STABBED HEARTS SAVED WAR PRISONERS L1VES

Chronicle (Levin), 27 August 1946, Page 2

STABBED HEARTS SAVED WAR PRISONERS L1VES

♦ Ei'.-k men wero stabbed in the heart. lo save tiieir lives m Malayar, prisoner-■ol-wai eaiups; uecording to a Brisbauo 'lueior who was there. The stabbing was done wiJil an empty hypodermic sv fiiige to stimuJale weak hearts. lle is Dr. li. Ij. W. (..'Jarke, served with the l-'Jtli Atill in .lahore State. and Jater iii l. hangi eanqi, ku agapore lsJand; und is now demoboiised. lie told an inlerviewer that the iiieliiod proved so sueeess tui that aJl seijjor hospitai orderlies were taughi ihe leelmique. It eonsisled of inserting the needle in tlie chest at a ecrlain sjiot. between ihe ribs, so that the ppint eulered the heart lnusele. Most" heart failure eneountered was with eases of beriberi, from whieh nearl-y all prisouers of war sulfered. Orderlies were taught liow to usu the needle, beeause in a st raggliiig*.i*anij.i 1 it was ol'ten impossible to eall a inodieal oflicer in time for u sudden easu of heart failure. Delays of up to an hour eost lives. II' medical supplies had been available, ihe normal heart st iuinlalio'i uiothod of injeeting sueh drugs as slryehniiie or adrenalin "\vould have been used. " We didn 't have them, so we did wilhout, ' ' said T)r. Clarke. "Thc ]>rick of the needle, plus artilieial xespiraI l ion, did l he t rick. " ' 1