Chapter XXV: Appendix: II

_The “Electrical Review’s” Suggestions for dealing with Apparent
Death from Electric Shock._

The following suggestions are based on the recommendations of Drs D’Arsonval, Goelet, Hedley, and Lewis Jones, for the treatment of persons apparently killed by electricity:--

_Apparent Death._--In many cases where persons receive
electric shocks, death is only apparent, and animation may be
restored if efforts at resuscitation are not too long delayed.

_Method of Resuscitation._--The method of resuscitation
resorted to should be that known as artificial respiration.

Efforts to induce respiration should not be relaxed until
breathing is fully and normally restored, or until it is
absolutely certain that life is extinct.

_Danger of Seizing the Victim’s Body._--If the accident has
been due to contact with a “live” or faulty cable, the injured
person may retain a grasp of it. When the injured person retains
his hold of the cable it is dangerous to seize any part of him,
even the parts of the body covered by clothes.[49]

Perspiration may make the clothes damp and render them good
conductors, especially under the armpits, which would be the
part most likely to be seized.

In such a case the person who goes to the assistance of the
victim should protect his hands, whenever possible, with
indiarubber gloves.

Where gloves are not available, a thick layer of dry rags might
be used to cover the hands, or a coat or any other garment, if
made into a thick pad, might be used when pulling the victim
away from the cable or machinery.

_Send for a Medical Man at once._--No time should be lost
in sending for a qualified medical man, but in the meantime the
following efforts should be made to restore animation.

_How to Place the Body._--The body should be at once placed
upon the back and the clothes loosened. A roll made of a coat
or anything else convenient should then be placed under the
shoulders. It should be sufficiently large to prop up the spine
so that the head drops backward (see Fig. 30).

_Position of the Operator._--The operator should kneel
behind the subject’s head, in the manner shown in the
illustrations. He should then grasp the elbows and draw them
well over the head, so as to bring them almost together above
it, and hold them there for two or three seconds. Then he should
carry them down to the sides and front of the chest, firmly
compressing the chest by throwing his weight upon the arms.

After two or three seconds the arms should be again carried
above the head, and the operation repeated at the rate of about
16 times per minute.

_Additional Means of Resuscitation._--In addition to the
foregoing, if there be an assistant at hand, the tongue should
be seized by a cloth or handkerchief and drawn forcibly out
during the act of inspiration, _i.e._, when the arms are
extended above the head; when the arms are brought down, the
tongue should be allowed to recede. This operation should be
repeated with the same regularity as the movement of the arms.

_Stimulants to be Avoided._--According to Dr Hedley the
efforts of the bystanders to pour stimulants down the throat of
the victim should be resisted until a medical man arrives.

_Necessity of Deliberation._--It should be borne in mind
that to be successful the foregoing operations should be carried
out deliberately and methodically. There should be no haste, but
the operations should be executed vigorously.

In many respects the treatment suggested above is similar to the
method of treating apparent death by drowning.

HAMILTON P. SMITH.