All supplies, when possible, should be on hand the night before the operation, and the room cleaned ready for work.
Facing the best light, and about five or six feet from the window, place the kitchen table, and cover it with a double blanket or comfortable, rubber sheeting, and a sheet fresh from the laundry, the whole pinned firmly at the four corners with safety-pins. Lay on the top a small single sheet, a blanket, and very small, firm pillow.
The little tables are to be arranged around the large one, leaving plenty of room to walk between. Cover them with sterilized sheets; if they have polished tops, first put on a piece of oilcloth or rubber sheeting to prevent damage. These tables are for the instruments, gauze, sponges, sterilized towels, and basin of solution for the surgeon’s hands.
A strong screw must be fastened in the wall near the window at the height of about seven feet to support the fountain syringe, which will be filled with whatever solution the surgeon requires for irrigating the wound.
One slop-jar stands at the side or end of the large table, the other beside the table that holds the basin of sponges.
The bureau (covered with a sheet) or the mantle-shelf will serve to hold the dressings and rubber gloves. A small stand or table will be needed by the doctor who gives the anesthetic for his hypodermic, clean towels, and ether or chloroform.
All the basins, towels, and pitchers to be used during the operation must be thoroughly washed in warm soap suds and then boiled for an hour, or—when that is not possible—allowed to stand all morning in a 1: 1000 bichlorid solution, and then rinsed off with sterilized water before using. Two of the basins are filled with sterilized water or salt solution for washing the sponges, another basin holds the wet sterilized towels, and the fourth the solution for the surgeon’s hands.
A small bowl is needed for the soft soap to wash off the part of the body to be operated on, also a small pitcher of 1: 2000 bichlorid and some alcohol.
In the bath-room arrange plenty of clean towels, a bowl of 1: 2000 bichlorid, and one containing alcohol, synol, or green soap, and a sterilized nail-brush for the surgeon’s hands. The surgeon will send instruments, sutures, and anesthetic.
You cannot err in having ready a good supply of sterilized water, as an emergency may arise in which a double quantity would be required. Clean the wash-boiler thoroughly, fill it almost to the top, and boil for half an hour. One boilerful must be prepared in time for the water to grow cold before the operation; it is then poured into pitchers that have been washed in warm soap suds, and rinsed off with the sterilized water. Cover the pitchers with sterilized towels or napkins.