Certain Instruments are required for the application of dressings in domestic surgery, viz.—scissors, a pair of tweezers or simple forceps, a knife, needles and thread, a razor, a lancet, a piece of lunar caustic in a quill, and a sponge.
799. Materials for dressings
These consist of lint, scraped linen, carded cotton, tow, ointment spread on calico, adhesive plaster, compresses, pads, bandages, poultices, old rags of linen or calico, and water.
800. Rules
The following rules should be attended to in applying dressings:
- Always prepare the new dressing before removing the old one.
- Always have hot and cold water at hand, and a vessel to place the foul dressings in.
- Have one or more persons at hand ready to assist, and, to prevent confusion, tell each person what they are to do before you commence; thus, one is to wash out and hand the sponges, another to heat the adhesive plaster, or hand the bandages and dressings, and, if requisite, a third to support the limb, &c.