Under the red crescent : being surgical experiences and observations as an ambulance surgeon in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 / by Robert Pinkerton.
- Pinkerton, Robert, M.B.
- Date:
- 1879
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Under the red crescent : being surgical experiences and observations as an ambulance surgeon in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 / by Robert Pinkerton. 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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![surgical purposes.** Until this condition is reached, the chloro- form should continue to )je ^'iven freely. And it is of the very ^ state is reached, not to allow Lac I a., .a IJ cv; : oi it for a moment, but, by cAroful regulation of the ci. n t > nmintAin him in it until the ojxjration Is so far c<. ; , i by then stopping' the atl- ministration, he should be restored to complete consciousness about the same time that he is ready to be removed from the • ' ' If. duriuijj the administration, the patient's ' ' • • ''^ arrest' ' : -uminjjj a convul- - . and cli< . . c lact and become hard like a lx)ard, the chloroform cloth should be removed for an iiLstant, at the same time giving a smart slap or two with the Dpen liaiul over the chest, and it will usually go on all right Whenever the breatliiiig becomes snoring, as it rr>n ril'v <V>.'s in the stati- of most profound U)lerance, tlie ^ eps should be introduced into the niouth, and, L d hold of the tongue, it sljould be ])ulled well out ol tile iMouth antl held there. r ■ treated in this way, getting chloroform in large MM from the first, so as to be brouglit (juickly and t ^ y under its intluence, stood the administration of chlorofonn better, came out of it sooner, and siiffcred less from shock than did those who hsA it given to them in the usual ^low and gradual fashion. The giving it in this way saved l»oth time and n ' nis. and the (juantity of chloroform used was often actually . than in the ■ ' i'l ini system. The atient also passed through no stage of mcnt hurtful to imself, and requiring the attendance often of several men to control his struggles. Out of the number of cases in which I have given chloroform in this way, I have not seen one cxliiltit really dangerous symptoms. I have come to regard the first five minutes as the dangerous period in administration in this way, and if you get safely over that interv-al, the patient is likely to behave well all through any ordinary operation. At the same time, I never give chloroform but I feel impressed with the seriousness of the situation, and that the patient's life or ■^-^''h may depend on the vigilance and care of the admini i . This sense of grave responsibility, which will deter any one, occupying the position of administering chloro- form, from removing his attention for a single instant from his patient, even to look at an interesting point in an operation is, I think, a safeguard not unfrequently overlooked. For famili- arity is apt to breed contempt, and we are often tempted, after seeing numbers of successful cases of the administration of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21467870_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
