RESUSCITATION BY OXYGEN.

Timaru Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 5193, 14 July 1891, Page 4

RESUSCITATION BY OXYGEN.

lieut.-Col. U. El3dale, R.E , m the Nineteenth Century.

In (ho year 1884, it was ropo^tsd to me one afternoon that a Sapper, engaged 1 under my command at Chatham, m emptyingSa war-balloon inflated with coal gas, had been ovorpowe- "^ by the gas. I ran to Mia spot, and found that the man was lying under many folds of the half empty b-lljon, qnite insensible, having been breathing an atmosphere of coal gas for an unknown time before his position was discovered by hie comrades. We, officers and men, hastily cutaway tha intervening netting and folda of tho betloon with Knives, and drew him out into the open air. I Bent off men for medical aisiaranco and brandy, unbuttoned the man's jacket, ajjd, tba weather being warm, placed him where ho got the full benens of a fresh brefza that was blowing. The man wae to all appearance, dead. There was no action of the heart that could be felt, and no perceptible breathing. Binding, Bfter a moderate interval that there wbb still no Bign of life, I thought of tiie steel tubes of compressed oxygen that wo used for the oxyhy drogon light, and sent off a man to tiie oifi-o for"-?. He quickly lan back with it. It contained pure ujgon at a pressure of over | 1000 lbs to the inch, probably some 1200 more or leas. The ciroumstaneos seemed to justify extreme courses, and, spite of lh' serious evident rick from tha tremendoui pressure of the gss, I forced open the 3a|>jjer'e mouth, placed the nozzle of tho valve bodily inside it, and gently turned on the valve as little as one could manage. That little, however, was quite enough to inflate every corner of the patient's luDgs with oxygeu m the briefest passible time. Tho effect of the oxygen was to cause him instantly t'> revive and clutch tha nozzle of the valve convulsively, with his teeth. It did not occur to me at the first moment, to shut off Iho valra again with the turnkey which I held m my hand. Initead of doicg bo I struggled !o draw tho steel tube away, at tha riak ol pulling Ihe man's front teeth out. A second or two later flodiDg the tuba could not bo got away, I thought of the key, shut oil the valve with it, and then at leisure, got the man's mouth forced open, and drew aw*y the tubo. In Iho interval the oxygon hud of course beenatill rushing out, and, h»rl it. not been for the eßcape provided by the corners n f the mouth on both sides of the valve, bis lung 3, and probably his whole interior economy as well would have been ruined by the pressure Ab it was, not only hi* lungs, but hii «tomach, and every available passage for tho gas, must have been filled with oxygen aim iet to bursting.

Here, as I venture to hope, the medical profession will recognise a eruoial experiment cm the value of compressed oxygen as a remedial agent m such ca«e§ of gas poisoning. The effect m this caee was extraordinary. In place of a man to all appearance dead, presenting the aspect of a livid corpse, Mb complexion being a ghastly purple or plum colour, m parhaps ten seconds, or fifteen eeronds at the outside, from the first rush of oxygen m hid lungs, we saw him m such violent paroxysms that I was obliged to order four of his comrades to hold him with all their might, to keep him from dashing hLaefllf to piec6B, His struggles and writhings wore exactly like those of a strong mun m a violent flt of epilepsy. About this time the brandy arrived, but I need hardly say that wa Hid not administer it. Presently tho struggles subsided. Some ten minutes later, the medical officer on duty arrived, pronounced that his life was saved, that with ft few weeks m hospital, he woul3 probably recover, and said he would send an ambulance to take him there. When the ambulance arrived, half an hour later, it met the patient calmly walking b'ick to barracks, and stoutly refusing to go to hospital. Next morning he was reported back at his work again. I Bent (or him, »nd ex«mini"d him closely, 'i'hero was absolutely no ill effects what over fiom tliegns poisoning. H" said ho had uover fait better m his life

i would respectfully submit to I lio mt'licf.l profession, as well vi to Him public gaiiorully, that t!io advantage to be gained by o"in|irußied oxjgen, readily procurable locally throughout the 'length aud broadth of Great Briluin, ■rouUi bn onorinoun. Canoa nr« of continual, almost daily, occurrence, wherein por«ons ure fished out of the waiter m v hiilfdrov7ncd etitp, too fur (jono to tako the usuol stimulants and restoratives. They die, nitnplv bceauso thcro is no ready meuna of giving the necessary Btitnulus to tho cihauatoii vitality. Mauy, no doubt, are rescued by artificial rospiratioo, which reoxygenates the lungs and blood. But, nurely tho really Bound and scientific way to effect thi» is not to net v number of ignorant unrl generally more or leno iucapablo by«tni.doi» to (iiill the poor insensible drowned man about, with tho idea of setting his non-oxygenated luoga to work- a rough process which may ;>r may not prove suoceaf-ful — but ruthor to introduce Ihe life (living oiygon into his lunfjs directly and immediately by aid o£ suitable epecitil apparatus. I have not the Blinhlejfc doubt tli at. many n drowrjnd or aephyiiated person, who ss hopolcsßly gone «r> far js ail ordinary methods, including artificial rerpiration, aro concerned, could bo

easily and quickly restored by introducing a dose of pure oxygen into hi* lungs. Many cbbcs were reported m the papers, m connection with tho recent gales all round the coasts, wherein persons rescued from wrecks died of exposuro and exhaustion after they had been brought safaly back to shore. Thoy would hardly have sucoumbed had >\ dose of oxyeeu been available, which, by oxygenating the blood, would hapo quiekenod tbe vitality of the whole Bystern, and thereby given sufficient strength to enable these poor ehipwreoked sailors to take brandy, hot coffee, or other ordinary stimulant?, whioh are now uselessly offered to exhausted men, who are too far gone to swallow anything. Is it too muoh to say that iv overywell appointed hocpital, where chloroform, either, or other anoestlu ics aro administered, there ought to be, side jy oide with the chloroforminhaling apparatus, another aparatus for tbe administration of oxygen P And is. it too much to say that t he manager, or reaidehl agent, of every well-appointed coal mine ought to have on the spot such a supply of cotnoressod oxygon, and to bo instructed to, administer it fortwith to any man who is overcome by carbonio oxide, or choke damp ? Judging by my experience as reported above, ha will then be m a position to reatore, or bring back to life Rguin m the most marvellous and almost instantaneous fashion, any miner who comes under the deadly influenco of tha ga9. provided only that the oxygon is kept ready to hand, m such a convenient shape ready for instunt use. There is only one praotical danger m this storage of compressed oxygen 'It rr.ay be easily averted by proper precautions ; but it is very desirable that it should be explained to, and carefully acted by, all concerned m its U3e.