Application of Resuscitation
| Published date | 01 October 1935 |
| Date | 01 October 1935 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3500800415 |
| Author | S. J. Monks |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Application
of
Resuscitation
By S.
J.
MONKS
Chief Secretary of
The
Royal Life Saving Society
THE
history of resuscitation or treatment of acute forms
of respiratory failure is in no sense modern: biblical
references are made to
it;
the relevant passage taken from
the story of " Elisha and the Shumanite's
Child"
reads as
follows
:-
"And
he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon
his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands;
and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child
waxed warm."
Methods have, of course, changed with time, and
undoubtedly that originated by the late Sir Edward Sharpey-
Schafer is now the most universally used for the following
reasons
:-
I.
It
is simple, readily learned, requires hardly any
muscular exertion and causes no fatigue.
2.
It
can be carried out by a single operator.
3.
It
is efficient in effecting an exchange of air.
4.
The
air passages are not blocked by the tongue, which
falls forward instead of backward, nor by water, mucus, and
froth which are expelled from the mouth.
5. There is no risk of injury to the congested liver or any
other organ.
It
is well known this method is taught in first aid courses
for the Police,
but
there are many small, yet at the same time,
important details in its application which must be carefully
attended to if results are to be successful .
As soon as the body of the apparently drowned person is
removed from the water, or, in the case of suffocation, is
removed from the cause of same, it must be at once placed
face down, on the nearest flat surface, the head turned a little
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