Page:EB1911 - Volume 08.djvu/620

 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. Then, with a strong and sudden push, the arms and legs should be stretched out straight and the whole weight of the body thrown backwards. This sudden and totally unexpected action will break the clutch and leave the rescuer free to get hold of the drowning person in such a manner as to be able to bring him to land (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 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, lie on his back perfectly still, with the head well back. The rescuer will then be uppermost, and having his arms and legs free can, with the breast stroke, make rapid progress to the shore; indeed a good 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 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 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. Then the man’s arms should be drawn up at right angles to his body and the rescuer should start 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 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. The journey to land can then be made by swimming on the back as in the 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 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. 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 drowning person is recovered on the bottom, the rescuer should seize him by the head or shoulders, place the left 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 attempt to induce artificial respiration may be made. The first recorded cases of resuscitating the apparently drowned are mentioned in the notes to William Derham’s Physico-Theology, as having occurred at Troningholm and Oxford, about 1650. In 1745 Dr J. Fothergill read a paper on the subject before the Royal Society. It dealt with the recovery of a man dead in appearance by distending the lungs by Mr William Tossack, surgeon in Alloa, in 1744. In 1767 several cases of resuscitation were reported in Switzerland, and shortly after a society was formed at Amsterdam for recovery of the apparently drowned, and to instruct the common people as to the best manner of treating them when rescued, and to reward the people for their services. In 1773 Dr A. Johnson suggested the formation of a similar society in England, and Dr Thomas Cogan translated the memoirs of the Amsterdam society. Dr William Hawes secured a copy and tried to form a society. There was, however, a strong prejudice against the idea, but he publicly offered rewards to persons who, between Westminster and London Bridges, should rescue drowning persons and bring them to certain places on shore in order that resuscitation might be attempted. In this way he was instrumental in the saving of several lives, and paid the rewards out of his own pocket, until his zeal brought him sympathy and the Royal Humane Society was founded. This was in 1774. The system then in vogue was a means of inducing artificial respiration by inserting the pipe