HOME FIRST AID

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 26, 9 March 1942, Page 5

HOME FIRST AID

METHODS OF TREATMENT The following equipment is recommended by the Health Department for first-aid outfits in small . homes: One triangular bandage, several 1-inch and 2-inch bandages; a 4-ounce packet of plain sterilised lint; a yard of adhesive plaster; four ounces of tincture of iodine cr friar's balsam; one ounce of castor oil for use in eye. injuries; a small bottle of distinfectant; and one tube of tannic acid or gentian jelly, cr vaseline and eucalyptus, or cod liver oil, for burns. First-aid treatment of . wounds consists of stopping bleeding amipreventing germs from getting into wounds. Burns should be . treated immediately. A tannic acid jelly is good for serious burns on face and hands, but gentian violet jelly can. be used anj'where on th-e body. Fractures should be left alone until the first-aid squad arrives, advisesthe Health Department. Shock is., serious and the sufferer should be kept ay arm until medical aid' arrives. A teaspoonful of sal volatile in water, or hot water, tea or coffee, should be given as a stimulant. The skin of a shock victim .becomes pale and covered with cold clammy perspiration, the lips and nails may be blue, and the pulse rapid and hard to find. A tourniquet for serious bleeding can be improvised from a bandage, a tie cr a belt, twisting a stick through the knot and tightening gently. The pressure should be carefully'released at sufficient in--tervals.