Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
DROWNING AND LIFE SAVING
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: DRO-ECG
del.icio.us it!
|
DROWNING AND See also:LIFE SAVING . To " drown " (a verb used both transitively and intransitively, of which the origin, though traced to earlier forms, is unknown) is to suffer or inflict See also:death by submersion in See also:water, or figuratively to submerge entirely in water or some other liquid. As a See also:form of See also:ancient See also:capital See also:punishment, the method of drowning is referred to at the end of this See also:article, but the See also:interest of the subject is mainly associated with See also:rescue-See also:work in cases of See also:accident. Death from drowning is the result of See also:asphyxia, due to the stoppage of a See also:supply of fresh See also:air to the lungs. There is a certain amount of stationary air in the lungs, and into this is diffused See also:oxygen from the fresh air taken in, while the carbonic See also:acid which it has taken from the See also:blood through the walls of the capillaries is driven out. This See also:process of See also:exchange is ever proceeding, the whole of it being regulated from the See also:nervous centre at the See also:base of the See also:brain. When a See also:person gets under water and cannot swim, there is a natural tendency to struggle, and in the efforts to respire water is See also:drawn into the See also: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. Mean-while, 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. Then the blood passing into the See also:heart becomes venous and the heart begins to send out venous instead of arterial blood to all parts of the See also:body. Immediately a dull, sickening See also:pain becomes apparent at the base of the See also:neck, and insensibility rapidly ensues. This arises from the See also:affection of the See also:respiratory See also:nerve centre. In a See also:short space of See also:time the See also:face becomes dark and congested through the See also:veins being gorged with blood, and the heart ultimately ceases to See also:beat. When a person unable to swim falls into the water, he usually rises to the See also: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 See also:head when under water, he will, as a natural consequence, sink still See also:lower. The struggle will be prolonged a few seconds, and then probably cease for a time, allowing him to rise again, though perhaps not sufficiently high to enable himto get another breath of air. 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 See also:stomach with water. There is. a See also:general belief that a drowning person must rise three times before he finally sinks, but this is a See also:fallacy. The question whether he rises at all, or how often he does so, entirely depends upon circumstances. A See also:man may get entangled among weeds, which prevent his coming to the surface, or he may See also:die through heart failure from the See also:shock or fright of entering the water. On seeing a per- son struggling in the FIG. 1.-1st See also:Release Method. water in danger of drowning, no time should be lost in going to his assistance, for he may sink at once, and then there is danger of missing the body when searching under water for it, or it may get entangled among weeds and then the rescuer's task is rendered doubly dangerous. Before diving in to the rescue the boots and heavy clothing should be discarded if possible, and in cases where a leap has to be made from a height, such as a See also:bridge, high See also:embankment, See also:vessel or See also:pier, or where the See also:depth of the water is not known, it is best to drop in feet first. Where weeds abound there is always danger of entanglement, and therefore progress should be made in the direction of the stream. When approaching a drowning man there is always the danger of being clutched, but a swimmer who knows the right way to See also:deal with a man in the water can easily avoid this; but if through some See also:mistake he finds himself seized by the drowning person, a necessary thing for the swimmer to do is to take See also: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 See also:case. To the Royal Life Saving Society in See also:England is due the See also:credit of disseminating, throughout the entire See also:world, the ideas of swimmers, based on See also: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 See also:college. If the rescuer be held by the wrists, he must turn both arms simultaneously against the drowning person's thumbs, and bring his arms at right angles to the body, thus dislocating the thumbs of the drowning person if he does not leave go (fig. I). If he be clutched See also:round the neck he must take a deep breath and lean well over the drowning person, at the same time placing one See also:hand in the small of his back, then raise the other See also:arm in See also:line with the See also:shoulder, and pass it over the drowning person's arm, then pinch the nostrils See also:close with the fingers, and at FIG. 2.-2nd Release Method. the same time See also:place the See also:palm of the hand on the See also:chin and push away with all possible force. By the See also:firm holding of the See also:nose the drowning person is made to open his mouth for breathing, and as he will then be under water, choking ensues and he gives way to the rescuer, who then gains See also:complete See also:control (fig. 2). One of the man's arms should be drawn up at right angles to his body and the rescuer should start See also:swimming with the back stroke (fig. 6). He should take particular care not to go against the current or stream, and thereby avoid exhaustion. 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 per- son, and place them on his See also:chest or round his arms, then raise them at right angles to his body,thus plac- See also:ing the drowning per-son completely in his See also:power. The See also:journey to See also:land can then be r _ (. . made by swimming 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 See also: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 See also:knee should be brought up against the lower See also:part of his chest. Then, with a strong and. sudden push, the arms and legs should be stretched out straight and the whole See also:weight of the body thrown backwards. This sudden and totally unexpected See also:action will break the clutch and leave the rescuer See also:free to get hold of the drowning person in such a manner as to be able to bring him to \and (fig. 3). There are several practical methods of carrying a person through the water, the easiest assistance to render being that to a swimmer attacked by See also:cramp or exhaustion, or a drowning person who may be obedient and remain quiet when approached and assured of safety. Then the person assisted should place his arms on the rescuer's shoulders, close to the neck, with the arms at full stretch, See also:lie on his back perfectly still, with the head well back. The rescuer will then be uppermost, and hav- . ing his arms and legs -))free can, with the - See also:breast stroke, make rapid progress to the See also:shore; indeed a See also:good See also:pace can easily be made (fig. 4). In this, as in the other methods afterwards described, every. care should be taken to keep the face of the drowning person above the water. All jerking, struggling or tugging should be avoided, and the stroke of the legs be See also:regular and well timed, thus husbanding strength for further effort. The drowning person being able to breathe with freedom is reassured, and is likely to cease struggling, feeling that he is in safe hands. 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 See also: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 See also:condition difficult to See also:manage, he should be turned on his back as before, and a firm hold taken of his arms just above his elbows. Then on the back as in the FIG. 6.-2nd Rescue Method. other methods (fig. 7). 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 See also:horizontal as possible. This avoids a See also: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. In still water the bubbles rise perpendicularly; in See also:running water they rise obliquely, so that the rescuer must look for his See also: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 drowning person is recovered on the bottom, the rescuer should seize him by the head or shoulders, place the See also:left See also:foot on the ground and the right knee in the small of his back, and then, with a vigorous push, come to the surface.
When the rescuer reaches land with an insensible person, no time should be lost in sending for a medical man, but in the meantime an See also:attempt to induce artificial respiration may be made. The first recorded cases of resuscitating the apparently drowned are mentioned in the notes to See also: See also:Fothergill read a See also:paper on the subject before the Royal Society. It dealt with the recovery of a man dead in See also:appearance by distending the lungs by Mr William Tossack, surgeon in See also:Alloa, in 1744. In 1767 several cases of resuscitation were reported in See also:Switzerland, and shortly after a society was formed at See also:Amsterdam for recovery of the apparently drowned, and to instruct the See also:common See also:people as to the best manner of treating them when rescued, and to See also:reward the people for their services. In 1773 Dr A. See also: Air was forced into the lungs and then expelled by pressing the chest, thus imitating respiration. Dr Hawes used for his resuscitation work a See also:kind of See also:cradle, in which the subject was placed, and then raised over a See also:furnace. Bleeding, holding up by the heels, See also:rolling on casks; &c. were at various times resorted to. See also:Simple means are often as effective as the See also:official ones. In 1891 a subject was restored in See also:Australia by being held over a smoky See also:fire, which is the native method of restoring life; while a few years back, at an See also:English See also:riverside See also:town, a patient was saved by the placing of a handkerchief over his mouth and the alternate blowing into and See also:drawing air out of the lungs until natural breathing was restored.
One of the See also:oldest methods of resuscitation was that of Dr See also:Marshall See also: R. See also:Silvester and Dr See also:Benjamin See also:Howard, of New See also:York. When using the Silvester method, or, for the See also:matter of that, any other method, the first thing to do is to send for medical assistance. Dr Silvester recommended that the patient should not be carried face downwards or held up by his feet. 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 See also: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, See also:pepper and See also:snuff may be used, or hot and See also:cold water alternately dashed on the face or chest. Provided no sign of life can be seen or See also:felt or the heart's action heard, promotion of breathing, not circulation must be the first aim and effort. See also:Lay the patient See also:flat on his back, with the head at a slightly higher level than the feet. Remove all tight clothing about the neck, chest and See also: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. He should then, after the assistant has given one or two See also:sharp blows with the open hand between the shoulder blades, wipe and clear the mouth, See also:throat and - nostrils of all matter that may prevent the air from entering the lungs, using a handkerchief for this purpose. This being done, the patient should be turned upon his back, the tongue pulled forward and kept in position by means of a dry See also:cloth, handkerchief or piece of See also:string tied round the See also:jaw. Every care must be taken not to let it fall back into the mouth and thus obstruct the air passages. When this work has been accomplished (it should only last a few seconds) the operator at the head should lift the patient, handling the head and shoulders very carefully, in order that the assistant may place a roll of clothing or pillow under the shoulder blades. The roll being placed in position, the operator will lean forward and grasp the arms below the elbows. He will then draw the patient's arms steadily upwards and outwards, above the head, until fully extended in line with the body. Having held the arms in this position for about one second, the operator will carry them back again and See also:press them firmly against the side and front of the chest for another second. By these means an exchange ofair is produced in the lungs similar to that effected by natural respiration. These movements must be repeated carefully and deliberately about fifteen times a minute, 'and persevered in. When natural respiration is once established, the operator should cease to imitate the movements of breathing, and proceed with the treatment for the promotion of warmth and circulation. See also:Friction over the surface of the body must be at once resorted to, using handkerchiefs, flannels, &c., so as to propel the blood along the veins towards the heart, while the operator attends to the mouth, nose and throat. The friction along the legs, arms and body should all be towards the heart and should be continued after the patient has been wrapped in blankets or some dry clothing. As soon as possible, the patient should be removed to the nearest See also:house and further efforts made to promote warmth by the application of hot flannels to the See also:pit of the stomach, and bottles or bladders of hot water, heated bricks, &c. to the armpits, between the thighs and to the soles of the feet. If there be pain or difficulty in breathing, apply a hot See also:linseed See also:meal See also:poultice to the chest. On the' restoration of life, a teaspoonful of warm water should be given; and then, if the power of swallowing has returned, very small quantities of See also:wine, warm See also:brandy and water, See also:beef See also:tea or See also:coffee administered, the patient kept in See also:bed, and a disposition to See also:sleep encouraged. The patient should be carefully watched for some time to see that breathing does not fail, and, should any signs of failure appear, artificial respiration should at once be resumed. While the patient is in the house, care should be taken to let the air circulate freely about the See also:room and all overcrowding should be prevented. In the Howard method there are only two movements; its knowledge is said to be necessary in case the patient's arm be in any way injured, or a more vigorous method than the Silvester " deemed necessary, but care should be exercised not to injure the patient by too forcible pressure. The patient is laid on his back, the roll is larger than that used in the Silvester method, and is placed farther under the back in order that the lower part of the chest may be highest. After adjusting the roll, the operator kneels astride of the patient, while his assistant goes to the head, lifts the patient's arms beyond the head, and holds them to the ground, cleans the mouth and nose, and attends to the tongue. The operator, with his fingers spread well apart, taking care that the thumbs do not press into the pit of the stomach, grasps the most compressible part of the lower ribs, and with both hands applies pressure firmly by leaning over the patient; then he springs back, lifting his hands off the patient. Artificial respiration is thus effected, and continued at the rate of about fifteen times a minute. When natural breathing has been restored, the treatment is the same as in the Silvester method. These methods have now been superseded by the Schafer method, .which has been taken up by the Royal Life Saving Society, a body instituted in 1891 for the promotion of technical See also:education in life saving and resuscitation of the apparently drowned. The Schafer method has much to recommend it, owing to its extreme simplicity and the ease with which the See also:physical operations necessary to carry on artificial respiration may be performed, hardly any See also:muscular exertion being required. It involves no See also:risk of injury to the congested See also:liver or to any other See also: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. The water and mucus can also be expelled much more readily from the air passages through the mouth and nostrils. It was due to the happy selection of See also:Professor E. A. Schafer, as chairman of a See also:committee appointed by the Royal Medical & Chirurgical Society for the investigation of the methods in use for resuscitation of the apparently drowned, that the new method was devised. This committee made many experiments upon the cadaver but failed to arrive at any definite conclusion by that means. The See also:necessity then appeared of thorough investigation of the subject by experiments upon animals, so that the phenomena attendant upon drowning might be better known, and the various methods of resuscitation properly tried. These experiments were made in See also:Edinburgh by Professor Schafer, with the co-operation of Dr P. T. See also:Herring, and the results obtained were embodied in the See also:report of the committee, which was presented to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society in 1904, and published as a supplement to See also:volume 86 of the Transactions of the society. As the See also:direct outcome of these experiments, Professor Schafer was led to believe that a pressure method of resuscitation was not only simpler to perform but also more efficacious than any other. This conclusion was put to the test by measurements of the results obtained upon the normal human subject by the various methods in vogue; from these measurements, which were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in See also:December r9o3, it appeared that when such pressure is exerted in the prone position the highest degree of efficiency as well as simplicity is obtained. The description of this method was communicated to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, and was published in the following See also:year (1904) in volume 87 of the Transactions of the society. Thus it came about that by investigating the phenomena of drowning, and the means of resuscitation in See also:dogs, and by applying the results obtained to man, the method which the society now See also:advocates as the best was arrived at. In the experiments referred to, it was found necessary to drown 38 dogs, all but two of which were from first to last in a complete 'See also:state of See also:anaesthesia, the two exceptions having been simply drowned without anaesthesia. It is important that the public should understand that the See also:evolution of a method which will probably be the means of saving thousands of ' lives has resulted from the painless, See also:sacrifice of less than 40 dogs, a number which would doubtless in any case have been destroyed by drowning or some other form of suffoca- Fm. 8.-Schafer method of treatment of the apparently drowned. Position A. tion, but without the benefit of the anaesthetics which were employed in the experiments. Professor Schafer describes the method as follows:—Lay the subject face downwards on the ground, then without stopping to remove the clothing the operator should at once place himself in position astride or at one side of the subject, facing his head and kneeling upon one or both knees. He then places his hands flat over the lower part of the back (on the lowest ribs), one on each side (fig. 8), and then gradually throws the weight of his body forward on to them so as to produce firm pressure (fig. 9)—which must not be violent, or upon the patient's chest. By this means the air, and water if any, are driven out of the patient's lungs. Immediately thereafter the operator raises his body slowly so as to remove the pressure, but the hands are
Position B.
left in position. This forward and backward See also:movement is repeated every four or five seconds; in other words, the body
of the operator is swayed slowly forwards and backwards upon the arms from twelve to fifteen times a minute, and should be continued for at least See also:half an See also:hour, or until the natural respirations are resumed. 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 his paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in December 1903 Professor Schafer gave the following table of the relative exchanges of air under different methods:
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 back-wards of the body some thirteen times a minute, which alone is required, is by no means fatiguing, and has the further See also:great advantage that it can be effectively carried out by one person.
See See also: Schafer, F.R.S. (vol. 23, part i. Proceedings efthe Royal Society of $denburgh); A Method for the Treatment of the Apparently Drowned, `by R. S. See also:Bowles (London, 1903); Handbook of Instruction, Royal Life Saving Society (London, 1908). (W. Hy.) ' Penal Use of Drowning: As a form of capital punishment, drowning was once common throughout See also:Europe, but it is now only practised in See also:Mahommedan countries and the Far See also:East. See also:Tacitus states that the ancient Germans hanged criminals of any See also:rank, but those of the See also:low classes were drowned beneath hurdles in See also:fens and bogs. The See also:Romans also drowned convicts. The Lex See also:Cornelia ordained that parricides should be sewn in a See also:sack with a See also:dog, See also:cock, See also:viper and See also:ape, and thrown into the See also:sea. The See also:law of ancient See also:Burgundy ordered that an unfaithful wife should be smothered in mud. The Anglo-Saxon punishment for See also:women guilty of See also:theft was drowning. So usual was the See also:penalty in the See also:middle ages that grants of life and death See also:jurisdiction were worded to be "cum fossa et furca" (i.e. " with drowning-pit and gallows "). The owner of Baynard's See also:Castle, London, in the reign of See also: 13 489 C.C. 6.460 c.c. Natural „ (prone) 12.5 422 „ 5.240 „ Prone (pressure), " Schafer " 13 520 „ 6.760 Supine (pressure), " Howard " 13'6 295 ,, 4'020 „ Rolling (with pressure), "Marshall 13 254 „ 3'300 ,, Hall " . . . . Rolling (without pressure), "See also:Mar- 12 192 „ 2.300 „ shall Hall " . . See also:Traction (with pressure), " Sil- I2.8 178 „ 2.280 vester " ., See also:execution by drowning in Switzerland was in 1652, in See also:Austria 1776, in See also:Iceland 1777; while in See also:France during the Revolution the penalty was revived in the terrible Noyades carried out by the terrorist See also:jean See also:Baptiste See also:Carrier at See also:Nantes. It was abolished in See also:Russia at the beginning of the 18th See also:century. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] DROUET, JEAN BAPTISTE (1763-1824) |
[next] DROYSEN, JOHANN GUSTAV (1808—1884) |