MANUAL FOR NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 341 



If the leg or arm is held upright, this also helps to reduce 

 the bleeding in these parts, because the heart then has to 

 pump the blood uphill. 



A broken bone is called a fracture. The great danger in the 

 case of a fracture is that the sharp, jagged edges of the bones 

 may stick through the flesh and skin, or tear and bruise the 

 arteries, veins, and muscles. If the skin is not broken, a frac- 

 ture is not so serious, as no germs can get in. Therefore never 

 move a person with a broken bone until the fracture has been 

 so fixed that the broken ends of the bone can not move. 



Fig. 3. 



If the leg or arm is broken, straighten the limb gently and 

 if necessary pull upon the end firmly to get the bones in place. 

 Then bind the limb firmly to a splint to hold it in place. A 

 splint may be made of any straight, stiff material — a shingle 

 or piece of board, a bayonet, a rifle, a straight branch of a tree, 

 etc. Whatever material you use must be well padded on the 

 side next to the limb. Be careful never to place the bandages 

 over the fracture, but always above and below. (Figs. 5, 6, 

 7. 8.) 



Many surgeons think that the method of binding a broken 

 leg to the well one, and of binding the arm to the bo^y, is 



