HOW TO DEAL WITH FIRES AND ACCIDENTS

Fire.—If you discover a house on fire you should—

1st—Alarm the people inside.

2nd—Warn the nearest policeman or fire-brigade station.

3rd—Rouse neighbours to bring ladders, mattresses, carpets, to catch people jumping.

After arrival of fire engines the best thing girls can do is to help the police in keeping back the crowd out of the way of the firemen, hose, etc.

If it is necessary to go into a house to search for feeble insensible people, the thing is to place a wet handkerchief or worsted stocking over your nose and mouth and walk in a stooping position, or crawl along on your hands and knees quite near the floor, as it is here that there is least smoke or gas. Also, for passing through fire and sparks, if you can, get hold of a blanket, and wet it, and cut a hole in the middle through which to put your head; it forms a kind of fireproof mantle, with which you can push through flames and sparks. [Practice this.]

If you find a person with his clothes on fire, you should throw him flat on the floor, because flames only burn upwards, then roll him up in the hearthrug or carpet, coat or blanket, and take care in doing so that you don’t catch fire yourself. The reason for doing this is that fire cannot continue to burn where it has no air.

When you find an insensible person (and very often in their fright they will have hidden themselves under beds and tables, etc.), you should either carry him out on your shoulder, or, what is often more practicable in the case of heavy smoke, gas fumes, or in battle when under heavy fire, etc., harness yourself on to him with sheets or cords and drag him out of the room along the floor, crawling on all fours yourself.

A soldier was recently awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for thus getting his wounded officer into safety while being fired at by the enemy.

To do this you lay the patient on his back, make a bowline at each end of your rope, one you put over the patient’s chest and under his arms, and the other over your own neck, then with your back to his head you start on “all fours” to pull him along, head first. If the bowline is the right length it will keep his head up off the ground, as the picture shows.

\Moving an insensible girl.

Burns.—In treating a man who has been burnt, remove his clothes, not by peeling them off, but by cutting them with a SHARP knife or scissors. If any part of the dress sticks to the skin from having been burnt there do not tear it away, but cut the cloth round it, then as quickly as possible protect the burnt parts from the air, which causes intense pain. The best way to protect them is by dusting them with powdered chalk or flour, or by laying strips of lint well soaked in sweet oil or linseed oil, and covering the whole with cotton wool, or by pouring on oil. Keep the patient warm, and give warm drinks, such as hot tea, hot milk, or salomonia and water.

Major John Garroway, M.D., strongly recommends, instead of flour or oil to stop the pain of a burn, to put a piece of paper firmly over the wound, and the pain will be relieved in a few seconds.

Quite a large number of Scouts have saved lives in the water through knowing how to swim and what to do. Several Scouts have also saved life in fire, and have received medals for saving life.

Saving Life from Drowning.—A moderate swimmer can save a drowning man if she knows how, and has practised it a few times with her friends. The popular idea that a drowning person rises three times before he finally sinks is all nonsense. He often drowns at once, unless someone is quick to help him. The important point is not to let the drowning person catch hold of you, or he will probably drown you too. Keep behind him always. If you find yourself clutched by the wrist, turn your wrist against his thumb and force yourself free. Your best way in helping a drowning man is to keep behind and hold him up by the elbows, or by the back of the neck, or by putting your arms under his armpits and your hands across his chest, and telling him to keep quiet and not to struggle. If he obeys, you can easily keep him afloat; but otherwise be careful that in his terror he does not turn over and catch hold of you. If he should seize you by the neck, Holbein says, “Scrag him, and scrag him quickly. Place your arm round his waist, and the other hand, palm upwards, under his chin, with your fingertips under his nose. Pull and push with all your might, and he must perforce let go.” But you will never remember this unless you practise it frequently with other people first, each taking it in turns to be the drowning man or rescuer.

[Practice this.]

If you see a person fall into the water and begin to drown, and you yourself are unable to swim, you must throw a rope, or an oar, or plank right over him, so that when he comes up again he may clutch at it and hold it.

Drowning.—To restore any one who is apparently drowned, it is necessary at once to clear the water out of his lungs, for which purpose, therefore, you should incline him face downwards and head downwards, so that the water may run out of his mouth, and to help it you should open his mouth and pull forward his tongue. After running the water out of the patient, place him on his side with his body slightly hanging down, and keep the tongue hanging out. If he is breathing, let him rest; if he is not breathing, you must at once endeavour to restore breathing artificially.

“If I can’t swim I have at least learnt how to fling a lifebuoy.”

There are several ways of reviving persons apparently drowned. You may find one person eager to do exactly the opposite of another, but do not fight over it; the best thing is to do quickly whatever you can. Probably “Schäfer’s system” is the simplest. Lay the patient down with his bent arm to support the forehead.

Place your hands on the small of the patient’s back, one on each side, with thumbs parallel and nearly touching, and the fingers reaching only to the lowest ribs.

Bend forward with the arms straight, so as to allow the weight of your body to fall on your wrists, and then make a firm, steady downward pressure on the loins of the patient, while you count slowly, one—two—three, to press the patient’s stomach against the ground and to force the air from his chest.

Then swing your body backwards so as to relieve the pressure, and without removing your hands, while you count slowly, one—two.

Continue this backward and forward movement, alternately relieving and pressing the patient’s stomach against the ground in order to drive the air out of his chest and mouth, and allowing it to suck itself in again, until gradually the patient begins to do it for himself.

The proper pace for the movement should be about twelve pressures to the minute.

As soon as the patient is breathing, you can leave off the pressure; but watch him, and if he fails you must start again or get some one to take your place till he can breath for himself.

Then let him lie in a natural position, and set to work to get him warm by putting hot flannels or bottles of hot water between his thighs, and under the arms, and against the soles of his feet, but not before he is breathing. Wet clothing should be taken off and hot blankets rolled round him. The patient should be disturbed as little as possible, and encouraged to sleep, while carefully watched for at least an hour afterwards.

This is called the Schäfer method, and can be used equally well for drowned people or for those overcome with smoke or gas fumes.

Now just practise this with another Scout a few times, so that you understand exactly how to do it, and so Be Prepared to do it to some poor fellow, maybe, really in need of it one day.

Make the Scouts, in pairs, practise above.

Wounded: taking off clothes. Pull off from the well or uninjured side first, then when all is loose, carefully uncover the injured part. Try not to move it, cut the sleeve or trouser up the seam with the rounded end of scissors inside the cloth. If clothes have to be put on again, sew pairs of tapes to edges.

Accidents

Electric Shock.—Men frequently get knocked insensible by touching an electric cable or rail. The patient should be moved from the rail, but you have to be careful in doing this that you don’t get the electric shock also. In the first place put glass, if possible, for yourself to stand upon, or dry wood if glass is not obtainable, or put on india-rubber boots. Also put on india-rubber gloves before touching the patient. If you have none, wrap your hands in several thicknesses of dry cloth, and pull the patient away with a stick.

A boy was hunting butterflies at St. Ouen, in France, the other day, when he fell on the “live” rail of the electric railway and was instantly killed by the shock. A passer-by, in trying to lift him off, fell dead beside him. A brickmaker ran up and tried to rescue them, and was himself struck dead in the same way. The two would-be rescuers were killed through not having learned beforehand what was the right thing to do.

S.T.

Gas, Smoke, or Fumes.—Accidents are continually occurring from escapes of gas in mines, sewers, and houses.

In endeavoring to rescue a person, keep your nose and mouth well covered with a wet handkerchief, and get your head as close to the floor as possible, and drag the insensible person out as I have suggested in case of a fire. Drag your patient as quickly as possible into the fresh air—(I say as quickly as possible, because if you delay about it you are very apt to be overcome by the noxious gas yourself)—then loosen all his clothing about the neck and chest, dash cold water in his face. If you find that he is no longer breathing, then treat him as you would a drowned person, and try and work back the breath into his body.

Push a long ladder or pole across the hole.

Ice Accidents.—If a person falls through ice, and is unable to get out again because of the edges breaking, throw him a rope and tell him not to struggle. This may give him confidence until you can get a long ladder or pole ACROSS the hole, which will enable him to crawl out, or will allow you to crawl out to catch hold of him.

First Aid

When you see an accident in the street or people injured, the sight of the torn limbs, the blood, the broken bones, and the sound of the groans and sobbing all make you feel sick and horrified and anxious to get away from it—if you’re not a Girl Scout. But that is cowardice: your business as a Scout is to steel yourself to face it and to help the poor victim. As a matter of fact, after a trial or two you really get to like such jobs, because with coolheadedness and knowledge of what to do you feel you give the much-needed help.

S.T.

Every Scout should not only know how, but should from frequent practice be able to do the right thing in every kind of accidental injury.

In an accident when you are alone with the injured person, if he is unconscious lay him on his back with his head a little raised and on one side so that he does not choke, and so that any vomit or water, etc., can run out of his mouth. Loosen the clothing about his neck and chest. See where he is injured, and treat him according to what you are taught in learn “First Aid.”

If you have found the man lying insensible you should carefully examine the ground round him for any “sign,” and take note of it and of his position, etc., in case it should be afterwards appear that he had been attacked by others.

[Practise above, one girl as patient, the other to find her. Make “sign” round the patient.]

If you are out with a patrol and an accident happens, or you find an injured man, the patrol leader should direct one scout to go for a doctor; she herself will attend to the patient with one Scout to help her. The second will use the other Scouts in assisting by getting water or blankets, or making a stretcher, or keeping the crowd back by forming a fence with their ropes.

As a rule it is best to keep the patient quite quiet at first; unless it is necessary, do not try to move him; and don’t bother him with questions until he recovers a bit.

Broken Limbs.—How to tell when a limb is broken.

There is generally a swelling and pain about the place where the bone has broken, and sometimes the limb is bent in an unnatural way and the patient cannot use it.

The broken limb should not be moved about at all, but should be straightened and bound to something stiff that will keep it stiff and straight while the patient is being moved to hospital or home.

Splints.—The stiff thing that you tie to the injured limb is called a splint. This may be anything such as a wooden batten, Scout’s staff, tightly rolled newspaper, etc.

Splints should be long enough to go beyond the joints above and below the break. You should put a splint on each side of the limb if possible.

Then bind the splints firmly from end to end with handkerchiefs or strips of linen or cloths, but not so tightly as to stop the blood circulating or to press into the swelling.

[Practise this.]

Bandage.—For binding a broken limb you want a good large three-cornered bandage. Its two sides should be each about forty inches long.

Bandaging.

To make a sling for broken arm or collarbone, hang the bandage round the patient’s neck, tying the two ends together in a reef-knot with the point of the bandage towards the damaged arm. Rest the arm in this sling and bring the point round the back of the arm and pin it to hold the elbow in the sling.

Fishhook in the Skin.—I got a fishhook into my finger the other day. I got a knife and cut off all the fly which was on the hook, then pushed the hook farther into my finger till the point began to push against the skin from inside. With a sharp knife I cut a little slit in the skin so that the point came easily through, and I was then able to get hold of it and to pull the whole hook through. Of course you cannot get a hook out backwards, as the barb holds tight in the flesh all the time. Such fun!

Frost-bite.—In Arctic countries or extreme cold men are liable to get frost-bitten. That is, their ears, or nose, or fingers, or toes get killed by the cold. The patient does not feel any pain; the part becomes numb and turns very white and waxy, and afterwards purple.

Directly this is noticed the part should be rubbed with snow or with the hand until the blood comes back to it. On no account should it be warmed by putting the patient in a warm room or near a fire; that would kill the part at once.

Hysterics.—Nervous people, especially women, get hysterics when excited, crying, laughing, and screaming. The best treatment is to shut the patient into a room and leave her entirely alone till she gets over it. Don’t try and soothe her, it only makes her worse.

Fainting.—If your patient faints and is pale—fainting comes from too little blood in the head—make him sit down, and push his head down between his knees. Pressure on a nerve (for instance, in top of eye socket) will often revive. If his face is flushed raise the head—there is too much blood in it, as in apoplexy or sunstroke.

Toothache.—This is not mentioned in most first aid instructions, and yet you can earn many blessings by knowing how to relieve it. Here is a simple way that is generally successful, especially if the offending tooth is in the upper jaw. Steep a little bit of cotton-wool in spirits of camphor. Stuff the wool into one nostril—hold the other nostril tight shut and make the patient draw in the air through the wool. The spirit is thus sucked in on to the nerve, which lies near the back of the nose, and it very quickly relieves the pain.

Fits.—A man cries out and falls, and twitches and jerks his limbs about, froths at the mouth: he is in a fit. It is no good to do anything to him before the doctor comes except to put a bit of wood or cork between his jaws, so that he does not bite his tongue. Let him sleep well after a fit.

Poisoning.—If a person suddenly falls very ill after taking food, or is known to have taken poison, the first thing to do is to make him swallow some milk or raw eggs. These seem to collect all the poison that is otherwise spread about inside him. Then, if the mouth is not stained or burnt by the poison, make him vomit if possible by giving him salt and warm water, and try tickling the inside of his throat with a feather. Then more eggs and milk, and weak tea. If the poison is an acid that burns, the patient should not be made to vomit, but milk or salad oil should be given. The patient should be kept awake if he gets drowsy.

Blood-Poisoning.—This results from dirt being allowed to get into a wound. Swelling, pain, red veins appear. Fomenting with hot water is the best relief.

Choking.—Loosen collar; hold the patient’s nose with one hand and with the forefinger of the other, or with the handle of a spoon try and pull out whatever is stuck in his throat. By pressing down the root of the tongue you may make him vomit and throw out the obstruction. For slight choking make patient bend head well back and swallow small pills made of bread, and sip water. Sometimes a good hard smack on the back will do him good.

Choking sometimes comes from a sudden swelling inside the throat. In this case put hot steaming flannel fomentations to the neck and give the patient ice to suck or cold water to sip.

Quinsy.—When I was in the Andes Mountains in South America recently, I heard of two Englishmen who had died there not long before from choking by quinsy, simply because there was no one by who knew what to do in such a case. Everybody ought to Be Prepared to deal with quinsy if away from the help of doctors.

Most people suffer from tonsillitis at one time or another in their lives—that is a swelling of the tonsils—the round lumps of flesh on each side of the back of the throat. And sometimes, on rare occasions, the swelling becomes so great that the patient cannot breathe, the throat becomes completely blocked up. This is quinsy.

Very hot fomentations is the best step towards easing the pain and reducing the swelling.

The extreme measure is to lance the patient’s tonsils.

Acid Burning.—A case occurred only the other day of a woman throwing vitriol over a man’s face. This is an awful acid, which burns and eats away the flesh wherever it touches. Fortunately a policeman happened to be on the spot at the time, and knew what to do. He at once applied half warm water to which some soda had been added to wash off the acid, and then applied flour or whitening to protect the wound from the air and ease the pain as you would do for a burn.

Snake Bite.—Fortunately poisonous snakes are uncommon. If you go abroad you may come across them, and you ought always to know how to deal with bites from them. The same treatment does also for wounds from poisoned arrows, mad dogs, etc. Remember the poison from a bite gets into your blood, and goes all through your body in a very few beats of your pulse. Therefore, whatever you do must be done immediately. The great thing is to stop the poison rushing up the veins into the body. To do this bind a cord or handkerchief immediately round the limb above the place where the patient has been bitten, so as to stop the blood flying back to the heart with the poison. Then try and suck the poison out of the wound, and, if possible, cut the wound still more, to make it bleed, and run the poison out. The poison, when sucked into the mouth, does no harm unless you have a wound in your mouth. The patient should also be given stimulants, such as coffee or spirits, to a very big extent, and not allowed to become drowsy, but should be walked about and pricked and smacked in order to keep his senses alive.

[Practise this process in make-believe.]

S.T.

Grit in the Eye.—Do not let your patient rub the eye; it will only cause inflammation and swelling, and so make the difficulty of removing the grit all the greater.

If the grit is in the lower eyelid, draw down the lid as far as you can, and gently brush it out with the corner of a moistened handkerchief, or with a paint brush, or feather.

If it is under the upper lid, pull the lid away from the eyeball and push the under lid up underneath the upper one. In this way the eyelashes of the lower lid will generally clean the inside of the upper one.

Another way, which every Scout must practise, is to seat your patient and stand behind him yourself with the back of his head against your chest. Lay a card, match, or any flat substance under your own thumb on the upper part of the upper eyelid, and then catch hold of the edge of the eyelid and draw it upwards over the match so that it turns inside out; gently remove the grit with a feather or wet handkerchief, and roll the eyelid down again.

If the eye is much inflamed, bathe it with luke-warm weak tea.

If the grit is firmly imbedded in the eye, drop a little oil (olive or castor oil) into the lower lid; close the eye, and bandage it with a soft wet pad and bandage, and get a doctor to see it.

[Practise above.]

How to make eye-tweezers for removing a piece of grit from eye. Fold a piece of paper in two. With a sharp knife cut it to a point of an angle of 30°, and slightly moisten the point. Then bring it straight down over the eyeball of the patient, so that it can nip the obstruction, which is generally removed at the first attempt.

Stretchers may be arranged in some of the following ways:

(a) A hurdle, shutter, door, gate, covered well with straw, hay, clothing, sacking.

(b) A piece of carpet, blanket, sacking, tarpaulin or Girl Scout skirts, spread out, and two stout poles rolled up in the sides. Put clothes for a pillow.

(c) Two coats, with the sleeves turned inside out; pass two poles through the sleeves; button the coats over them.

(d) Two poles passed through a couple of sacks, through holes at the bottom corners of each.

In carrying a patient on a stretcher be careful that he is made quite comfortable before you start. Let both bearers rise together; they must walk out of step, and take short paces. It should be the duty of the hinder bearer to keep a careful watch on the patient.

If the poles are short four bearers will be necessary, one at each corner of the stretcher.

[Practice these different methods.]

How to Practise

In practising First Aid it is a great thing to bespatter the patient with blood and mud to accustom the rescuer to the sight of it, otherwise it will often unnerve him in a real accident. Sheep’s blood can be got from the butcher’s shop.

Prepare a heavy smoke fire in a neighbouring room or building (if possible on the first floor), while you are lecturing in the club room. Secretly arrange with two or three Scouts that if an alarm of fire is given they should run about frightened and try and start a panic.

Have the alarm given either by getting some one to rush in and tell you of the fire, or by having some explosive bombs fired. Then let a patrol, or two patrols, tackle the fire under direction of their patrol leaders. They should shut windows and doors. Send Scouts into different parts of the building to see if the fire is spreading, and to search for people in need of rescue.

These Scouts should have wet handkerchiefs over their mouths and noses. “Insensible” people (or sack dummies) should be hidden under tables, etc.

Scouts rescue them by shouldering or dragging them out and getting them down to the ground. Use jumping sheet, chute, etc.

Other parties lay and connect the hose, or make lines for passing fire buckets.

Another party revive the rescued by restoring animation. Another party form “fence” to help the police and fire brigade by keeping the crowd back.

Games

“Dragging Race.”—A line of patients of one patrol are laid out at fifty yards distance from start. Another patrol, each carrying a rope, run out, tie ropes to the patients, and drag them in. Time taken of last in. Patrols change places. The one which completes in shortest time wins. Knots must be correctly tied.

S.T.

Physical Exercises and Health Rules

The simple physical exercises given in the earlier chapters will give you all the movements needed to keep you well and to help your growth IF you only practise them. That is the secret. Set apart certain minutes in the day, especially in the early morning, and make it your habit to go through these exercises and you will make for yourself a wonderful difference in your health.

But alongside this giving health to your body, you must see to it that your surroundings, your home, the air, your food, and your clothing are also health-giving, otherwise all the exercise in the world will not help you.

Health Rules for the Home

Scouts should do everything in their power to make and keep their homes healthy as well as happy.

Most of you cannot choose your own dwelling, but whether you live in a house, a cottage, a flat, in rooms, or even in one room of a house, you can do a very great deal to keep it healthy and pure.

Fresh air is your great friend; it will help you to fight disease better than anything else. Open all your windows as often as you can, so that the air may get into every nook and corner. Never keep an unused room shut up. Disease germs, poisonous gases, mildew, insects, dust, and dirt have it all their own way in stale, used-up air. Air does not flow in and flow out of the same opening at the same time any more than water does, so you want two openings in a room—an open window to let the good air in, and a fireplace and chimney to let the stale air out, or whether there is no fireplace, a window open both at top and bottom. The night air in large towns is purer than the day air, and both in town and country you should sleep with your window open if you want to be healthy. Draughts are not good, as they carry away the heat from your body too fast; so if your bed is too near the window, put up a shelter between it and the open window and cover yourself more. At least one window on a staircase or landing should always be kept open, and also the pantry and the closet windows.

Tidiness.—Half your time will be saved if little things are kept tidy. Have a place for everything, and have everything in its place. If you are not sure which is the right place for a thing, think “Where, if I wanted it, should I go to look for it?” That place is the right one. Get into the habit of always making a ball of any string you get and collect them.

War must be waged against rats and mice, or they will invade you and loot everything. If you have no mouse-traps, put a newspaper over a pail of water, break a hole slightly in the centre in the form of a star, and place a bit of cheese on the centre tips of star to entice the mouse. Let the paper reach to the floor, not too upright, for the mouse to climb up. Try putting broken camphor into their holes; they dislike the smell. Fly and wasp traps are made by tying paper over a tumbler half-filled with water and beer or molasses. Break a hole in the paper, and fit in a tube of rolled paper about one inch long and one inch across.

Damp is never healthy, and you can prevent it to a great extent by letting plenty of fresh air go through your house and rooms which have been shut up.

When you see signs of damp, try to find out the cause; it may be put right. A pipe or gutter may have got blocked, or there may be a loose shingle, or the water pipes may be leaking.

In countries where there are mosquitoes people are very careful not to allow any water to lie near their houses, for the poisonous mosquito breeds in stagnant water. Sunflowers planted near a house help to keep the soil dry; also low bushes and plants. Consumption and other deadly disease germs flourish in damp, ill-aired houses.

Sunlight is a great health-giver and disinfectant, and the more of it you have in your house the better. Long ago people used to shut out the sun and air for fear their curtains and carpets would fade, but it is far better that the sun should fade your curtains than that the darkness should fade you. Cases of consumption are rare in dry, sunny houses.

Nurseries and bedrooms should have plenty of morning and mid-day sun.

Motto: “Tidy as you go.”

Cleanliness in every part of the house is most necessary, especially kitchen and refrigerators. Do not let dust or rubbish collect anywhere, behind furniture or pictures, under beds, or in cupboards. If we realised what horrid things we may collect from pavement or street dust on our skirts and shoes, we should be much more careful about the dusting of our rooms.

Do not allow dogs, cats, or birds to be where they can touch your food or your cooking utensils; animals have diseases too. Flies, gnats, and fleas are most dangerous pests; they feed on decayed and diseased things, and may carry poison on their feet and leave it on your food. Keep them out of your house, and especially chase them out of your kitchen and larder. Any bad smell in a house is a danger signal; find out its cause, and get rid of it.

S.T.

Be sure your drinking water is pure. If you are at all doubtful about it, boil it well—that is, for not less than fifteen minutes. Water cisterns should be often cleaned out. See that all drains, sinks, and closets are in good order. A very poisonous gas called sewer gas comes from bad drains, and typhoid, diphtheria, etc., are caused by drinking bad water and bad drainage. The gas does not come up if there is a “trap” full of water in the pipe; that is a curve in the pipe where water collects. Let water run down all sinks once or twice a day to rinse the pipes. To sum up, “Remember that nearly all the dangers to health in a house or room begin with a D, and these dangers or destroyers are:

Against these destroyers, which bring debility, disease and even death, the Scouts’ defences are:

Housewifery.—Every Scout is as much a “housewife” as she is a girl. She is sure to have to “keep house” some day, and whatever house she finds herself in, it is certain that that place is the better for her being there.

Too many odds and ends and draperies about a room are only dust-traps, and rugs or carpet squares, which can be taken up easily, are better than nailed down carpets. Keep all the furniture clean and bright. Fresh air, soap, and water are the good housewife’s best allies. Bars of soap should be cut up in squares and kept for six weeks before being used. This hardens it and makes it last longer.

In scrubbing boarded floors, the secret is not to deluge the floor; change the water in the pail frequently.

In the work of cleaning think out your plan beforehand, so as not to dirty what has been cleaned. Plan out certain times for each kind of work and have your regular days for doing each thing.

Pasteboards and Deal Tables.—Scrub hard the way of the grain. Hot water makes boards and tables yellow. Rinse in cold water and dry well.

Saucepans.—New saucepans must not be used till they have first been filled with cold water and a little soda, and boiled for an hour or so, and must be well scoured. After bowls or saucepans have been used, fill them at once with cold water to the brim; this will prevent anything hardening on the saucepan and will make cleaning easier.

Swimming

Swimming.—Every 1st Class Scout ought to be able to swim. It is not only for her own amusement that she should do so, but so that she will not cause other people to risk their lives in rescuing her when she gets into difficulties in the water, and that she may be able to help those in distress. British girls are behindhand in learning to swim—it is very different in Norway and Sweden, or in America, where nearly every girl can swim.

Where a doctor says swimming is bad for her, or there is no possible means for her learning, such other badges that she does not hold may be accepted instead towards qualifying the Scout for her 1st Class.

No Scout can be of real use till she can swim, and to learn swimming is no more difficult than to learn bicycling.

All you have to do is at first to try and swim like a dog, as if trying to crawl slowly along in the water; don’t try all at once to swim with the ordinary breast stroke that swimmers use, because this only lets your mouth go under water every time. When paddling along like a dog get a friend to support you at first with a pole or his hand under your belly.

Any of you who cannot swim as yet, and who fall into the water out of your depth, remember that you need not sink if you take care to do the following things. First, keep your mouth upwards by throwing the head well back. Secondly, keep your lungs full of air by taking in long breaths, but breathe out very little. Thirdly, keep your arms under water. To do this you should not begin to shout, which will only empty your lungs, and you should not throw your arms about or beckon for help, else you will sink. So the main thing of all is to keep cool and force yourself to remember and to carry out these things.