New Life-Saving Device For Australian Beaches

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28734, 4 November 1958, Page 14

New Life-Saving Device For Australian Beaches

“The Press’ - Special Service

WELLINGTON, November 3. A new life-saving device so simple that it can be operated by a child, and so compact that it can be carried in the belt of a lifesaver’s trunks, could be an important factor in cutting New Zealand’s drowning rate. It is an Bin curved plastic pipe, which helps life-savers to put into practice the oldest known form of resuscitation—the mouth-to-mouth breathing process. It will be introduced to Australian beaches before the end of the present surfing season. Ultimately, every surf lifesaving patrol in Australia will be equipped with at least one of the instruments. As yet, the “blowpipes” are not mass-produced outside the United States, and Austlian lifesavers have already asked for several hundreds. The effectiveness of the direct breathing method of resuscitation was confirmed in Wellington by Mr D. H. Peat, who, as director of the Red Cross Men’s Detachments, was a prime mover for the adoption of the Holger-Neilsen method of resusciation some six years ago. Red Cross Acts Mr Peat has consulted the sec-retary-general of the New Zealand Red Cross Society (Mr M. S. Galloway), and as a result the American Red Cross is being asked immediately for full details of research and statistical data, as well as samples of the plastic pipes. Mr Peat said that from the description of the pipe the device appeared an excellent accessory for life-savers and. because of its compactness, one that could well be included in family first-aid kits taken on picnics. Normal resuscitation equipment was too heavy and too cumbersome.

The pipes certainly will not replace the existing and standard methods of resuscitation practised on Australian beaches—nor would they do so in New Zealand—but will be added to them as an extra safety measure.

If a person is dragged from the water and the rescuer has a blowpipe, there is a good chance that the victim will be saved even if his lungs are full of water, as air can be blown into him quickly. Australian doctors have experl-

mented with rubber tubing to make mouth-to-mouth resuscitation more effective, but the onepiece American plastic instrument is the cheapest, simplest, and most effective method yet devised. The pipe, made of semi-clear plastic, is shaped to go over the patient’s tongue and into the windpipe, with a mouthguard fitting neatly over the patient’s lips, ensuring maximum benefit, and a mouthpiece for the rescuer to blow into.

The patient is placed flat on his back, with his arms at his sides. The rescuer kneels at the patient’s head and > inserts the blowpipe in the mouth. With his elbows on the ground, thumbs over the patient’s nostrils clamping the pipe’s mouthguard over the mouth, the operator blows into the pipe. He watches the patient’s chest rise, and, when it has risen, takes his mouth quickly away to allow the air to escape from the patient’s lungs. The manufacturers recommend that the shorter mouth-piece end of the pipe should be used in cases involving small children, and advise that “nothing but the simple mouth-to-mouth method” should be used on children under three years.