Resuscitation After Rescue
After bringing a drowning person ashore your work is only half done; the main thing is to bring him back to life should he be unconscious. There are several methods for resuscitating the apparently drowned. The method adopted by the Royal Humane Society of England is, to my knowledge, the simplest of all. It is as follows:
Begin treatment in the open air as soon as you have brought the unfortunate ashore. Meanwhile send for medical assistance, blankets and dry clothing. Expose the patient’s throat and chest to the wind, except in very severe weather. Remove all tight clothing from neck and chest. Take off suspenders.
The points to be aimed at are: First and immediately the restoration of breathing, and, secondly, after breathing is restored, the promotion of warmth and circulation. The efforts to restore breathing must be commenced immediately and energetically, and persevered in for one or two hours, or until a medical man has pronounced that life is extinct.
Efforts to promote warmth and circulation beyond removing the wet clothes and drying the skin must not be made until the first appearance of natural breathing, for if circulation of the blood be induced before breathing has recommenced the restoration of life will be endangered.