UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ME& WASHINGTON, D.C. GPO 16—67244-1 .v>r- DIRECTIONS, FOR RECOVERING PERSONS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, FROM DROWNING;. ALSO, t FOR PREVENTING AND CURING THE DISORDERS PRODUCED BY DRINKING COLD LIQUORS, *\f AND BY THE ACTION OB NOXIOUS VAPOURS, LIGHTNING, AND EXCESSIVE HEAT AN» COLD UPON THE HUMAN BODY. PUBLISHED BY THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA. '» _______ DO NOT DESPAIR. I DIRECTIONS, FOR RECOVERING PERSONS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, FROM DROWNING. I. x\.S soon as the body is taken out of the water, it must be conveyed on a board or bier if at hand, to a house, or any other place, where it can be laid dry and warm, avoiding the usual destructive methods of hanging it by the heels, rolling it on a barrel, or placing it across a log on the belly. II. The clothes must be immediately stripped off, and the body wrapped up in blankets, well warmed. It should be laid on its back, with the head a little raised. If the weather be cold, it should be placed near a fire, and an heated warming pan should be passed over the body; but in warm weather it will be sufficient to place it between two blankets well heated, or in the sunshine, taking care to prevent the room from being crouded,,with any per- sons who are not necessarily employed about the body. III. At the same time, the whole body should be rubbed with the hand, or with hot woollen cloths. The rubbing should be moderate, but continued with industry, and particularly about the breast. Apply also heated bricks to the feet, belly, and breast. The immediate applica- tion of frictions is of the utmost importance, as many have been recovered by fri£Uous only, when early used. IV. As soon as it can possibly be done, a bellows should be applied to one nostril, whilst the other nostril and the mouth are kept closed, and the lower end of the prominent part of the wind-pipe (or that part which is called by the anatomists, pomum adami) is pressed back- B (*) ward. The bellows is to be worked in this situation; and when the breast is swelled by it, the bellows should stop, and an assistant should press the belly upwards, to force the air out. The bellows should then be applied as before, and the belly again be pressed j this process should be repeated from twenty to thirty times in a minute, so as to imitate natural breathing as nearly as possible. Some volatile spirits, heated, may be held under the valve of the bellows whilst it works. If a bellows cannot be pro- cured, some person should blow into one of the nostrils, through a pipe or quill, whilst the other nostril and mouth are closed as before; or if a pipe or quill be not at hand, he should blow into the mouth, whilst both nostrils are closed ; but whenever a bellows can be procured, it is to be preferred, as air forced in by this means, will be much more serviceable than air which has already been brea-? thed. V. During this time, a large quantity of ashes, water, salt, or sand, should be heated; and as soon as it is milk- warm, the body must be placed in it j the blowing and rubbing are then to be continued as before; and when the w.ater, ashes, or salt are cooled, some warmer must be added, so that the whole may be kept milk-warm. Loud noises have sometimes proved successful in recov- ering such persons and restoring to life. When signs of returning life are apparent, the friaions must be conti- nued, but more gently. These methods must be continued three or four hours, as in several instances they have proved successful' although no signs of life appeared until that time. When the patient is able to swallow, he must take some wine brandy, or rum and watery bleeding or purging ought not to be used, without consulting a physician, who should be called in as soon as possible—but glysters of salt and water "may be injected. After life has returned, if convulsions come on, blood should be taken by direftion of a physician. ( 3 ) To prevent the fatal Effects of drinking cold Water, or cold Liquors of any Kind in warm Weather. 1st, Avoid drinking whilst you are warm, or, 2d, Drink only a small quantity at once, and let it remain a 6hort time in your mouth before you swallow it; or, 3d, Wash your hands and face, and rinse your mouth with cold water before you drink. If these precautions have been neglected, and the disorder incident to drinking cold water hath been produced, the first, and in most instances, the only remedy to be administered, is sixty drops of liquid laudanum in spirit and water, or warm drink of any kind. If this should fail of giving relief, the same quantity may be given twenty minutes afterwards. When laudanum cannot be obtained, rum and water, or warm water should be given. Vomits and bleeding should not be used without consulting a physician. The dangerous Effects of noxious Vapours, from Wells, Cellars, fermenting Liquors, &c, may be prevented, By procuring a free circulation of air, either by ven- tilators, or opening the doors or windows, where it is confined, or by changing the air, by keeping fires in the infected place, or by throwing in stone-lime recently powdered. These precautions should be taken, before entering into such suspected places; or a lighted candle should be first introduced, which will go out if the air is bad. When a person is let down into a well, he should be carefully watched, and drawn up again on the least change. (4) But when a person is apparently dead, from the above* mentioned cause, the first thing to be done is to remove the body to a cool place in a wholesome air; then let the body be stripped, and let cold water be thrown from buckets over it for some time. This is particularly use- ful in cases of apparent death from drunkenness.—Let the treatment now be the same as that for drowned persons. The head should be raised a little; and continued frictions, with blowing into the nostril with a bellows, should be practised for several hours. In Cases of Suffocation from the Fumes of Burning Charcoal, The general treatment recommended for curing the disorders brought on by noxious vapours, is to be applied ; but the dangerous effects of this may be prevented, by taking care not to sit near it when burning; to burn it in a chimney; and where there is no chimney, to keep the door open, and to place a. large tub of water in the room. In all these, as well as in cases of drowned persons, moderate purges and bleeding are only to be used, with *the advice of a physician. To prevent the fatal Effects of Lightning, Let your house be provided with an iron conductor ; but when this cannot be had, avoid sitting, or standing, near the window, door, or walls of an house, during the time of a thunder gust. The nearer you are placed to the middle of a room, the better. When you are not m a house, avoid flying to the cover of the woods, or of a soli- tary tree, for safety. ( 5 ) When a person is struck by lightning, strip the body and throw buckets full of cold water over it for ten or fif- teen minutes ; let continued frictions and inflations of the lungs be also practised: Let gentle shocks of electricity be made to pass through the chest, when a skilful person can be procured to apply it; and apply blisters to the breast. To prevent Danger from Exposure to the Excessive Heat of the Sun. Disorders from this cause, or (as they are commonly termed) strokes of the sun, may be expected, when a per- son who is exposed to his rays, is afFe&ed with a violent head-ach, attended with throbbing or with giddiness; where the disorder takes place, these symptoms are fol- lowed by faintiness and great insensibility, with violent heat and dryness of the skin, redness and dryness of the eyes, difficulty of breathing, and, according as the disease is more or less violent, with a difficulty, or entire inabi- lity of speaking or moving. To guard against these dangerous effects of heat, it will be proper, 1st, To avoid labour, or violent exercise, or exposing yourself to the rays of the sun, immediately after eating a hearty meal: 2d, To avoid drinking spirits of any kind, when you are thus exposed. These add an internal fire to the heat of the sun. Vinegar and water, sweetened with molasses or brown sugar, butter-milk and water, small beer, whey, or milk and water, are the most proper drinks for people who are exposed to excessive heat. But the less- a person drinks of liquors of any kind in the forenoon, the better will he endure the heat of a warm day. ( 6 ) 3d, To wear a white hat, or to cover a black one with white paper, when you are necessarily exposed to the hot sun, and to avoid standing still when in such a situa* tion. 4th, To retire into the shade as soon as you begin to be affected with pain or throbbing in the head, with gid- diness or with faintiness. If these precautions have been neglected, and the symp- toms above described have come on, it will be proper, 1st, to remove the person so affected into a cool, dry place, and to loosen all his garments, particularly those around his neck and breast. 2d, To examine whether the pulse at the wrists or temples beats forcibly, and if it does, to bleed immedi- ately ; but if the pulse be weak, or cannot be perceived, bleeding must not be performed. 3d, To place his feet and legs (or if it can be done) the lower half of his body in warm water. But if this reme- dy fails, 4th, To apply linen cloths wet with cold water, or with cold water and vinegar, to the temples and all over the head. 5th, To administer plentiful draughts of vinegar and water sweetened. In all cases of this kind, a physician should be sent for, unless the patient recovers speedily. To prevent the Effeds of Excessive Cold. Persons are in danger of being destroyed by it, whea they become very drowsy, or are affeded with general m numbness or insensibility of the body. As the cold which proves fatal, generally affects the feet first, great care should be taken to keep them as warm as possible. 1st, By protecting them when you are exposed to cold with wool, or woollen socks within the shoes or boots, or with large woollen stockings drawn over them, or when you ride, with hay or straw wrapped round them. 2d, by keeping up a brisk circulation in the blood ves- sels of the feet, which will be best preserved by avoiding tight boots, or shoes, by moving the feet constantly-, or when this is impracticable, from a confined situation, and two or more persons are exposed together, 3d, By placing their feet, without shoes, against each other's breasts. If notwithstanding these precautions, a person should be rendered sleepy or insensible by cold, he must exert himself and move about quickly, for if he should sleep in the cold, he will inevitably perish. When a person who is travelling in company, begins to be affected in this man- ner, his companions should force him to walk briskly or to run. v . -., .'* , <-*,*:?■'' "*'*Sc* j»*-**-'«" *-vv •..*•' When cold has produced apparent death, the body should be placed in a room without fire, and rubbed steadily with snow, or cloths wet with cold water, at . the same time that. theJ)ello.w1s- is, applied te the* ndsaj and used as in the case of drowning. This treatment should be continued a long time, although no signs of life appear; for some persons have recovered, who were to appearance lifeless for several hours. When the limbs only are affected by the cold, they should be rubbed gently with snow, or bathed in cold water with ice in it, until their feeling and power of mo- tion returns; after which, the bathing or rubbing with snow is to be repeated once every hour, and continued a longer or shorter time, as the pains are more or less violent. ( 8 ) The person thus affected should be kept from the fife, for warmth and acrid applications of every kind are very injurious. MANAGERS OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY. JOSEPH CRUKSHANK, President, No. 25, Church-alley. ISAAC SNOWDEN, Jun. Secretary, No. 141 south Second-street. WILLIAM T. DONALDSON, -j No. 68, Swanson-street. I T „ CHARLES PENROSE, Unspeflors. No. 93, Penn-street. J Dr. SAMUEL P. GRIFF1TTS, -^ „ No. 62, south Front-street. / CommJttee Dr. JAMES MEASE, K °f J No. 192, Cheanut-stteet.yorre^endewe- CHARLES MARSHALL, No. 46, Chesnut-street. BENJAMIN THAW, No. 37, Arch-street. SAMUEL PANCOAST, Jun. No. 127, southThird-street. No. 150, south Second-street. JOSEPH B. EVES, No. 103, Market-street. NO. 133, Market-street. TREASURER. BENJAMIN HORNOR, Jun. No. 47, Market-street. When any parts of the apparatus have been used, the Societv desire they may be immediately returned to the places of deposit -An attention to this request would prevent much unnecessary expence and inconvenience. J KUd, Mist, WZ ^'1 ?:■&$§&*%.