Silverlock's medical and surgical emergency reference book.

Date:
[1885?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Silverlock's medical and surgical emergency reference book. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    64/134 (page 62)
    the healthy from the sick. If there is insufficient accommo- dation for the sick, they should be removed to a hospital in one of the public conveyances which are kept especially for the purpose, and the house and all things in it should undergo a thorough cleansing and disinfecting. The Sanitary Act of 1866 provides, amongst other things, for the prosecution of those who— I. —-Use public conveyances while suffering under con- tagious or infectious disorders. II. —Knowingly convey such people in any public con- veyance. III. —^Wilfully expose themselves in any street, &c. IV. —Knowingly let a house or part in which any person has been suffering from any contagious or infectious disorder, without having had it and all the articles in it thoroughly disinfected. V. —Knowingly and without notice send out of the house articles of clothing to be washed. VI. —Knowingly mix or wash infected articles of clothing with those belonging to healthy persons. In order to prevent the spread of zymotic disease from house to house, it is necessary in all cases to provide for— I. —Complete separation of the sick and those in attendance from those who are in health. II. —Disinfection of the sick-room and all articles in it, both during its occupation and after the removal of the patient. III. —Disinfection of the secretions, IV. —Thorough ventilation. In the first place, then, the patient should be moved into a separate apartment near the top of the house, with the nurse who is to be in attendance. All curtains, bed furniture, carpets, &c. should be removed prior to its occupation, and no person should be allowed to enter the room except the medical attendant. Outside the door a sheet should be hung, thoroughly soaked with a solution of carbolic acid, and the nurse should never pass this under any circumstances what- ever. All articles of food should be placed under the sheet, and not taken in by the nurse till the servant has gone away. Inside the apartment, disinfection should be carried out by means of sprinkling sulphur on a live coal two or three times a day, and wafting the fumes all around, till sneezing and a feeling of suffocation are produced. By the bedside a basin should be placed for the patient to spit into, containing a solution of carbolic acid. Rags should be used for wiping the nose, &c., and should be burnt immediately afterwards. All soiled bed-linen should be placed in a solution of the acid as it is removed. Discharges from the bowels and kidneys should be disinfected by the same means; and all plates, dishes, glasses, &c. should be washed in boiling water, and thoroughly cleansed with Condy's fluid or chloralum before leaving the room. As soon as the patient is perfectly re- covered, he should wash the body thoroughly over with car- bolic acid soap. He should then pass out of the door quite naked, and wrap himself in a fresh blanket, which has been left on the outside. In this way he may pass into another room and dress, and then he may safely mix with the other members of the household. The nurse should act in the same way; but before leaving the room she should see that all the linen articles are placed in a solution of carbolic acid, and that the other things are hung upon lines, in order that they may undergo a thorough fumigation. She should next place an old saucepan, containing some hot coals and sulphur, in the middle of the room, and then make her exit, taking care