3. A basin of cold water.
4. A kettle of boiling water.
5. A towel.
6. A knife.
7. A sheet of newspaper.
Cut a pattern of paper reaching, while the elbow is bent and the thumb upwards, from the arm-pit down the back of the arm and under the elbow and forearm to the wrist. The sides must be brought forward to the biceps and front of the forearm as seen in fig. 34. Next cut from the sheet of gutta-percha a piece to match the pattern. Prepare the tray with the hot water, lay in it the towel, and then soften the gutta-percha by laying it in the tray and covering it with almost boiling water, adding more water as the first cools; this may be done by an assistant, while the surgeon directs another assistant to grasp the forearm and reduce the fracture. The assistant keep extension while the surgeon lifts the softened gutta-percha with the towel from the hot and plunges it a moment into cold water, then lays it on the limb, which the assistant keeps at a right angle, and the bone in place, while the splint is setting to the limb. This done, the splint is removed to be trimmed, perforated, and covered with wash-leather. It is then ready for use.
Fig. 34.—Gutta-percha Splint for fracture at the lower end of Humerus.
Leather takes so much time to set that it should not be used in recent fractures. When the bone is partly set, leather is a useful substitute for wood. It is prepared from a pattern in the same manner as the gutta-percha, but is trimmed before soaking, not after it is moulded, like gutta-percha. If possible it should have twenty-four hours soaking in water before being fitted to the limb; but when this cannot be done, immersion in hot water, into which a teacupful of vinegar has been thrown, will make the leather quite supple in a quarter of an hour. The leather splint must be worn twenty-four hours while it sets, and then be removed for covering (see Leather Splints).
Fractured Shaft of the Humerus.