The Star. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1907. AMBULANCE SATURDAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9074, 1 November 1907, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1907. AMBULANCE SATURDAY.

The St John Ambulance Association will make its annual appeal to the public to-morrow on what is known as "Ambulance Saturday." It is only a matter of thirty years since the first classes in connection with the Association were started in London, but since that time the organisation has spread in a Teally remarkable manner, and it has been responsible for an enormous amount of useful work. The students are instructed by local doctors and examined at the end of the term by an independent examiner, who,- if satisfied with their work, grants a "First Aid " certificate-. First aid is the technical expression for help given in the absence of a qualified medical practitioner, and is intended, as its name suggests, for purely temporary assistance. The ambulance classes which are conducted by the Association include instruction in the various organs and bones of the human body and their general working and position, and is' designed so that, in the event of accident, a. patient may be properly handled until the arrival of a doctor. A brief resume of the arterial system, for instance, introduces the tourniquet, that vitally important pad and bandage which arrests arterial haemorrhage. The utility of salt and water as a simple emetic in plain cases of ordinary poisoning is insisted upon, together with the exclusion of air in cases of burns and scalds, whilst an outline of the chief fractures shows liow the injured limb may be kept straight and immovable by splints improvised from umbrellas, brooms, or even the empty straw cases of bottles. " c Make use of what is handy, and above all lose no time,' is the motto of the Association," writes one enthusiastic admirer of its methods. " Artificial respiration, effected by laying the patient flat, unclothed and at full length, and alternately extending tho arms above the head, and pressing them down against the sides, has pumped fresh life into many apparently drowned. Th© fit preparation of a room prior to the surgeon's arrival, and having towels, basins with hot and cold water, sponges and bandages at hand, has saved much valuable time when time meant life; whilst the knowledge that all infectious diseases must be treated in rooms devoid of curtains, carpets iand draperies, has put some check on tho all too-prolifio microbe." The public carries its life in its hand always, and the methods and training of the Association have done a great deal to remove the terrors of accident. The fact that no fewer than 1500 certificat- | ed members of tho Association were employed in the hospitals during the Boer war is an evidence of the value which is placed by medical men. upon, their services. But tho work cannot, of course, be carried on without funds, and it is for those necessary sinews of war that an appeal is to be made to--morrow. If the public will only regard its donations as a wise form of peis sonal accident insurance, the response should be> liberal and gratifying.