Show artificial respiration BY S C DICKINSON every intelligent citizen ought to know how to give artificial respiration it is no longer exclusively the duty of a physician to give artificial respiration for if men in i dangerous trades do not think enough of jone one another to learn and practice the meth ad od in anticipation of a possible case of suffocation fo why should physicians bother about it usually a doctor will reach the scene of disaster too late to be of any service and artificial respiration to be of value must be begun instantly therefore everyone must learn how to bring back life in an apparently dead body or the number of fatalities due to suffocation fatal because of the ignorance of bystanders by standers will continue to appall suffocation is caused by electric shock by drowning by forty kinds of gases by the du the operator kneels straddling the patients thighs and facing his head photo by S C dickinson inhalation of chloroform or ether by overdoses of laudanum or by a heavy blow on the jaw or neck under the belt or upon the head but whatever the more remote cause the immediate cause is always the interference with the supply of good air to the lungs and with the escape of bad air from the lungs air is essential to life and if the supply is cut off for a few minutes not to exceed ten ones life is in danger each of the six types of cases requiring resuscitation are identical i e the oxygen supply is cut off and they all interfere with the action of the diaphragm complete suffocation fo cation is due to a paralyzed diaphragm the breathing system the chief respiratory muscle is the diaphragm while the nose mouth and windpipe are a passageway for the air the lungs oxygenate or aerate the blood the small safety engineer university of arizona tucson blood vessels surrounding the air cells which the pure air breathed in finally reaches carry dark or impure blood which has lost its oxygen in the body this blood receives oxygen from the pure air and returns to the heart as pure blood and from here it is forced throughout the body the diaphragm is a voluntary muscle in that we somewhat control our breathing but in the main it is an involuntary muscle and it is as necessary to our breathing as the heart is to our circulation if the action of either stops death is the result in normal breathing the diaphragm descends thus producing a partial vacuum in the lungs and the air rushes in through the nostrils to inflate the lungs this is called inspiration when the lungs are filled the diaphragm rises which compresses the lungs and the air is forced out this is known as expiration the diaphragm is a muscular partition which separates the chest which contains the heart and lungs from the abdomen which contains the liver spleen stomach intestines etc the diaphragm is arched and on the left side rises to the sixth rib on the right side to the fifth the body contains twenty four ribs twelve on each side all are connected to the backbone the first seven are connected to the breastbone breast bone the next three to the seventh rib by cartilage and the last two are known as floating ribs and are the ones utilized in giving artificial respiration by the schaefer method various methods of restoring life in persons apparently dead have been practiced from time lin immemorial memorial the schaefer laborde sylvester and howard but only one will be explained in this paper 0 the schaefer or prone pressure method this method is recognized as the one par excellence for tour four reasons 1 A greater amount of air can be gotten ien into the lungs 2 it is not necessary to hold the tongue out which makes it possible for one man to perform it I 1 3 one man can perform it for a longer period 4 there is no danger connected with its operation the method 1 I the patient is laid on his stomach with the face turned to one side so that the nose and mouth do not touch the ground and the arms extended above the head this position causes the tongue to fall forward of its own weight and so prevents its falling back into the air passages II 11 the operator kneels straddling the patients thighs and facing the patients head he then locates the twelfth rib and 74 k N the operator gradually increases the weight until pressure Pre sure compresses the parts photo by S C dickinson places his spread hands with nearly parallel to the fingers so that the little finger curls over the end of the last rib and with the lower part of the hand resting on the same rib the nearer to the ends of the ribs that the heels of the hands can be placed without sliding off the better pressure applied III the operator holds ills his arms straight swings his body forward and gradually increases the weight until at the end of three seconds the pressure is sufficient to compress the parts then the weight is suddenly released by applying pressure to the floating ribs the abdomen is pushed against the ground and the kidneys are shoved forward increasing the pressure in the abdomen this increased pressure shoves the stomach liver and spleen upward against the diaphragm the diaphragm in return forces the tir air out of the lungs when the pressure is relieved the ribs due to their elasticity spring back into place and the organs return to their normal positions the diaphragm returns to its place and this forms a partial vacuum in the lungs the air rushes in as in normal breathing until the pressure within the lungs about equals atmospheric pressure this is exactly what takes place in natural breathing by having an assistant place a piece of absorbent cotton drawn out thin or a light 6 feather near the nose of the patient its movement will indicate whether or not air is being exchanged IV normally we breathe from twelve to fifteen times per minute and the rate of operation should not exceed this A complete respiration occupies about five seconds the pressure applied three seconds and then released for two you can be guided by your watch three hours or more artificial respiration should be continued for at least three hours unless of course respiration returns sooner you may no not t be able to feel the pulse but the heart may still be beating so the method must be continued physicians have r re e p ported arted people dead but confidence in this method has restored respiration while one person is performing artificial respiration a second one should see that the tongue is forward that the mouth is clear of false teeth chewing gum tobacco etc that the neck and waist band are loose if possible hold aromatic spirits of ammonia near the nose if you can give oxygen in connection with artificial respiration it will be of great value A doctor should be summoned at once but do not wait for his arrival proceed with artificial respiration leave the administration of drugs to the doctors care keep the crowd back a suffocated person needs all the air he can get rubbing the hands pulling out the tongue paddling the feet sprinkling water on the face stretching the muscle of the anus and keeping the patient warm are of secondary importance if you have been successful in restoring respiration the patient may lapse again into unconsciousness consequently you will have to continually watch until he is fully recovered if breathing is discontinued proceed avith with artificial respiration again |