William Henry

“ To the Royal Life Saving Society in England is due the credit of disseminating, throughout the entire world, the ideas of swimmers, based on practical experience, as to the safest methods which should be adopted for release and rescue, and their methods, as well as the approved ones for resuscitation, are now taught in almost every school and college. ”

“ When a drowning person is not struggling, but yet seems likely to do so when approached, the best method of rescue is to swim straight up, turn him on his back, and then place the hands on either side of his face. Then the rescuer should lie on his back, holding the drowning man in front of him, and swim with the back stroke, always taking care to keep the man’s face above water (fig. 5) . If the man be struggling and in a condition difficult to manage, he should be turned on his back as before, and a firm hold taken of his arms just above his elbows. ”

“ When approaching a drowning man there is always the danger of being clutched, but a swimmer who knows the right way to deal with a man in the water can easily avoid this; but if through some mistake he finds himself seized by the drowning person, a necessary thing for the swimmer to do is to take advantage of his knowledge of the water and keep uppermost, as this weakens the drowning person and makes the effort of effecting a release much easier than would otherwise be the case. ”

“ One of the most dangerous clutches is that round the body and arms or round the body only. When so tackled the rescuer should lean well over the drowning person, take a breath as before, and either withdraw both arms in an upward direction in front of his body, or else act in the same way as when releasing oneself when clutched round the neck. In any case one hand must be placed on the drowning man’s shoulder, and the palm of the other hand against his chin, and at the same time one knee should be brought up against the lower part of his chest. ”

“ The owner of Baynard’s Castle, London, in the reign of John, had powers of trying criminals, and his descendants long afterwards claimed the privileges, the most valued of which was the right of drowning in the Thames traitors taken within their jurisdiction. Drowning was the punishment ordained by Richard Cœur de Lion for any soldier of his army who killed a fellow-crusader during the passage to the Holy Land. Drowning was usually reserved for women as being the least brutal form of death-penalty, but occasionally a male criminal was so executed as a matter of favour. ”

“ In carrying a person through the water, it will be of much advantage to keep his elbows well out from the sides, as this expands the chest, inflates the lungs and adds to his buoyancy. The legs should be kept well up to the surface and the whole body as horizontal as possible. This avoids a drag through the water, and will considerably help the rescuer. In some cases it may happen that the drowning person has sunk to the bottom and does not rise again. In that event the rescuer should look for bubbles rising to the surface before diving in. ”

“ Provided no sign of life can be seen or felt or the heart’s action heard, promotion of breathing, not circulation must be the first aim and effort. Lay the patient flat on his back, with the head at a slightly higher level than the feet. Remove all tight clothing about the neck, chest and abdomen, and loosen the braces, belts or corsets. The operator taking his place at the head, with an assistant on one side, will turn the patient over until he is lying face downwards, his head resting upon one arm. ”

“ All rough usage should be avoided, especially twisting or bending of limbs, and the patient must not be allowed to remain on the back unless the tongue is pulled forward. In the event of respiration not being entirely suspended when a person is lifted out of the water, it may not be necessary to imitate breathing, but natural respiration may be assisted by the application of an irritant substance to the nostrils and tickling the nose. Smelling-salts, pepper and snuff may be used, or hot and cold water alternately dashed on the face or chest. ”

“ These experiments all tend to show that by far the most efficient method of performing artificial respiration is that of intermittent pressure upon the lower ribs with the subject in the prone position or face downward. It is also the easiest to perform, requiring practically no exertion, as the weight of the operator’s body produces the effect, and the swinging forwards and backwards of the body some thirteen times a minute, which alone is required, is by no means fatiguing, and has the further great advantage that it can be effectively carried out by one person. ”

“ Simple means are often as effective as the official ones. In 1891 a subject was restored in Australia by being held over a smoky fire, which is the native method of restoring life; while a few years back, at an English riverside town, a patient was saved by the placing of a handkerchief over his mouth and the alternate blowing into and drawing air out of the lungs until natural breathing was restored. ”

“ If the arms be difficult to grasp, or the struggling so violent as to prevent a firm hold, the rescuer should slip his hands under the armpits of the drowning person, and place them on his chest or round his arms, then raise them at right angles to his body, thus placing the drowning person completely in his power. ”

“ Whilst one person is carrying out artificial respiration in this way, others may, if there be opportunity, busy themselves with applying hot flannels to the body and limbs, and hot bottles to the feet, but no attempt should be made to remove the wet clothing or to give any restoratives by the mouth until natural breathing has recommenced. ”

“ In still water the bubbles rise perpendicularly; in running water they rise obliquely, so that the rescuer must look for his object higher up the stream than where the bubbles rise. It is also well to remember that in running water a body may be carried along by the current and must be looked for in the direction in which it flows. ”

“ When a person gets under water and cannot swim, there is a natural tendency to struggle, and in the efforts to respire water is drawn into the windpipe and cough is brought on. This expels the air from the lungs with the water which threatened to suffocate him, and as further efforts are made to respire more water is taken in and has to be swallowed. Meanwhile, the oxygen in the lungs is gradually diminishing, the quantity of carbonic acid is increasing, and at length the air in the lungs becomes too impure to effect an exchange with the blood. ”

“ These methods have now been superseded by the Schäfer method, which has been taken up by the Royal Life Saving Society, a body instituted in 1891 for the promotion of technical education in life saving and resuscitation of the apparently drowned. The Schäfer method has much to recommend it, owing to its extreme simplicity and the ease with which the physical operations necessary to carry on artificial respiration may be performed, hardly any muscular exertion being required. ”

“ The assistant at the head pays particular attention to the patient’s arms, that they may not be laid upon or twisted at the wrists, elbows, hands or shoulders. The patient is then turned face downwards, with the body reclining over the pillow, the operator makes a firm pressure with the hand upon the back, between and on the shoulder blades, he then pulls the patient slowly up on to the side towards himself. Once in position, the operator pushes the patient back again until the face is downward, when the pressure on the back is to be repeated. ”

“ Immediately a dull, sickening pain becomes apparent at the base of the neck, and insensibility rapidly ensues. This arises from the affection of the respiratory nerve centre. In a short space of time the face becomes dark and congested through the veins being gorged with blood, and the heart ultimately ceases to beat. ”

“ When a person unable to swim falls into the water, he usually rises to the surface, throws up his arms and calls for help. This, with the water swallowed, will make him sink, and if the arms are moved above the head when under water, he will, as a natural consequence, sink still lower. ”

“ If still conscious, he will renew his struggle, more feebly perhaps, but with the same result. As soon as insensibility occurs, the body sinks altogether, owing to the loss of air and the filling of the stomach with water. ”

“ It involves no risk of injury to the congested liver or to any other organ, and as the patient is laid face downwards, there is no possibility of the air passages being blocked by the falling back of the tongue into the pharynx. ”