask. You would probably 
get ICO per cent, on the answer. With a smile you 
would say, "It pumps the blood round the body." 
Why, you have known that ever since you knew 
you had a heart ! It seems queer to think of anyone 
not knowing it. 

But Shakespeare and Columbus didn't know it. 
And when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620 
they thought, as everyone else did then, that the 
arteries were air pipes (that's what the word 
"arteries" means) connected with the lungs, and 
that the blood existed in the veins alone and moved 
only a little, sometimes in one direction and some- 
times in the other, never making a circuit. And 
they thought that the heart was full of some strange 
sort of life-giving substance different from blood. 

Then in 1628 a man named William Harvey, 
who was physician to the King of England, wrote 

34 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 35 

a big book in Latin and said that he had discovered 
that the heart was really full of blood, which it 
pumped out through the arteries and which came 
back to it through the veins. 

That caused a great rumpus, and many wise men 
said that they had never heard of such a crazy 
idea. But Harvey stuck to it and found others 
who believed that he was right. 

The upshot of it was that after long letters had 
been written, all in solemn Latin, and when the 
old doctor was safely in his grave with his wig 
on, everybody came round to Harvey's ideas about 
the circulation of the blood. 

Not long after that someone put several mag- 
nifying glasses together and made the first micro- 
scope, with which men could actually see the blood 
running through the veins and arteries. 

And now no one doubts the circulation of the 
blood for a minute, although the knowledge of it 
is no older than the old houses in Plymouth and 
Salem. 

The Heart 

To make any circulation possible there must be 
pipes for the liquid and something to make it move 
through them. In the body the blood vessels are the 
pipes, the blood is the liquid and the heart is the 
pump. 



36 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

The heart is a pear shaped organ as big as your 
fist. It is made entirely of muscle, but is different 
from other muscles because it is hollow and is di- 
vided into a right and a left side. The right side re- 
ceives the blood that has just been round the body 



and that has given up its oxygen and pumps it 
through a special short circuit to the lungs, where it 
takes up all the oxygen that it needs from the air 
we have breathed in. Thus "stocked up" with 
oxygen the blood returns to the left side, from which 
it is pumped out to begin a new journey round the 
body. 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 37 

Arteries, Capillaries and Veins 

The arteries, capillaries and veins are the pipes 
through which the blood flows. The pipe that 
leads the blood away from the heart is a big artery. 
It soon branches into a number of smaller arteries 
and these into smaller and smaller ones, which 
reach here and there into every corner of the body, 
even into the bones and the teeth. Finally, the 
tiniest branches are so small that you cannot see 
them except with a big microscope. There are mil- 
lions of these and they are very short and fine, so 
that their name "capillaries," which means "like 
hairs," fits them nicely. 

While the blood is passing through these tiny 
capillaries it gives off to the body the oxygen that 
it carries. They are like the radiators in your 
house. The furnace, which is the heart, starts the 
hot water circulating; it runs through pipes which 
branch several times to reach different parts of the 
house, growing smaller each time they branch. By 
and by the hot water comes to a radiator made of 
small short pipes. Here it gives off its heat to 
the house, just as the blood gives off its oxygen to 
the body in the capillaries. From there the cooled 
water runs back to the furnace to get a new supply 
of heat just as the blood runs back to the heart 
and lungs for more oxygen. 



38 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

So, after it has passed through the short capil- 
laries, its main business is to get back to the heart 
as fast as it can. The capillaries begin to join now 
instead of branching, and so form the smallest 
veins. These tiny veins join each other, always 
getting larger; more and moYe of them run to- 
gether, like brooks running into a river, until by 
and by there is only one big vein, which empties 
into the right side of the heart. 

When the heart is filled with blood from the 
veins, it suddenly contracts and squeezes the blood 
out. Small, strong valves keep the blood from go- 
ing back into the veins so that it always leaves the 
heart through the arteries. As you know from 
Chapter I, the heart contracts or "beats" about 
seventy-two times every minute. The result of^ 
the squeezing action is that the blood in the ar- 
teries moves ahead in spurts or waves which you 
call pulse beats when you feel for them in your 
friend's wrist — ^much as water spurts from a hol- 
low rubber ball when you squeeze it. 

Therefore, when an artery is cut the blood es- 
capes in jumps or spurts. Remember that. 

But by and by, when the blood reaches the capil- 
laries, the pulse beat gets lost. Perhaps the capil- 
laries are so small that, though the blood gets 
through, the pulse beat is strained out. 

Suppose you imagine a thousand scouts going 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 39 

to a World's Series baseball game. They march 
down the street in fine, swinging step; that repre- 
sents the pulse beat. Coming to the field they have 
to go through a number of narrow gates that will 
allow only one scout to pass at a time. Here they 
lose their step, just as in the capillaries the blood 
flow loses its beat On the other side of the gates, 



tl 



they hurry along toward the bleachers all mixed 
up and out of step. Just so the blood on the farther 
side of the capillaries flows steadily back toward 
the heart without a pulse beat. 

Therefore when a vein is cut the blood escapes 
in a steady stream mithoul spurting. Remember 
that too. 

The Blood 

This blood which we have been talking about is 
a very busy sort of a substance. Because it can 



40 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

move about it is forced to do all the body's errands. 
It picks up the food that we digest> carries it to 
the organs that store it up and to the muscles that 
use it ; takes up oxygen in the lungs and carries it 
to the organs that need it ; brings l»ck from them 
the waste products, some of which it takes to the 



lungs to throw off, some to the sweat glands, some 
to the kidneys. Those are only a few of the many 
things the blood does for us. You see, it is a sort 
of messenger boy for the whole body. 

The blood contains an enormous number of tiny 
little round things called corpuscles. Most of them 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 41 

are red and give the red color to the blood. These 
red corpuscles carry the oxygen, and here is a curi- 
ous thing : the more oxygen they carry the brighter 
red they are; so that when they have been loaded 
with it in the lungs and pass through the arteries 
the color they give the blood is bright red. When 
they have reached the capillaries and have given 
up most of their oxygen and taken up carbonic acid 
gas (which darkens the color) they give a dark 
red or purple color to the blood. 

Therefore blood from an artery is always bright 
red and, as we know, escapes in spurts; while blood 
from a vein is dark red or purple and flows out in 
a steady stream. 

There are so many of these little red corpuscles 
that a cubic inch of blood — a good tablespoonful — 
holds more than fifty times as many of them as 
there are people on the earth. Since our very life de- 
pends on these tiny red corpuscles and the oxygen 
they carry, perhaps you can begin to understand 
what a wonderful substance blood is and how im- 
portant it is not to lose much of it. 

Hemorrhage 

When a blood vessel is cut, hemorrhage occurs; 
that is, the blood escapes. Hemorrhage and bleed- 
ing mean the same thing. The word hemorrhage 
comes from two Greek words meaning "blood" and 



42 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

"to burst or break out," so that we may define it 
as loss of blood from any blood vessel. 

When you draw a drop of blood with a pinprick 
you have caused a hemorrhage; but one so tiny 
that you don't worry about it, because you know 
that Nature will soon stop the bleeding. She does 
it in a wonderful way, like the magician she is. 
As soon as blood is exposed to air it begins to 
change into a jelly-likt mass that grows harder 



per awa\^ 



and harder with time. We call the process clot- 
ting. You know that after you cut yourself a 
clot of blood forms in the cut and grows harder; 
by and by it is what we call a scab; finally it falls 
off and we see that the cut underneath is healed. 

The clot that forms when a small artery is cut 
acts like a stopper and keeps more blood from es- 
caping ; but in a bigger artery the force of the pulse 
beat is so much stronger that it pushes the stopper 
away with each beat. 

That does not happen in the veins because there 
is no pulse beat and the blood flows more slowly; so. 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 43 

of course, when a vein is cut the clot has a better 
chance to form and stop the hemorrhage. 

Therefore bleeding from an artery is much more 
dangerous than from a vein. 

Why Is Hemorrhage Dangerous? 

Suppose in an engine room a steam pipe bursts 
and steam escapes. A small leak is not serious, but 
suppose a great deal escapes. What will happen 
to the engine? Why, since it cannot go without 
steam it will slow down, and if enough steam is 




"Wf 



Suppose CL qrcoL cfeaf escapes *" 



lost it will stop. It cannot run without steam. 
Neither can the body keep going without blood. 
With the blood supply partly lost the body must 
slow down like the engine. Once before (in Chap- 
ter III) we spoke of the body in this way and 
called the condition shock. 
A severe hemorrhage, then, will bring on shock. 



44 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

whidi we know from Qiapter in is a dangerous 
condition. If still more Uood is lost the person 
becomes totally unconscious, because there is not 
enough Uood in the body to keep the brain awake ; 
and finally, if the leakage is not stopped, the person 
dies. 

But the hemorrhage doesn't need to be severe 
to cause shock. You remember that shock may 
be caused by great emotion, especially fear. It is 
dreadful enough to see others bleeding badly; but 
it is far more dreadful to see your own blood spurt- 
ing away. Some people are thrown into serious 
shock by seeing their own wound even when the 
hemorrhage is not severe. People have been known 
to develop shock from a mere pin prick which draws 
but three or four drops of blood. 

Therefore always watch far shock after any 
hemorrhage. 

What to Do 

A bad hemorrhage is like the ninth inning of a 
baseball game when the score is one against you and 
there are two out, two strikes on the batter and a 
man is dancing up and down on third. The right 
thing must be done and done in a hurry, or the 
game is up! 

You must stop the bleeding. How you shall do 
it depends on whether it is from an artery or from 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 45 

a vein; you already know how to tell which it is, 
and you know that hemorrhage from a vein is 
easier to stop and less dangerous. 

In the case of a vein a piece of sterile compress 
(see Chapter VII) put over the bleeding point and 
bound on tightly with a bandage will often stop 
the hemorrhage. If not, a tourniquet surely will. 
Since in the veins the blood is flowing toward the 
heart, put the tourniquet on the side of the cut away 
from the heart. Fortunately, most bleeding that 
you will see will be from the veins because they 
lie near the surface of the^body ; and you will seldom 
need the tourniquet. 

On the other hand, when you have a fair-sized 
spurting artery to treat no amount of pressure over 
the wound will stop the hemorrhage. You must 
shut the blood off by pinching the artery before it 
gets to the wound — that is, between the wound and 
the heart. 

The principal arteries, unlike the veins, are usu- 
ally deep in the flesh, near the bones, and covered 
thickly with muscles. Here and there they come 
nearer the surface ; these are the places where you 
must pinch them. 

The easiest and quickest way of pinching an 
artery is to press hard on it with the fingers or 
thumb; but these soon get tired and have to be re- 
lieved by a tourniquet. The need for a tourniquet 



46 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



Jpunumid: ^olnfa ^ 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 47 

will probably come without warning as it did to two 
scouts in the Ossipee Mountains. You must be 
prepared to use your wits, and to use them without 
loss of time. 

Morton Drysdale and Tom Edmands were build- 
ing a log cabin on the side of Black Snout Moun- 
tain. Morton was cutting out the grooves in the 
ends of the logs when his ax slipped and caught 
him on the inside of his leg a little above the 
ankle. The sharp blade went deep and the red 
blood began to spurt. Morton immediately dropped 
the ax and, grasping his leg in both hands, 
squeezed it tightly above the cut. The bleeding al- 
most instantly decreased, though it did not stop en- 
tirely. 

"Get a piece of rope!" Morton cried to Tom. 
"I've cut myself !" 

There was some rope two hundred yards down 
in the woods where the boys had been dragging 
out spruce logs, but instead of running to get it, 
Tom, who realized from the note of emergency 
in his friend's voice that the cut was serious, pulled 
off his khaki belt and hurriedly began to make a 
tourniquet. A few minutes later the two boys were 
on their way out of the woods. At a point where 
the trail joined a highway they encountered an auto- 
mobile, and within an hour a doctor was taking 
stitches in the leg.' 



48 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

The Tourniquet 

A tourniquet is any band put so tightly round a 
limb that it stops the flow of blood in the arteries 
or veins. The commonest tourniquet is a piece of 
strong thick cloth wound roimd a limb loosely 
and tightened by twisting a small stout stick put 
part way through it. Tighten the tourniquet until 




cJi ^urmxj^ud: 



the blood stops flowing, then keep the stick in posi- 
tion by holding one end against the limb with a piece 
of string or cloth. Be careful not to pinch the 
skin as you twist A piece of rubber tubing from 
an automobile gas tank makes an excellent tourni- 
quet which needs no stick to tighten it. Wind it 
around several times, then push the end under the 
last turn to hold it. A long stocking is another good 
substitute because it is both soft and elastic. 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 49 

After you have put on the tourniquet you will 
see that the part of the limb below turns a dark 
bluish color because you have shut off the circula- 
tion. You know that the body will die if the circu- 
lation is stopped. Just so that part of that limb 
will die (the doctors say "gangrene will set in") 
if it does not have a fresh supply of good blood once 
in a while. So, if your tourniquet must be left on 




- I«l'""*'fr 





ojf ru66€r tuGina 

a long time before you can get to a doctor, loosen it 
once an hour till the color in the limb returns, even 
if the wound bleeds freely while you are doing it. 
Then readjust the tourniquet and let it remain tight 
for another hour. While it is loose press your 
thumb just above the wound; that will stop most 
of the bleeding. There are many little bypaths 
through which the Wood can reach the rest of the 
limb. 

Sometimes you can get more pressure on an 
artery by slipping a round stone or a roll of band- 



50 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

age under the tourniquet in such position as to press 
directly on the blood-vessel. For instance: when 
the bleeding is below the knee, force the round ob- 
ject deep in behind the knee, then bend the leg 
on it till the heel comes up against the buttock; 
hold the leg bent in that position by bandages. 

Scalp wounds bleed very freely, for the scalp 
is well supplied with blood. But take a few turns 
of bandage tightly round the head where the rim 
of your hat comes and see how quickly the bleeding 
stops. 

Where there is hemorrhage from a wound in 
the neck, whether from an artery or from a vein, 
you are in a fix. You cannot put a tourniquet round 
a man's neck and twist it tight, because you will 
choke him. You don't want to kill him in order 
to save his life. If the bleeding is from a vein the 
best treatment is to force a sterile compress tightly 
into the wound and hold it there for some time 
with your hand. If it is from an artery you are 
almost helpless; the only thing to do is to see just 
where the spurt is coming from, then reach into 
the wound with your fingers and try to pinch the 
cut end of the artery — the end toward the heart. 
In this one case never mind whether or not your 
fingers are clean; you have no time to wash them 
and you must save the man's life even at the risk 
of causing "blood poisoning" in the wound. 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 51 

The First Thing in All Emergencies 

Whenever you find a man bleeding, stop that first, 
no matter what else may be wrong. Then look 
for shock and treat it. And remember again that 
some people will be thrown into a state of shock 
by only a little hemorrhage, especially if they see 
the bleeding. 

In Short 

In short, the treatment of a person who is bleed- 
ing is : first, stop the hemorrhage ; second, don't let 
your patient see the blood or the injury (this is 
true of all bad injuries) ; be cheerful and comfort 
your patient; actually smile; third, treat shock, if 
present (see Chapters I and III) ; especially keep 
the patient's head low, to let whatever blood he has 
left run to his head. 

And don't forget to have someone punch, kick, 
or blow up the fellow with the long face who always 
hangs round an accident and talks about how ter- 
rible it is. 

Unseen but Dangerous 

There is another kind of hemorrhage that may 
occur when a person has been injured internally, 
as when he has fallen a long distance or when his 
body has been crushed. This is internal concealed 



52 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

hemorrhage. That big name means that a blood 
vessel inside the body has been broken open and is 
bleeding there. 

It usually happens in the abdomen, which is the 
big cavity in the lower half of the body, filled with 
important organs. These organs, such as the 
stomach, intestines, liver, spleen and kidneys, are 
supplied with blood by fair-sized arteries. Usually 
the bleeding is from these arteries; but sometimes 
the liver or spleen or kidneys themselves are split 
open by a fall or a crush and bleed badly. The 
blood runs into the abdomen and does not, of 
course, appear on the outside ; in fact, a person may 
bleed to death in that way without a drop of blood 
being visible. 

"But if we can't see the bleeding," you may say, 
"how on earth can we tell when it happens?" 

By watching the signs. Any person who has 
been badly crushed or has fallen far will be in 
shock anyhow. If he then g^rows still more pale, 
if his pulse rate goes steadily higher (find this out 
by taking his pulse every fifteen minutes and keep- 
ing a record of it), if he grows very thirsty, and 
if he begins to feel as if he could not breathe and 
gasps for air — then you can be pretty sure that he 
is bleeding internally. 

There is no first aid treatment for this ; you can- 
not put a tourniquet on an artery inside your 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 53 

patient ; you must at once get him to a doctor who 
may have to operate. 

SUMMARY 

Blood from an artery spurts and is bright red. 

Blood from a vein flows steadily and is dark 
red or purple. 

Bleeding from an artery is more dangerous than 
from a vein. 

Severe hemorrhage always causes shock; slight 
hemorrhage often does. 

Treat hemorrhage first; then look for shock. 

After falls or crushing accidents look for signs 
of internal hemorrhage — rising pulse rate, increas- 
ing paleness, thirst and "air hunger" or gasping 
for air. 

Remember that your patient looks to you for 
comfort as well as for treatment. Therefore keep 
your head, know what to do and do it with a smile. 



CHAPTER V 
SUNSTROKE AND HEAT EXHAUSTION 

Sunstroke and heat exhaustion are caused by 
the same thing, too much heat, but they are quite 
different; as different, in fact, as ice and steam, 
which have only this likeness, that they come from 
the same thing — water. If you treated a man with 
sunstroke as if he had heat exhaustion you might 
easily make him worse — ^very likely would take 
away his chances of getting better. 

Let's see how it happens that these two different 
conditions are caused by the same thing. You 
know that the temperature of a healthy man is close 
to 98.6°, even in freezing weather. Where does all 
that heat come from? In the case of a fire the 
heat is the result of the burning of the fuel. In 
the body it is true that fuel is burned too ; the food 
that we eat is burned — very slowly, of course, and 
not fast enough to give as much heat at one time 
as the wood in the fire does, but fast enough to 
keep the body warm. And it is a curious fact that 
food gives off exactly as much heat when it is 
burned in the body as it would if you threw it in 

54 



SUNSTROKE— HE AT EXHAUSTION 5 5 

the fire. So that if you could digest a stick of wood, 
you would get as much heat out of it as if you 
burned it in your grate. 

In fact, so much heat is manufactured in the 
body that we must always be losing some of it or 
we would soon become too hot. In winter, when 
the air about us is cold, we lose more heat than in 
the summer; therefore we eat heartier food that 
will give us more heat when it is burned, and put 
on heavier clothes to keep the heat from passing 
off into the cold air. In summer, when the air is 
as warm or warmer than our bodies are, less heat 
escapes from us ; therefore we need to produce less 
heat and so we eat less hearty food and wear loose, 
light clothes in order that extra heat may be easily 
lost. 

You see, the balance between the heat that we 
produce and the heat that we lose must always 
be kept at 98.6°. 

Heat is produced in the body in this way: the 
food that we eat is digested and absorbed into the 
body and stored in the liver and other organs. 
From there it is carried to the muscles and burned 
when the muscles are in action, setting free the 
heat. The blood picks up the heat and distributes 
it about the body. 

It is lost in several ways. Much of it escapes 
directly into the air, some is lost in the warm breath 



S6 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

and a good deal disappears when the sweat evap- 
orates. 

If we manufacture a great deal of heat by run- 
ning or working hard, the temperature of the body 
tends to go up too fast; then the sweat pours out 
on the skin in great quantities and helps to get rid 
of the extra heat. 

Suppose that on a hot day a man is working very 
hard. He is developing heat faster than he can 
lose it. The result will be that his temperature will 
soon rise above 98.6°. That will never do; he 
must either lose more heat or produce less, or 
take the consequences. If he keeps on working, 
two things may happen : either his temperature will 
actually rise far above the normal — ^that is what 
we call sunstroke — or Nature will step in and force 
him to stop producing heat. The only way that 
she can do that is to slow down all his machinery 
— not only the muscles of his arms and legs but 
those of his heart and breathing apparatus too; so 
that we may say that the man is in a depressed 
condition. 

Perhaps you will remember that we spoke once 
before of a condition in which the patient was like 
an engine slowing down, and that we called that 
condition shock. This second effect of great heat 
in the air is nothing but shock from heat — ^and that 
is what we call heat exhaustion. 



SUNSTROKE— HEAT EXHAUSTION 57 

HEAT EXHAUSTION 

If heat exhaustion is shock from heat we know 
at once that it belongs in group A and just what 
the signs of it are. The patient will be somewhat 
dull or very drowsy, pale, with shallow respiration 
and weak, rapid pulse and a cool skin covered with 
a cold sweat. If you should take his temperature 
with a thermometer you would find it below 98.6®. 
That seems strange when you think that the cause 
of heat exhaustion is too much heat on the outside 
of the body ; but remember Nature has tried to save 
the patient by cutting down the heat production 
and has done it in the only way she can — ^by throw- 
ing the patient into shock. Of course, shock al- 
ways has the same signs, no matter what the 
cause is. 

SUNSTROKE 

If you have ever seen anyone who is suffering 
from sunstroke you will remember that his face was 
more or less red. That sign belongs in group B. 
Sunstroke is the first condition we have found in 
group B. In that group, you remember, the patient 
is entirely unconscious, his face red, his breathing 
slow and noisy, his pulse slow and full and his 
temperature above normal. In sunstroke, too, the 
skin will be dry — without sweat. In fact, the ab- 
sence of sweat is one of the reasons for the patient's 



58 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

condition. He has lost one of the best means of 
getting rid of his surplus heat, so that nearly all 
the heat he is making is stored up in him. If you 
should take his temperature with a thermometer 
you would find that it is up to 105° or more — often 
as high as 107° or 108°, sometimes as high as 
112° or 113°. 

Treatment 

If you will remember that in sunstroke the tem- 
perature is above normal and that in heat exhaus- 
tion (which is shock from heat) it is below normal, 
you will not forget what to do. In sunstroke you 
must get the heat down to normal again and in 
heat exhaustion you must raise it to normal. The 
treatment for heat exhaustion is the treatment for 
shock — ^warm and stimulate. Get the patient into 
aKrooler place than he has been in, cover him with 
warm clothes, rub his limbs toward his heart under 
the clothes and give him a cup of black coffee or 
half a teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia 
in half a cup of water. 

For sunstroke, get the patient into a cold place 
and bathe him with cold water. The best way to 
do this is to undress him and bathe him all over 
with cloths wet in ice water. If he does not become 
conscious soon with this treatment, get him into 
a tub of cold water with ice floating in it, taking 



SUNSTROKE— HEAT EXHAUSTION 59 

care of course not to let his head sHp under the 
water. All the time you are doing this rub his 
limbs vigorously. When he is conscious, give him 
all the ice water he wants to drink. 



Remember that a person with a mild case of 
sunstroke may be simply dizzy and red and may 
vomit. 

Of course, in either case, you will get a, doctor 
as soon as possible. 

Persons who have had one sunstroke are likely 
to have another unless they take precaution. 



6o FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

How They Happen 

Usually sunstroke happens to persons who are 
working in the hot sun, such as farmers, teamstei^ 
and ditch diggers. If you ever have to work in 
the sun in summer, get a big straw hat with plenty 
of ventilation or else put some green leaves or a 
wet cloth in the crown. 

Heat exhaustion usually happens to persons who 
are working in a hot place, out of the direct rays 
of the sun. A foundry or a boiler room on a steam- 
ship or in a mill is a likely place for heat exhaus- 
tion. It frequently overcomes old people who are 
out on the streets on a hot day, but oftenest of 
all it happens to men who are in the habit of taking 
beer or whiskey. 

But— 

Sometimes people in the hot sun have heat ex^ 
haustion and sometimes those in a hot place out of 
the sun have sunstroke. You cannot tell which con- 
dition a man has until you have studied his signs 
and decided into which group they fall. 

SUMMARY 
Sunstroke. 

I Causer— Great heat. Usually hot sun shining 
on head. Alcoholic drinks help to cause it. 



SUNSTROKE— HEAT EXHAUSTION 6i 

2 Signs — Group B: Dizziness, vomiting, feeling 

of great heat, headache, perhaps convulsions, 
usually unconsciousness, flushed face, slow 
respiration and pulse, temperature up to 
107^-113®, skin hot 2tnd dry. 

3 Treatment — Group B : Reduce temperature by 

external cold, and by cold drinks when 
patient is conscious. 

4 Prevention — Keep out of hot sun on hot day. 

Put green leaves (plantain) or wet cloth 
under your hat. Avoid alcoholic drinks. 

Heat Exhaustion. 

1 Cause — Great heat, usually out of sunshine. 

Alcoholic drinks help to cause it. 

2 Signs — Group A: Consciousness dulled, color 

pale, respiration shallow, pulse rapid, tem- 
perature low (97°-96°). 

3 Treatment — Group A : Warm and stimulate. 

4 Prevention — Keep in good health in warm 

weather. Eat lightly, drink much water, 
keep bowel's open. Avoid going out in heat, 
of day. Never take alcoholic drinks. 



52 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

hemorrhage. That big name means that a blood 
vessel inside the body has been broken open and is 
bleeding there. 

It usually happens in the abdomen, which is the 
big cavity in the lower half of the body, filled with 
important organs. These organs, such as the 
stomach, intestines, liver, spleen and kidneys, are 
supplied with blood by fair-sized arteries. Usually 
the bleeding is from these arteries; but sometimes 
the liver or spleen or kidneys themselves are split 
open by a fall or a crush and bleed badly. The 
blood runs into the abdomen and does not, of 
course, appear on the outside ; in fact, a person may 
bleed to death in that way without a drop of blood 
being visible. 

"But if we can't see the bleeding," you may say, 
"how on earth can we tell when it happens?" 

By watching the signs. Any person who has 
been badly crushed or has fallen far will be in 
shock anyhow. If he then g^ows still more pale, 
if his pulse rate goes steadily higher (find this out 
by taking his pulse every fifteen minutes and keep- 
ing a record of it), if he grows very thirsty, and 
if he begins to feel as if he could not breathe and 
gasps for air — then you can be pretty sure that he 
is bleeding internally. 

There is no first aid treatment for this ; you can- 
not put a tourniquet on an artery inside your 



A LITTLE ABOUT THE BLOOD 53 

patient ; you must at once get him to a doctor who 
may have to operate. 

SUMMARY 

Blood from an artery spurts and is bright red. 

Blood from a vein flows steadily and is dark 
red or purple. 

Bleeding from an artery is more dangerous than 
from a vein. 

Severe hemorrhage always causes shock; slight 
hemorrhage often does. 

Treat hemorrhage first; then look for shock. 

After falls or crushing accidents look for signs 
of internal hemorrhage— rising pulse rate, increas- 
ing paleness, thirst and "air hunger" or gasping 
for air. 

Remember that your patient looks to you for 
comfort as well as for treatment. Therefore keep 
your head, know what to do and do it with a smile. 



64 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

within five or ten minutes, especially if he is bleed- 
ing from nose or ears, or if the pupils of his eyes 
are unequal in size, have a doctor see him at once. 
Two doctors worried over the baseball pitcher sev- 
eral hours before they were sure that his sioill 
was whole. 

APOPLEXY 

You may have heard your mother say that some- 
one she knows has had "sl stroke" or ''a stroke of 
apoplexy." She means that the person either has 
suddenly become unconscious or is paralyzed in 
arms or legs or both ; perhaps he cannot talk, even 
after he has become conscious. This condition usu- 
ally comes on without any warning at all; some- 
times it happens after the person has been strain- 
ing at his work or running for a train; but some- 
times it happens when he is sitting quietly or is in 
bed. 

The cause of apoplexy is the bursting of a blood 
vessel in the brain. It usually happens in old people 
because their arteries grow brittle and break easily. 
The clot that forms injures the parts of the brain 
that regulate the speech and the motions of the arms 
and legs, so that what you see happen is this: an 
old man, perhaps, is hurrying for the car. He may 
appear to be perfectly healthy. Suddenly he falls. 
You find that he is unconscious; you run over in 



CONCUSSION, SKULL FRACTURE 65 

your mind the four other signs that usually go with 
unconsciousness and find that his face is flushed 
and red, his respiration slow, deep and noisy, his 
pulse slow and full and his skin warm. Perhaps 
he is restless and mumbles something. Since all 
this falls in group B, since nothing has struck his 
head and since there is no smell of alcohol on his 
breath, you decide that he has apoplexy. 

Everybody is very much excited and each one 
wants to do something different. But because you 
are a scout and are prepared, you will keep your 
head and will remember that the treatment for 
group B is to get the patient to a cool place, keep 
him quiet, loosen his clothes and keep people away. 
If he is restless you will see to it that he does not 
harm himself. You will raise his head because 
you do not want any more blood to get to that 
broken vessel in his brain than you can help. You 
will send for a doctor, of course. Above all, you 
will not use any stimulant, for that will only make 
his heart work harder and may increase the bleed- 
ing into his brain. 

When you have done those few things you have 
done all that you can. Leave the rest to the doctor. 

Apoplexy is sometimes wrongly called "a shock." 
It has nothing to do with surgical shock. One is in 
group B, the other in group A. Stick to the name 
apoplexy and you won't become confused. 



66 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

ALCOHOUC INTOXICATION 

It is not always easy to decide whether a man 
is only very drunk or whether something more seri- 
ous is the matter. If he is so intoxicated that we 
say he is ^'dead drunk" he will be unconscious and 
paralyzed for the time being and his condition may 
be easily confused with apoplexy. Or perhaps he 




has fallen and struck his head while moderately 
drunk and is unconscious from concussion; at the 
same time he may have a small skull fracture which 
you may not discover. In that case, the bleeding 
inside the head may not show any signs for several 
hours. It is not safe, you see, to decide that a 
man is nothing more than drunk merely because 
you can smell the odor of alcohol on his breath. 



CONCUSSION, SKULL FRACTURE 67 

If there is any doubt in your mind at all, get a 
doctor at once. While you wait for him, pour 
some aromatic spirits of ammonia on a handkerchief 
and hold it very close over his nose and mouth. 
Be careful not to get any in his eyes. If he is 
drunk he will probably turn his head to get away 
from the stifling smell or try to push your hand 
away; perhaps you can even bring him out of his 
deep unconsciousness in this way. Another way to 
rouse him is to press hard with your thumb in the 
middle of his eyebrow. You will find there, in 
most people, a tiny groove in which runs a nerve, 
called the supra-orbital. Press hard on this little 
nerve in your own eyebrow ; you will soon find the 
pressure too painful to bear. 

If the patient rouses considerably with pressure 
on this nerve or with the ammonia, if the pupils 
of his eyes are equal in size, if he moves both arms 
and legs himself (so that you are sure he is not 
paralyzed) and if you find no bump on his head, 
you may be fairly sure that his condition is due 
to liquor alone. In this case make him vomit if 
you can by tickling his throat with a straw or a 
feather, and when he is conscious give him a big 
dose (i to 2 teaspoonfuls) of aromatic spirits of 
ammonia and an ounce of Epsom salts in a full 
glass of water. 

On the other hand, if you think there is any 



^ I 



68 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

possibility of apoplexy or a skull fracture, do not 
by any means trust your own judgment. A few 
years ago you could read in the papers every little 
while that the police had locked a man in the sta- 
tion, supposing that he was intoxicated. In the 
morning he would still be unconscious and perhaps 
paralyzed. A doctor would be sent for and would 
find that the patient had a fractured skull or an 
attack of apoplexy. A mistake like that is serious 
business, for the man might die during the night 
for the lack of a doctor's care; but fortunately 
it happens less and less often now, for officers are 
well drilled nowadays in first aid and will take such 
a man to a doctor before they lock him up. 

Do not be fooled by the patient's breath. Some 
misguided person may have found your unconscious 
man before you and may have poured liquor 
into his mouth in an ignorant attempt to revive 
him. 

EPILEPSY OR "FITS" 

A fit of epilepsy comes on suddenly; in fact, the 
word means something that "leaps on" the person. 
Sometimes epilepsy is called the falling sickness, 
and the Bible speaks of it as "having a devil." 

It belongs in this chapter because it is caused 
by something wrong in the brain— no one knows 
what ; but you need not bother about the five signs 



CONCUSSION, SKULL FRACTURE 69 

because there isn't time and because you never will 
mistake epilepsy for anything else. 

The fit comes on anywhere at any time. The 
person suddenly cries out in a queer, hoarse way, 
straightens out, falls and becomes perfectly rigid. 
He does not breathe and quickly gets purple in the 
face. After half a minute or so he relaxes a little 
and begins to shake violently, throwing his head and 
limbs about and catching his breath in great gasps, 
so that the saliva is churned into foam. These 
jerky movements gradually grow less violent and 
stop, leaving the patient limp, exhausted and still 
unconscious. He may become conscious soon, 
though he probably will be dazed for a while; or 
he may drop into a heavy sleep that lasts for sev- 
eral hours. The whole fit occupies only two to 
five minutes. 

You see that a fit of this kind is not a pleasant 
thing to watch. People who are not prepared are 
likely to leave the poor fellow to himself. But a 
scout must know what to do; and this is very 
simple: keep the man from hurting himself. He 
is likely to bang his head about and especially likely 
to bite his tongue. So get something soft and not 
too large under his head, such as a loosely rolled 
coat, and slip something between his teeth to keep 
his mouth partly open. For this, take something 
wooden about as large as the base of your thumb, 



70 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

such as the small handle of an umbrella, or half a 
newspaper rolled tightly, or the end of your coat 
sleeve gathered together; slip it between the per- 
son's back teeth, and look out that he doesn't bite 
your finger. 

Don't try to hold him still. He is very strong 
in these attacks and might hurt you. Call a doctor 
or an ambulance. Loosen tight clothing. When 
the fit is ended get the person into a warm, quiet 
place. 

SUMMARY 

Concussion, skull facture, apoplexy, alcoholic in- 
toxication and epilepsy may all cause unconscious- 
ness. Often the diagnosis between them is very 
puzzling. The following summary is not meant 
to tell the whole story; but it is, however, sug- 
gestive. 

Concussion 

Caused by a blow on the head or on the spine; 
unconsciousness at once, lasting from a few 
seconds to several hours. Keep the patient 
quiet and warm ; cold to head. Get a doctor. 

Skull Fracture 

Caused by injury to head; usually a bruise or 

cut somewhere on the scalp; pupils of eyes 

unequal in size ; often bleeding from mouth 

or nose, or from the ears. Unconsciousness 



CONCUSSION, SKULL FRACTURE 71 

and inequality of pupils may come on slowly 
some time after the injury. Keep quiet 
and warm. Get a doctor at once. Cold 
to head. Do not stimulate. 

Apoplexy 

Sudden paralysis or unconsciousness or both. 
Usually in people over forty. Face red, 
respiration deep and noisy, pulse slow and 
full, temperature little changed, pupils un- 
equal. Keep quiet and warm. Raise head. 
Get a doctor. 

Alcoholic Intoxication 

Unconscious or very dull, face red, respiration 
and pulse little changed, temperature prob- 
ably lowered. Alcohol on breath. Can be 
roused by supra-orbital pressure or by smell- 
ing of ammonia. Always remember the pos- 
sibility of some other condition besides the 
intoxication. If patient can be roused, pupils 
equal, no paralysis, no head wound, make 
him vomit and give him, when conscious, one 
to two teaspoon fuls aromatic spirits of am- 
monia and one ounce Epsom salts in a glass 
of water. Get a doctor. 

Epilepsy, "Convulsion," "Fit" 

The convulsion is so typical that it will never be 
mistaken for anything else. Keep patient 



^^ HRST AID FOR BOYS 



irotn hiirUDg Hnwrif, cspedaEy troni faitiiig 
his trxigac After tbc fit, keq^ quiet and 
waniL Stimnlatioo does no good. Get a 
doctor. 



CHAPTER VII 
INFECTION AND "STAPHV 

This is the story of a germ named Staphy. That, 
at least, is what his chums called him, for his real 
name, which was Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, 
was much too long to say often. One of his cousins 
had a still prettier name — Diplococcus intracellularis 
meningitidis. In spite of their long names Staphy 
and all his relatives were very tiny fellows; they 
frequently held dances on a pinhead and a watch 
crystal made a splendid camping ground for whole 
armies of them. Staphy himself and all his sisters 
and brothers and first cousins were round ; but some 
of his distant relatives were like short little rods 
or tiny corkscrews. Before microscopes were in- 
vented no one ever saw any of them; but though 
they were so tiny, they caused a lot of trouble in 
the world because there were so many thousands 
of millions of billions of them everywhere, and, 
as doctors eventually found out, some one or other 
of them was responsible for nearly every disease. 

They lived in almost any place — in dirt, on house 
walls, in milk and water, on people's clothes and 

73 



74 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

skins and in their mouths, and some of them even 
lived inside of people. 

It didn't take much to make Staphy happy, he 
got along well almost anywhere. He wasn't afraid 
of cold, for that couldn't hurt him; but he kept out 
of the way of fresh air and simshine and those 
things that are called antiseptics, such as high tem- 
peratures or boiling water, or tincture of iodine or 
alcohol; for all those things kill germs. Germs 
are only little plants, anyway, and not animals; 
and it is easy to kill them when you go about it 
right. 

But when Staphy found a warm, moist place that 
suited him he set out to grow and raise brother and 
sister germs. He did it in a queer way — ^simply got 
a little bigger and then calmly split into two pieces. 
He hadn't any bones, but was made of a jelly-like 
substance, so that it was easy for him to split. 
Each of the new germs soon split again, and each of 
these again, and so on, until in a day or so there 
were more brothers and sisters than you could 
count in a week; and they all looked exactly alike. 

When Staphy and his relations sat down and 
talked about where they would like to live, they all 
agreed that Mr. Man's house was the finest place 
they could think of. In among his muscles and 
bones and tendons and blood vessels it was always 
warm and moist. But there were two objections: 



INFECTION AND "STAPHY" 75 

first, Mr. Man wore all over his body a tough cover- 
ing of skin through which no germ, unaided, could 
ever hope to get; and second, if the germ should 
find a cut in the skin and get through, there were 
the terrible white corpuscles of the blood that would 
work their way out of the blood vessels and over 
to where the germ was and eat him up. The 
germs' only hope was to get a crowd together and 
all go in at once ; then there would be a great fight 
between them and the white corpuscles, and many 
would die on both sides and for a little way round 
the battlefield the muscle or bone would be killed, 
too. People would say that an abscess had formed ; 
and by and by it would break out or the doctor 
would open it with a knife and all the dead muscle 
or bone and the dead germs and the dead white 
corpuscles would run out. People called it pus. 

And finally, if Mr. Man were strong enough, his 
white corpuscles killed off all the germ family 
and the abscess got well; but if Mr. Man didn't 
have a good constitution or if he hadn't lived a 
clean, straight life, sometimes the germ family grew 
too fast for their enemies and spread all through 
Mr. Man. So by and by Mr. Man died. Or per- 
haps, before it got as bad as that, the doctor said he 
had "blood poisoning" in his arm or in his leg, and 
in order to save Mr. Man's life he cut off the bad 
limb. 



76 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

It happened one hot July day that Sta^y and a 
few million of his relatives were I)ring in the dust 
of a country road down which was coming a troop 
of scouts. A wagon passed and stirred up the 
dust. Away it went in a thick cloud, drifting before 
the summer breeze ; and on one of its tiny particles 
away went Staphy and several thousand of his 
relatives, too. The dust blew in among the scouts, 
who turned their backs an4 shut their eyes; and 
Harry Phillips wiped his sweaty face with his hand- 
kerchief. 

It happened that the particle of dust on which 
Staphy rode found lodgment on Harry's sticky face 
and was wiped off on his handkerchief. 

The troop turned into the woods soon, found their 
lean-to, and began to look for firewood. Harry, 
who was only a tenderfoot, had not yet learned how 
to use his hatchet and had cut only a few notches 
in his sticks before he cut one on the back of his 
wrist. 

George Wright, one of the patrol leaders, heard 
his exclamation and looked up. 

"That's too bad," he said. "Come over here and 
let me help you fix it up." 

"Oh I it's nothing," Harry answered. "It isn't 
bleeding much. I'll just wrap my handkerchief 
round it and it will be all right." 

If Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus (who is 



INFECTION AND "STAPHY" 77 

Staphy for short) had been anything except a tiny 
plant — if he could have heard what Harry said — 
he would have jumped for joy; for there he was 
with his relatives on that very handkerchief, aching 
for that very chance to get under someone's skin 
and begin to grow. 

George Wright was a first-class scout. Although 
he didn't know about Staphy in particular he had 
learned that germs are everywhere and that nothing 
must touch a broken place in the skin, whether from 
a cut, burn, blister or what not, except something 
that is free from germs. 

"No! Don't do that !" he cried to Harry. "Don't 
use your handkerchief. It isn't clean." 

"Sure it is," Harry called back. "Came out of 
my drawer just before we started." 

"I don't mean that," laughed George. "I mean 
clean — without any germs. There are plenty of 
them on your handkerchief, because I saw you wip- 
ing the sweat off your face with it a little while ago. 
Come over here and we'll fix you up right. Oh, 
Stan," he called to one of the other scouts, "bring 
your first aid outfit over here." 

"Forgot it," called back Stan. "Sorry." Stan 
was always forgetting; that's why he was only a 
second-class scout after fourteen months in the 
troop. 

"Thunder!" exclaimed George. "No sterile 



78 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

bandage!" (He meant onewidiout germs.) "Well 
have to boil up a dressing. Let's see your handker- 
chief, Harry." 

The wound was bleeding a little now, but it was 
dark blood and did not spurt, so George knew that 
it was only a vein that was cut — a small one. At 
his direction, Harry grasped his wrist below the 



cut with his other hand and was surprised to see 
the bleeding stop. 

"There doesn't seem to be any dust in the air 
here," said George, "so it won't do any harm to 
leave the cut uncovered a few minutes." 

By this time the fires were started and water 
was heating. George took Harry's handkerchief 
(with Staphy and a great many of his relatives on 
it) and folded it as if it had just come from the 



INFECTION AND "STAPHY" 79 

laundry. Then he laid it in a pan of boiling water 
and let it boil for ten minutes. He knew that no 
germ could stand that, and that the handkerchief 
would then be free from germs and safe to put 
over the wound, providing that he was careful not 
to let any fresh germs get on it. 

So this is the end of Staphy and his companions. 
When the ten minutes were up they were all dead, 
and a dead germ can't hurt anyone. 

George had been washing his hands in a brook 
nearby for several minutes and drying them by 
waving them in the air, being careful not to touch 
anything with them. This was to wash off all the 
germs he could before he touched the boiled hand- 
kerchief. Then, dipping his fingers quickly into the 
boiling water, he got hold of one extreme comer 
of the folded handkerchief and, holding it up, waved 
it back and forth in the air to cool it, changing his 
fingers often, but being careful not to touch more 
than the one corner. When the handkerchief was 
cool enough to handle, he folded it tightly, still 
touching only comers, and wrung it out with two 
or three quick twists. Then he opened it till he came 
to an inside surface which he was sure he had not 
touched with his fingers; this he turned next to 
the skin and laid it carefully over the wound, 
taking pains not to move it while he put on a band- 
age, for fear that germs from the neighboring skin 



8o FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

would be dragged into the wound and infect 
it. 

The word "infection" comes from two Latin 
words meaning "putting something in." George 
Wright took all these pains to avoid putting any 
germs into Harry's wound. A doctor dressed it 
that night, and the next week, when the troop came 
again to the lean-to, Harry's wrist was healing 
nicely. 

If Stanley Hopkins had only remembered his 
first aid outfit, all of George's trouble would have 
been avoided. Every good first aid outfit includes 
one or more small packages containing sterile 
(germless) dressings wrapped in such a way that 
they remain sterile for months. It had been the 
plan of George's patrol — ^and a very good one, too — 
always to have one or two of these packets with 
them on every hike. 

If Staphy had been on Harry Phillips' hatchet 
blade, instead of on his handkerchief, he would 
have been carried straight through the skin into 
the wound. Once in, no amount of sterile dress- 
ings could harm him or get him out; they would 
only keep new germs out. In that case something 
more would be needed, something that would go 
into the wound after Staphy and kill him — that is, 
an antiseptic. George knew that when a doctor 
can be reached within two or three hours, as in 



INFECTION AND "STAPHY" 8i 

Harry's case, it is better to leave the wound alone 
except for the sterile dressing. If he had been off 
on a two or three day hike he would probably have 
carried with him several of the little glass ampules of 
tincture of iodine, such as are sold by the American 
Red Cross, or else a two-ounce bottle of it. A little 
of this, he knew, poured into a cut or spread on 
a scraped surface with a brush or with a piece of 
clean cloth, would be almost sure to kill any bac- 
teria (for that is the proper way to speak of germs) 
that might have gotten into the wound. His scout- 
master had told him that the soldiers in the Great 
War were provided with little boxes containing an 
ampule of iodine and a sterile compress and band- 
age, and that, by killing the bacteria already there 
with the iodine and by keeping new ones out with 
the sterile compress, many wounds had healed with- 
out infection and many soldiers* lives had been 
saved. 

If tincture of iodine had not been handy George 
might have used alcohol, 70 per cent pure, which 
must always be kept tightly corked to prevent it 
from absorbing water from the air and so losing 
strength. 

If no antiseptics were handy, if the doctor could 
not be reached for a number of hours, and especially 
if dirt had been ground into the wound, George, 
after thoroughly cleansing his hands, would have 



82 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

washed it out gently with a sterile cloth wet with 
water boiled ten minutes and cooled. In the city, 
tap water is virtually free from Staphy and his un- 
pleasant family, but brook and lake water should 
always be boiled. 

Peroxide of hydrogen is excellent as a mouth 
wash and for deep punctured wounds, such as that 
made by a nail, but its value as a general antiseptic 
is so small that it is not worth while to bother 
with. 

Staphy Germ — or Staphy Bacterium, as we must 
call him now — ^has introduced us in this chapter 
to those accidents that are not immediately danger- 
ous to life, but that through infection may later 
become so. 

SUMMARY 

Bacteria, especially those varieties that produce 
pus, exist everywhere. 

The skin is a protection through which no bac- 
terium can penetrate. Therefore any break in the 
skin (as in scrapes, cuts, burns, compound frac- 
tures) opens the way for infection. 

Aseptic dressings are those in which the bacteria* 
have been killed by some antiseptic. For example, 
a cloth boiled for ten minutes is aseptic. 

Antiseptics include boiling water, tincture of 
iodine and 70 per cent, alcohol. 



INFECTION AND "STAPHY" 83 

The ideal way to treat a small break in the skin, 
such as a scratch, a cut or a hole torn by a broken 
bone, is to put tincture of iodine into it and cover it 
with a sterile compress and bandage. Avoid court 
plaster and collodion, also "surgeon's plaster" or 
adhesive tape, except for holding a bandage from 
slipping out of place. 



CHAPTER VIII 
BURNS AND FROSTBITES 

When you boil an egg two things happen to it ; 
it hardens and becomes a dead egg that will no 
longer hatch. Since the substances in an egg are 
somewhat like the substances that make up our 
skin and muscles, it is easy to believe that great 
heat has somewhat the same effect on our flesh as 
it has on an egg. In fact, heat cooks and kills our 
flesh exactly as it does the egg. It makes no differ- 
ence whether it is dry heat (hot iron, flame) or wet 
heat (steam, hot liquids) or the sun's rays or an 
electric current. The effect is the same. 

Three Degrees of Burns 

Of course some bums are worse than others, 
and a bad burn needs treatment that is very dif- 
ferent from the treatment that you would give to 
a slight one. For convenience, we say that there 
are three degrees of bums, and distinguish them by 
the depth to which the heat penetrates. 

84 



BURNS AND FROSTBITES 85 

First Degree 

After a first degree bum you find the skin red- 
dened and smarting a little ; but unless the damage 
is spread over a large area there is no danger. You 
know that the surface of the skin is hardened, for 
you feel uncomfortable — ^probably much as a snake 
feels before it sheds its coat — ^and the skin certainly 
is killed, for in three or four days it begins to 
come oflf in tiny white patches, leaving healthy new 
skin underneath. Burns of this degree are, fortu- 
nately, more common than those of other degrees. 

The commonest cause of first degree burns is 
sunshine — ^the ordinary sunburn without blisters. 
It occurs under other conditions, of course — for in- 
stance, when you pass too near a flame or dip your 
hand into very hot water, or spill some liquid on the 
hot stove and let a cloud of steam rise in your face. 

The simplest treatment is to cover the bum 
with baking soda, or to keep round it cloths wet 
with a solution of baking soda — one teaspoonful to 
a pint of water. Greasy substances relieve the pain 
a great deal, such as olive oil, castor oil, Carron oil 
(linseed oil and lime water, equal parts), lard and 
carbolized vaseline. Cold compresses help. Picric 
acid gauze is excellent. None of these, except the 
last, should be used where the skin is broken, for 
fear of infection. 



86 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Second Degree 

Second d^rce bums are followed not only by 
redness but also by Misters, because tiie injury to 
the skin has penetrated to the lower layers. These 
swell and the skin is lifted up in hunqis filled with 
fluid. At the same time there is considerable pain. 

The only difference in the causes of first and 
second degree bums is that in the second degree 
the heat is greater or is in ccmtact with the skin 
for a longer time. Severe sunburn is the com- 
monest example of this kind of bum. 

Sunburn deserves an extra word in regard to 
prevention — ^an ounce of which, you know, is bet- 
ter than a pound of cure. Each summer, in spite 
of warnings and previous sad experience, blister- 
ing sunburn adorns — or rather disfigures — the arms 
and shoulders of thousands of boys and men. They 
are the ones who try to get "a good tan" in a single 
day and the result is — misery. A good scout does 
not allow himself to be caught napping by Old 
Sol. He exposes his arms and shoulders gradually 
— half an hour the first day, an hour the second 
and so on until his skin has become accustomed to 
the sun — and every morning he rubs on a little 
olive oil, which keeps his skin from cracking and 
helps to make a perfect tan. 

A second degree bum is dangerous for two rea- 



BURNS AND FROSTBITES 87 

sons: first, because, if it covers a large area of the 
body, the intense and continuous pain that it causes 
is very likely to bring on shock ; second, if the skin 
of the blisters is rubbed off, a raw surface is left 
which is easily infected. 

In treating second degree bums, therefore, you 
must watch for shock and treat that first ; leave the 
rest to the doctor. If you cannot reach him for 
hours, wash the blisters with alcohol and prick them 



Vmi CL n>flwg motion/ 0^ fa^ 




sXo/^daurt^ 



(ooH tceCioii) 

with a needle dropped in alcohol or made red hot in 
a match fiame. Prick them near the good skin and 
press the contents out with a clean cloth, putting 
pressure first on the side opposite the prick. If they 
refill, re-empty them, with the same care against in- 
fection. Always cover them with a sterile gauze com- 
press. Never use absorbent cotton next to a wound ; 
the fibers stick and prevent rapid healing; bandage 
it in place on top of the gauze compress if you wish. 
If the burned skin round the blisters is unbroken, 
apply to it the remedies spoken of above ; but wher- 
ever it is broken or rubbed off, that place must be 



88 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

treated as an open wound and covered with a dry 
sterile dressing. If there is dirt on the raw sur- 
face, paint it with tincture of iodine or alcohol, 70 
per cent, before putting on the compress. 

Third Degree 

In third degree bums the damage extends to the 
flesh below the skin. You will see that the skin is 
blackened and cracked and perhaps that it has 
fallen away from the flesh in places. The pain is 
terrific 'and deep shock comes on almost imme- 
diately. 

Such a bum is usually the result of getting the 
clothes on fire or of falling into a tub or a tank 
of hot liquid or of coming into contact with a 
heavy current of electricity. 

First aid for a bad burn like this is mainly to 
treat shock and to get the patient to a doctor or to 
a hospital as quickly as possible. If the burn covers 
one-third or more of the body he will almost cer- 
tainly die in a few hours. You have no time to 
spend in worrying about infection. Wrap up the 
burned parts in the cleanest cloths you can find — 
either dry or wet with baking soda in water — wrap 
the patient warmly in blankets, stimulate him, keep 
him quiet and see that a doctor reaches him without 
delay. 



BURNS AND FROSTBITES 89 

Warning 

It IS strange but true that a big first or second 
degree bum is worse than a small third degree bum. 
So always watch your patient for shock and be 
ready to treat him for it. 

Never pull clothes off a burned surface, for fear 
of pulling off skin with them. Cut round the bum 
and leave an island of cloth for the doctor to re- 
move. 

FROSTBITE 

In cold weather you may suddenly realize that 
your toe, finger, nose or ear has lost its feeling. If 
it is white you can be sure that it is frozen. 

The treatment is not to warm it quickly, but to 
rub it hard first with snow, then with cold water. 
Very slowly use warmer and warmer water until 
the skin gets back its pink color. 

SUMMARY 

Bums, unless small, are always serious injuries. 
Watch for shock. Extensive bums are frequently 
fatal within a few hours. 
Bums are of three degrees : 
First: Reddening of skin with burning sensa- 
tion. Treatment — baking soda as powder or 
in water, olive, castor or Carron oil, lard, 
carbolized vaseline, wet compresses. 



90 . FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Second: Reddened skin, blisters, swelling of 
part, pain, perhaps shock. Treatment — 
prick blisters with sterile needle, use reme- 
dies as above, cover raw surfaces with sterile 
compresses, get a doctor. 

Third : Scorched or blackened skin, swelling of 
part, perhaps skin cleaves away from the 
flesh, terrific pain, great shock. Treat for 
shock, cover bums with clean cloths, dry or 
wet in baking soda water. Get a doctor. 

Frostbite is known by the white color of the part 
and the lack of sensation in it. Treatment: rub 
with ice or snow and cold water; use warm water 
very slowly. 



CHAPTER IX 
POISONING 

Someone once said that a weed is a flower gone 
astray. In the same way it is true that a poison is 
a good substance in the wrong place. Abnost all 
the poisons may be used in small quantities as 
medicine for various diseases without harming the 
patient; and many of the things that we swallow 
every day without thinking of any danger would 
become poisons if we took enough of them. Coffee 
and tea contain poisons, in small quantity, and to- 
bacco is so poisonous that at first it often makes 
the person sick who tries to smoke it. Copper is 
a poison, yet peas, beans, oysters and bread con- 
tain traces of it. Horse-radish belongs to a poi- 
sonous family of plants, while many seeds, notably 
apple seeds, almonds and peach stones, contain 
traces of one of the most violent poisons known. 
And so on. Remember that this is true even when 
these articles of food are as pure as we can get 
them. 

Poisons, you see, are not always fatal. A few 
of them work very quickly — so quickly that even 

91 



92 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

if a doctor were near at hand he would not be able 
to save the patient; but most of them work more 
slowly, so that, just as in hemorrhage, you have 
time to stop and think what you shall do. 

Two Things to Do 

Two things you must do in every case. Those 
are to empty the stomach of the poison that is in 
it, and to give an antidote. An antidote is some- 
thing that prevents the poison from injuring the 
body. 

If a doctor could treat the patient immediately 
he would put a long rubber tube down the man's 
gullet and through it wash the poison out of his 
stomach. You will not be able to do that, of course. 
The best you can do is to make the man vomit. 
Very often you will find that he has already vom- 
ited ; it is Nature's way, when we have taken some 
harmful thing into our stomachs, to make us throw 
it up. Do not be content with that, but make the 
patient vomit again. The easiest way to do that 
is to get him to open his mouth wide and then to 
tickle the back of his throat with a feather or a 
straw. Of the emetics (substances that cause vom- 
iting) the commonest is a large quantity of luke- 
warm water — a quart is none too much for a grown 
person. Soap suds is excellent — make it out of 
laundry soap and warm water and give a glassful. 



POISONING 93 

Another is a teaspoonful of mustard in a glass of 
warm water. If you have reason to think that 
there is more of the poison still in the stomach give 
the patient a good drink of water and then make 
him vomit again ; this is almost as effective as wash- 
ing out his stomach with a tube. 



But when you have finished with this you have 
done only half the trick. Remember that the in- 
side of the stomach is a mucous membrane — a soft, 
moist surface, and that a good deal of the poison 
will stick there in spite of all the washing you can 
give it. You must give an antidote to counteract 
that remaining poison. 

In the back of a diary you will probaUy find a 
list of poisons and their antidotes. Notice that 



94 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

there is a different antidote for almost every poi- 
son. Don't try to remember all of them ; even doc- 
tors don't attempt that. Fortunately, milk and eggs 
or a gruel of milk and flour is an excellent first 
aid antidote for almost all the poisons ; but the giv- 
ing of it does not excuse you from calling a doctor 
as soon as you can. 

Another thing that must be watched is the general 
condition of the patient. Shock follows very often 
both from the effect of the poisons and from the 
great pain that some of them cause. You must 
treat this, also. 

What Two Scouts Did 

Malcolm Flagg and Fred Derry, on their way 
to join their patrol, which was camping at Crystal 
Lake, came upon a man who had intentionally poi- 
soned himself. He lay beside the road groaning 
and near him was a blue bottle with the word "Poi- 
son" stamped in the glass. He already regretted 
his act and when the boys bent over him he begged 
them to bring help. Malcolm spent a few seconds in 
trying to find out what the man had taken, but the 
fellow did not seem to be capable of telling. So 
Malcolm, who was a first-class scout, wasted no 
more time in that, but thrust the bottle into Fred's 
hand and told him to run to a house that they had 



POISONING 95 

passed half a mile back and telephone for a doctor. 
As Fred dashed up the road Malcolm opened his 
knapsack and took out a cake of soap; then he 
rushed down to a brook that flowed through the 
woods on the other side of the road, and pres- 
ently he was giving the poisoned man a cupful of 
very soapy water. That had the desired effect. 
After the fellow had vomited twice Malcolm 
wrapped him in the blanket that he was carrying to 
camp. Then he mixed some of the pancake flour 
from his provision bag with some water and gave 
a pint of the gruel to the man. 

Ten minutes later Fred and a doctor came speed- 
ing up in an automobile and after a quick exami- 
nation the doctor turned to the two scouts and said : 
"It was lucky that you chaps happened along. This 
fellow's going to be all right, but he wouldn't have 
had much chance if you hadn't known just what to 
do." 

That was good scouting. If you would do as 
well some time remember these things: when you 
find a person who has taken poison, first spend a 
few seconds trying to discover what the poison 
is; second, send for a doctor, telling him if you 
can what poison has been taken; third, make the 
patient vomit and at the same time keep him warm 
and look for shock; fourth, when he has emptied 
his stomach well, and if you do not yet know what 



96 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

poison he has taken, give him three eggs beaten 
up in a pint of milk, or a pint of milk-and-flour 
gruel. Then let him rest till the doctor comes and 
stimulate him if necessary. 

There are a few special antidotes that are easy 
to remember. White patches around and in the 
mouth are usually the result of burning with either 
strong acids or strong alkalies. There is no way 
of telling the difference between them that will 
hold good in every case. If the bottle or package 
from which the poison came is not labeled, you 
may perhaps judge which it is by remembering 
that the patches burned with acids are likely to 
be hard and dry, and those burned with alkalies 
are usually soft and rather slimy. If you suspect 
an acid, give an alkali as an antidote — such as two 
or three teaspoonfuls of baking soda, or a glass of 
lime water — not lime juice; remember that there 
is lime in plaster, and if nothing else is handy, 
crush a small piece of plaster from the wall and 
mix it with the water; your last choice would be 
a teaspoonful of wood ashes in water. 

If you suspect an alkali, you must give an 
acid as an antidote — ^such as vinegar or lemon 
juice. 

Carbolic acid, or phenol, is not really an acid, 
and does not behave like one. It bums like an 
alkali and leaves its smell strongly on the breath. 



POISONING 97 

The antidote is dilute alcohol and the eggs and 
milk as above. Sylpho-nathol (formerly called 
sulpho-naphthol) is sometimes taken by people; it 
makes them thoroughly sick, but is only mildly 
dangerous and needs only the usual treatment. 

Tablets of bichloride of mercury (or corrosive 
sublimate, called also "antiseptic tablets*'), are 
sometimes taken by people who try to kill them- 
selves. The treatment is to induce vomiting and to 
give milk and ^gs, as described above; but other 
effects of the poison may come on several days or a 
week later, so that a doctor ought to see the patient 
every day for at least a week. 

Compounds of arsenic are much used for kill- 
ing vermin. Paris green and Rough on Rats con- 
tain much of it. Your treatment will be the gen- 
eral treatment above, for the special antidote is a 
certain uncommon chemical. However, the dirty 
liquid obtained by boiling a double handful of 
rusty nails or other rusty iron in a pint or more 
of water for fifteen minutes may help a good deal 
as an antidote and should be given. 

Another Kind of Poisoning 

All those poisons that we have been speaking 
about show effects immediately after a person 
has swallowed them; but there are other kinds 



98 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

of poisons that show effects later. These are the 
poisons in food. Sometimes the food has spoiled 
and so has become poisonous, as in the case of de- 
cayed fish or meat; sometimes it contained poison- 
ous substances even when fresh, as in many of 
the mushrooms and mussels. Some persons are 
poisoned by certain articles of food, though the 
food may be harmless to others. 

At any rate, if a person begins to have a severe 
stomach ache from half an hour to two or three 
hours after he has eaten, and rapidly becomes more 
ill, with vomiting and diarrhea and headache, you 
may be fairly sure that what he ate is disagreeing 
with him; or you may say, if you like, that his 
food has poisoned him. It is what is called 
"ptomaine poisoning." 

In a case like that the poisonous substance, what- 
ever it may be, has got beyond his stomach and 
into his intestines. If the patient has vomited sev- 
eral times his stomach is probably pretty empty, 
so that you needn't worry about that. It is quite 
likely, too, that he will not be able to keep milk 
and eggs on his stomach. The thing to do now is 
to get the irritating substances out of his intestines. 
Do this with a dose of Epsom salts — four level 
teaspoonfuls for children and eight level teaspoon- 
fuls for grown-ups, dissolved in a full glass or 
more of water ; or give one or two Seidlitz powders. 



POISONING 99 

That will hurry the enemy out of the body and 
lessen its chances of doing harm. 

Sometimes the vomiting is so continuous that 
even the salts are thrown up. In that case try 
giving the patient cracked ice to eat; often that 
will stop the vomiting till the salts can work. 

SUMMARY 

Treatment for poisons that show immediate ef- 
fects, such as pain in mouth, throat or stomach 
(upper third of abdomen) or burned or discolored 
patches in mouth or throat: 

1 Send for doctor, telling him if possible what 

the poison is. 

2 Empty the patient's stomach by inducing him 

to vomit one or more times. 
Cause vomiting by: 

a. Tickling throat. 

b. Giving large amounts of lukewarm 

water, or 

c. Strong soap suds, or 

d. One teaspoon ful mustard in a glass of 

warm water. 

3 Give antidote. Best general antidote is three 

eggs beaten in a pint of milk, or a pint of 
milk-and-flour gruel. 

4 Watch for shock and treat it with warmth 



loo FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

and stimulation (blankets, heaters, aro- 
matic spirits of ammonia, J^ teaspoonful in 
a little water). 

Treatment for poisons (usually in food) that 
show effects half an hour to two or three hours 
after eating, such as severe cramp-like pains all over 
the abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, shock: 

1 Send for doctor, telling what has been eaten* 

2 Cause vomiting as above, if patient has not 

already vomited. 

3 Give antidotes as above, plus one to two heap- 

ing tablespoon fuls of Epsom salts in a full 
glass of water, or one or two Seidlitz pow- 
ders, followed by more water. 

4 Watch for shock and treat it 



CHAPTER X 
BANDAGES AND CARRIES 

The postman recently brought us a letter from 
a scoutmaster whose troop has lately become fa- 
mous for its good work in bandaging. We had 
written to him for advice, asking what his method 
of instruction was. Here is his letter : 

Dear Sirs: — 

In reply to your recent letter asking how I teach 
bandaging to my troop, I want to tell you an ex- 
perience that we had last May. 

With twenty-four members of my troop and 
one assistant scoutmaster I was on a camping trip 
in the Black Hills. We had planned to follow 
what was said to be an old Indian trail and camp 
each day at the first good place we could find when 
the sun began to sink. 

On a Tuesday morning we started rather late 
to go through Calico Pass and down into the valley 
of Beaver Stream. Early in the afternoon we 
had reached the point of highest altitude — thirty- 
five htmdred feet according to our maps — when 

lOI 



102 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

clouds swept down upon us and brought a cold 
rain that presently turned to sleet. We hurried 
along the trail in single file with heads bent low 
to the storm and in the course of half an hour 
descended below the tree-line and entered a 
scraggy growth of spruce. Still it rained, and we 
were facing the unpleasant prospect of pitching 
our pup-tents on the wet ground, when suddenly 
we rounded a ledge and came upon a log cabin 
half hidden in a dense growth of hemlocks. One 
of the boys gave a shout and we all rushed forward. 
The door was latched, but opened readily when we 
pushed on the handle. Inside we found one long 
room with bunks ranged along the log walls, and 
a wide stone fireplace at the further end. Two 
windows — one in the middle of each long side — 
gave sufficient light to reveal that the place was 
unoccupied and apparently had been in that condi- 
tion for some time. We could not have asked for 
finer shelter from the storm and with 'light hearts 
we set about the pleasant task of making ourselves 
comfortable. Soon we had a fire going and had 
cooked an appetizing meal of soup and rice. 

We had finished eating and the twenty-six of us 
were sitting near the fire listening to the beating 
of the rain and the soughing of the wind when 
the unexpected happened. I had taken out our 
first-aid kit and was cleaning a knife cut on Leon 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 103 

Stewarfs thumb when we were all somewhat 
startled to hear the sound of footsteps and a thump 
at the door of the cabin. As we turned, the door 
swung open and into the light of our candles and 
of our fireplace blaze stepped one of the largest 
men that I have ever seen. He actually had to 
stoop as he crossed the threshold. Rubber boots 
were on his feet and he carried a fishing rod. 

"Well, well!" he cried. "What's all this?" 

I stepped forward immediately, explained who 
we were and how we happened to be in the moun- 
tains and invited him to have some supper. 

We're both in the same boat," said our visitor; 
I've been fishing in Beaver Stream and got caught 
by the storm too. No, I don't want anything to 
eat, thanks. I had some supper in my pack, and 
ate it coming up the trail. But I'll spend the night 
with you. This old cabin used to belong to a club 
of sportsmen who came up here every year, but they 
don't come any more and we're welcome to use 
it all right. What's that?" 

The fisherman pointed to our first-aid kit, and 
I lifted it from the floor and put it in his hands. 

"So you're boy scouts, are you?" he said as he 
took a roller bandage from the box. "Do you know 
how to use all these things ? I've heard that scouts 
are pretty clever." 

"Well," said I, "we don't know as much about 






I04 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

bandaging as we wish we did; we need someone 
to show us more about it." 

At that a strange twinkle came into the eyes of 
our fisherman visitor. "Perhaps I can help you a 
little/' he said. 

"You might bandage up this boy's thumb," I 
said, pointing to Leon. 

"Come here, son," said the big man, and almost 
before we had time to see what he was doing he 
had deftly and neatly bandaged Leon's hand. His 
fingers moved with almost incredible swiftness and 
I realized instantly that our visitor was a doctor 
and an expert with bandages. 

"You must give us a demonstration," I said, and 
all of the boys crowded round and cried, "Yes, 
show us how you do it." 

"All right," said he, "but first let me take off 
my rubber boots ; they're too hot in here." 

A moment later he stood in his stocking feet, 
a mountain of a man, holding up a roller bandage. 

"The main business of this is to go on over 
dressings and hold them in place. Of course you 
must never put it next to a wound except when it 
is sterilized or made of very clean cloth. A roller 
also makes a good tourniquet, and by putting it 
round a boy's neck and under his forearm you 
can use it as a sling, but the triangular is better 
at that 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 105 

"When you buy roller bandages in the stores 
they are usually gauze, and sterilized, too. That's 
why you can use them without a dressing if you 
have to and if you are careful not to touch the 
part that goes next to the wound. Of course, 
you can make them at home out of clean cotton 
cloth. Usually they are about ten yards long and 



^ 




Ma a 




oWtoKoid a roller 



one inch to six inches wide — ^three inches is most 
useful. 

"First of all you must learn to hold the roller 
like this, so that you can either squeeze it and pull 
it tight or let it go loose enough to unroll in your 
hand." 

The big man held the bandage up for all of us 
to see. 

"Then," he went on, "you must always stand 
directly in front of whatever you are going to 
bandage, and not to one side of it; and if you are 
right-handed the bandage always goes from left 
to right across the top of the hand or foot. You 



io6 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

anchor it by taking several straight turns round 
the limb; and when you are through you either 
double it back on itself (see figure on page 124) to 
make two ends to tie, or else split it down the mid- 
dle for a way, knot it to prevent raveling and tie 
the two ends round the limb. Sometimes you hold 
the end in place with a bit of adhesive tape — what 





NOT Uiis v?a 



5 



we doctors call surgeons' plaster. That makes the 
bandage look neat. 

"And now you've got to promise me one thing 
before I show you anything more. You must 
never put the roller on backside to. Always make 
it face out, always, with this one exception — ^when 
you're using the spiral reverse bandage, which I'll 
show you presently. But before I do that let me 
show you the circular — the easiest of the roller 
tricks. 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 107 



Circular 



"Just wind it round and round; that's all there 
is to it, wherever the arm or leg is the same size 
for a little way — ankle, wrist, upper arm, neck and 
head* But just as soon as you put it where the 
arm or the leg is growing smaller or bigger — like 
the calf, forearm, thigh, and instep — ^that doesn't 
work. A bandage can't hold on well unless both 
its edges are flat on the skin. If you try to put 
it on from ankle to knee, for instance, with plain 
circular turns, you will soon find out that its lower 
edges are loose. Once when I was stopping at a 
village forty miles down the valley I was called 
to fix up a young man who had fallen against a 
mowing machine. Someone had got hold of a 
roller bandage and had wound it round his leg from 
ankle to knee ; it was all in loops and bunches. 

Spiral Reverse 

"How do you prevent that? Watch!" The big 
man beckoned to one of the boys who had taken 
his puttees and stockings off and began to put the 
bandage on his leg. "This is one of Mr. Roller 
Bandage's prettiest tricks and rather hard to learn," 
he said. "You will have to pay very close at- 
tention. 



io8 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



*'Ii you should start in at the ankle and bandage 
upward with circular turns, always keeping the 
cloth flat on the skin, you would make a very poor 
job of it and leave a lot of the calf uncovered. 
The reverse spiral or spiral reverse trick stops that. 
When the circular turns begin to separate rapidly, 




stop winding. Put your left thumb on the lower 
edge of the last turn, to hold it there, and slacken 
the part between your two hands. Turn your right 
hand over toward you, so that the top edge of the 
bandage is now the bottom edge, and the inside 
becomes the outside. Move your right hand a 
little toward you and then down toward the foot, 
always keeping the bandage slack, until the fold 
lies just above your left thumb. Catch it there with 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 109 

your thumb. Make the next turn round the leg, 
keeping the lower edge always the same distance 
from the last lower edge: that keeps the bandage 
even. Continue that all the way up to just below the 
knee. Every other turn the bandage is wrong side 
out, but it doesn't make any difference, for it comes 




out all right. . Isn't that a great trick ? Here, two 
or three of you fellows try it." 

He took a handful of bandages from the first- 
aid kit and tossed them to the boys, who were now 
watching his every move as if he were a conjurer 
about to produce rabbits out of a hat. 

"Notice that the folds where the reverses come 
are all on the outside of the leg, and not over the 
shin bone ; a row of folds over the bone would hurt 
after a while." 



no 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



"But what do you do when you get to the knee ?" 
asked Andy McLoren, one of my patrol leaders. 

Figure of Eight 

"Figure of eight/^ said the doctor. "Nearly al- 
ways use it when you go round a right-angled cor- 
ner, like the heel or the bent elbow; or across a 
joint that may need to be used a little after the 
bandage is in place. It's called that because when 




jiqure ^)ay[/Saqe iir jbot 



^■i^^ If 



1 



you use it you make first the upper loop and then 
the lower, always crossing in the same place. If 
you can imagine taking a figure eight and bending 
it in the middle, you'll see what I mean. At the 
ankle, for example, you take several turns round 
the smallest part of the leg, bring the bandage across 
the instep, make the second turn round the foot, 
cross the instep again, roimd the ankle, and so on, 
till you have finished, leaving the heel uncovered. 
The same at the knee. When you have carried the 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES iii 

spiral reverse bandage to a point a little below the 
joint, take a turn just above the kneecap, then one 
just below, crossing the bandage behind the knee. 
Continue this, letting each turn above the knee go a 
little higher, and each one below a little lower, until 
everything below the joint is covered in. Then 
continue up the thigh with another series of reverse 
spirals." 

Testudo 

"But suppose I fall down and skin the tip of my 
elbow; isn't there some way of putting a bandage 
on it?" I asked. 



.^estido Jjancldai 




"Of course there is," said our visitor. "When 
you get to the elbow or the heel (and, by the way, 
the elbow should always be bent at right angles 
when you do it up), put one turn of the bandage 



112 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

directly over the point; the next turn goes so that 
two-thirds of its width is above the point, and the 
next the same distance below. The next is clear 
of the point and a little above it, and the next is 
similarly placed below it. Each new turn creeps 
a little away from the point of the joint, and now 
you find it is going on like a figure of eight. When 
you have finished, the whole joint is covered in. 
That trick is called the testudo. If you don't know 
what that means, look at the picture of a testudo in 
the dictionary." 

"Seems to me I used to read about them in 
Caesar, when I was in the high school," said I. 
"Didn't the Roman soldiers make a testudo by 
standing one behind the other and lapping their 
shields over their heads, so that arrows couldn't 
get through that iron roof?" 

"That's it exactly : the turns lap over each other 
just like the shields. Now here's another bandage 
that has a Latin name — the recurrent. 

Recurrent 

"When you want to cover in the toes or the 
fingers, or one finger, or the top of the head, you 
lay the bandage back and forth across the part 
until it is all covered in and then keep it in place 
with a few circular turns. You will probably have 
to pin it too. 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 113 

Spica 

"Then there's the spica — a word that means a 
spike or ear. The turns of this bandage resemble 
the arrangement of the husks on an ear of com, 
but it's really nothing more than a figure of eight 
with one turn bigger than the other. It's used 
high up on the thigh and for the shoulder. One 
turn goes round the thigh or the arm and the next 
round the waist or the trunk, under the other arm. 

Triangular 

"Those are all the roller bandages that you'll 

have any use for. Let's take a look now at this." 

As the doctor spoke he pulled a tringular band- 




€^ ^Z ^^ N.'-Sn^r 



age out of the kit and held it up for all of us to 
see. Of course we had seen triangular bandages 
before, but somehow this one which the big fisher- 
man-doctor held up in the flickering light that 



114 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

illumined our log cabin shelter looked more inter- 
esting than any triangular bandage had ever looked 
before. 

''The main advantage of this over the roller is 
that you can find it anywhere. Take a piece of 
cloth a yard square, fold it diagonally and cut it 
down the crease. That makes two of them. You 
can make them out of a shirty or a skirt, or a sheet, 







'Srcm.(L trixjuAofe Ixm^ahe 




or even a piece of paper. And you can use them 
either open, like this, or folded into a cravat which 
you can use like a short piece of a roller. For ex- 
ample : roimd an ankle or a wrist, or over an eye, 
or for the palm of the hand. The long edge is 
the base, the point opposite is the apex, and the 
other two points are the ends" 

We Were getting more and more interested and 
at this moment Mr. Simmons, my assistant scout- 
master, suggested that the doctor show us the 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 115 

best ways of covering different parts of the body. 

"Well," said he, "let's have a volunteer 'injured 
man.' Who wants to be bandaged?" 

At his words half a dozen of the boys sprang 




forward. He chose Reddy Lane. "Step over here 
by the fire where it's warm and strip down to your 
running pants," he said, and Reddy began throw- 
ing off his' clothes as if he were racing to be "first 
in" at the swimming pool. 

Head 

The doctor took the triangular, and laying the 
middle of its base on Lane's forehead, drew the 
apex back over His hair and the two points straight 
back just above his ears. I found when I tried 



ii6 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

it afterward that if I crooked my fingers round the 
ends and held them tight I could keep the whole 
base tight round the head (this is the important 
thing) and have my thumbs and other fingers free 
to fold in the apex over the back of the head. The 
doctor tied the points together over the apex with 




bayioaae Wfifi) 



'oa 



half a square knot. Then he pulled the apex down 
to tighten the whole bandage and carried it up 
over the half knot, with the result that, when he 
finished the knot, the apex was firmly held between 
the two halves of the square knot. I noticed that 
Ted Harris, who had won our competiticm in knot 
tying, was watching the doctor keenly when he 
tied that knot, but he didn't catch him making a 
granny. 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 117 



Single Melon 

Next the big man showed us a very pretty trick. 
He called it the single melon. He began at the mid- 




dle of Redd/s forehead, low down, and went 
straight back over the top of his head to below 
the bump on the back of it; then forward, going 
a little to one side, but being very careful to come 



r,t 



IZl'SZ jzZZ IZi BITr 






t jT, 



p«-««r ■ ■< '^"^ ~ _j I ^ 



..^L 



".•^o^' 



^ " •^ «'- <» *«. .^^TZ. \~. . - - *-\\ 



:.\,\: T 







r-j 




#rjt -^te trri 

h;str/li of OTje of h£$ frxsd 
a tree, 

'^^^me gocf round and roond, the other is recur- 
rent After a few turns of No. i, Xo. 2 is tied to 
it in t^ie middle of the back and goes straight for- 
ward r/ver the top of the head. Xo. i goes forward 
mind the head just above the ear and crosses cm 
iti\} of No, 2 on the forehead. No. 2 then fdds 
tiai:kward, toeing held in place by No. i. Keep on 
till the whole head is covered. No pins are needed 
here and the bandage, if properly put on, will not 
come off. It is really a single melon (represented 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 119 



by No. 2) held on by circular turns (represented 
by No. I)." 




Oint mSer 



n&r 



^ doutJg jnelovL auwcuK 

Eye or Ear 

He folded the triangular into a cravat and, cov- 
ering one eye or ear, tied the bandage round the 
head. With the roller he then did the same thing. 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



"For the jaw," said the doctor, "the four-tailed 
bandage is the best." He drew u: a picture of it 




3^G 

■fcur-toiieo 

J- — ^ Sondixae 



on a leaf of a note tx)ok and while the boys were 
passing it round he showed that two cravat 
bandages or two pieces of roller would do as 
weU. 



Shoulder 

For this part of Reddy's anatomy he used the 
spica. He took several circular turns round the 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 121 

middle of the upper arm and then began to climb. 
After each turn about the arm he now took a big 
turn about the body, going under the other arm. 
When the shoulder was covered in he tied his ends 
round the arm. 




With the triangular he then bandaged Reddy's 
other shoulder. He laid his base over the shoulder 
and across the chest and back so that the apex 
hung in front of the armpit, tied the ends under 
the other arm, and, carrying the apex backward 
under the shoulder, tied it to one of the ends that 
he had left long for that purpose. 



122 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Elbow 

"Now for the elbow. Remember that it should 
always be bent so that the lower arm is horizontal 
— unless it is dislocated." First he put a figure of 
eight and then a testudo over it, and then showed 
us that you can do it just as well with the trian- 
gular. 

He adjusted it so that the middle of its base 



Orumouiar 

vaisdoM -for elbow 

was at the middle of the upper arm and its apex 
hung straight down behind the elbow. He crossed 
the ends in front of the upper arm, then in- 
cluded the lower arm between them and tied them, 
with the apex brought round the point of the elbow 
and held under the knot. [In the sketch the 
apex has not yet been brought up under the final 
knot.] 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 123 

Forearm 

Here the doctor again showed us his spiral re- 
verse trick, after he had taken a few circular turns 
round the wrist for an anchor. He finished with 
more circular turns just below the elbow. 

Palm of Hand 

"Don't forget," said the doctor, as he lifted one 
of Reddy's hands, "that all hand bandages should 
be finished round the wrist, in order to hold them 
on surely." Then, putting the middle of a tri- 
angular, folded into a cravat, across Reddy's palm, 
he crossed it on the back of the hand, and finished 
by tying the ends round the wrist. With the roller 
he did the same for the other hand. 

Whole Hand 

I was interested in this, for often men get their 
hands torn badly in machinery. He untied the tri- 
angular from Reddy's hand and spread it out on 
a box that stood near the fireplace ; at his direction 
Reddy laid his hand, palm down, on it so that his 
finger tips reached halfway to the apex. The 
doctor then folded the apex over Reddy's hand, 
brought the ends up, crossed them over the back 
of the hand and tied them round the wrist. 

With the roller he then did it differently. He 



124 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



used the recurrent tridc Beginning on the palm 
near the wrist, he folded it back and forth over 
the ends of the fingers to the corresponding point 
on the back of the hand, laying the turns to right 
and left until all the fingers were covered. Then 
with circular turns he covered the whole hand in, 
beginning at the finger tips and finishing round 
the wrist. 

Fingers 

He used the same method here, but he hunted 
round in our kit until he found an inch-wide band- 
age. Over the back and the front of the whole 



OWo cncfstoti^, 




BANDAGES AND CARRIES 125 

length of the finger he put a recurrent, and held 
it on with circular turns. At last he went down the 
back of the hand to the wrist, took a circular turn 
about it, came back to the finger across the back 
of the hand, took a few more turns about the 
finger and finished round the wrist. "If I went 
to the wrist across the palm," he said, "every 
time you bent your fingers the bandage would 
loosen." 

Groin and Thigh 

"Here you use the spica. Round the thigh, round 
the waist, a little higher round the thigh, round 
the waist again and so on. That's all. The tri- 
angular for the groin goes on like a diaper; for 
the thigh tie the ends round the thigh and pin the 
apex to your patient's belt. It isn't tight enough 
for him to walk much with it on, but it'll hold a 
dressing in place while he lies down." 

Leg, Knee, Foot, Toes, Sprained Ankle 

"There isn't much more," said the doctor as he 
saw one of the boys yawn, "and there isn't much 
of Reddy that isn't covered. Bandage the leg 
just as you do the forearm; foot and toes like 
hand and fingers. Knee like elbow; ankle, too, 
except for one thing. That's sprained ankle. Your 



ii6 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

it afterward that if I crooked my fingers round the 
ends and held them tight I could keep the whole 
base tight round the head (this is the important 
thing) and have my thumbs and other fingers free 
to fold in the apex over the back of the head. The 
doctor tied the points together over the apex with 




Dcmaaae J3rke^ 



ad 



half a square knot. Then he pulled the apex down 
to tighten the whole bandage and carried it up 
over the half knot, with the result that, when he 
finished the knot, the apex was firmly held between 
the two halves of the square knot. I noticed that 
Ted Harris, who had won our competition in knot 
tying, was watching the doctor keenly when he 
tied that knot, but he didn't catch him making a 
granny. 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 117 



Single Melon 

Next the big man showed us a very pretty trick. 
He called it the single melon. He began at the mid- 




dle of Reddy's forehead, low down, and went 
straight back over the top of his head to below 
the bump on the back of it; then forward, going 
a little to one side, but being very careful to come 



ii8 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

• 

to the same point on the forehead ; back again, go- 
ing to the other side. Each time he went a little 
farther from the middle, but always came to the 
same points back and front. Soon his layers 
reached the ears, when he took a few turns round 
the head, pinned the points where the layers re- 
versed, and said, "This is really nothing except a 
recurrent bandage. 

Double Melon 

"But the double melon, which needs two band- 
ages, is better," he added when he had unwoimd 
the roller. 

"The last time I used this," he said, "I put it 
on the head of a boy who had got six inches of 
his scalp laid open when an ax flew out of the 
hands of one of his friends who was cutting down 
a tree. 

"One goes round and round, the other is recur- 
rent. After a few turns of No. i, No. 2 is tied to 
it in the middle of the back and goes straight for- 
ward over the top of the head. No. i goes forward 
round the head just above the ear and crosses on 
top of No. 2 on the forehead. No. 2 then folds 
backward, being held in place by No. i. Keep on 
till the whole head is covered. No pins are needed 
here and the bandage, if properly put on, will not 
come off. It is really a single melon (represented 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 



by No. 2) held on by circular turns (represented 
by No. I)." 




CKrsl roller 



mCr 



^ uouWc melon, bflndode 

Eye or Ear 

He folded the triangular into a cravat and, cov- 
ering one eye or ear, tied the bandage round the 
head. With the roller he then did the same thing. 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



c\ 



You cannot carry anyone far in this way. If 
that is necessary, use 

The Fireman's Lift 

This is a maneuver for getting an unconscious 
person securely on your shoulders. Turn the pa- 
tient on his face. Straddle him, facing toward his 



BANDAGES AND CARRIES 131 

head. Stoop, and with your arms round his chest, 
lift him to his knees; then, with arms shifted to 
his abdotnen, raise him to his feet. Grrasp his left 



Ou 



wrist with your left hand and draw his left arm 
round your neck, stepping meanwhile to his left 
side and supporting him with your right arm round 
his waist. Next, grasp his right wrist with your 



132 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

left hand and draw his right arm round your neck, 
letting his left arm go and bending in front of 
him, so that, now his head and chest lie across your 
shoulders. Pass your right arm between his legs 
and round his right thigh. Lift, and settle him com- 
fortably on your shoulders. Finally, shift his right 
wrist to your right hand, and with your left hand 
grasp his left wrist. 

If your patient is not too heavy, you can carry 
him in this position for some distance, or even 
up or down a ladder. If necessary, free your left 
hand and use it. 

The Four-Hand Chair Carry 

When there are two of you to help and the pa- 
tient is not unconscious the four hand chair carry 







BANDAGES AND CARRIES 133 

does fairly well for short distances. Connect your 
four hands as the illustration shows, seat the pa- 
tient on them and have him put his arms round 
your necks for balance. 

Tke Litter 

The word means "a bed." Anything on which 
a person may be laid and carried about is a litter. 
You must use one when a patient has a serious 
wound or a fracture, or mxtst be carried far. 



and two ^oo>vth£ ottui-" ■: — " 

A window blind, an ironing board, a table leaf, 
a short ladder well padded, a mattress and so forth 
may be used when a regulation litter is not to be 
found. 



134 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

The coat litter is a good substitute. It is made 
of two poles six or seven feet long and two— bet- 
ter four — coats. Have the wearers of the two 
coats take the ends of the poles in their hands and 
bend forward till their backs, arms and the poles 
are in a horizontal straight line. Take hold of the 
bottom of their buttoned coats and peel them off, 
inside out, over the wearers' heads until you reach 
the sleeves. Slip the coat-collars over the wearers' 
heads, catch the sleeves at the wrist, and complete 
the business with one pull. Add another pair of 
coats and the litter is finished. 

Whatever kind of litter you have, lift the pa- 
tient onto it gently ; be sure that his head, arms and 
feet do not hang over the edge; carry him feet 
first except when going up hill ; and to avoid jounc- 
ing him, break your step. 



CHAPTER XI 
FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 

Probably not more than half of us grow to scout 
age without breaking a bone. It is usually not a 
serious accident. We remember a few hours of pain 
followed by a few weeks of keeping the bone still, 
and then we were as good as new. But some of 
us have stiff elbows or crooked fingers, and know 
that a broken bone is not a joke. And we well 
remember how glad we were, before the doctor 
came, to have someone take care of us who knew 
what he was doing. It is decidedly worth while 
to learn something about fractures and disloca- 
tions. 

Kinds of Fractures 

A fracture is nothing more or less than a broken 
bone. There are four important kinds. A fracture 
is simple when the bone is broken but does not 
pierce the skin. It is compound when one or both 
of the fragments are pushed out through the skin, 
making an open wound. Sometimes the two frag- 
ments are jammed together end to end so hard 
that they stick there; this is an impacted fracture. 

135 



136 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

And last, the fracture is said to be comminuted if 
the bone has been crushed into several or many- 
pieces by a heavy weight, such as a tree or a street 
car. 

To Determine a Fracture 

When you find a person who has fallen or has 
been struck or has wrenched his arm or leg violently, 
you must do your best, of course, to find out 
whether or not his bones are broken. If he has suf- 
fered a compound fracture you will be able to see 
the bone and can be sure of the diagnosis ; but if the 
fracture is simple you must look for these signs : 

1 Pain. You will find your patient complain- 
ing of pain in one spot. 

2 Disability. He will tell you that he cannot 
use the injured limb properly, although he may 
be able to move it a little. 

3 Deformity. Often the painful member is dif- 
ferent in appearance from the member on the op- 
posite side. Always compare the bad side with 
the good one, both by sight and by touch. 

4 Tenderness. Feel of the injured part. Un- 
less there are bruises, a broken leg or arm will not 
be tender except directly round the point of frac- 
ture. Doctors speak of this as localised tender- 
ness. 

5 Extra Motion. Grasp the limb above and be- 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 137 

low the tender place, taking great care to be gentle, 
and watching your patient's face to see when you 
hurt him. Try, slowly and carefully, to berjd the 
limb at this point very, very slightly, as if a joint 
were there. If you can bend it, the bone is frac- 
tured. You must use great care in doing this, 
for fear of injuring the flesh. 

6 Crepitus. Last, with your hands in the same 
position, try gently to rub the broken ends of the 
bone across each other. If you hear and feel a 
gritting, which doctors call "crepitus" (a word 
meaning "crackling"), you may be sure that the 
bone is broken. 

Caution 

If the fracture is impacted, Nos. 5 and 6 will be 
absent, because the broken ends will be wedged 
forcibly together again. This happens when the 
patient has fallen straight on an outstretched limb — 
as, for instance, when he has landed squarely on 
his feet, or on his outstretched arm. If you sus- 
pect that this is the case, treat it like a simple 
fracture. 

What to Do 

If you decide that the bone is fractured, the first 
thing to do is to make your patient comfortable. 
Lay him down and prop the broken arm or leg in 
any comfortable position with pillows or coats or 



138 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

anything that is handy. If the fracture is com- 
pound you must take steps to prevent infection; 
pour tincture of iodine directly into the wound and 
cover it with a sterile dressing. Bleeding, of course, 
must be stopped. If you have no antiseptic to kill 
the germs that are already there, at least use the 
sterile dressing to keep new ones out. 

The second thing is to watch for shock ; the treat- 
ment is warmth and stimulation — ^blankets and hot 
black coffee are best. 

The third thing is to get a doctor. If one is 
nearby, let him do all the rest; if not, you must 
get the patient ready to go or be carried to one. 

On the journey he must be comfortable, for re- 
peated or continued pain will exhaust him and bring 
on shock as surely as sudden severe pain will. Since 
it is movement of the broken bone that will hurt 
him, it is plain that you must keep both fragments 
of the bone quiet, by applying something outside 
of the limb to stiffen it, in place of the useless bone. 
Whatever you use for stiffening is called a splint; 
it may be a long, thin, flat piece of wood, such as 
doctors use, or several small sticks laid on side by 
side, or a broom handle, a cane, a rifle, a roUed-up 
newspaper, a pillow, a piece of bark — ^anything that 
will stiffen the dangling limb. 

There is another reason for using splints. Look 
at the figure, which was drawn from an X-ray plate, 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 139 

and you will see how pointed and sharp the ends 
of a brcJten bone may be, and how easily they may 



^^imple \radurs cfilm \orearm. 

be pushed about, cutting and tearing the soft parts 
and even pricking through the skin, thus making 
a compound fracture. A compound fracture is 



I40 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

so much worse than a simple fracture that you 
must do everjrthmg you can to prevent a simple 
fracture from becoming compound. 
The two reasons for using splints, then, are: 

1 To prevent needless pain. 

2 To prevent injury to the soft parts and the 
possible development of a compound fracture. 

The value of splints is well shown by an acci- 
dent that happened to a wood chopper in Michi- 
gan. A heavy tree fell across his leg, causing a 
simple fracture of both the bones below the knee. 
It was winter. He was alone and knew nothing 
about first aid. With fine courage he began to crawl 
through the snowy brush to the nearest house, a 
half mile away. After a long time and many stops 
he reached the house, but his simple fracture had 
become compound and he was in deep shock as a 
result of the pain. He was rushed by sleigh and 
train to a hospital and had the best of care, but 
infection had gotten in and later he lost his leg 
above the knee. 

The Best Splint 

The ideal splint is a piece of light wood a quar- 
ter of an inch or three-eighths of an inch thick. Its 
width should not be more than three-quarters of 
the diameter of the limb; if it is narrower, it loses 
in stiffening power; if wider, it holds the band- 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 141 

age too much away from the limb. Where the 
diameter of the limb changes, the width of the splint 
should change to correspond. 

The length should be great enough to include 
not only the fractured place, but also the joints 
above and below it. Muscles from farther up and 
down the limb are attached to the good ends of 
the broken bone and when they contract, tend very 
strongly to cause movement of one of the broken 
ends. Thus, in a fracture of the lower leg you 
must make the splints include both ankle and knee ; 
in one of the thigh, both knee and hip must be 
splinted, and so forth. 

Padding 

Another point of great importance is the pad- 
ding of the splint. Double one foot under you and 
sit on a hard floor for a few minutes and you will 
become painfully aware of the bones in your ankles 
and knees. Just so with the man who for an hour 
or longer has to bear a piece of wood tied tightly 
over any point where a bone comes near the sur- 
face. Besides the pain, there is the danger of ulcer 
formation. 

The aim of padding is to fill in the hollows of 
the outline of a limb with enough of some soft 
substance to lift the splint away from any bony 



142 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

prominence and allow it to press with equal firm- 
ness all up and down the limb. Intelligent padding 
will make any splint comfortable. Of course the 
padding goes between the splint and the flesh. 



Ifi 



Although absorbent cotton makes excellent pad- 
ding, it is seldom at hand when needed. Fairly 
good substitutes are grass, hay, dry moss, leaves, 
soft tissue paper, a thin pillow, and so forth. Lack- 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 143 

ing all else, the patient's own clothes, put carefully 
back in place, make acceptable padding. 

We have gotten far enough now to be able to 
make general rules for treating fractures with 
splints. 

1 If it is compound, treat the wound at once. 

2 Draw the broken limb into as natural a posi- 
tion as you can without hurting your patient too 
much. Do not try to "set" the bone. 

3 Prepare the splints. If the wood is rough 
wrap it with bandage or other cloth. 

4 Prepare padding. 

5 Apply padding and splints slowly and care- 
fully, holding them in place at first with small 
strips of cloth or cord, if alone, or having someone 
else hold them; and later covering and binding on 
the whole with bandage. This must be firm, but 
not tight enough to cause pain or to interfere with 
circulation. Always leave the ends of the fingers 
or toes uncovered; if they become cold or numb 
or blue in an hour or two, the splints are held on 
too tightly and must be loosened. 

If no bandage is handy, hold the splints in place 
with cord or strips of cloth as follows: one tied 
about the splints just above the point of fracture, 
one just below, one at each end of the splints, and 
as many more as are necessary to hold the splints 
firmly in place. 



144 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

With these general principles in mind you are 
ready to take up special treatment for the common 
fractures. 

Fracture of the Forearm (Radius and Ulna) 

In the forearm — the part of the arm between the 
elbow and the wrist — there are two bones, the 
radius and the ulna. When one bone only is broken, 
the other acts as a partial splint; but frequently 
both bones are fractured. 



/ 






v 



\ 



\ 

\ 
\ 




opiL»i£ W {(, 



pr lorecumxy 



Use two splints and a sling. With the patient's 
elbow bent at a right angle and hand on edge, so 
that the palm faces the stomach and the thumb 
points straight up in the air, shape one splint to 
fit on the palm and the inner side of the arm from 
the base of the fingers to the bend of the elbow. 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 145 

Fit the other splint correspondingly on the out- 
side from knuckles to elbow. These two splints 
keep foreann and wrist quiet; the next step is to 
immobilize (that is, to keep from moving) the 
elbow by putting the forearm in a sling. Re- 
member that slings should include hand and fingers. 

Upper Arm {Humerus) 

Two splints and a sling. Hold the arm as be- 
fore; one splint goes from armpit (axilla) to el- 
bow; the other from shoulder to elbow. Neither 



OtJint W uppe'' 



splint immobilizes either joint (elbow or shoulder). 
A sling takes care of the elbow and partly of the 
shoulder. A few turns of bandage round the arm 
and body will hold the shoulder joint fairly quiet. 



146 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Collar Bone (Clavicle) 

No splints can be used here. Hold the arm bent 
at the elbow as before. Apply a sling and keep 
the whole arm close to the body with circular turns 
of bandage round arm and body (as in fracture 
of the upper arm). The patient's shirt replaced 
over the injured side — ^with the sleeve empty, of 
course — does very well. Often a soft pad six 
inches square and three inches thick placed high 
up in the armpit will help to ease the pain. Hold 
it in place by a cord run through it and tied round 
the neck. When the elbow is brought tight to the 
side the pad tends to throw the shoulder out, and 
thereby to drag the broken ends of the collar bone 
somewhat apart. 

Leg (Tibia and Fibula) 

Strictly speaking, the thigh extends from the hip 
to the knee, and the leg from the knee to the 
ankle. 

The leg, like the forearm, contains two bones, 
which help to splint each other when only one is 
broken. 

Although the joints are larger and the muscles 
stronger in the leg than in the forearm, so that 
we might reasonably expect to use heavier splints, 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 147 

the fact that the patient cannot walk and must be 
carried means that his leg will be kept fairly quiet 
merely by his position. We find, therefore, that 
a pillow does very well as a splint for the leg. It 
immobilizes the ankle, while the knee is immobilized 
by keeping the patient flat on his back. Select a 
rather thin bed pillow, pat it smooth, then crease 




^Jmovism^forYO^^ merm 



5 



it lengthwise in the middle. Let one person lift 
the leg carefully (with one hand just above the 
ankle and the other just below the knee), place 
the pillow in position and lower the leg into the 
crease. The end of the pillow should project about 
three inches beyond the heel. Wrap the pillow 
round the leg, making it snug and smooth, and hold 
it in place with cord or strips of doth previously 



148 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

placed on the ground under the pillow. If you 
have safety pins, pin the edges of the pillow tightly 
together; or, if it is too big, lap the edges and pin 
them. 

Last, push upward on the ball of the foot till 
the sole is at a right angle with the ground and 
hold it there by pinning the projecting edges 
round it. 

Although the pillow alone will serve in an emer- 
gency, it is much better to reenforce it with three 
splints placed below and on both sides, which reach 
from knee to sole. Never put a splint on the front 
of the leg over the shin bone. In that position it 
is not only painful but is likely to cause an ulcer. 

If you have the splints and not the pillow, pad 
them well and apply as above. 

Thigh (Femur) 

In the thigh is the longest, biggest bone in the 
body, and some of the strongest muscles. A break 
here is a painful and serious thing, even if it is 
a simple fracture. Both knee and hip must be 
well immobilized. 

Use three splints. One goes on the inside of the 
limb from crotch to ankle; another, of the same 
length, goes under the limb from buttock to ankle ; 
and the third, on the outside, from the ankle to 
the armpit. This one keeps the thigh from moving 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 149 

outward; it should be fastened by tying it at the 
ankle, below and above the knee, below and above 
the point of fracture, below the hip, and round the 
body at the waist and chest. The last two should 
turn once round the splint to prevent it from slip- 
ping forward or backward. 

Sometimes, when you cannot get good splints, you 
can save the situation by tying the two legs to- 
gether so that the good one splints its injured 
brother. 

Fingers 

Straighten the finger as much as possible and 
apply a padded splint from the tip of the finger 
to the heel of the palm. Sling. 

Ribs 

Fractured ribs show localized pain and tender- 
ness, and usually great pain on breathing. Crepitus 
may or may not be found. The fracture is seldom 
compound, but the sharp broken end may be driven 
inward and puncture the lung. Pleurisy and pneu- 
monia are often the complications that follow a 
fracture of the ribs. The only first aid treatment 
is a tight swathe round the chest. This should 
be of stout cloth eight or ten inches wide, and 
pinned tight while the patient's lungs are empty. 



I50 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Lower Jaw 

Here, in addition to the ordinary signs of frac- 
ture, look for unevenness in the line of the teeth. 
Apply the four-tailed bandage as shown in Chap- 
ter X (p. 120). 

Skull 

Fracture of the skull is discussed in Chapter VI, 
page 63. There is no first aid treatment except 
quiet and warmth. Get a doctor quickly; delay is 
dangerous. 

DISLOCATIONS 

A dislocation is an injury at a joint in which the 
two bones are pulled or pushed apart and remain 
out of place. It may be simple or compound, like 
a fracture. The cause is a violent twist or shove 
on a bone, such as may occur in slipping or fall- 
ing against something, kicking, throwing a ball, 
and so forth. 

Diagnosis 

1 The surest sign of dislocation is dis^location ; 
something about the joint looks strange — out of 
place — ^hen you compare it with the correspond- 
ing joint of the other limb. Also, it feels dif- 
ferent. 

2 Of course, if one of the two bones at the 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 151 

joint is out of place the joint cannot do its work 
well ; that is, you will not be able to move the joint 
as you should. There is lack of proper motion. 

Remember that in fractures motion is usually 
present where there should be none; while in dis- 
locations proper motion is reduced. 

3 Pain is not localized in one spot, as in frac- 
tures, but is general — ^all round the joint. 

4 There is no real crepitus. Sometimes a soft 
rubbing can be felt in a dislocation; but there is 
none of the sharp, crackling sensation that you get 
when feeling a fracture. 

In addition, swelling generally sets in sooner and 
is greater than in the case of a fracture. 

Sometimes you cannot decide between a dislo- 
cation and a fracture, and sometimes the patient 
may have both or neither. When in doubt, treat 
like a fracture. 

Treatment 

Make your patient comfortable. If the disloca- 
tion is compound (which rarely happens), treat the 
wound at once to prevent infection. Put the joint 
into the most comfortable position for your pa- 
tient and prevent swelling as far as you can by 
applying hot or very cold cloths continually over 
the joint. Get a doctor or get your patient to 
one. 



152 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Except in the cases mentioned below, and th«Q 
only in an emergency, never iry to replace the hone. 
Joints are delicate things, very necessary to our 
comfort and easily injured. Moreover, the liga- 
ments about the joint have been injured and torn 
by the dislocation; it is important that the bones 
be replaced in such a way as not to injure them 
further. Only a good doctor knows how joints 
are built and how best to reduce a dislocaticoi. 

When You May Try 

There are three cases in which you are justified 
in trying to reduce a dislocation — ^finger, lower jaw 
and shoulder; but only when it will be impossible 
to get a doctor for eight hours or more. The less 
you bother with dislocations, after you have made 
your man comfortable, the better first aider you 
will be. 

Fingers 

What we now say applies only to the two end 
joints of the fingers and to the one end joint of 
the thumb. Dislocations of the knuckles and of 
Ihe second thumb joint had better be left to the 
doctor. 

Dislocations of the finger and thumb joints are 
common, especially in baseball. Pull out on the 
injured finger, keeping the dislocated bone bent 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 155 

just as it is until it snaps; then straighten it to its 
usual position and relax the pull. Apply a finger 
splint and have the patient keep it on for several 
days. 

Lower Jaw 

Sometimes the jaw is dislocated on one or both 
sides by nothing more strenuous than a wide yawn 
or bite; laughing and vomiting are not unusual 
causes. 

Cover both thumbs with thick cloth and, placing 
them on the patient's back teeth, with the fingers 
grasping the jaw outside, press down and back 
with a strong, steady movement. Just before the 
jaw slips back, slide your thumbs off from between 
the jaws, for the teeth come together smartly. For 
the same reason tell your patient to keep his 
tongue in. 

Shotdder 

This is perhaps the commonest of all dislocations. 
There are several different varieties, named accord- 
ing to the position of the arm bone after it has 
slipped out of its socket. Reduction is not always 
easy, even for a doctor ; sometimes the patient must 
be etherized, not on account of the pain, but to re- 
lax the spasm of the injured muscles round the 
joint. For these reasons, do not try to reduce the 
dislocation except when no other help is near. 



154 



FIRST AID FOR BOYS 



If forced to it, proceed thus: stand on the in- 
jured side of the patient and grasp wrist and elbow 
of the dislocated arm. Hold the elbow somewhat 
away from the body, and without moving it force 
the wrist backward slowly with a firm pressure 



iJ(ocK£K- JAeinoi 




until it is nearly on a level with the shoulder. There 
will be resistance to this movement, overcome slowly 
by a long, steady, gentle pressure. This move- 
ment should take two to five minutes.^ Next, with 
the wrist still held back, bring the elbow somewhat 
* Cotton, "Dislocations and Joint-Fractures." 



FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 155 

across the chest. Third, holding the elbow in its 
new position, and pushing a little upward on it, 
swing the wrist across to the opposite shoulder. 

This is called the Kocher method and is far bet- 
ter than the old way of putting your heel in the 
patient's armpit and hauling on his arm. 

If you succeed in reducing the dislocation, hold 
the arm to the side with sling and bandages and 
keep up hot or cold applications for several hours. 

If you fail, after two or three trials, stop; for you 
may injure the joint severely by repeated trials. 



CHAPTER XII 

DROWNING AND ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 

When the Beaver and the Blazing Arrow patrols 
in charge of Scoutmaster Nolan set out for their 
three-day camping trip at Archer Lake last October 
no one of course had any idea of the startling acci- 
dent that was to occur before their first camp fires 
were lighted. At four o'clock the two patrols ar- 
rived at Pine Point, which juts out into the clear 
waters of Archer Lake, and as soon as the tents 
were pitched everyone, including the scoutmaster, 
stripped for a swim. 

The day had been unusually warm for October 
and the cool water was refreshing. Peter D'Arcy, 
patrol leader of the Beavers, immediately swam 
out beyond the others ; he was a hundred feet from 
the shore when suddenly he threw up his arms 
and shouted for help. Raymond Hutton, who was 
nearest, swam to the rescue, although he w^s con- 
siderably smaller than Peter. 

To the scouts on shore and to those in the water 
who had heard the cry for help and had seen Ray- 
mond swim to give aid, it seemed that the two 

156 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 157 

went out of sight at the instant that the smaller 
boy fearlessly readied out his hand to the larger. 
There was a brief struggle and the water closed 
over their heads. They did not come up. 

Scoutmaster Nolan was already swimming to- 
ward the spot with hasty overhand strokes, but 
he turned his head long enough to shout to the 
boys on shore to run for a boat that they had seen 
at a landing on the other side of the point. Then 
he swam on and presently dived below the sur- 
face. A few seconds later he came up— empty- 
handed. Twice more he dived without result and 
by this time two of the Blazing Arrows were row- 
ing hastily toward him in the little white boat that 
they had found at the landing. As they came along- 
side, the scoutmaster seized the stem, climbed 
aboard and immediately dived. Three times he 
did the same thing while the two boys in the boat 
watched white-faced and silent. The third time 
he came to the surface slowly — dragging some- 
thing. As soon as his head rose above water he 
seized the gunwale of the boat and the scouts saw 
that he was holding with the other hand to the two 
boys who had sunk. D'Arcy's arms were clutched 
tightly round Hutton's neck and both were ap- 
parently lifeless. 

A few seconds later the boat had touched shore 
and Scoutmaster Nolan was giving sharp orders. 



158 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

"All of you Beavers get to work building a fire, 
and warming some blankets; Grey (turning to his 
senior patrol leader), you take Hutton and do ex- 
actly what I do to D'Arcy. Sargent, you and Do- 
herty take that boat and row across to the farm- 
house, over on the other shore, telephone for a doc- 
tor and tell him to bring a pulmotor from Hicks- 
ville if he can get one." 

While the scoutmaster was speaking he had 
rapidly felt with his fingers in D'Arcy's mouth to 
make sure that there was nothing obstructing the 
passage to his throat and that his tongue was drawn 
forward. Grey followed his example with Hut- 
ton. Next they both lifted the unconscious boys 
by the hips and for several seconds held them in 
that position with heads hanging down close to 
the ground so that the water in their throat and 
lungs could run out. Once or twice Mr. Nolan 
gave D'Arcy a vigorous shake and Grey did the 
same with Hutton. 

"Quick now," said the scoutmaster, "put him, 
stomach down, on the sand — Schaefer method. 
Two coats folded" (this to some of the Blazing 
Arrows who were standing and whispering together 
as they watched). 

Almost before he had the words out of his mouth 
two coats were thrust forward and the scoutmaster 
and Grey adjusted them under the chests of the 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 159 

.two unconscious scouts so that their faces fell 
lightly forward and their mouths and noses were 
free for breathing. Then the scoutmaster stretched 
out D'Arcy's arms in front of his head and once 
more made sure that the boy's tongue was pulled 
forward. 

All that had taken less than a minute, for Mr. 
Nolan and Grey were working with all the speed 




jsi^^^ 



CW injousano am/ oi\^— 



in their power. Now they both kneeled straddling 
their patients' thighs and, placing their wide-spread 
hands so that the thumbs nearly met on either side 
of the backbones and the little fingers lay along the 
lower ribs of the unconscious boys, began to exert 
pressure. 

"A thousand and one, a thousand and two, a 
thousand and three, a thousand and four," counted 
Mr. Nolan, At his first words he was sitting back 
against the calves of D'Arcy's legs with his hands 
resting lightly on the boy's lower ribs; but as he 



i6o FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

began to count he rose slowly cm his knees and 
pressed more and more stron^y with his hands. 
As he said "a thousand and two" he was exerting 
full pressure; as he said "a thousand and tiiree" 
he was relaxing the pressure and settling back to 
die sitting position; at "a thousand and four" he 
was back again in his starting position with his 
hands resting lightly on D'Arcy's lower ribs. Im- 



mediately he repeated the movement, again count- 
ing "a thousand and one, a thousand and two" and 
so on. Meanwhile Grey was working in the same 
manner over Hutton. Each complete movement 
took about four seconds and the counting was for 
the purpose of regulating the artificial breathing to 
fifteen respirations a minute — the normal rate in 
health. Presently three of the Beavers ran up 
with warm blankets and it took only a few seconds 
to adjust them under and round the two boys. 
"A couple of you Beavers get some towels and 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION i6i 

begin to rub their legs and arms toward the heart, 
while Grey and I are working," ordered Mr. Nolan, 
and he saw with satisfaction that the Beavers car- 
ried out his command efficiently and without get- 
ting in the way. Steadily he went on with his 
artificial respiration and once when he glanced at 
Grey and caught a despairing look on the patrol 
leader's face he said, "Keep it up ! We'll win." 

Suddenly one of the Blazing Arrows gave a shout 
and pointed at D'Arcy. "He moved his eyes," he 
cried. 

Scoutmaster Nolan gave a quick glance at 
D'Arcy's face and went on with his work. The boy 
was beginning to breathe and presently he moved 
one of his hands, turned his head a little and spoke. 
What he said made everyone laugh, though there 
was a lump in every throat. 

"You're breaking my slats ! Let me up !" 

At that Scoutmaster Nolan leaped over to Grey. 
"I'll take Hutton," he said. "You get out the first 
aid kit and give D'Arcy a dose of aromatic spirits 
of ammonia — ^half a teaspoonful in some water. 
Then keep him in the blankets close to the fire 
where he'll be warm." 

When Grey found time to look up from tending 
D'Arcy he saw that Hutton was moving his feet. 
A few moments later the scoutmaster was giving 
Hutton a stimulant too. The boy was still dazed 



1 62 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

and he kq)t repeating as he looked round at the 
smiling faces of his Beaver and Blazing Arrow 
friends: "He wouldn't let go of my neck. He 
wouldn't let go of my neck." 

Quarter of an hour later a doctor rowed across 
to the point with the two Blazing Arrows who had 
gone to the farmhouse ; but he found nothing to 
do. Hutton and D'Arcy were still feeling weak, 
but they both were smiling cheerfully and lying in 
comfort near the fire. 

When the doctor left he shook hands with Scout- 
master Nolan and said, "Thanks to you, those boys 
will be all right. The bigger lad's stomach seems 
to be a little upset. That's natural, seeing that he 
had a cramp. I've left some Jamaica ginger: give 
him one teaspoonful tonight in some hot water. A 
good sleep tonight will make them both O. K." 

We have described this accident in detail because 
of the fact that the scoutmaster and the boys took 
exactly the right method and did not "lose their 
heads." 

There are a few points that need special em- 
phasis. As soon as you get the patient to shore 
always try to rid his throat and lungs of what water 
there is in them by lifting him with your hands 
under his hips; and always take pains to see that 
his tongue is pulled forward. Sometimes a drown- 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 163 

ing person "swallows his tongue" and ob- 
structs his breathing passages. You could 
work over him for hours without effect if you 
left him in that condition* Just that little detail 
of pulling forward the tongue might mean the 
difference between life and death. In giving a 
scout his first-class examination in artificial respira- 
tion the court-of -honor man ought to mark him 
zero if he does not remember the tongue. Scout- 
master Nolan used the Schaefer or prone pressure 
method rather than the Sylvester method because 
on thp whole it has proved to be the more satisfac- 
tory; one of the points in its favor is that in the 
face-downward position the tongue naturally lies 
forward. Should it seem to be clogged in the 
patient's throat tie a handkerchief or a shoe-string 
round it and fasten it so that it cannot be drawn 
back. 

If the unconscious person is partly or wholly 
clothed, get someone to loosen or remove all tight 
clothing about the neck, chest and waist while you 
continue the artificial respiration. 

Above all things do not give up trying because 
there seems to be no life in your patient. An hour, 
or even two hours, is not too long to continue the 
artificial respiration, for while a spark of life lingers 
there is a chance to kindle it into health. 

One of the common mistakes in artificial respira- 



1 64 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

tion is to apply pressure too rapidly. Ncmnally 
you breathe about fifteen times a minute— once 
every four seconds. Counting *'a thousand and 
one, a thousand and two, a thousand and three, a 
thousand and four" will help you to regulate the 
pressure, but it is a good plan to time yourself with 
the second hand of a watch to make sure that you 
are working at the correct rate. 

One Criticism 

Only one thing about the accident at Archer 
Lake can be criticized — Raymond Button's method 
of going to the rescue of his friend. He swam 
straight toward him and stretched out his hand 
without stopping to realize that D'Arcy, half crazed 
with the fear of drowning, would seize him in a 
frantic grasp. Always approach a drowning person 
cautiously and, if possible, from behind, so that 
you can get a firm grip upon him and prevent him 
from seizing you. Should he succeed in grasping 
you, do not hesitate to strike him in the face or to 
double up and thrust him away with a vigorous 
push of your feet ; but do not hit him with an)rthing 
harder than your fist. 

ELECTRIC SHOCK AND GAS ASPHYXIATION 

In serious electric shock a person often ceases 
to breathe. The first-aid treatment is to begin 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 165 

artificial respiration as soon as you have removed 
the patient from contact with the current. The im- 
portance of this is emphasized in a letter from an in- 
surance company. The writer says: "The physi- 
cian that was called gave the man up without any 
attempt at resuscitation. I still think, from what 
those who were there tell me, that a short time with 
the prone-pressure method would have brought 
him around." 

The United States Department of the Interior 
gives some valuable advice about electric shock in 
a circular entitled "First Aid Instructions for 
Miners" : 

The symptoms of electric shock are: Sudden loss of 
consciousness; absence of respiration, or, if present, very 
light and may not be observable; very weak pulse; and 
burns at point of contact. Always rescue a sufferer as 
quickly as possible, being careful not to get in contact 
with the live wire. Lose no time in looking for a switch 
for turning off the current; if there is one near at hand 
open at once. If there is a drill, mine auger, or any piece 
of wire at hand throw it across the trolley wire and rail 
at once. By so doing the circuit breaker in the power 
house will be thrown out and the current cut off. Such 
action may cause injury to the other working parts of 
the mine, but when a human life is at stake all the wires 
should be cut if necessary. Life should come first and 
the mine afterwards. If no wire or drill long enough 
to reach from the wire to the rail is at hand, you may 
proceed to remove the victim from the current, but 



1 66 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

first get a dry board, piece of wood, or paper and put it 
under joor feet, and protect the hand yoa use with 
your cap, coat or any dry Don-condoctiiig material, so as 
not to make a drcuit. If possible use one hand only, 
placing the other bdiind yon. If you do use both hands 
to remove the man from die ground, make sure that both 
your hands and your feet are well infmlatrd so that yon 
win not be caught in the same contact as your patient. 
Another way is to take your t>elt or handkerchief or a 
piece of rope and loop it over the patient's feet if he is 
lying on the wire, and thus pull him o&. If an ax is 
near at hand use it to cut the wire, but first make sure 
that the handle is dry or wrap it with a coat or dodL 

Gas Asphyxiation 

In gas asph3rxiation you can give no better treat- 
ment than by getting the patient into fresh air and 
applying the Schaefer method of artificial respira- 
tion. Always remember to make sure that the 
person's mouth is free from foreign substances and 
that his tongue is where it belongs. And of course 
you will send for a doctor. 

SUMMARY 

Drozjuning 

As soon as you get the patient out of water, re- 
move from his mouth any foreign matter and ptUl 
his tongue forward. Next lift him by the hips and 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION 167 

hold him so till all the water has run from his throat 
and lungs. Send for a doctor. Then lay him face 
downward with a coat under his chest so that his 
nose and mouth are free to the air. Start arti- 
ficial respiration at once. While you work have 
someone loosen or remove clothing at neck, waist 
and chest, and rub the limbs toward the heart. As 
soon as the patient revives give a stimulant, and 
keep him warm and quiet 

Electric Shock 

Remove patient from wires with non-conductors* 
Send for a doctor. Apply artificial respiration* 
Stimulate when conscious. 

Gas Asphyxiation 

Remove patient to fresh air. Send for a doctor. 
Apply artificial respiration. Stimulate when con- 
scious. 



CHAPTER XIII 

MINOR EMERGENCIES 

I SMALL WOUNDS 

When you think of a scratch or a small cut, 
think of an antiseptic and a clean dry dressing. 
For an antiseptic choose tincture of iodine or 70 
per cent grain alcohol. For a dressing use sterile 
gauze if you have it ; or a pad of several thicknesses 
of clean cotton cloth an inch larger than the wound 
all round and held on with bandage or narrow strips 
of adhesive tape ("surgeons' plaster") ; or a ring 
of collodion round the edge (the so-called *'co- 
coon"), leaving the center of the dressing un- 
sealed. 

That treatment gives the best results. Certainly 
it is far better than court plaster alone, or adhesive 
tape, or collodion, for these two reasons : 

First, a break in the skin opens the way for in- 
fection ; that is, opens the way through whidi bac- 
teria (germs) can get into the body. Germs, we 
know, particularly the kinds that cause infection 
of a wound, are ever)rwhere, on everything, so that 

168 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 169 

whatever we scratch or cut ourselves with prob- 
ably leaves many in the wound; to kill them we 
must use an antiseptic (see Chapter VII). Collo- 
dion will not do, for it has only a very weak anti- 
septic action; adhesive tape has none, at all and 
may easily carry germs, and court plaster, having 
been licked, is crowded with them. 

Second, whenever flesh is injured, blood and a 
watery fluid called serum appear in the wound and 
furnish splendid soil for the growth of bacteria. 
Your treatment should aim, therefore, to keep the 
wound as dry as possible; that is, the dressing 
should be of gauze or cloth sterilized or dipped in 
alcohol before applying and should be changed as 
often as necessary. Court plaster, adhesive plaster 
and collodion all seal the wound, keep these fluids 
in and so give infection, if present, a fine chance 
to develop. 

An antiseptic and a clean absorbent dressing, 
then, make the best treatment for small wounds. 

2 PUNCTURED WOUNDS 

By this we mean small, deep wounds, such as 
those made by a nail. It is not the rust on the nail 
that we fear, for iron is often given as medicine: 
in fact, 

Nails and bolts when in solution 
Make an iron constitution. 



I70 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

It is the bacteria which are carried into the wound 
on the dirty nail that make the trouble, particularly 
the germ of lockjaw. This bacterium lives in all 
soils, but especially in those of a sandy nature, and, 
strange to tell, cannot grow in the open air. It 
must have a dark comer, where there is no oxygen. 
The bottom of a punctured wound is an agreeable 
place for a lockjaw germ to lodge, for the opening 
of the wound soon becomes plugged with clotted 
blood and serum, keeping out the air with its 
oxygen. 

It is the same with a bullet wound. Even if no 
vital part is hit the danger of infection remains. 
Lockjaw, or tetanus, as it is properly called, fre- 
quently follows Fourth of July accidents also, not 
because the bacterium has anything particular to do 
with firearms, but because these accidents are likely 
to blow small pieces of wadding or powder deep into 
the flesh, making punctured wounds. These small 
foreign bodies carry with them into the flesh any 
bacteria that may be lodged on the skin ; if the germ 
of tetanus is there, it is pushed into a place ideal for 
its growth. It is easy to understand, then, that any 
punctured wound should be seen at once by a doctor 
and thoroughly cleaned. He will probably inject 
tetanus antitoxin, also, to prevent the development 
of lockjaw. 

In the case of a punctured wound from a nail or 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 171 

a bullet your treatment is to make the wound bleed 
freely by squeezing at its sides, taking care not to 
touch it; then to cover it with a sterile compress. 
If you have iodine or alcohol at hand, pull the 
wound widely apart and pour the antiseptic in freely 
before applying the compress. 

Because oxygen in the wound will tend to keep 
the tetanus bacteria from growing, peroxide of hy- 
drogen is useful as an antiseptic in this one class 
of wounds. 

When the wound is caused by a powder explos- 
ion, cover it with a sterile dressing and go to a doc- 
tor at once. 

3 SPLINTERS 

Splinters frequently go deep into the flesh and 
almost always carry infection with them. Serious 
trouble is likely to follow if the splinter is not re- 
moved. 

Cover a needle with alcohol in a saucer for five 
minutes or heat it red hot with a match (the soot 
will not bother you). With this open up the path 
of the splinter by picking the skin away; if the 
invader lies near the surface begin to pick it out 
at the end that went in first, in order not to push 
it farther in. When the splinter's trench is un- 
covered, lift or pull it out and sterilize the wound 
with an antiseptic (see Chapter VII). 



172 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

4 BOILS 

Boils are small infections that begin on the sur- 
face of the skin and work down along a hair or 
a sweat gland. Our friend Staphy (see Chapter 
VII) is the burglar who thus jimmies his way into 
our house. After a boil is well started there is no 
home remedy to stop it. Poultices are bad, be- 
cause they soften the surrounding skin and tend 
to spread the infection. Your chief object should 
be to prevent the formation of new boils. Be very 
careful not to let anything that has touched the boil 
touch any other part of your skin — whether it be 
your finger or part of your clothes or the dressing. 

As soon as you find a boil developing wipe the 
surrounding skin thoroughly with 70 per cent alco- 
hol, beginning with a wide circle round the boil 
and coming slowly in circles to the center, where 
the infection is. Wipe the boil itself last, throw 
the cloth away, and from that time on, till the boil 
has finished discharging, keep it covered with a 
light dressing changed every day or twice a day. 
In that way you have a good chance of stopping 
the spread of the boils. 

Occasionally a common needle dipped in strong 
carbolic acid and pushed for a quarter of an inch 
into the middle of a beginning boil will nip it in 
the bud. 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 173 

5 BLISTERS 

Blisters are the result of continued irritation of 
the skin. Shoes cause them both when tight 
enough to "bind" and when loose enough to 
"shuck." 

On the hike, take pains to wash your feet at least 
once a day; use warm water and soap, rinse and 
wipe thoroughly dry. Heavy woolen socks are 
best to tramp in; take with you one or two extra 
pairs and give your feet clean socks to work in. 
If, even then, you see blisters coming, try soaping 
the inside of your socks. 

When the blister has developed treat it by empty- 
ing it of its fluid (see figure on page 87) and by 
protecting it from further friction by a bandage. 
Keep it from infection; an infected blister is a 
poor possession. 

6 CONSTIPATION 

When the bowels fail to work regularly every 
day harmful substances are retained in the body 
and absorbed. The result is a tired, uneasy feeling, 
often a headache, perhaps nausea and vomiting, 
and sometimes severe pains in the abdomen. 

Avoid medicine as long as possible. Be regular. 
Select a time to which you can stick every day; and 
then stick to it. Plenty of water is needed; eight 



174 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

to ten glasses a day, including all liquids, is not too 
jtnuch. 

Select your diet carefully. Avoid too much meat, 
butter, fried food, pickles and highly seasoned food, 
coflfee, tea and candy. Eat the green vegetables 
(lettuce, spinach — "greens" of any kind — water- 
cress, celery, cucumbers, melons), rye, graham, 
brown or whole wheat bread, stewed prunes and 
the acid fruits, such as oranges, lemons, grapefruit, 
peaches, pears and grapes. 

If medicine becomes necessary, choose Epsom 
salts (two to four level teaspoon fuls in a full glass 
of water) for a quick purge. Fluid extract of 
cascara (one teaspoonful; or % teaspoonful every 
hour for four hours) has a slower, gentler effect. 

7 DIARRHEA 

Diarrhea may be caused by two classes of condi- 
tions. 

In the first instance it is due to some irritating 
food or medicine you have taken. It may be slight 
— merely a few extra movements for a day or two, 
without any general ill feeling; or it may be severe 
and go with headache, nausea, vomiting, more or 
less prostration and crampy pain in the abdomen. 
This type of diarrhea is oftenest the result of eat- 
ing spoiled food or food that contains harmful 
substances. (See Chapter IX, page 98.) Here it 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 175 

is plain that there is something in the intestines that 
is irritating; the body is trying to rid itself of the 
poison by vomiting and by diarrhea. You must 
help. A dose of salts is the quickest acting purge ; 
it should be given at once and repeated in three 
hours if necessary. That will increase the diar- 
rhea, of course, but in this case that is what you 
want. 

On the other hand, diarrhea may be part of a real 
disease, such as dysentery, typhoid fever or the 
first stages of measles, scarlet fever or diphtheria. 
Here it either lasts for several days, with fever and 
a general ill feeling, or else is followed quickly 
(usually one day) by a rash on the body, sore throat 
and so forth. The onset is rather slow; and you 
feel as if the trouble were spread throughout your 
whole body. 

In this case the treatment is not to make the 
bowels move still oftener, but to get a doctor quickly 
to find out what the real cause of the diarrhea 
is. 

Here it is natural to speak of 

8 STOMACHACHE 

If the pain is near the edge of the ribs in the 
midline and does not go below the navel, it is prob- 
ably due to indigestion, especially if you have eaten 
a great deal or have eaten something hard to digest. 



176 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

like peanuts, bananas or green apples. First try 
a hot drink, such as hot peppermint water or half 
a cup of hot water containing a teaspoonful of bak- 
ing soda. A hot water bag laid on the stomach will 
help. 

If none of these things relieve the pain, cause 
vomiting as described in Chapter IX and follow 
it with a dose of salts. 

If the pain is below the navel, vomiting will do 
little good, for the trouble is not in the stomach, 
but in the intestines. Use a hot water bag. A 
good movement of the bowels will probably give 
relief. If the pain continues for several hours, get 
a doctor; remember that there is a chance of ap- 
pendicitis and that discretion is the better part of 
valor. 

9 HEADACHE 

Constipation and eye strain are the commonest 
of many causes of headache. Rest, a hot bath, and 
an ice cap or cold cloths to the head will usually 
help. If the foregoing causes are removed and the 
headache continues for several days, be examined 
by a doctor. 

At any rate, avoid the use of headache powders. 
They deaden the pain, but they do not remove the 
cause; and they frequently have severe, even seri- 
ous, after-effects. 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 177 

ro TOOTHACHE 

The poet must have thought of this when he 
wrote of an "aching void/' for a cavity is usually- 
found in the offending tooth. Clean this gently 
with a swab of absorbent cotten twisted on the end 
of a toothpick; then roll a tiny ball of cotton, wet 
it with oil of cloves, squeeze it dry, and plug the 
cavity with it. If you have a dentist examine your 
teeth twice a year and fill all of the tiny cavities as 
they appear, you will have little trouble with tooth- 
ache. 

II EARACHE 

Put two or three drops of warm sweet oil in 
the ear. Or put the glass part of a medicine dropper 
on the tube of a fountain syringe ; fill the bag with 
water at about 100° Fahrenheit, and hang it so 
that the bottom of the bag will be level with the 
ear. Direct the stream of water into the ear but 
be careful not to put the glass tip into the 
canal. 

Never put anything hard into the ear, such as a 
toothpick, hairpin or "ear spoon!' 

Often a hot water bottle is enough to stop the 
ache. Sometimes a small piece of cotton wet with 
grain alcohol and placed on the water bottle where 
the ear will lie over it will help. 

If the earache remains after you have tried these 



178 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

things, see a doctor at once. Many earaches are 
due to infections of the middle ear, which lies deep 
in, behind the drum, and is close to the brain. 
Trouble here that is not looked after may have such 
serious consequences as mastoiditis, brain abscess 
and meningitis. Only a doctor, who can squint into 
your ear with his shiny instruments, can tell you 
whether the trouble is due to wax or to soihething 
more serious. 

la NOSEBLEED 

A nosebleed is like a lazy boy on a hike; it will 
probably stop in a few minutes if left alone. If it 
does not, try the old standbys : a roll of paper held 
tightly under the upper lip — a key or anything cold 
to the back of the neck ; snuffing very cold water up 
the nose. Avoid blowing or picking the nose. Sit 
or lie down and keep quiet. 

The two "bleeding points" are on either side of 
the middle partition of the nose about as far in as 
the little finger will reach. Sometimes you can 
stop the hemorrhage (remember that any bleeding 
is a hemorrhage) in this way: cover your little 
finger with a clean cloth ; put it into the nostril as 
far as it will go and press gently and steadily 
against the septum (the partition in the middle of 
the nose) ; apply the pressure for five to ten min- 
utes; withdraw the finger very slowly and gently 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 



179 



in order not to remove any clots that may have 
formed. 

13 FOREIGN BODY IN EYE 

In your own eye: 

Do not rub your eye. Blow your nose hard sev- 
eral times. Lift the upper lid away from the eye- 
ball, pull it down and let go. If these methods 
fail, get help. 





3pt(iC upper ^^ 
vc fid 

In the other fellow's eye: 

In examining an eye, make all your movements 
slowly. If you move quickly near the eye, your 
patient will blink and squirm. 

Place your thumb on the lower lid and pull it 
down until you can see the whole inner side of it. 

To see the under side of the upper lid is some- 
what more difficult, because in the lower part of the 
upper lid there is a layer of stiff tissue (the tarsus) 
which helps the lid to lie flat against the eyeball. 
This layer extends from the lower edge of the lid 
upward about a quarter of an inch ; its upper edge 



1 80 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

is often marked by a slight wrinkle in the lid. Be- 
cause of this layer the lid cannot be rolled but must 
be turned up; also, when properly turned up it 
stays there by itself until the patient winks hard or 
until you push it down again. 

To turn the lid up it is only necessary to place 
a toothpick, a thin match, or the point (blunt) of 
a pencil along the upper edge of the stiffening layer, 
about where the wrinkle is in the lid, and press 
gently in and down while with the other hand you 
grasp the eyelashes and pull them outward and up- 
ward. Meanwhile have the patient look down and 
keep his eyes open. Hold the lid in its new posi- 
tion with your finger on its edge and slide the tooth- 
pick out. The whole movement should be painless. 

You may stand in front of the patient while you 
are doing this, but the better way is to have him 
sit down and stand behind him with his head rest- 
ing firmly against your abdomen. 

Now when your patient turns his eye down you 
can see the whole upper part of the ball as well as 
the upper lid. 

When you have located the foreign body, try 
to remove it by touching it with a bit of clean cloth 
twisted into a point and softened with water — ^not 
with saliva. Sometimes the bit of foreign matter 
will stick to the eyeball. If it is embedded and re- 
fuses to be wiped away, see a doctor at once. 



MINOR EMERGENCIES i8i 

14 SPRAINS 

A sprain is an injury to the ligament and tendons 
round a joint. It is usually not a serious thing, 
although in a really bad sprain the ligaments may 
be so torn that the action of the joint is always 
thereafter imperfect. 

Considerable swelling and pain always follow a 
sprain. The treatment is a hot soak with massage, 
or hot or cold cloths laid over the joint, changing 
them as often as necessary to keep the temperature 
right. Sometimes alternate heat and cold are ad- 
vised. Repeat this treatment three times a day, 
twenty to thirty minutes each time. 

Since there is an injury to the joint, it is foolish 
to think that using it will help to make it well. On 
the contrary, rest is needed. If it is a wrist, elbow 
or shoulder, keep the arm in a sling; a light splint 
on the wrist is comfortable. If it is the ankle and 
you are at home, use a hot soak and the figure of 
eight bandage (see figure on page no). If you are 
in camp, the cold brook will do nearly as well as 
the hot soak. If you are alone in the woods and 
must hobble some distance, do not take your shoe 
oflF, for the ankle and foot are likely to swell so much 
and so quickly that you will not be able to put it on 
again. Cut a stick for a cane, spare the injured 
foot all you can, and put off treatment till later. 



1 82 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

IS STRAINS 

Sometimes, as when you suddenly lift a heavy 
weight, a muscle is stretched so hard that some of 
its tiny fibers are actually pulled apart This is a 
strain. Treatment is rest, rublnng and hot appli- 
cations. 

i6 MUSCLE CRAMP 

This occurs in muscles that have been used so 
long or so hard that they are tired out. They con- 
tract, by themselves, into hard knots, and are ex- 
tremely painful. Cramp is commonest in the legs. 
The treatment is rest and massage. 

Muscle cramp is very different from the crampy 
pains in the abdomen that occur in indigestion, con- 
stipation, diarrhea and so forth. 

17 HICCOUGH 

Take a drink of cold water, holding it in your 
mouth for a minute or two before swallowing it. 
Or hold your breath as long as you can. While 
you hold it press with both hands in and up under 
your ribs. 

18 POISON IVY 

Poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron) is a dimWng 
vine or small shrub commonly seen along roadsides. 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 183 

Its leaves are shiny and in groups of three, a char- 
acteristic that distinguishes it from woodbine or 
Virginia creeper, the leaves of which are grouped 
in fives. 






The irritating substance in poison ivy is a heavy 
oil that evaporates very slowly and may easily be 
spread t^ fingers or clothes. So long as it is in 
contact with the skin it causes itching, redness and 
an eruption; the condition cannot be cured until 
the oil is removed. To do this scrub the irritated 
place when it first itches with strong soapsuds and 
a small cloth, beginning in a wide circle and scrub- 
bing slowly in toward the center. That is to avoid 
spreading the oil. Rinse with warm water in the 



1 84 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

same way and dry the skin. Repeat the same process 
several times with grain alcohol, for this will dis- 
solve what oil is left. 

Now you are safe in believing that you have re- 
moved the cause. The next step is to soothe the 
skin, using vaseline, plain or carbolized ; cocoa but- 
ter, cold cream, and so forth; but best of all is the 
so-called "white" wash, which any druggist will 
make up for you. This is: 

Carbolic acid J^^ dram 

Zinc oxide , ^ ounce 

Lime water , . . . . 4 ounces 

Shake; well and sop it on with cotton or a small 
sponge. It soon dries, leaving a coating of white 
powder. Do this three or four times in succession 
and repeat every hour. If the skin becomes too 
dry, apply some simple ointment, such as those 
above. 

Other plants — ^nettle, rue, poison sumac or dog- 
wood, and especially the common primrose — may 
cause much the same trouble as poison ivy. The 
treatment is the same. 

19 INSECT BITES 

A few drops of ammonia (the aromatic spirits 
will do) will relieve the sting. "White" wash 
(see under Poison Ivy) is excellent. 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 185 

20 BROWN TAIL RASH 

This occurs mostly in the Eastern States and is 
commonest in May and June, when the brown tail 
caterpillar is active. Its hairs, as well as those from 
the moth and from the cocoon, are barbed and carry 
an irritating substance; they actually stick in the 
flesh like tiny poisoned arrows. 

Apply "white" wash (see under Poison Ivy) or 
carbolized vaseline. 

21 SUNBURN 

Sunburn is spoken of in Chapter VIII. For the 
burning of a mild case use "white" wash (see under 
Poison Ivy) and an ointment. 

22 FROSTBITE 

Frostbite is spoken of in Chapter VIII. The 
white appearance and lack of feeling in nose, cheek, 
ears, fingers and toes indicate that they are frozen. 
Do not warm suddenly, but rub vigorously in turn 
with ice or snow, cold water and warmer water un- 
til the part is red and tingling again. 

23 CHAPPED HANDS 

Chap is not always easy to prevent or to cure. 
Wear warm gloves in cold weather; if wool irri- 



1 86 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

tates the skin, wear a fur-lined glove. Keep the 
hands out of water as much as possible and dry 
them thoroughly after washing. Keep the skin 
soft by frequent applications of oily or greasy sub- 
stances, such as cold cream, vaseline, lanolin, liquid 
petrolatum, olive or almond oil and so forth. 

24 CHILL FROM EXPOSURE 

Occasionally, after being out in severe cold 
weather and getting thoroughly "chilled through," 
a person will have a sudden severe chill, a high tem- 
perature, headache, nausea with vomiting, and 
diarrhea. Rest, warm blankets and hot drinks (hot 
black coffee) is the treatment. 

25 PANICS 

Don't be one of the crowd. Keep your head and 
let others see how cool you are. If you are in a 
building, try to keep the performance or the orches- 
tra going. Do anything you can think of to catch 
the crowd's attention for a minute, such, for in- 
stance, as singing. 

26 "MAD" DOG 

A "mad" dog is a sick dog driven wild with the 
torture of his disease. He is not running round 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 187 

looking for someone to bite, but is trying to find 
relief from his pain and will bite any man or animal 
that gets in his way. 

When you see a dog nmning aimlessly about, 
perhaps snarling and snapping and possibly with 
saliva dripping from his mouth, get others out of 
his way and then get out yourself. At least, try 
not to attract his attention. 

Beyond that the aim is to capture him imharmed, 
or, if that is impossible, to kill him. Notify the 
police. If you are cornered and have no weapon, 
wrap your coat thickly about your arm and hold 
it out for the dog to bite at. Then catch him by 
the throat, throw him, and hold him down till help 
comes, or until you can stun or kill him. 

Often a so-called "mad" dog proves not to have 
hydrophobia at all; in order to find this out, he 
must be watched by a veterinary. If he has the 
disease he may be killed later. In any case of doubt, 
especially if anyone has been bitten, make sure that 
the dog's head and spine are sent to the city or 
state Board of Health. If he was "mad" the micro- 
scope will show it and the people bitten by him may 
start on their two weeks of Pasteur treatment at 
once. 

27 BITES OF ANIMALS 

Bites inflicted by dogs that are not "mad," and 
by cats, rats, mice, snakes that are not poisonous 



1 88 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

or by any other small animal, are dangerous in just 
the same way as are scratches and cuts. The treat- 
ment is the same. Sterilize the wound with tinc- 
ttire of iodine or alcohol and be sure that the anti- 
septic gets to the bottom of the wotmd. Cover with 
a light dressing to keep out further infection. 

28 BITES OF POISONOUS SNAKES 

The fangs of poisonous snakes are hollow, like 
a doctor's hypodermic needle. Through these, when 
the snake bites, the poison is injected into the flesh. 
If nothing is done it finds its way quickly into the 
capillaries and small veins and so is spread rotmd 
the body in the blood. 

To prevent this, tie a tight tourniquet round the 
limb just above the wound — ^that is, between the 
wound and the heart. Then, if you have no sore 
places in your mouth, suck the wound to get out as 
much of the poison as you can. It is a strange 
thing that this violent poison is not harmful when 
swallowed ; still, let safety first be your motto and 
spit out your saliva for some few minutes after- 
ward. As you suck, pull the tiny wound open with 
your thumbs by dragging on the nearby flesh. 

The ordinary antiseptics are little match for the 
powerful poison. Some authorities recommend that 
a tiny crystal of permanganate of potassium be 



f 



MINOR EMERGENCIES 189 

I pushed into the wound — or wounds, for there are 
f usually two fangs. 

Watch your patient for symptoms of poisoning. 
Stimulate him if necessary with aromatic spirits 
of ammonia or with hot black coffee. Do not give 
alcohol in any form. Far more persons are killed 
by a combination of snake and whiskey than by 
snake alone. 

Remember that a tourniquet cannot be left on 
indefinitely. At the end of an hour loosen it for 
a few seconds and apply it again. If, in the next 
half hour, the patient shows no ill effects, loosen it 
again, and so on, till you think the danger has 
passed. But if enough poison escapes into the cir- 
culation during those few seconds to harm the pa- 
tient, do not loosen the tourniquet again; run the 
chance of losing the limb by gangrene rather than 
the life by poison. 

Reach a doctor in record time; he has means of 
fighting the poison which cannot be talked about 
in a first aid book. . 

29 STYES 

Styes are really small boils in the eyelids. They 
may occur alone or in crops. Sometimes cold com- 
presses (pieces of^ cloth continually dippe d in ice 
water gmd jaid on jhe eye^ a stye from 

developing when the lid first begins to be sore. 



190 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Boric a cid oin tment on the edge of the li d may help. 
Irrigate the eye with boric acid solution two or three 
times a day. 

(Boric acid solution is an excellent eye wash for 
general purposes and is prepared in this way: get 
an ounce of the boric acid crystafs — ^not the powder 
— put so many of them into a glass part full of 
warm water that some of them remain undissolved 
in the bottom after you have stirred them for sev- 
eral minutes. Cover the glass when not in use. 
Use the clear fluid for the wash.) 

Eye strain, constipation or run-down condition 
may be responsible for these uncomfortable styes. 
If you have many, better see a doctor. 



FIRST AID KITS FOR EIGHT BOYS 

For a one-day hike: 

One Red Cross First Aid Outfit for each boy. 

For a one-to-three-day hike: 

One Red Cross First Aid Outfit for each boy. 
Several two-inch sterile gauze bandages ( four are 

enough). 
Two triangular bandages. 
One bottle of 7J^ grain bichloride of mercury 

tablets. 
One ounce of tincture of iodine. 
One ounce of aromatic spirits of ammonia. 
One tube of carbolized vaseline. 
One }^-inch rubber tube, four feet long, for 

tourniquet. 
One yard of i-inch adhesive plaster. 
One package of picric acid gauze. 
Six safety pins. 

For a one- week camp : 
The above, plus 
Four ounces of Epsom salts. 
Two dozen compound cascara tablets. 

191 



192 FIRST AID FOR BOYS 

Scissors. 

Forceps (tweezers). 

Double quantity of iodine, ammonia, adhesive 

plaster and pins. 
If in a snake country, half an ounce of crystals 

of potassium permanganate. 
In the summer add a pint of 70 per cent grain 
alcohol and a pint of "white" wash, which 
consists of 

Carbolic acid . . . . i dram or teaspoonf ul 

Powdered zinc oxide i ounce 

Lime water, to make up i pint 

See Chapter XIII for directions for use in 
ivy poisoning, insect bites, sunburn. 



r 



INDEX 



Alcohol, as antiseptic, 74 

as stimulant, 19 
Alcoholic intoxication, 66 
Antidotes, 91-100 
Antiseptics, 74 
Apoplexy, 64 

Aromatic spirits of am- 
monia, 18 
Arsenic, 97 
Arteries, 37-53 
Artificial respiration, 158 
Aseptic dressings, 78-83 

Bandages, ankle, 125 
circular, 107 
cravat, 114 
double melon, 118 
ear, 119 
elbow, 122 
eye, 119 

figure of eight, no 
fingers, 124 
foot, 115, 125 
forearm, 123 
four-tailed, 120 
groin and thigh, 125 



Bandages, head, 115 
how to tie, 106 
jaw, 120 
knee, 125 
leg, 125 
material and size of, 

.105 
palm, 123 

purpose of, 104 

recurrent, 112 

shoulder, 120 

single melon, 117 

sling, 126 

spica, 113 

spiral reverse, 107 

testudo. III 

toes, 125 

triangular, 113 

whole hand, 123 
Bichloride of mercury, as 

poison, 97 
Bites, insect, 184 

of small animals, 187 

snake, 188 
Bleeding. See Hemorrhage 
Blisters, 87, 173 



193 



194 



INDEX 



Boils, 172 

Breathing, in dq>ressed 
conditions, 10, 12 
in head injuries, 12, 13 
in health, 7, 9 

Brown-tail rash, 185 

Burns, 84-89 
first degree, 85 
second degree, 86-88 
third degree, 88-89 

Capillaries, 37-53 
Carbolic acid, as poison, 96 
Carron oil, 85 
Carry, four-hand chair, 132 
Chapped hands, 185 
Chill from exposure, 186 
Coffee, 29 

Color, in depressed condi- 
tions, 10, 12 

in head injuries, 12, 13 

in health, 7 
Concussion, 62 
Consciousness, in depressed 
conditions, 10, 12 

in head injuries, 12, 13 

in health, 7 
Constipation, 173 
Cramps, abdominal, 175 

muscle, 182 

Depressed conditions, 10 
Diagnosis, meaning of, 4 



Diarrhcea, 174 
Dislocations, diagnosis of, 

150 
of fingers, 152 

general treatment of, 151 
of lower jaw, 153 
of shoulder, 153 

Earache, 177 
Electric shock, 165 
Emetics, 92 
Epilepsy, 68 
Epsom salts, 98, 175 
Eye, foreign body in, 179 

Fainting, 30 
Fits. See Epilepsy 
Fractures, of collar bone, 
146 

comminuted, 136 

compound, 135 

diagnosis of, 136 

of fingers, 149 

of forearm, 144 

general treatment of, 137 

impacted, 135 

kinds of, 135 

of leg, 146 

of lower jaw, 150 

of ribs, 149 

simple, 13s 

splints for, 138, 147 

of skull, 63, 150 



INDEX 



195 



Fractures, of thigh, 148 

of upper arm, 145 
Fright, 26 
Frostbite, 89, 185 

Gas accidents, 166 
Germs, 74 

Headache, 176 
Head injuries, 13 
Heart, 35 

Heat exhaustion, 54 
Hemorrhage, 34-53 

internal, 51 
Hiccough, 182 

Infection, 73-83 
Iodine, tincture of, 74 

Kits, first aid, 191 

Lifts, fireman's, 130 

transfer, 129 
Litter, 133 

''Mad" dog, 186 
Nosebleed, 178 

Panics, 186 
Paris green, 97 
Peroxide of hydrogen, 82, 
171 



Phenol. See Carbolic acid 
Poisoning, 91-100 

acids, 96 

alkalies, 96 
Poison ivy, 182 
Ptomaine poisoning, 98 
Pulse, how to take, 7, 8 

in depressed conditions, 
10, 12 

in head injuries, 12, 13 

in health, 7 

Respiration. See Breathing 
Rough on rats, 97 

Seidlitz powders, 98 
Shivering, in shock, 29 
Shock, 24-30 

electric, 165 
Skull fracture, 63, 150 
Splinters, 171 
Splints, 138, 147 
Sprains, 181 
Sterile dressings. See 

Aseptic dressings 
Stimulants, 18 
Stomach ache, 175 
Strains, 182 
Strong emotion, 27 
Styes, 189 
Sunburn, 85, 185 
Sunstroke, 54-61 



196 



INDEX 



Supra-orbital prciittre. Treatment, 

67 



m gfiicrjij ijr- 



31 



Tenq^erature, in depressed 
conditions, 10, 12 

in head injories, 12, 13 

in health, 8, 9 
Toothache, 177 
Tourniquet, 48 



Veins, 34-53 
Vomitings, 92 

'White'' wash, 184 
Wounds, punctured, 169 
small, j68 



(O 



i