CONTENTS
CHAPTER  I. How to Treat Fractures, Sprains and Dislocations

CHAPTER  II. Caring for Burns, Cuts, Drowning, and Minor Accidents

CHAPTER  III. Medical Treatment of Camp Diseases

CHAPTER  IV. Serpent Wounds and Their Treatment

The Camper's Medicine Chest





WARNING: The text and methods described herein are 100 years old! (or more) Please keep this in mind at all times.

The reason we include this (as well as any "dawn of technology" or pre-industrial age texts is threefold:

1.) Historical context ~ to see how far we've come;
2.) Uncertain future ~ to realize where we may end up once again if we are not more careful in choosing our political leadership ... and finally,
3.) JUST IN CASE we do find ourselves, once again, in primitive times or conditions - without hope for anything better - then it is good to know how we took care of things when it was do-or-die.

These techniques, except where parallel to and confirmed by modern methods, should only be considered under the most dire circumstances where access to more modern methods is impossible and the hope for rescue is non-existant.
 

CHAPTER I
HOW TO TREAT FRACTURES, SPRAINS AND DISLOCATIONS
SEVERAL years ago I stood beside a cot in a hunter's cabin in the heart of the Bitter Root Mountains in Idaho, after
a three days' ride, and watched a valuable young life go out as the result of an unattended compound fracture of 
the thigh. At another time I amputated a leg to prevent the spread of gangrene from a simple cut across the instep 
while the camper was splitting wood, an accident which, properly treated, would have resulted at most only in a 
slight inconvenience. Once again, I transformed my boat into a funeral barge and conveyed a young man who had 
only been in the water three minutes back to his sorrowing parents dead, because his companions were ignorant of 
how to resuscitate him.
These and many other instances that have come under my observation of the sacrifice of lives from trivial causes, 
owing to a lack of knowledge, have impressed me with the value of a few suggestions on how to treat the commoner 
injuries and diseases that may befall those who seek recreation in the remote wilds.
The rules will necessarily be brief and from the nature of things easily followed. The woods loafer should learn them 
and be prepared whenever the occasion arises. Works on first aid, written ostensibly for the guidance of the 
laymen, are apt to presuppose a far greater supply of surgical necessities than the hunter cares to burden himself
with. It is one thing to apply surgical measures, having at hand a well-filled emergency bag, and quite 
another to render the same assistance with nothing to depend upon but your native adaptability. 
My intention is to tell in the plainest and simplest manner possible how to render intelligent assistance to an injured 
comrade, using only the fewest appliances and those of the most primitive character. These hints are the 
result of over twenty years of life in the West, in mining camps, cow camps, logging camps, and in the heart of the 
mountains, where people did not have forethought enough to provide themselves with even a bandage, many times 
hundreds of miles from where such things could be obtained.
The most appalling accident that can befall a man isolated from skilled surgical aid is the fracture of a limb, 
especially of the leg, and yet this is one of the commonest of all woods misfortunes.
Before proceeding to the discussion of individual fractures, a brief consideration of the classification and detection 
of fractures in general is necessary. Surgeons divide fractures into: simple, those where there is a simple 
separation of the bone without injury to the flesh; compound, where in addition to the separation of the bone there 
is laceration of the flesh and one or both ends of the bone are driven out through the skin; and comminuted, where 
the bone is in several fragments. 
A comminuted fracture may be either simple or compound, according as it does or does not penetrate the flesh. The 
symptoms of fracture are pain, loss of motion, change of position, change of contour of the fleshy parts, and most 
important of all, a light crackling sound when the limb is moved—crepitation the surgeons call it.
Pain following an injury that might produce a fracture is not necessarily proof positive of the existence of a fracture. 
Pain may and often does follow a bruise, sprain, or dislocation, in a greater degree than that following a fracture. 
Loss of motion, too, is quite as marked in dislocations and severe sprains as in fractures. Change of contour, unless
in the locality of prominent joints, is quite a valuable sign. 
The fractured limb, except in certain rare cases, will show a change in the appearance of its general outline. By 
crepitation is meant that characteristic grating sound produced by rubbing the two ends of the fractured bone 
together. It is the one absolute sign of a fracture, and once heard can never be forgotten. It may be likened to the 
sound produced by rubbing two or three coarse hairs between the finger and thumb.
If a fracture is suspected let the patient himself, or some one for him, grasp the limb above and below the site of the 
suspected fracture and turn it in opposite directions. If a fracture is present it will be manifested by a distinct grating 
sound, also by a jarring sensation as the uneven fragments pass over each other.
A description of all the fractures of the different bones of the body would be manifestly out of place in a book of this 
character, so I shall confine myself to those most liable to be encountered in the woods—that is, fractures of the leg, 
thigh, forearm, and arm. Fractures of the leg or thigh will entail an enforced stay of from four to six weeks in the 
woods, or the devising of some means to transport the patient to a place where he can have proper care, an 
arduous task in a country where there are no roads and the trails are difficult. If a personal experience may be 
allowed, I will tell how I once treated a man with fractured thigh and conveyed him with comparatively little discomfort
over sixteen miles of rugged mountain trail and some forty miles of equally rugged mountain road.
I found the man in a mining camp in the very heart of the higher mountains, lying in his bunk with a badly fractured 
thigh. The bone was separated between the upper and middle third—that is, well up toward the body. The accident 
had occurred some twenty hours previous and there was much swelling, which it was necessary to reduce before 
anything else could be done. This was accomplished by the application of cold water by means of strips of blanket, 
changing the application as fast as the water became warmed by the body heat.
In the meantime I went out into the timber and felled a small cedar tree some six inches in diameter. From this I cut a 
section five feet in length and removed the bark. Splitting the bark in half, I rounded up the edges and made a splint
for the outside of the limb extending from the armpit to six inches below the foot. The other half was made into a 
similar splint, only shorter, for the inside of the limb, extending from well up into the groin to a point opposite the 
outer splint below the foot.
It was necessary to cut holes in the splints where the bony prominences came. When all was in readiness and the 
limb reduced in size, I wrapped it well in soft cloth, having no absorbent cotton, and applied my splints. I had a man 
stand at the feet of the injured man, take hold of the injured leg, and pull steadily while I manipulated the fracture.
Right here I want to state that it is unnecessary to try to pull a broken bone out of the socket in order to set a 
fracture. A persistent pull of some fifty pounds will soon overcome the contraction of the muscles and the bone will 
be replaced. The acting surgeon must at the same time grasp the limb at the site of the break and knead the two 
ends into place. You will know when they are in place by the absence of inequality at the point of break.
After the bone had been replaced, I placed my splints in position and bound them on, using strips of sheet torn up 
for bandages. Any stout cloth will do as well. They may be placed in the ordinary manner, each wrap beside the 
other, or they may be run on in continuous form, permitting each ascending turn to half overlap the one below it. 
Care must be taken that the pressure is equal in all parts of the bandage and that it is placed tight enough to 
prevent any slipping of the splints.
The next problem was to get the man out. Again the cedar forest came to my relief. I felled another and somewhat 
larger tree, sufficiently large to permit placing the injured man in a boat-shaped section of the bark. This was made 
longer than his body and a semi-circular board fitted in each end. When the whole was completed it resembled a 
rude trough.
This trough was lined with blankets until it was quite soft. Two poles twelve feet in length were lashed to either side 
and the man securely lashed in the contrivance. When we were ready to start two steady pack animals were 
brought out and the litter with its burden swung in such manner that the animals could wind down the steep rocky
trail with the burden between them. In this manner we jogged down the mountainside all day, our patient laughing 
and enjoying his pipe as though he were the guest of honor in some triumphal procession.
While cedar was mentioned as having been used in the above case, the reader will appreciate that any sort of 
timber with a tough bark will answer equally well. There is one important fact that should always be borne in mind in 
the treatment of all fractures, and that is that at least the two adjoining joints should be fixed. If it is the thigh that is 
fractured, the hip, knee, and ankle should be included in the splint. If the leg, then the knee and ankle. The same
rule holds good with fractures of the forearm or arm.
If timber with tough bark is not available, or in open countries where no timber grows, a broken bone may be nicely 
splinted by using small round sticks. Never use a clapboard unless it is extremely well padded; even then it is 
undesirable from the fact that it is liable to press upon some bony point and cause trouble. Also it is very liable to 
slip and permit your fractured bone to become displaced.
To fix a limb by using round sticks, wrap the limb well in soft cloth; then, having cut your sticks the right length, place 
them at regular intervals about the limb and bind as before. In the absence of anything better, two leather gun 
scabbards make quite effective splints.
What has been said with regard to fractures of the lower limb will apply with equal force to breaks of the upper 
except, of course, that the case is one of far less gravity. In cases of fracture of the arm, either above or below the
elbow, the injured person can make himself quite comfortable by pinning the bottom of his coat to his shoulder and 
placing the injured arm in the V-shaped sling thus formed.
The treatment of compound fractures is one that requires some "nerve" on the part of the acting surgeon and a 
great deal of fortitude in the injured person. A compound fracture of the leg or thigh is the most terrible accident, 
short of death, that can befall a man in the woods. Unless great care is exercised the man will die, either shortly from
septic poisoning, or almost immediately from shock.
First, get your patient into camp if he is away from it. That may be done in the following manner, which will also 
illustrate how to carry a person injured in any manner: take a blanket and lay it at full length on the ground; place a 
pole two feet longer than the blanket directly in the center and fold the blanket over it; lay a similar pole in the 
center of the folded half and fold the free side back over; place your patient on top, and two men can carry him as 
comfortably as though he were in a litter. It is, in fact, an emergency litter.
Another emergency litter may be constructed by buttoning an overcoat its full length and running two poles down 
the sides, laying the patient between them. Failing an overcoat, two short coats or Mackinaw jackets may be made 
to serve.
Having got your patient with the compound fracture into camp, cut off all clothing from the wounded limb, but no 
more. It is a bad plan to remove too much clothing from badly injured persons. All the warmth must be conserved, 
even to the extent of applying artificial heat. Examine the wound for foreign matter and carefully remove it, especially
bits of clothing, leaves, small sticks, and bits of earth.
While you have been thus engaged, water should be heated in the cleanest, brightest vessel the camp affords. If 
there are none bright enough, one may be sterilized by burning it over a hot fire for at least ten minutes. It is 
absolutely essential that the water used to cleanse a wound of this character should be sterile—that is, without any 
germ life whatever; hence the directions for boiling it.
In another clean vessel boil all the cloths, towels, and other dressings that you intend using. Any soft cloth will do for
dressings, provided it is sterilized and sterilization consists only in thorough boiling.
One of the articles I shall mention in a very limited surgical kit is a bottle of tablets composed of bichloride of 
mercury known as Bernay's tablets. They are made by all chemical houses and vary in form, but all contain about 
the same quantity of the antiseptic agent. Some are white and some blue in color, the blue being preferable.
	SSRsi Note ~
	[bichloride of mercury: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary: see: Mercuric Chloride
	 : a heavy crystalline poisonous compound HgCl2 used as a disinfectant and fungicide 
	and in photography—called also bichloride, bichloride of mercury, corrosive sublimate, 
	mercury bichloride. This is a POISON and has serious effects if inhaled, injected, 
	ingested, splashed in eyes, or through skin absorption. DO NOT USE!]
	[From the 1913 Medical Handbook: "BICHLORIDE OF MERCURY TABLETS. These 
	antiseptic tablets are never used otherwise than externally, and never in stronger 
	solution than 1 to 1,000 (that is, one tablet of 7 grains to 1 pint of water) . As the 
	tablets differ in strength, read carefully the directions, which are usually printed on 
	the label of the bottle.  Bichloride makes an excellent wash for ulcers and wounds, 
	also for disinfecting the hands either before or after operating, dressing wounds, 
	or touching infectious or pus cases. As Bichloride of Mercury is easily absorbed by 
	the skin and mucous membrane and is liable to produce poisoning, use with caution. 
	Never use it for sterilizing metal instruments, as it corrodes them."]
One of these tablets dissolved in a quart of water makes a solution of about the proper strength for dressing 
wounds. Make your solution and with your sterilized cloths wash out the wound thoroughly, and that does not mean 
to let a little water flow over the wound; it means to remove every particle of foreign matter in and about the wound.
If the bones have stuck into the earth, as is quite often the case, they must be exposed and the narrow canal 
cleaned. Then replace the bones in as nearly their proper position as possible. Do not attempt to "set" the bone; 
just put it back fairly nearly in line. Then cover with several layers of moist cloth that have been previously boiled 
and dipped in the bichloride solution.
Every day expose the wound, wash it out, and dress it. If the patient is of strong physique and God smiles, he may 
not have septic fever. If, however, the limb shows signs of inflammation evidenced by swelling and redness, 
accompanied by fever, chills, and thirst, then must you perform some heroic tasks to save your patient's life.
Remove all dressings and wrap in perfectly clean dressings the entire limb from the hip to the foot, elevate so that it 
will drain properly, and keep cold water running over it in a small stream constantly. This may be done by making a 
small hole in the side or the bottom of a bucket and hanging it in such a way that it will permit the stream to fall on 
the limb. If you follow the foregoing directions implicitly, you have done all that can be done.
It will be understood that what I have said touches upon the subject of fractures in only a very general way. The 
methods of treatment outlined will apply to practically any fracture, and certainly to those most liable to be 
encountered in the woods.
The four principal dislocations that are liable to engage your attention are those of the hip, knee, elbow, and 
shoulder. Of these, that of the hip is the most serious. Without going deeply into the classification of hip-joint 
dislocation, it will be sufficient to say that fortunately by far the greater number of these is where the head of the
bone slips out of its socket upward and backward. Those in which the head of the bone occupies other positions 
with relation to its socket are much more difficult, in fact, for the layman practically impossible.
The signs of a hip-joint dislocation are shortening of the limb, loss of motion, pain, and the turning of the toes in 
toward the opposite foot. You will be able to distinguish it from a fracture of the thigh by the absence of crepitation 
(which I have described as the slight grating sound made by the broken ends of the bone rubbing together), and the
fact that in a fracture the toes are generally turned out.
A friend of mine once reduced his own hip-joint dislocation in a manner that may prove instructive. He was coming 
down the steep side of a mountain in winter on skis. Halfway down the hill, while he was traveling at a great rate of 
speed, he ran into a depression, breaking his ski and dislocating his hip. It was many miles to the nearest cabin, 
night was coming on, and it was bitterly cold. Death stared him in the face. It was a time for the exercise of judgment
if ever in his life.
He crept down to a grove of small pines, selected two that were just a little farther apart than the length of his body, 
lashed the foot of the injured limb to one with his pack strap, lay at full length on the snow, and clasped the other 
with his arms. Pulling with all his might, he had the satisfaction of hearing the bone jolt back into its socket. The idea 
suggested will enable the reader to modify the method to suit each individual case.
In dislocations of the shoulder the old method still in vogue among some medical men is quite easy of 
accomplishment. Lay the patient on his back and seat yourself at his side, first having removed the shoe from your 
foot next to his body. Grasp his injured arm and turn it outward from the body. Place your bare foot well up into his
armpit. While an assistant steadies his shoulder, pull downward upon his arm, at the same time moving it toward the 
patient's body. Make your pull steady, and when you have begun do not relax until you feel the bone jolt into its 
position. In the case of muscular persons the pull must be kept up for a longer period, or until the contraction of the 
muscles has been overcome.
Dislocations of the elbow are usually those in which the two lower bones slip backward and the upper bone forward. 
They may be reduced by grasping the injured arm just above the elbow with your left hand, the fingers just behind 
the prominence of the dislocation; with the other hand bend the injured arm well forward, at the same time slipping 
your left hand downward. When the injured arm is fully bent, grasp tightly with your left hand at the elbow joint and 
with your right forcibly straighten it.
The fingers of your left hand form a fulcrum for the bone that is out of place to act upon and thus force it back into 
position. This maneuver is somewhat difficult to describe but quite easy to accomplish. One will be surprised with 
what ease the bone slips back into position.
Dislocations of the knee are reduced similarly, except that it requires two to do the work. Then, too, the knee often 
becomes dislocated laterally and the pressure must be made in a lateral direction.
A very distressing little accident is the dislocation of the lower jaw. I once had a patient who rode a long distance 
with his mouth wide open, suffering a great deal of inconvenience and no little pain, when one of his friends could 
have relieved him in an instant. Wrap both your thumbs in several layers of cloth, stand behind the patient, who 
should be seated, and place your thumbs thus protected, on his back teeth, grasp his jaws on either side with your 
fingers, press down with your thumbs, up with your fingers, at the same time drawing the jaw forward. The bones will 
go back with a snap and the victim will spasmodically close his mouth hard enough to draw blood unless your 
thumbs are well shielded.
Dislocations of the joints of the fingers may be reduced by taking a double half-hitch around the finger below the 
dislocation with a handkerchief, placing your left thumb back of the head of the dislocated bone, and as you pull on 
 the handkerchief with your right hand push forward and downward with your left. The bone will readily slip into 
place.
Dislocations should be kept at rest for several days and any tendency toward inflammation kept down by the 
application of water. Severe dislocations, as those of the hip, should be treated similarly to fractures. Sprains and 
bruises, while not serious, are often very annoying. When the accident first occurs immerse the limb in cold spring
water. This has a tendency to contract the small blood vessels and keep down inflammation. If, however, swelling 
has already set in, hot water should give place to cold, as hot as can be borne. A consistent application of hot water 
to a sprain or bruise will ordinarily cure it in a few days.
It may be necessary, under certain conditions, to bandage the limb, especially if one has to make a journey. By 
applying a roller bandage snugly about a sprained ankle, for instance, one may travel in comparative comfort for 
several miles. Of course, he will pay the penalty afterwards, but I am speaking now of cases where it is imperative 
that a man travel.
In applying any bandage be sure that it has no wrinkles in it. It must be laid perfectly smooth and drawn reasonably 
tight. A loose bandage or one that is placed unevenly is worse than useless.
End of Chapter 1
Jump to Chapter 2: Caring for Burns, Cuts, Drowning, and Minor Accidents
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