Page:Handbook for Boys.djvu/284

Rh break occurred and the other below it and it is lifted gently you will find that there is movement at the broken point.

Send for a doctor first, if you can, and, ff you expect him to arrive very soon, let your comrade lie where he is, putting his injured leg in the same position as the sound one and holding it there by coats or other articles piled around the leg. But if the doctor cannot be expected for some time, draw the injured limb into position like the sound one and hold it there by splints. Splints can be made of anything that is stiff and rigid. Something fiat like a board is better than a pole or staff; limbs broken off a tree will do if nothing else can be found. Shingles make excellent splints. In applying splints remember that they should extend beyond the next joint above and the next joint below; otherwise, movements of the joint will cause movement at the broken point. With a fracture of the thigh, such as that described, the outer splint should be a very long one, extending below the feet from the arm pit. A short one extending just below the knee will do for the inner splint. Splints may be tied on with handkerchiefs, pieces of cloth. torn from the clothing, or the like. Tie firmly but not tight enough to cause severe pain. In a fracture of the thigh it will also be well to bind the injured leg to the sound one by two or three pieces of doth around both. The clothing put back in place will serve as padding under the splint, but with thin summer clothing it is better to use straw, hay, or leaves in addition. Fractures of the lower leg and of the upper and lower arm are treated in the same way with a splint on the inner and outer sides of. the broken bone. A sling will be required for a fracture of the arm. This may be made of the triangular bandage, or of a piece of cloth, torn from your shirt.