operating room, dressing room, and ward. In the rush, no attempt was made to observe sterile precautions. Dressings were soaked in the solution and placed on and around the burned areas and kept wet for twenty-four hours.
At the hospital, sprays of tannic acid, gentian violet, and triple dye were made up and used continuously. Everything which would spray the solution was put to use. Ordinary Flit guns were emptied, refilled with the medicated spray, and used to spray patients. Even though this tanning process was frequently applied over the fuel oil, a reasonably efficient tanning resulted.
As soon as the necessary cradles could be manufactured, each severely burned patient was placed under a heat cradle, several blue electric lights being used to supply the heat, and the cradles covered with blankets.
Why, one may ask, apply heat to bodies already terribly burned? It should be borne in mind that deaths resulting from burns are produced by shock induced by the burn and the loss of body fluid. Heat helps to prevent this. Treatment of the severely burned continued day and night until they were evacuated to the West coast ten days later.
Only the operating suite had been blacked out before the raid But strict black-out precautions became imperative because another raid might come at any time. Ward work was therefore continued with only the dim light from blued flashlights. This made the care of the injured, especially intravenous administration of plasma, extremely difficult.
In the great majority of war injuries of no matter what kind, the primary cause of death is shock. From the earliest times, surgeons have noted a startling clinical picture which appears in patients following severe injuries or major operations. There is an almost classical group of symptoms — pallor, moist skin, rapid, feeble pulse, and a lowering of blood pressure. These indicate acute failure of the circulation. In other words: shock. Typical shock is seen follow-
