ON ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.

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CHAPTER XXII. ON ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.

When serious accidents occur, medical aid should be immediately procured. Till that can be done, the following directions may be useful.

When a child has any thing in its throat, first try, with the finger, to get the article up. If this cannot be done, push it down into the stomach, with a smooth elastic stick. If the article be a pin, sharp bone, glass, or other cutting substance, give an emetic which will immediately operate.

In the case of a common cut, bind the lips of the wound together, with a rag, and put nothing else on. If the cut be large, and so situated that rags will not bind it together, use sticking plaster, cut in strips and laid obliquely across the cut. Sometimes it is needful to take a stitch, with a needle and thread, on each lip of the wound, and draw the two sides together.

If an artery be cut, it must be immediately tied up, or the person will bleed to death. The blood from an artery is of a bright red color, and spirts out, in regular jets, at each beat of the heart. Take up the bleeding end of the artery, and hold it, or tie it up, till a surgeon comes. When the artery cannot be found, and in all cases of bad cuts on any of the limbs, apply compression; when it can be done, tie a very tight bandage above the wound, if it be below the heart, and below if the wound be above the heart. Put a stick into the band, and twist it as tight as can be borne, till surgical aid be obtained.

Bathe bad bruises in hot water, or hot spirits, or a decoction of bitter herbs. Entire rest, is the remedy for sprains. Bathing in warm water, or warm whiskey is very useful. A sprained leg should be kept in a horizontal position, on a bed or sofa.

When a leg is broken, tie it to the other leg, to keep it still; and, if possible, get a surgeon, before the limb swells. Bind a broken arm to a piece of shingle, and keep it still, till it is set.

In case of a blow on the head, or a fall, causing insensibility, use a mustard paste on the back of the neck and pit of the stomach, and rub the body with spirits. After the circulation is restored, bleeding is often necessary; but it is very dangerous to attempt it before.

In cases of bad burns, where the skin is taken off, the great aim should be, to keep the injured part from the air. For this purpose, sprinkle on flour, or apply a liniment, made of linseed oil and lime-water, in equal quantities. Sweet-oil, on cotton, is good, and with laudanum, alleviates pain: but many skins cannot bear the application of raw cotton, which is sometimes very good. When a dressing is put on, do not remove it, as it will be sure to protract the cure, by admitting the air.

In case of drowning, lay the person in a warm bed, or on blankets, on the right side, with the head raised, and a little inclined forward. Clear the mouth with the fingers, and cautiously apply hartshorn to the nose. Raise the heat of the body, by bottles of warm water, applied to the pit of the stomach, armpits, groins, and soles of the feet. Apply friction to the whole body, with warm hands and cloths dipped in warm spirits of camphor. Endeavor to produce the natural action of the lungs, by introducing the nose of a bellows into one nostril and closing the other, at the same time pressing on the throat, to close the gullet. When the lungs are thus inflated, press gently on the breast and belly, and continue the process, for a long time. Cases have been known, where efforts have been protracted eight or ten hours, without effect, and then have proved successful. Rolling the body on a barrel, suspending it by the heels, giving injections of tobacco, and many other practices, which have been common, are highly injurious. After signs of life appear, give small quantities of wine, or spirits and water.

In cases of poisoning, from corrosive sublimate, beat up the whites of twelve eggs, mix them in two quarts of water, and give a tumbler full every three minutes, till vomiting is produced. This is the surest remedy. When this is not at hand, fill the stomach, in like manner, with any mucilaginous substance, such as gum and water, flaxseed, or slippery-elm-bark tea. Flour and water, or sugar and water, in great quantities, are next best; and if none of these be at hand, give copious draughts of water alone.

In case of poisoning from arsenic, cobalt, or any such mineral, administer, as soon as possible, large quantities of lime-water and sugared-water, of warm, or even of cold water, or of flaxseed tea, or some other mucilaginous drink, to distend the stomach and produce immediate vomiting, and thereby eject the poison.

If opium, or any of its preparations, has been taken, in dangerous quantities, induce vomiting, without a moment's unnecessary delay, by giving, immediately, in a small quantity of water, ten grains of ipecac, and ten grains of sulphate of zinc, (white vitriol, which is the most prompt emetic known,) and repeat the dose every fifteen minutes, till the stomach is entirely emptied. Where white vitriol is not at hand, substitute three or four grains of blue vitriol, (sulphate of copper.) When the stomach is emptied, but not before, give, every ten minutes, alternately, a cup of acid drink, and a cup of very strong coffee, made by pouring a pint of boiling water on a quarter of a pound of ground burnt coffee, and letting it stand ten minutes, and then straining it. Continue these drinks, till the danger is over. Dash cold water on the head, apply friction to the body, and keep the person in constant motion, to prevent sleep.

If any kind of acid be taken, in poisonous quantities, give strong pearlash-water. If ley, or pearlash, or any alkali be taken, give sweet-oil; or, if this be wanting, lamp-oil; or, if neither be at hand, give vinegar, freely.

In case of stupefaction, from the fumes of charcoal, or from entering a well, limekiln, or coal mine, expose the person to cold air, lying on his back, dash cold water on the head and breast, and rub the body with spirits of camphor, vinegar, or Cologne water. Apply mustard paste to the pit of the stomach, and use friction on the hands, feet, and whole length of the back bone. Give some acid drink, and, when the person revives, place him in a warm bed, in fresh air. Be prompt and persevering.

In case of bleeding at the lungs, or stomach, or throat, give a teaspoonful of dry salt, and repeat it often. For bleeding at the nose, pour cold water on the back of the neck, keeping the head elevated.

If a person be struck with lightning, throw pailfuls of cold water on the head and body, and apply mustard poultices on the stomach, with friction of the whole body, and inflation of the lungs. When no other emetic can be found, pounded mustard seed, taken a teaspoonful at a time, will answer. The ground mustard is not so effectual, but will do.

In case of fire, wrap a woollen blanket about you, to protect from the fire. If the staircases are on fire, tie the corners of the sheets together, very firmly, fasten one end to the bedstead, draw it to the window, and let yourself down. Never read in bed, lest you fall asleep, and the bed be set on fire. If your clothes get on fire, never run, but lie down, and roll about till you can reach a bed or carpet to wrap yourself in, and thus put out the fire. Keep young children in woollen dresses, to save them from the risk of fire.

In thunderstorms, shut the doors and windows. The safest part of a room, is its centre; and where there is a featherbed in the apartment, that will be found the most secure resting-place.

A lightning rod, if it be well pointed, and run deep into the earth, is a certain protection to a circle around it, whose diameter equals the height of the rod above the highest chimney. But it protects no further than this extent.

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