IN CASE OF INJURY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 57, 4 September 1937, Page 28

IN CASE OF INJURY

A SURGEON'S ADVICE

To Dr. Byron Polk Stookey, a New York brain and spinal cord specialist, has come many a case of paralysis rendered incurable by ignorant handling of the patient at the scene of the accident, states the "Reader's' Digest," which quotes from "Time" advice by Dr. Stookey not given in first-aid manuals: — .

First, "never lift the head of an in-] jured person until he has told you' whether he can move his legs or hands. If he cannot move his'legs his back is broken. If he cannot move his hands his neck is broken. In both cases the spinal cord is injured. If you lift his head to give him a drink of water, or fold him up to carry him, you .inevitably grind the spinal cord between parts of the broken vertebrae and destroy any useful remnant of the cord which may have escaped injury 'in the original accident." When the back is broken, "gently roll the victim on to a blanket so that he rests face downward. When' the blanket is lifted, the victim's back sags, thus removing pressure from the .spinal cord." ' 1 When the neck is broken, "gently roll the victim on-to a plank so that he rests face upward, and under no circumstances with the head tilted forward. This is the best position to prevent movement of the fractured cervical vertebrae." ■■ If the victim must be carried by hand, four first-aiders "should form a team, one at the victim's head, another at. his feet, the others at each hip: -While those at the , hip lift and carry, the others gently pull and carry. The traction at feet and head holds the vertebrae apart and prevents them grinding against the injured cord. When the victim is unconscious, "handle him as though his neck or back .were broken." .