Evening star. [volume], July 21, 1940, Page 9, Image 79

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
t
NIMER SWIMMERS
in Charles B. Scully has some lips
lave lo meet him in deep water!
earney
"Most water accidents don't just happen — they're committed. Too
many people can swim just well enough to get themselves in trouble"
Lifeguard Captain Charlie Scully, who was awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor for one of his more than four hundred water rescues
ried to fight back. There’s a lot of mis
ition on that score, you know: many
d experts advise you to sock the swim
the chin and knock him out.
1, if you stop to think about it, you’ll
that it takes a trained boxer 'in the
> knock a person out with one wallop
on dry land: in the water, even Joe
ouldn't get purchase enough to fetch
(low.
nu ever have to make a water rescue,
lat stuff. All you have to do, generally,
out of reach of the thrashing victim
him tire himself out — then tow him
the shore. If he should happen to
[led up with you, the best expedient
ag him underwater: he’ll invariably
non, because underwater is precisely
e he doesn't want to be.”
went on to emphasize the fact that
in a water rescue, swimming should be the
last resort, not the first. Most drownings are
not far from shallow water, he pointed out,
and it is usually possible to reach the victim
without going in yourself. If you can get a
rope, a plank, an oar or anything of that
nature to reach out to him. do it. If you can
go after him in a boat, that is much prefer
able to swimming after him.
On first aid, of course, the accepted method
is artificial respiration by the “prone-pres
sure” method, not that ancient procedure of
pumping the victim’s arms up and down.
In prone pressure you lay the subject face
down. Stretch his right hand above his head;
fold his left arm and let his cheek rest on the
back of the left hand; then straddle him near
the knees.
Next you put the palms of your hands
on the lowest ribs in the small of his
back and, leaning forward, gradually bring
your weight to bear fwithout bending your
arms) until your shoulders are about in line
with the heels of your hands.
This motion takes about two seconds,
after which you swing back and remove the
pressure entirely for the same period. Keep
repeating the process in this cadence.
“Instead of counting,” said the Captain,
“we always time the pressure by saying,
‘Out goes the bad air,’ as we press down;
‘In comes the good,’ as we straighten up.
This maintains the proper rhythm.”
“How long should you continue working?”
I asked.
“Until the victim begins to breathe natur
ally — or until a doctor pronounces him dead.
However, sometimes even the doctor can be
wrong. I know of one case where a fellow was
pronounced dead but the lifeguards re
fused to quit, and after seven hours of arti
ficial respiration they pulled him around.
Incidentally, if a victim has to be removed
to a hospital, the artificial respiration should
be continued in the ambulance without a
break. And whenever a relief man takes over
the job, he should slip right into the cadence
without missing a beat.
“Those who frequent the water during the
summer ought to know this stuff because
there’s no telling when you will need it.
We have about 7,500 drownings a year in this
country, about two-thirds of which occur
during the summer months. Nine-tenths of
the victims are men by the way, and the
majority range between twenty-five and
thirty-five years of age. I should say that the
trouble with a good half of them is that the\
have more ego than skill, for most drownings
(Continued on page 12)