BITES
BLEEDING
BURNS
EARS
EYES
FEET
HEADACHE
SUNSTROKE
STOMACH ACHE
TOOTHACHE
In a small camp a physician is unnecessary, though one should be within
call. The camp leader should have a knowledge of the ordinary ailments of
growing boys and simple remedies for relief. No camp of fifty or more boys
should be without a physician or some upper class medical student of high
moral character. Don't run risks. When in doubt, call in a physician. The
treatment of local disorders described is largely from nature's medicine
chest, and simple in application.
Bites and Stings
Put on salt and water, or make a paste of soda and water, or rub the wound
with aromatic ammonia, camphor, or tar soap. Common salt is excellent.
Bleeding Nose
Do not blow the nose. Hold a wet handkerchief at the back of the neck and
wash the face in hot water, or place a wad of paper under the upper lip,
or crowd some fine gauze or cotton into the nostrils and make a plug.
To Check Bleeding
Raise the injured part as high as you can above the heart, press very
firmly with sterile pad under thumb or fingers on or into the wound. Blood
from a vein will be dark red or purplish and will flow in a steady stream.
Press upon the vein below the wound. Put on a clean pad and bind it upon
the wound firmly enough to stop bleeding. Blood from an artery will be
bright red and will probably spurt in jets. Press very hard above the
wound. Tie a strong bandage (handkerchief, belt, suspenders, rope, strip
of clothing) around the wounded member, and between the wound and the
heart. Under it and directly over the artery place a smooth pebble, piece
of stick, or other hard lump. Then thrust a stout stick under the bandage
and twist until the wound stops bleeding. A tourniquet should not remain
over twenty-four hours.
Blisters
Wash blistered feet in hot water and then in alcohol or in cold water with
a little baking powder or soda added. Wipe them dry and then rub them with
a tallow candle or some fat.
Bruises
Apply compresses of hot or cold water to keep down swelling and
discoloration. Also apply witch hazel.
Burns
Use vaseline, baking soda, bread, the white of an egg, flour and water,
butter, grease, or fat; or mix flour and soda with fat, or soap with sugar
and make into a paste, or put a teaspoonful of baking powder into a pint
of warm water and pour it on a piece of gauze and put this on the burn or
scald, covering it with cotton and a bandage. Never let a burn be exposed
to the air, but cover it at once if the pain is intense.
Chills
Mix a good dash of pepper with a little ginger in sweetened hot water and
drink it. Get into bed at once. Cover with blankets and put hot water
bottle at feet.
Choking
Force yourself to swallow pieces of dry bread or drink some water. Let
some one slap the back.
Colds
Pour boiling water over two heads of elder blossoms, brew for twenty
minutes, and drink a small cup hot on going to bed. Or drink hot lemonade
or hot ginger tea. In any case, keep warm and out of a draft.
Constipation
Use cathartic pills, or castor oil. Eat plenty of prunes or fruit. Drink
plenty of water.
Cuts
Always clean thoroughly all open wounds to prevent infection, and
accelerate healing. Carbolic, left on a wound for any time at all may
result in carbolic poisoning or in gangrene. Use pure alcohol (not wood or
denatured, as both are poisonous), or a teaspoonful of sulphur-naphthol to
a basin of water, or 1:1000 corrosive sublimate solution (wad with
flexible collodion). Do not use vaseline or any other substance on a
freshly abrased surface. After a scab has formed, vaseline may be applied
to keep this scab soft. Never close a wound with court plaster[1]. The
only legitimate uses for sticking or adhesive plaster are to hold
dressings in place where bandaging is difficult, or in case of a cut to
keep edges closed without sewing the skin.
[Transcriber's Footnote 1: Cloth coated with adhesive substance to cover
cuts or scratches on the skin.]
Earache
Take the heart of an onion, heat it in an oven, and put it in the ear when
hot, but not so hot as to burn the ear. This not only relieves the
earache, but helps to send the sufferer to sleep. Hold hot water bag to
ear.
Inflamed Eye
Wring a towel in water hot as the hands will bear; lay on the eyes and
change frequently. Bathe with saturated solution of boric acid crystals.
Great relief is felt by opening the eyes in tepid or very warm boracic
solution. Even if it is strong enough to smart, no harm will result.
If inflammation is caused by a foreign substance, rub the other eye, in
order to make both eyes water. If the speck can be seen, it can generally
be taken out by twisting a small piece of gauze or cloth around a
toothpick and drawing it over the speck, or by twisting up a piece of
paper like a lamp lighter and, after wetting the tip of it, wiping it
against the speck. If it is under the upper lid, pull the lid away from
the eyeball, and push the under lid up underneath the upper one. In this
way the eyelashes of the lower lid will generally clean the inside of the
upper one. An eye-tweezers for removing a piece of grit from the eye is
made by folding a piece of paper in two. With a sharp knife cut it to a
point at an angle of 30 degrees and slightly moisten the point in clean
water.
Feet
It is a good thing to dry-soap your feet and the inside of your socks
before putting them on for a hike or tramp. This is an old army trick. If
your feet perspire freely, powder them with boric acid powder, starch, and
oxide of zinc in equal parts. Wash the feet every day, best on turning in
at night.
To prevent the nail growing into the toe, take a bit of broken glass and
scrape down the top of the nail until it is quite thin, and in time the
corners begin to grow out, and no longer hurt the toe. Toenails should be
cut square and not encouraged to grow in by side trimming. A good plan is
to make a "V" shape notch on the middle of the top of each toenail, which
will close up naturally, and, in so doing, draw the sides up and inward.
Headache
Headache comes from indigestion or from the sun. A boy will overeat and
then play under the hot sun--result, headache. Have the boy lie down and
sleep, if possible, using cloths dipped in cold water to drive the blood
away from the head. A remedy recommended by the great John Wesley is to
lay very thin slices of lemon rind on either temple.
Hiccough
Take a deep breath and hold it as long as possible, or make yourself
sneeze.
Ivy Poisoning
Mix some baking powder with water, or rub on wood ashes. Wash with
alcohol. Be careful not to spread by scratching.
Rusty Nail
Better call a physician. Puncture with nails and such things, especially
if rusty, should be squeezed and washed with sulphur-naphthol or hot water
poured into the hole. If too small, this may be slightly enlarged.
Cauterize with carbolic acid, then with pure alcohol. Keep the wound open
for a few days. Run no risk with a rusty nail wound. Attend to it
immediately.
Sprains
Bathe a sprain in as hot water as you can bear, to which has been added a
small quantity of vinegar and salt. Slight sprains (as of finger) may be
painted with iodine.
Sunstroke
The first symptom is a headache followed by a heavy feeling in the pit of
the stomach, dimmed eyesight, difficulty in breathing, and a fever. If
insensibility follows, lay the person on his back in a cool, shady place,
with his head slightly raised. Loosen his clothing, keep his head cold
with wet cloths, and pour cold water on his face and chest, until the
temperature of his body is lowered and the face becomes pale.
Sunburn
Get used to sun gradually. Use powdered boric acid or ointment. Cocoa
butter is also a good preventive.
Sore Throat
Gargle the throat with warm water and some salt added, and then bind a
woolen sock around it. Keep the sock on until the soreness is gone. Put
teaspoonful of chlorate of potash in a cup of water and gargle. Diluted
alkalol [sic] is also good for a gargle, or tincture of iron diluted. Fat
bacon or pork may be tied around the neck with a dry sock. Swab the
throat.
Stomachache
Caused by undigested food in the intestines. Put the boy on a diet, also
give him plenty of warm water to drink, or a cup of hot ginger tea.
Toothache
Heat will always help to soothe the sufferer. A seeded raisin, toasted
before the fire, makes a useful poultice for an aching tooth, pressed into
the hollow. A bag of hot salt, pressed on the face, relieves pain.
[Illustration: Drill in First Aid]