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.