204 
SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 
Bandages 
Bandages form the most convenient way of keeping 
dressings on wounds and for making pressure when 
necessary. They are also used to correct some de- 
formities, but you will not need to concern yourselves 
with the latter, as this is in the province of doctors. 
There are three varieties of bandages which you will 
need to use and with which you should be familiar: the 
roller, trangular and four-tailed. The materials used 
for bandages are absorbent gauze, muslins or flannels. 
The kind you will use most will be gauze and muslin. 
The gauze is best to use in dressing wounds because 
it is pliable and absorbent, and muslin, if you may 
choose, in applying pressure, because it is firm. In an 
emergency there will usually be little chance to choose. 
Anything at hand, as underclothing, sheets, blankets, 
etc., may be torn into strips or triangles and used. Have 
the material which is used clean if possible. 
The width of the roller bandage depends on the part 
of the body to be bandaged, from one inch for the little 
finger to four inches for the body. They can be rolled 
very well by hand with a little practice, and every Girl 
Scout should learn to do this or to improvise a bandage 
roller by running a very stiff wire through a small 
wooden box and then bending one end on the outside 
of the box like a handle. 
A bandage must be rolled sufficiently tight so that 
the center will not fall out. By folding one end back 
and forth a few times to make a core, and then laying 
the bandaging over one’s knees lengthwise of the thigh 
with the core uppermost, it can be rolled quite tightly 
and answer every purpose for emergencies. 
Learn to put on all bandages smoothly and securely, 
but not too tightly. 
