Recent Book: Is There One in the House?: Nuttall's First Aid
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300123 |
| Date | 01 January 1980 |
| Published date | 01 January 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
IS
THERE
ONE
IN
THE
HOUSE?
DR.
MERVYNJEFFERY:
Nuttall's First Aid.
Frederick Warne Ltd. 35p
This concise booklet on First Aid has a
lot to offer.
It
sets out the practices and
procedures of First Aid in a simple form.
although it tends to suggest that an
ambulance isalways easily obtainable. In
this modern age with traffic congestion.
long stretches of rnotorway, union
disputes and centralisation, ambulances
are unavoidably taking longer to arrive
at the scene of an accident.
The book excludes reference to
physiology.
I
feel
some
brief
explanations as to structure and
functions of the body are essential for
people to get to know the so called
"danger areas" of the body.
Two specific areas which I found very
good were "Burns
and
Scalds", page 19.
and "Fractures", page 22. I disagree with
the administering of alcohol in cases of
exposure (page 35) and heart attacks
(page 40) but this is no
doubt
apersonal
preference of the author.
In conclusion I would like to say that
this is an excellent booklet for the price
and providing the readers take note of
the contents of the "Introduction" on
pages 3 and 4 which sets out the
omissions and recommendations, they
should reap benefit from it D.N.S.
ON
THE
SLAB
M
II.TON
H
ELPERN
with
BERNARDK
NIGHT:Autopsy: The Memoirs
ofMilton
Helpern.
Harrap £6.95
Dr. Milton Helpern was Chief Medical
Examiner of New York City for twenty
years and perhaps the most celebrated
"coroner" since legal medicine became
respectable. In
Autopsy.
Dr. Helpern
recounts his experiences
over'
43
years in the N.Y.C. Medical Examiner's
Office. He completed the manuscript for
the book just prior
to
his death in April,
1977,but before it was published. Hisco-
author. Dr. Bernard Knight, is a
respected British pathologist and is
responsible for the 'final editing of the
book.
Dr. Helpern was born in New York
City, the son of a factory worker. He
spent his entire professional career there
and was
"proud
to be a public servant all
these years, even though at times New
York can be a difficult mistress." After
graduating from Cornell University
Medical College in 1926 and completing
his residency in pathology. he joined the
Medical Examiner's Office as an
assistant. Beginning in 1931. Dr.
Helpern's
career
spanned
the
development of forensic medicine.
He investigated some of the most
notoriouscrimes of the past half-century:
the Coppolino murders, the Crimmins
case, the death of
Joan
Hill, the recent
Peter
Reilly
matricide
case
in
Conneticut. He provides an interesting,
although somewhat biased, view on these
violent deaths and even offers some
thoughts on subjects ranging from
defence attorneys to the Kennedys to the
Karen Ann Quinlan case (for which he
was retained by the family "either to
92
conduct or represent them at an autopsy
and to advise them on the medico-legal
implications when the time comes").
Some examples of his opinions: on F.
Lee Bailey: "I'll say at once
that
Bailey is
an excellent lawyer. To say that he leaves
no stone unturned in his fight for his
client. is the understatement of the
century."
On the handling of the Chappaquiddick
case:
"Many
people said, 'Maybe Mary
Jo (Kopechne) was pregnant,' Well there
was no basis for such a conjecture, which
no autopsy would have permitted. Even
assuming apregnancy, it would have
been part of the autopsy record and
therefore
not
subject
to
public
inspection, whereas then, everybody was
speculating without grounds about
that
and
about
why the whole thing
happened. So instead of doing (Edward)
Kennedy a service, his friends (who
persuaded the local medical examiner to
issue a death certificate without an
autopsy) did him the greatest disservice."
Dr. Helpern was an outspoken and
opinionated man whose influence is still
felt in the Office he held for two decades.
Autopsy.
while it contains chapters on
techniques of forensic pathology and the
art of the medical witness, is largely
anecdotal; it is the story of one man's life
which parallels the establishment of
forensic pathology as a fully established
medical speciality. Written for the mass
audience, it is still delightful reading for
the professional. DANIEL P. KING
Police Journal January 1980
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