Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts Part 39

Stand in front of her, and have her place her hands on your shoulders.

Place your hands under her armpits, and let her slip off the bed with her feet firmly on the floor. Turn and let her sit down slowly.

Place a stool for her feet.

Place the chair so that she will be out of drafts and so that the light does not s.h.i.+ne directly into her face.

When patients become restless and nervous they may often be made more comfortable by rearranging the bed clothes, by fanning, by changing position, by rubbing the back and legs, by putting hot water bags at the feet, back and neck, or small of back. In summer try very cold water instead of hot water in the bags. Cold compresses may be applied to the back of the neck, the spine, the forehead, or wherever they may give comfort. A foot bath, a hot or cool sponging will not only quiet restlessness but will often make a patient sleepy. In using any wet application be sure not to get the pillows or bed clothes wet. Continued rubbing at the back of the neck or stroking of the forehead gently is soothing and quieting.

Temperature, Pulse, Respiration

The temperature of the average person in health is 98.6 Fahrenheit.

This is called the _normal_ temperature.

A temperature below 98.0 degrees is said to be sub-normal. A healthy person may have a sub-normal temperature in the early morning. People with a continuous low temperature, say around 97 (this is often the case with old people and those who are recovering from illness) need careful attention. If in bed, they should be kept warmly covered and supplied with hot water bags. If up, they should be warmly clothed, and protected from drafts, and sudden changes of temperature. Usually, in the early morning before daylight, the temperature is at the lowest. That is why it is important to watch sick people and babies and to put an extra cover over them at that time.

Any temperature above 100 degrees, if it continues, is serious. A temperature above 101 degrees is a fairly high one, and 103 degrees or above is very high.

The temperature is taken with a clinical thermometer placed in the mouth or in the armpit. For babies, and people who might break the thermometer if it were placed in the mouth, place the thermometer in the armpit.

Temperatures of babies and very ill people are taken in r.e.c.t.u.m, but the Girl Scout should not attempt this. Always wash the thermometer in cold water before using. Wash in cold water and disinfect by wiping off with alcohol or ether after using. Hot water will break it. When the thermometer is being used every day it may be kept in disinfectant.

Never lay down a thermometer that has been used until after it has been washed and disinfected.

To Take the Temperature in the Mouth

Cleanse the thermometer.

Shake down so that the mercury is below 96 degrees.

Have patient moisten lips.

Place the thermometer with bulb under tongue. Lips must be closed while holding it.

Hold two or three minutes, in this position.

Be sure that nothing hot or cold has been in the mouth for at least five minutes before taking temperature.

To Take Temperature in the Armpits

Wipe out armpit.

Insert the thermometer.

Place arm across the chest so that the thermometer is held securely. It should remain so for four or five minutes.

Pulse

The pulse may be counted on the thumb side of the inside of the wrist, at the temples, the ankles, and other parts of the body where the arteries are near the surface.

The pulse shows the number of times per minute which the heart beats or pumps.

A normal pulse rate for a man is around 72, for a woman 80, for a child 90, and for a baby 100 beats.

A very rapid or a very slow pulse shows that there is something wrong that should be reported. It takes a good deal of practice to learn to count the pulse.

Place two or three fingers on the beating artery, just touching firmly enough to feel the beats, and count for a half minute, then multiply by two to find the number of beats per minute. Be sure that the patient's hand is in a comfortable position while counting.

Respiration

Respiration is another word for breathing. An average normal person when sitting or lying still, breathes from twelve to twenty times per minute, and when moving about 24 times. We all know that quick moving makes quick breathing.

Respiration above 40 or below 8 is a danger sign. If the respiration is very fast, or difficult, or wheezy, or in any way very unusual, we can tell it at a glance. People who are breathing hard are frequently relieved by being propped up in bed.

_To count the respiration._ It is better to do this without the person's knowledge. It may be counted by watching the rise and fall of the chest or of the shoulders. Another way is to hold the person's hand as though taking the pulse, having her rest her hand and forearm lightly on the chest and count the rise and fall.

Dishes

Dishes used by patients with any of the contagious diseases, and this includes colds and sore throats, should be kept separate, and washed separately from the family dishes. They should be scalded after was.h.i.+ng and have special dish cloths. Using separate utensils, and a separate room for the sick person are two of the surest ways to prevent the spread of the disease.

In such diseases as measles, scarlet fever, colds, mumps, influenza, dishes should be boiled every day. Put them in a large kettle in cold water and let them come to a boil. Even the thinnest gla.s.s will not break if treated in this way. Let the dishes stay in the water until cool enough to handle.

Dish cloths and dish mops should be thoroughly washed in good hot water and soap, and put in the sun to dry. They should be boiled regularly.

If it is necessary to disinfect linen put it all in a bag and leave in cold water to soak for some hours before putting it on to boil. Put a little was.h.i.+ng soda in the water. After boiling hard for fifteen or twenty minutes it may be washed with the other garments.

Stains should be washed out before putting linen in the wash.

Utensils and Their Care

_All utensils should be kept clean and ready for instant use._ The bedpan should always be warmed before being used. Running warm water in and on it is usually the easiest way to do this. It should be thoroughly dried on the outside so that it will not wet the bed. It is a good plan to have a piece of rubber sheet or several thicknesses of old newspapers covered with a bath towel to put under the bedpan in bed. When carrying away, keep covered. Use cold water first, and after was.h.i.+ng with soapy water, rinse and dry before putting away.

Basins in constant use, especially if they are used to hold disinfectant, need to be well scoured with sapolio from time to time.

Nothing is more s.h.i.+ftless looking than a dark rim of dirt or stain around a basin.

Hot water bags should be emptied when not in use and hung upside down.

The stoppers should be kept fastened to them.

Ice caps should be dried inside and out and stuffed with cotton or tissue paper to keep the sides from sticking together.

Hot and Cold Applications

Hot applications are used to relieve pain, to supply heat, and to bring down temperature. Both moist and dry heat are used. Hot water bags, metal heaters, electric pads, hot flannels are the commonest forms of dry heat. Fomentations, poultices, and baths are the simplest forms of moist heat.