AMERICAN RED CROSS TEXT-BOOK
ON
HOME CARE OF THE SICK

DELANO

Copyright, 1918, by American Red Cross

THE MAPLE PRESS YORK PA

PREFACE

To the woman who wishes to protect her family from preventable diseases and is anxious to fit herself in the absence of a trained nurse to give intelligent care to those who are sick, this revision of the Red Cross text-book on Elementary Hygiene and Home Care of the Sick is particularly directed. It should appeal to men and to women who are interested in maintaining the health of their neighborhoods and communities and in affording effective coöperation to the public health authorities. To teachers wishing to impart protective health information to high school pupils, the book also should be useful as a class text as well as a guide.

The war, which has caused the withdrawal from private practice of thousands of physicians and graduate nurses, makes it peculiarly important to the nation for every adult to have sound knowledge as to how to prevent contagion and epidemics, especially by precautionary attention to home and local sanitation. With nurses becoming more difficult to secure, the safety of the family demands that some member in each household know enough about elementary nursing to make a patient comfortable and to carry out accurately the instructions of the physician.

The work of revision, based upon the latest knowledge of hygiene, sanitation and methods of home-nursing has been done by Miss Anne Hervey Strong, Professor of Public Health Nursing, Simmons College, under the personal direction of the author and the National Committee on Red Cross Nursing Service. The material has been painstakingly read by Dr. H. W. Rucker and Dr. Taliaferro Clarke of the United States Public Health Service, and Lieutenant Colonel Clarence H. Connor, Medical Corps, United States Army. Indebtedness to Dr. H. M. McCracken, President of Vassar College and Director of the Red Cross Junior Membership, for his valuable suggestion as to adapting the book for high school use as well as for the assistance rendered by his Department, also is gladly acknowledged.

J. A. D.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I wish to express my gratitude to those who have so kindly helped in the work of preparing the present edition. Thanks are especially due to Professor Isabel Stewart, Miss Anna C. Jamme, Professor Curtis M. Hilliard, Professor Maurice Bigelow, Miss Katharine Lord, Miss Josephine Goldmark, and Miss Evelyn Walker.

A. H. S.

CONTENTS