Health Notes for the Farm

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 63, Issue 5, 15 November 1941, Page 448

Health Notes for the Farm

Electricity Has Some Bad Habits

Contributed by the HEALTH DEPARTMENT

STRANGE and painful things are liable to happen when you least expect them. . Many a time the handy-man-around-the-house wished he had not been so handy when he’s been pulled up , short with an electrical shock. It may simply have been care- . lessness, . of course, but, on the other hand, it might have been because he just didn’t know quite enough about it. Even from a simple, household appliance an electric shock is no joke, and in . certain circumstances it can be fatal. With the multiplicity of electrical gadgets in the home these days, particularly the country home, the risk has increased, accordingly. If anything goes wrong, leave it ,to the power board official's of other experts. ; Don’t try to fix it yourself. Treat electricity with the respect it deserves.' Above all, don’t handle. anything electrical with .wet hands, or while standing in the wet. Frequently, fatal accidents have been caused in the bathroom because , a person ;; has tried to switch on a plug while standing in the bath or .on the wet floor. Never try to switch on the bathroom light while your other hand is on the tap. Similarly, in the kitchen. Never turn on the tap with one hand and switch, on the electric stove, or the jug, or anything else that switches on, with the other hand at the saine time. Even if everything looks all right, there may be a tiny leak of ’ current somewhere. And a tiny leak is enough. Keep Away From Power Lines Outside, there is danger also, mainly to children. They should be taught to keep away from power lines. For instance, the pleasant and innocent little diversion of flying a kite might not be so pleasant and innocent if the kite happens to be near a power line. The string might get entangled with the power line, it might even touch it. only for an instant, and, if the string is wet, or damp, ; the small, person holding the string might suffer death or grievous injury. Children should never climb a power pole or a tower. The pole may have become highly charged. The mischievous habit of trying to break insulators is inexcusable. A broken insulator might not cause only a pole to become dangerously electri-

iiiiiitißniiißiiiiiaitiHiiiaiiiiiiiiainiiaiißiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiitaiiaiißiii fled, but it might easily cause a live high-voltage wire to fall to the ground. The cause of death in many cases of electrocution is paralysis of the nerve centre,, which controls breathing. If the heart has not been directly affected by the current, artificial respiration applied by the well-known Schafer’s method often restores natural breathing. This allows the still-circulating blood to be aerated in the lungs. Full details of this-treatment are given in pamphlet No. H-3 issued by the Health Department. ■ • ■, ' • ;

Treatment for Electrocution The first thing to do in the case of electrocution is to free the victim from

the electric contact. ' The longer the : contact the more liability there is to fatal injury. Knock the electric wire away with a dry stick or a dry coat. If the patient has to be handled, do so with rubber gloves, or, if these are not available, improvise with a rubbertobacco pouch, golosh, or hot-water bag. Avoid touching the armpits,; which may be moist with perspiration.' A loop of dry rope, or a dry woollen garment, may be used. Note the emphasis on the word dry. On no account touch anything damp or made of metal., y ■ . , • Having released the patient and placed him face downwards in a warm, dry place, artificial respiration can start. The paralysis of the nerves may last for some considerable time, and treatment sometimes must continue for hours. Keep -the body warm, and don’t discontinue. your efforts until it is absolutely certain that the heart has ceased beating. . . In the meantime, of course, send for medical help.