Manual of popular instructions, for recovering persons apparently dead from drowning, suffocation, lightning : to which are added, remarks on the accidents incident to children and cautions, hints &c to persons exposed to the accidents and diseases for the prevention and cure of which this tract is designed / drawn up under the sanction, and with the assistance of Dr. Hawes, institutor and treasurer of the Royal Humane Society, London.

  • Hawes, William, 1736-1808.
Date:
[1806]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Manual of popular instructions, for recovering persons apparently dead from drowning, suffocation, lightning : to which are added, remarks on the accidents incident to children and cautions, hints &c to persons exposed to the accidents and diseases for the prevention and cure of which this tract is designed / drawn up under the sanction, and with the assistance of Dr. Hawes, institutor and treasurer of the Royal Humane Society, London. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    r •la'Cv'd, aiiJ the water enters the wind-pipe and completely filis ]-.. When a body has lain in the water for sometime, the ekiii will appear livid, the eyes bloodshot, and the countc- r:incc bloated and swollen; but tiiese appearances, though certainly unfavaurable, do not absolutely prove that hfe is irrxoverably gone. In the case of drowning, no injury is done to any of the parts essential to hfe; but the right cavity of the heart, tO'Jether with the veins and arteries leading to and from that cavity, are turgid with blood, whilst every other part is almost drained of it. From this we see, that the practice of holding up the bodies of drowned persons by the heels, or rolling them about in a cask, is unnecessary; the lungs not being filled with any thing that can be discharged in this way. And farther, that such a practice is highly dangerous, as the violence attending it, may readily burst some of those ves- sels which are already overcharged with blood, and thus convei-t what was only suspended animation, into absolute death. The operation of blowing wind into the lungs, is a per- fectly safe, and much more effectual method of removing any frothy matter they may contain ; and whilst it promotes the passage of the blood through them, also renders it capa- ble of stimulating the kfl cavity of the heart, and exciting it to contraction. As soon therefore as the body is taken out of the water, it should be stripped of any clothes it may have on, and be iirimediateiy well dried. It should then be wrapped in dry - warm blankets, or in the spare clothes taken from some of the by stander?, and be removed as quickly as possible to the nearest house that can be got convenient for the purpose: the fittest will be one that has a tolerably large apartment, in which a fire is ready, or can be made; but, if the wea- ther happeri to be w^arm, and the sun to shine , in the room strongly, the body may be laid on some dry clothes, and exposed to the sun's rays, to reatore its heat, while the win- dows should be kept open. The body may be carried in men's armi, or laid upon a d; o)-; or, in case the hotiic be at a distance from the place, u a cart can be procured, let the body be placed in it, on