A manual of ambulance / by J. Scott Riddell.

  • Riddell, J. Scott (John Scott), 1864-1929.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of ambulance / by J. Scott Riddell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    72/358 (page 46)
    CHAP TE Rr y, FRACTURES. D aFINITION—CAUSATION—KINDS—SIGNS AND Symptoms oF FrRAcTURE— HEALING oF FRaAcTURES—TREATMENT OF FRACTURES—EMERGENCY DRESSINGS FOR COMPOUND FRACTURES—SPLINTS—FRACTURES OF COLLAR Bonet, Arm, ForEARM, Wrist, Hann, PEtvis, THiagu, KNEE, Lec, ANKLE, Foot, Riss, Lower Jaw, SPINE, SKULL. To the ambulance student the subject to be dealt with in this chapter is 2 most important one. Before “ first aid’ methods can he applied with certainty and success in fracture cases, it 1s necessary to have a thorough knowledge of the general appearance and shape of the bones. It is desirable that these should be specially studied in the skeleton. It is also a matter of importance for the student to master thoroughly the points of distinction between the different forms of fracture and the signs and symptoms by which one can recognise that a bone has been broken. All that is aimed at in this chapter is to give the reader sufficient instruction to enable him to render “ first aid” in cases of accident where a surgeon cannot be readily procured to attend to the injury. In fractures, as in all other injuries hereafter dealt with, it is understood that a medical man should be sent for at once. Fracture (Latin, frangere, to break) is the name given to the breaking of a bone, whether complete or partial. The injury is generally a severe one, and is easily recognised by the deformity produced : but it should he noted that in some bones, and especially the bones of the skull, there may be very slight or no displacement. Small fragments of bone may be torn off when a bone is “ grazed” by a bullet. The bone may, when struck by a hard nickel! bullet, be perforated without bemg broken across; but if struck by a soft leaden bullet, it is usually splintered or smashed into bony débris. CAUSATION OF FRACTURES.— Fractures are caused mainly in three ways. 1. Fracture by Direct Violence, where the force is applied directly to the bone, as in the case of a thigh bone broken by a heavy weight falling upon it. 2. Fracture by Indirect Violence, where the bone is broken by a force not applied directly to the part that yields—e.g., when the neck of the thigh bone is broken by a sudden blow on the heel and