338 FIRST AID TO THE INJURED 



Apoplexy. Apoplexy is seldom found in persons 

 under forty years of age. It is due to bleeding from a 

 ruptured blood-vessel in the brain and consequent pres- 

 sure of the blood upon the brain tissue. The nerve cells 

 or nerve fibres when pressed upon, cease to perform their 

 functions and more or less unconsciousness and paralysis 

 result. The face is flushed, the pupils of the eyes more 

 or less dilated and perhaps unequal in size, the breathing- 

 slow and noisy, the cheeks puffed out and drawn in with 

 the air movement and the pulse slow and full. There 

 may be convulsions and vomiting. An important symp- 

 tom is one-sided paralysis. Notice whether the face 

 is drawn to one side (away from the paralyzed side) 

 or the head kept on one side. 



Treatment: Keep the patient absolutely quiet, lying 

 down, the head moderately raised. Apply cold water or 

 ice to the head and heat to the lower limbs. If the pa- 

 tient can swallow, give castor oil or a dose of salts. The 

 bowels may be emptied by giving an injection of soap and 

 warm water. Do not give stimulants. 



Sunstroke. When working on a hot sunny day, or 

 on warm days when the air is full of moisture, persons 

 are sometimes overcome with the heat, having headache, 

 weakness and difficulty of vision. The individual quickly 

 becomes unconscious, and may even fall so as to be 

 injured. The body is usually hot to the touch, the skin 

 dry, the face flushed, the pulse full and rapid, but there 

 may be coldness, pallor and Aveak pulse. Twitchings of 

 the body may also be noticed. 



Treatment: Reduce the heat of the body as rapidly as 

 possible by throwing cold water over the patient and 

 applying ice to the head. Strip the body and wrap it 

 in a sheet kept wet by frequent applications of water. 

 Continue until consciousness is regained or the tempera- 

 ture of the body is lowered. Do not send the patient 



