Treatment. Rub the frozen part briskly with snow or ice cold water, if the frost-bite has just occurred. If it has been frozen more than fifteen minutes, rub very gently with snow, cold water or coal oil (kerosene). If you rub hard, it will break the frozen flesh.
Returning pinkness is a sign of thawing; if the parts turn a dark color, see a surgeon at once, for it means gangrene (death of the flesh).
When thawed out apply plenty of oil, tallow or vaseline.
If gangrene has set in and no doctor is available, then treat as a burn.
By all means keep away from heat. To toast frost-bitten fingers or toes before a fire is liable to result in chilblains.
[1504]. Headache. Among troops headache is usually due to intestinal indigestion, combined with a congestion of the stomach. Take a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce or 5 drops of tobasco sauce in a tumbler of hot water as a drink and put a small piece of soap up into the bowel to cause a movement.
[1505]. Heat exhaustion. The man falls out in a faint while marching, or on fatigue or parade. He looks pale, his body is clammy and cold, his breathing is sighing and heart fluttering. What is the matter? His heart is weak from poisons in the blood, usually alcohol, but often too much carbonic gas and too little oxygen. This occurs when men are soft-muscled: so, young soldiers, recruits and fat soldiers and especially those who drink alcohol, use drugs or smoke or chew tobacco while hiking, are the first to have it.
Treatment. Loosen the man's clothing, remove his pack, lay him on his back in the shade, with head and shoulders lower than his hips and raise his feet in the air. This will make the blood flow to the heart and brain. If he has fainted, slap the bare chest with the hand or a wet towel and briskly rub the arms towards the heart. If he does not revive, apply hot bottles, or bricks to the chest and abdomen, and ammonia to the nose, as a smelling salt. Do not give stimulants until he is conscious. He should ride in the ambulance, or go to the hospital.
[1506]. Lightning. A man struck by lightning is treated the same as in the case of drowning, omitting, of course, the operation of getting the water out of the lungs.
[1507]. Nose, foreign body in. If it cannot be sneezed out, lean the head back and pour a little oil into the nostril. Then snift and blow the nose alternately. If this is not successful, take a lead pencil and try to push the object straight back into the throat. This must be done very gently.