As a rule it is best to keep a patient quiet at first. Do not try to move him unless it is necessary, and don’t bother him with questions until he recovers a bit.
Shock
Shock is a dangerous condition that comes with almost all injuries. You should always be on the watch for it, or, better, take for granted that it is there and do what you can to prevent it from becoming serious.
The patient gets faint, his face pale. He may become unconscious. Don’t let that happen. Lay him down immediately, flat on his back, with head to one side. Keep him warm by putting blankets or coats around him.
Bleeding
When a man is bleeding badly from a wound, press the wound or the flesh just above it— that is, between the wound and the heart—press it hard with your thumb to stop the blood running in the artery. Then make a pad with something like a flat rounded pebble and bind it over the wound.
If bleeding violently, tie a handkerchief loosely round the limb above the wound, and twist it with a stick until the blood stops. This is called a tourniquet. It must be eased at least every fifteen minutes or serious permanent injury may result. Keep the wounded
part raised above the rest of the body if possible. Get a doctor as soon as possible.
On a small wound apply iodine and cover with a clean (sterile) dressing. Hold this in place with a bandage.
Bleeding from the ears and insensibility after a fall indicate injury to the skull. The patient should not be moved at all. if possible. It is best to keep him lying on the spot, put cold water or ice to his head and keep him quiet till a doctor comes.
Spitting or throwing up blood means internal injury or bursting of a small blood-vessel inside the patient. If the blood is light red in color and mixed with froth it means injury to the lungs. In either case keep the patient quiet and give ice to suck or cold water to sip. Send for a doctor.
Artificial Respiration
To restore anyone who is apparently drowned, or someone who is not breathing from having been overcome by smoke or fumes, you need to apply artificial respiration. It consists merely in laying the patient on his front, and then squeezing the air out of him and letting it in again.
Every Scout should know how to apply artificial respiration.
1. Immediately after the removal from the water, lay the patient face downwards, with one arm extended and the face turned to the side, resting on the other arm. Kneel alongside or astride of the patient, facing towards his head.
2. Place your hands on the small of the patient’s back, one on each side, with the fingers together on the lowest ribs.
3. Swing forward with the arms straight, and make a firm, steady downward pressure on the ribs of the patient, while you count slowly in thousands—”one thousand—two thousands”— to press the patient against the ground and to force the air from his chest.
4. Then swing your body backwards so as to relieve the pressure, without removing your hands, while you count slowly—“three thousands—four thousands”.
Continue this backward and forward movement, alternately relieving and pressing the patient against the ground in order to drive the air out of his chest and mouth, and allowing it to suck itself in again, until gradually the patient begins to do it for himself.
The proper pace for the movement is about twelve pressures to the minute.
As soon as the patient is breathing, you can leave off the pressure—but watch him, and if he fails you must start again till he can breathe for himself. It may be necessary to have relays of helpers.
Then let him lie in a natural position, and set to work to get him warm by putting hot flannels or bottles of hot water between his thighs and under the arms and against the soles of his feet.
Wet clothing should be taken off, and hot blankets rolled round him. The patient should be disturbed as little as possible, and encouraged to sleep, while carefully watched for at least an hour afterwards.
Now just practise this with another Scout a few times, so that you understand exactly how to do it, and so BE PREPARED to do it one day to some poor fellow in need of it.
Other First Aid
Acid Burning
A case occurred of a woman throwing vitriol over a man s face. This is an awful acid, which burns and eats away the flesh wherever it touches. Fortunately a policeman happened to be on the spot at the time, and knew what to do. He at once applied lots of water to which some soda had been added to wash off the acid, then cared for the wound as a regular burn.
Appendicitis
This catches some people rather suddenly, though generally it is preceded by feeling out of sorts. It gives a sharp pain in the abdomen two inches to the right and below the navel. Send for doctor.
Bandages
For binding a broken limb you want a good large three-cornered bandage, such as your Scout neckerchief. Its two sides should each be about forty inches long.
To make a sling for broken arm or collar-bone, hang the bandage round the patient’s neck, tying the two ends together in a reef-knot (square knot) with the point of the bandage towards the damaged arm. Rest the arm in this sling and bring the point round the back of the arm and pin it to hold the elbow in the sling.
A Scout neckerchief can be used for maki ng a sling and a bandage. Make the bandage neat by tucki ng in the end as show n by the arrow.
The head bandage is used for keeping a dressing on a scalp wound. Open out your triangular bandage, and fold the base up about two inches. Place the middle of this on the patient’s forehead, just at the eyebrows, so that the point hangs down over his neck. Now take the two ends and cross them firmly at the base of the patient’s skull, and bring them up round and tie in a reef-knot on the forehead. Turn the point up and pin on the top of the head. Be careful that the folds are neat at the side of the head, and that the two ends are tucked away.
Bleeding from the Nose
This does not usually do much harm or prove dangerous. But the bleeding sometimes refuses to stop, which means the patient is losing a lot of blood. To stop it, sit the patient on a chair and tell him to lean his head well back and breathe entirely through his mouth. Applying cold to the back of his neck may prove beneficial.
Blood Poisoning
This results from dirt being allowed to get into a wound. Swelling, pain, red veins appear. Fomenting with hot water is the best relief. Get patient to a doctor.
Broken Bones
You can generally tell that an arm or a leg is broken by a swelling and pain about the place where the break is. Sometimes the limb is bent in an unnatural way and the patient cannot use it. Get a doctor. Treat for shock.
The broken limb should not be moved about at all. If it is absolutely necessary to transport the patient, bind the broken limb to something stiff, a splint that will keep it stiff and straight while the patient is being moved to hospital.