OPERATION AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 6

OPERATION AT SEA.

EMERGENCY SURGEONS. CAPTAIN AND STEWARD. / A graphic story of an operation performed in mid-ocean by an untrained man was told by officers of the British steamer Mahia, when the vessel reached Sydney from London last week. Captain C. M. Andrews, master of the ship, was the hero of the incident and his promptitude in undertaking the unpleasant and dangerous task saved (he life of an engineer. The Mahia was bound from New Zealand to the United Kingdom and without a doctor, when an engineer, engaged in adjusting refrigerating machinery, was struck on a leg by a revolving piston rod. He suffered a compound fracture and the flesh of the leg was badly torn. He lost much blood and his life was in danger. Wireless messages revealed that no vessel carrying a doctor was within easy call' and Captain Andrews decided to attempt relief measures himself. An officer gave the injured man an anaesthetic, a tourniquet stopped the flow of blood and the wounds were dressed. Setting the fractured limb proved the hardest task. The steward, who had some knowledge of first aid, was summoned to assist and while Captain Andrews held the leg at the' fracture lie pulled at the font. After strenuous efforts they were successful in replacing the fractured ends in their correct position and splints were applied. />, The injured engineer was put to bed and suffered a great deal of pain, but carefully applied antiseptics had removed the fear of complications, and he was Boon otr the way to recovery. He was put ashore at the first port and is now convalescing in England. '