FIRST AID OR ANAESTHESIA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 147, 25 June 1914, Page 6

FIRST AID OR ANAESTHESIA.

FOR FARM ANIMALS, ETC

Mr Henry Cooper, veterinary stii^geon, of Blenheim, supplies the following article, which should prove interesting and useful to stock owners, etc.:—

In order to induco insensibility in a part with subjection of consciousness, so-called local anesthetics are employ-

/ cd. Cocaine has proved without %a. j doubt its utility as a looal ansesthetic, j and ia quite universally employed. j ■. For want of a more elementary knowledge of its action on animals by amai teurs the owner often sees them suffer I unnecessary pain which he himself f.could alleviate. For example: tho | | lodgment of a hay seed in a, horse s j , eye, a vory common accident where : racks are overhead. The pain is : lacute, the swelling comes very quick- ] ly, the foreign body is buried in the ; folds of tflie conjunctival membrane * while waiting for the attendance of a. i Tietea-inary surgeon. If the owner j had a seven per cent, solution of j < cocaine, he could spray a few drops { between the lids, and five minutes i later handle the eye without difficulty, j and remove the seed, before the swelling had added to the trouble. If a wounded animal requires a stitch or two put in, painting with the cocaine solution will make matters easy. The professional anaesthetist will inject cocaine under the skin for various purposes. Cocaine is obtainable from any chemist, and for amateur use the methods above indicated tare safe. Any Act of Parliament compelling veterinary surgeons to 'ansesthetise is a reflection on their humanity as well as upon their intelligence, as they best understand when ; and how to employ anaesthetics, and if they were actuated alone by selfish . . motives, would use them for their i own personal safety. A large discretion should therefore be allowed.

Operations on the air passages, for instance, or extraction of molar teeth, while an animal was insensible, might well result infilling instead of curing him, by allowing the separated tissues or extracted tooth to pass down the .wind-pipe. Such painful .operations as unrrerving, or the division of the nerves supplying an incurably diseased bone in the foot, can now be performed with the animal upon his feet, if ■cocaine is injected along t!he course of the nerve^s. Among smaller animals, a® dogs and cats, the intelligent amateur is greatK ly assisted by a solution of cocaine. A thorn in the flesh, or a broken nail, can be removed from the most highly nervous animal if first rendered insensible by a local anaesthetic; a. torn ear may be sutured wlme there is aihorte of saving itt. . It should not be supposed that the writer advocates' amateur surgery in substitution of veterinary surgeons, when such are available; but it so often happens that.one is not;, and he is as often at the end as at the centre of his circle. Everyone, therefore; should be in a position to render first aid to animals, as well as to their

own species. Examples have been given above of •a v£ry small, but useful amount of knowledge in the use of local anaesthetics. It may serve our present purpoda to suppose a more serious accident, such as the goring of a horse when drinking beside a bullock at & stream. Several deaths from . this caii-se have occurred, just for want of that knowledge, of first aid, and of' anaesthesia which can be given here. The bullock throws up his hea"d from a lower level tthan that of the horse's belly, and the puncture nearly always occurs within a few inches of the same place—rather low down, but not on the floor of the abdomen: Within a few minutes of the injury a little knuckle of lintestine begins to escape; it may be an hour or so before any large portion of gut has made its way through, as the aperture is small. Here and now is the chance for first! aid. If it is not soon afforded, the •extruded gut, whether much or little, becomes strangulated, for not only is the wound a small one, as we have said, but like all other injured tissues' exposed, and pressed upon from one side, swelling occurs. Swelling occurs in the gut, gas> is involved, and can find no escape in any direction, and mortification follows. Whether death domes in this way, or by the intestine trailing upon the ground and being trodden upon, a fatal ending must ensue unless prompt aid is forthcoming. If the first aid man is provided with a clean bed-sheet and a disinfectant (preferably carbolic oil, for its lubricating properties) the sheet can be quickly passed round the animal, and secured over the back.

The next step is the-administration of chloroform. Veterinary surgeons have invented quite a large number of muzzles, and each uses his pet invention ; but our stockman will have no such apparatus. A sponge soaked! in chloroform and held up one nostril, while the other is compressed or released at will, gives us perfect control. The animal is made to inspire! through the sponge only by closing the other nostril. He is allowed to expire through the open nostril, by transferring the pressure of the hand to the nostril containing the sponge. The continuation of this inspiration from the other side soon results in such a degree of narcosis, as to cause all opposition to cease. A little later he sinks to the ground unable to ooS ordinate his muscles. The chloro--1 form may then be pushed almost to I any extent, and this is a' point 1 | would emphasise. It is quite a diffi- ' cult thing to kill a horse with ohlorof form when you wish to. No pulse I need be regarded, or the rolling eye, [or trembling of limbs without cosil trol. | t The emergency man has to see to it i I that the respirations are brought low. |He watches the flank until the ir- ■ regular and jerky respirations seemsi jto have stopped. Now he may reI move his sheet, and' with dressed | fingers ascertain if the gut can be j ' pushed back without tearing or too j • .much compression. It generally can ! • with a little care and patience. The ] wound may even be enlarged when i the animal is not straining. Once re- ; turned the operator puts in sutures j • with whatever he may have got. The I I chloroformed patient is then allowed ] »to rise when inclined. Every minute 1 he remains on the ground half antes- - thetised, the greater the chance of recovery. The danger is when he gets ; up. If he does not in the act of ris- ; ing burst the indifferent stitches he j lias now a fair chance of recovery, as ? , the belly can be 'dressed and band- >' aged, and other precaiitions will be ] suggested by the veterinary surgeon when he arrives.