Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

452 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTeven in spotless linen fresh from the laundry, unlesskilled by antiseptics.Do not swab out a fresh wound, nor even washit; that would only drive germs deeper in. Simplycover it with a sterilized dressing for the time being,and cleanse it later with an antiseptic wash, ifneed be. Plain water is likely to contain germs. Ifit is necessary first to pick out hard foreign matterthat has been driven into the wound, do so withan instrument sterilized by heat or by antiseptics, ormade from a freshly cut green stick.Whenever practicable, shave off the hair forsome distance around the wound. Hairs, no matterhow small, are grease-coated and favor the lodgmentand growth of germs. Shaving also scrapesoft the surface dirt and dead scales of skin.Closing Wounds.—Never cover a w^ound withcourt plaster. It prevents the free escape of suppuration,inflames the part, and makes the placedifficult to cleanse thereafter. Collodion shouldbe used only to cover small, clean abrasions of theskin, protecting the raw surface.The only legitimate uses for adhesive plasterareto hold a compress in place where bandaging isdifficult, and, in case of a cut, to keep the edgesclosed without sewing the skin. In the latter case,after placing a narrow compress over the cut, thewound may be drawn together by crossing it withnarrow but long strips of plaster, leaving spacesbetween. A better way, by which I have nicelyhealed some rather bad gashes, is as follows:Lay a broad strip of adhesive plaster on each sideof the cut, half an inch apart, and extending beyondthe wound at each end. Stick these strips firmlyin place, except about a quarter of an inch of theinner margins, which are left loose for the present.With needle and thread lace the strips (deep stitches,so they'll not pull out) so as to draw the edgesof the wound together, and then stick the innermargins down, not covering the wound.Sewing a wound should be avoided by inexperi-