Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1908 — Proper Treatment For Burna. [ARTICLE]

Proper Treatment For Burna.

In case of burns death may be due, first, to asphyxia; second, to shock, and, third, to septicaemia. The medical man seldom gets to the case in time to treat the first condition, the second is essentially a general condition, while the whole success in preventing the third depends upon the immediate local treatment. It Is therefore the last condition which must be considered here. Among the public It is a generally* accepted idea that the thing to do in the case of a burn is to dust flour over it or to cover it with oil, and, Indeed, even in some comparatively late text books on surgery a mixture known as “Carron oil” Is advocated. The use‘of such applications cannot be too strongly deprecated, and, indeed, if the lay mind could be taught that the best thing to put on a burn before the doctor is called Is a hot compress, which should contain some boracic acid if there is any in the house, it is probable that the majority of deaths due to septicaemia after burns would be prevented. For the whole alm and object of the local treatment is to prevent sepsis. Flour and olive oil may be soothing and may allay the pain, but there is no antiseptic property in them; rather they are excellent culture media for bacteria.—-London Hospital.