CURE FOR BURNS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20597, 23 June 1930, Page 15

CURE FOR BURNS.

3* : J&OLD WATER SUGGESTED. . IS idea ridiculed by doctor. SM/' BisiETHYLATED SPIRITS THE BEST. What should be does to ease the pain §§s' tesnltinr from severs burns before the i arrives T , This question has! prompted Mr. S. L. P. Rimmer to write J fjpfi' S3 follows I / "Tee HEBJLLD.of last. Monday gives an account of how a boy of six walked into a -W heap of burning coal slack at Huntly and V of the burns .sustained by his father in jjg efforts to save his son. Both were taken to a hospital 2(1 miles away suffer* jug acute ageny while the Waikato >t jjjVer, only, a few yards away, -would lave stopped the pain instantly had they koth been immersed in the vrater. As I • isad the account I thought what a pity : ; V the public does not know that cold water if. the best remedy for burns cr scalds the ; world has yet , known. Dr. Kirk, of j Edinburgh, advocated this over 50 years | sgo, anu I hare proved its efficacy j acsens cf timei. 2£acri Missicner's Stnr?. ; • /"Orer 2G years ago I was speaking; of fi to the late Rev William Gittcs, Maori , jnissioner, and be. said i 'lf anyone doubts /, &, will them this story: A Maori girl ■*33 sleeping in a whare which was turned to the' ground. She fas burned irom head ta foot so seriously that I had . no hope she would live. In desperation '1 -V' wa put her in a tank of cold water, in which she sat with the water up to her chin, for' 24 hours-' By that time her hps began to turn blue, so wa raised tht» |.v tank cn bricks and made a £ro under it, thus keeping the temperature cf tha • water just below Hood heat. Sha rejssmed in tne tank another 24 hours, after which siis was taken cut and wrapped in bandages scaked in cih In % very short time she was perfectly enrsd. with scarcely a mark left cn the body." "I could give several other cases which wera cured* in the same way, but were net so serious. Once I was very seriously / burned about the neck, bead and face. As I could not stand cn my head in water I had cloths wrung cut cf cold water and;/ changed every rwo minutes, applied for threes hours, and tiien I went to bed with my head bandaged in cold packs. In a week I was better, and there ara, no marks left on either my face or neck. ,' y "However great the pain frcm burning. ' imm?(i;a:-?Iy the is put under cold water the pam iiistautly goes. Of course, it will return if the part is taken cut cf the water. A mere dipping in ~r.d out cf the water is ci no benefit. Time .must be siven ths cold water tt> ; Beutralise tha effects of the fire." Coid Water Curs Scouted. I - j,. . Iy ' 'A prominent Auckland doctor, to whom t-'ri; =i letter was shown, said: "I would | not care to, trust myself to Mr. Rimmer's j remedy. Xf the two Hunxiy patients had [ been dipped m the Waikato the 3Qs thing almost certain is that both t would hare contracted nneuxnonia and \ ■ died. If their constitution permitted them to recover 'and the waltir was not absolutttiy clean they would certainly have I caught blood poisoning and die<L " The easiest and one of the best things to do is to throw a bcttie cf methylated spirits over a person who has been burned. Methylated spirits is ta be found on . every kitchen shelf and from the medical point of view it performs three very important functions as far as bums are (Concerned In the first place it evaporates very rapidly, cocis the affected parts and Affords instant relief; in the second place ix is antiseptic and its application is, therefore, pretty safe and will prcb- »•' > ahiy prevent alter-poisoning; and thirdly, most important of all, it coagulates the dead flesh, cr eschar, us we call it, to & considerable extent and so pi events the absorption of poisons into the blood. I s» methylated spirits regularly in my own home in the ease cf minor burns with excellent results, bet it is also good for extensive burns." / Other Useful Semedies. The nse of methylated spirits was a comparatively new t rpatment for bums, the doctor added. Carron oil was more frequently employed, but as it was not antiseptic (it might b» dangcrnus and its nse should, not. be encouraged Picric j acid or a strong solution cf tannic acid were also very good as they both had the effect cf making the* crad matter insoluble and so lessening the chances of septic poisoning, the great danger in; the case of most burns. A still mere recent practice was the use of am- . brein, a substance re.-.enihliriT candlegrease and the chief constituent'of ambergris. ihe substance v.'as sprayed over the affected parrs by means of a svringe. The doctor expressed the opinion that the Maori girl mentioned by Mr. Dittos must have had an excellent constitution to stand tha cold water for" such a length of ytime. " But the more probable explanation, he said. "is 'hat her burns wera not as serious as thev were made out to be. The fact tliat ihu had no mams left cn her btidy afterwards cicariv proves that. Gold .vat.ar could not provent tie appearance of scars."