Proceedings of Meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. . , of which the sides had then to be laced together; the wholeforming, when all was done, an ill-contrived canvas box, usually too ASSOCIATION OF MILITARY SURGEONS. 93 short for the occupant and not easily handled and carried. It was neversuitable for lowering a wounded man through a small hatch, theutmost care on the part of four or five assistants being often unableto prevent the patient from sliding down to the end of the cot, per-haps upon a fractured leg or thigh, or, especially when helpless
Proceedings of Meeting of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. . , of which the sides had then to be laced together; the wholeforming, when all was done, an ill-contrived canvas box, usually too ASSOCIATION OF MILITARY SURGEONS. 93 short for the occupant and not easily handled and carried. It was neversuitable for lowering a wounded man through a small hatch, theutmost care on the part of four or five assistants being often unableto prevent the patient from sliding down to the end of the cot, per-haps upon a fractured leg or thigh, or, especially when helpless orunconscious, from pitching out headlong. Medical Inspector, now Medical Director, Albert C. Gorgas,U. S. Navy, in 1864, devised an improvement of the hospital cotintended to obviate some of these objections, and his cot has been inuse on board many vessels of the United States Navy. Its chiefpeculiarity is a leather-covered double inclined plane, raised and low-ered by a hinged center and made to catch upon a wooden ratchetattached to each side of the lower half of the cot frame. The thighs. Gorgass Ambnlance Cot. and legs being flexed over this plane, its upper surface sustains theweight of the body when the head of the cot is elevated, while a nar-row leathern band, passed through two long leathern or canvas loopsnailed to the upper crosspiece of the frame, is tied around the chestunder the arms, and prevents the tilting forward of the body, whichis also partly supported by the breast strap. Dr. Gorgas claims forhis cot that it permits passing a man almost perpendicularly througha small hatchway. [Vide Wilsons Hygiene—McDonalds Hygiene.]Surgeon, now Medical Director, Henry M. Wells, United StatesNavy, some years ago proposed an ingenious modification of theordinary ships hammock, by which it may be used in certain casesfor the carriage of the sick and injured. Two long strips of canvas 94 FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE were sewed diagonally across the under surface of the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmilitar, bookyear1894
