Babies - Accidents and Emergencies : Part 1

The Mother and Her Child
by William S. Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.

(Page 34 of 43)

In this chapter we wish to instruct the mother or the caretaker in doing the one thing needful for every one of the more common household accidents and emergencies while waiting for the doctor.

In every household there should be found an accident and emergency "kit" of necessary paraphernalia for the quick application of the one necessary medicine, dressing, etc. This "kit" should contain baking soda for burns, bandages and sterile gauze for cuts or tears, together with adhesive plaster, needle and thread, etc.

Insect Bites and Stings

Far greater harm is often done the skin by the subsequent scratching of the insect bite with dirty finger nails than by the bite itself; and so it is very important that we remember to allay quickly the intense itching by the application of ammonia water or camphor. Almost instantly the itching is stopped, and the added "scratching" irritation to the already injured skin is therefore avoided.

By the aid of a magnifying glass, and often by the naked eye, we may detect the stinger which has been left behind by the greedy guest, and which should be removed by a pair of tweezers. Ice-water compresses will stop the swelling and even an old-fashioned mud dressing, which was used and appreciated by our great grandmothers, is a thing not to be despised.

If the much admired shrubbery be removed one hundred feet away from the porch, mosquitoes would trouble the household less. It has been demonstrated in many localities that clearing away the near-by clumps of shrubbery permits the family to sit on unscreened porches unharmed. Mosquitoes multiply rapidly in stagnant pools of water, but if oil is poured over these stagnant waters the increase of mosquitoes is abated, and their total extinction is not unheard of in swampy districts receiving such care.

Whenever baby is out of doors where mosquitoes, flies, or other insects are to be found, he should be properly protected from such pests by mosquito netting stretched over a frame eighteen inches above his face, for we can think of nothing more uncomfortable than a mosquito netting dragging over a sweaty baby's face. The fact that mosquitoes, flies, roaches, and other insects are carriers of tuberculosis, infantile paralysis, typhoid fever, cholera, yellow fever and malaria, as well as a host of minor ailments, should make us the more anxious for either their extermination or the protection of our children from their greedy bites and stings.

Dog Bites and Snake Bites

Dogs, cats, rats, or mice bite at any time of the year, and provision should always be made for ample protection against such accidents.

Such a wound should always be squeezed or sucked until it has bled freely, and then be cauterized by a red-hot iron or touched with an applicator that has been dipped in sulfuric acid or nitric acid. A subsequent dressing of Balsam Peru is healing. The dog should be watched, and if it shows signs of hydrophobia the bitten child should be promptly taken to the nearest Pasteur Institute for treatment.

In the case of snake bites the same sucking and cauterizing treatment is indicated, with the additional tying of a handkerchief or cord a few inches above the wound to stay the progress of the blood and to keep the poison out of the general circulation. A solution of twenty-per-cent permanganate of potash should be used to wash the wound.

The popular administration of large draughts of whiskey is of no benefit, for the secondary depressant effect of alcohol increases the body's poison burden, and those who survive do so in spite of the whiskey, and not because of it.

Swallowing Foreign Bodies

Small articles such as buttons, safety pins, thimbles, coins, etc., are often swallowed by little folks, and if they lodge in the throat and the child struggles for his breath the treatment is as follows: grasp him by the heels and turn him upside down while a helper briskly slaps him on the back. The foreign body generally flies across the room. If it is lodged high up in the throat it may often be dislodged by the thumb and finger. If it cannot be reached and it will not go down, lose no time in seeking an X-ray laboratory where its exact location may quickly be discovered and proper measures instituted for its removal.

A troublesome fish bone is easily dislodged by swallowing a half-chewed piece of bread which carries it down to the stomach. Cathartics and purgatives are not to be given; in due time the object will appear in the stool. In all instances it is well to locate its exact position by the X ray - that there may be assurance that it will do no harm.

It is surprising what large objects can be swallowed. One old gentleman swallowed his false teeth, and a six months old baby swallowed, or at least had lodged in its throat, a silver dollar.

All detachable parts should be removed from toys that are given to babies, such as the whistle from rubber animals, the button eyes of wool kittens and dogs, and other such removable parts.

Foreign Bodies In the Eye

To begin with, do not get "panicky," but carefully, painstakingly, and patiently do the following:

1. Rub the well eye until the tears flow plentifully in both eyes.

2. Blow the nose on the injured eye side, closing the other side. This often encourages the tears to wash the foreign speck down through the tear duct, into the nose and out into the handkerchief (in case the child is old enough to follow such instruction). If the foreign body be sharp, as a piece of steel or flint is likely to be, it may be driven right into the eyeball. Seek a physician who will drop medicine into the eye to deaden the pain and then if it cannot be gently rubbed off the eyeball, a magnet will promptly remove it.

About the Author

Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the mysterious Urantia Papers.