Each Taranaki Farm Should Have Its First-Aid Chest

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 19 (Supplement)

Each Taranaki Farm Should Have Its First-Aid Chest

Often overlooked, and deeply regretted when a case of emergency arises, a necessary part of the equipment of every Taranaki farm should be a store of firstaid materials. These should be carefuUy selected and kept in a strong box or cabinet placed in the most convenient farm building. The dairy shcd has one disadvantage in that it. is frequently damp from drifting rain, but, provided that the contents are stored in air-tight containers, this faetor necd be of little consequence, If kept iocked, the kcy to the first-aid box should always be hung on a hook or placed in a conspicuous place near by. The cabinet should be fitted with at least two shelves, the top shelf being reserved for poisonous substanceS. If the cabinet has three shelves then the bottom one may be used for bandages, cotton wool and other dressings and the middle shelf for medicines. Storing Powders. Powders are best stored in glass or earthenware containers having tightly fitting lids. Screw-topped containers are ideaC but tins with tightly fitting lids Will answer. Linseed and similar oils are best kept in square tins; they are loss likely to be broken than bottles. What should the cabinet contain? This depends on the skill and knowledge of the owner. As a rule, the greater his experience, the fewer dressings and medicines will he need. The first essntial is a supply of bandages, those of two, three and four inches wide being the most useful; if necessary, smaller widths can be made by cutting these with a sharp knife while still rolle'd. ' Four bandages of each size mentioned should be all that is. necessary on the average farm. Next. there should be some cotton wool, boric lint, tow and adhesive plaster tape. •In addition to the protection of wounds, prior to applying bandages, cotton wool and tow is also useful to swab wounds. Each swab should be burnt after use.-It is best to have a half-pound roll of cotton wool and half-pound of tow in the cabinet.

A pair of dressing forceps or tweezers, a sharp penknife and a pair of sharp scissors should also find a place on the bottom shelf. They should stay in the cabinet — reserved entirely for first-aid work. The cabinet should contain some reliablc coal-tar disinfectant (which, in addition to its more obvious uses, will, if dabbed lightly over small surface wounds, stop the bleeding), some tincture of iodine and some potassium permanganate crystals. A few crystals rubbed into a bit.e will cauterise the wound and, in the case of bites, act as an antidote. Stockholm tar should always be kept on the farm. It is the most useful agent for hoof and horn dressing and is quite a useful antiseptic for dressing the navel of newly born animals and for keeping flies off wounds. Petroleum jelly or vaseline is the cheapest and best all-round ointment for first-aid work, A small jar of venice turpentine is also handy. A match stick, with a little cotton wool wound round the end, dipped in venice turpentine is a useful instrument with which to remove pieces of chaff. wheat awns or other "foreign bodies" from the eyes. A jar of common soda is always useful. A small knob of soda pushed down the throat of the smaller animals promptly causes them to vomit and so is a very useful first-aid measure in cases of poisoning. , . A bottle of methylated spirits or, better still, surgical spirit is always useful to cleanse wounds and to harden the skin, whilst, diluted with four or five times as much water, it is a most useful lotion with which to saturate a layer of cotton wool when bandaging a recently spraincd limb. White oils are a favourite remedy and will hardly be forgotten. A strong solution of Epsom salts in water makes a very useful dressing for burns and scalds. Cod-liver oil and castor oil are also useful applications for these purposes. With rcgard to internal remedies, all

. that should be necessary are some Epsom salts. a little castor oil, a pint or so of raw linseed oil and some turpentine. No doubt the farmer will have his stock of old favoured medicines but with Epsom salts— a small dose in plenty of water makes an ideal "fever dreneh"), castor oil, linseed oil and turps the farmer should have all he needs as internal remedies. A pint of linseed oil with three tablespoonsful of turps is a very useful- colic drink for horses and cattle. If this drench does not put matters right in an hour then the case is one for more expert attention. * Linseed oil and turps with a little coal-tar disinfectant is very useful when cattle or sheep are "blown," especially if the veterinary surgeon cannot attend within a short period. A twitch for controlling a horse, which may be in need of first-aid attention, a pair of pliers, wire cutters, a hammer and a pair of pincers, a drenching horn or can, a cart rope and a halter are adjuncts to the first-aid outfit and should always be kept in a convenient and accessible place, while a few simple mouth gags for the various animals are also useful stock— although they may only be required on very rare occasions. Thermometer an EssentiaJ. A clinical thermometer is an indispensable addition to the collection, provided the person who uses it can read it correctly and knows the normal temperatures of the various classes of animals. Veterinary thermometers, marked off at the. normal . healthy temperatures for each class of animal, can be obtained if desired. . Any animal which is not "up to par" should have its temperature taken. Should this be found a degree or more above normal, veterinary aid should be sought. It. should hardly be necessary to stress that the first-aid cabinet should be inspected at regular intervals and the stock replenished as required. An empty first-aid cabinet may lead to a state of false security.