Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/932

 A New First Aid to the Fractured

���For a fracture of fhe skull one section of the splint used and held in pi head and shoulder

��Two sections of the splint used separately for fractures above the wrist and above the elbow

��An emergency splint and how it works

A VIRGINIA physician, Dr. Samuel G. Slaughter, has devised an emergency splint by means of which even the unskilled can give first aid. Usually pieces of wood are quickly fashioned into splints which hold the broken member until thedoctor arrives. This is a dangerous practice. A splint should conform with the shape of the broken part without straining it in the least. Dr.

Slaughter's splint is made of flexible sheet steel which bends to the shape of any part of the body by the mere act of strapping it in place.

Three oblong sheets of thin steel telescope in and

out. A number of slits are stamped along their

sides. If a leg has been badly broken,' all three

sections of the splint are used, fully extended.

For simple fractures where but one break occurs,

the sections can be detached and

used separately. In a fracture

of the skull the splint is applied

opened out nearly fiat and

fastened in place by tying

strips around the forehead and

under the arms, while for a

fractured arm it takes the

shape of a cylinder.

Here the fracture i s between the elbow and wrist. Padding of cot- ton or soft cloth is always used

���In this case there are three fractures — one above the ankle, one above the knee and a fracture of the hip

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