Life, 1929-01-11 · page 4 of 36
Life — January 11, 1929 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not satire or political cartoon**, but rather a **public health advertisement** by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The illustration shows a nurse or caregiver washing a wound on a patient's arm. The ad promotes basic first aid hygiene—washing wounds with soap and boiled water—during an era (appearing to be 1920s based on the census reference to 1925) when infection from minor injuries was a serious cause of death. The text explains that even small wounds could become life-threatening if not properly cleaned, and that germs could be "literally washed out" through thorough soap and water treatment. This represents early 20th-century public health education, when companies used advertising to promote medical practices that reduced mortality and insurance payouts.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life Wounds with soap When an accident happens, the cut whether shallow or deep should be washed clean as quickly as possible. Put enough soap into foiling water to make the water sudsy. When the water cools sufficiently wash out the wound with a sterilized gauze-pad or cloth. Cover with sterilized gauze. Datee tomers TCs N°. wound is so slight that it may not become infected and cause death. Ifa wound which breaks the skin is not promptly and correctly treated, there may be immediate infection from germs that are found anywhere and everywhere—streptococcus, staphylococcus and saprophytes. It should be assumed that all accidental wounds may be infected. During the World War medical science dis- covered that by using pure soap and boiled water, fresh wounds, big and little, could be thoroughly cleansed, thereby reducing to a minimum the danger of infection. In other words, the germs were literally washed out of wounds, Small wounds, immediately cleansed and properly covered with sterilized gauze will, as a rule, heal very promptly without fur- ther treatment. But if germs are covered over and bound into wounds, or are sealed in by drawing the skin together, infection is almost certain and serious complications may result. _ . According to the latest available United States es Census figures, septicemia (blood poisoning) was -; the direct cause of 1,178 deaths in the year 1925; and a contributing cause in more than seven times as many deaths, The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company will ~~ METROPOLITAN LIFE INSU In applying soapy water to a new wound, it is best to use a pad of sterilized gauze. Any pure soap will do—liquid, soft or hard—but a liquid soap as free from alkali as may be obtained is best. Otherwise the wound may sting or smart. But the slight temporary discomfort caused by a liberal application of soap and water is of little consequence when compared with the protection afforded by a thorough cleansing. Common sense must determine how long a fresh wound should be washed. But re- member always, the washing must be thor- ough so that the soap bubbles may do their part and lift the germs away from the flesh. The water carries the germs away. The wound must be clean before healing Warm water that has been sterilized by boiling is safest and the utmost care should be taken to keep the fingers from coming in contact with the surface of the wound. Wash big or little wounds with soap and water at once—as First Aid before the doctor comes. —— be glad to mail to each family one copy of its booklet, “First Aid in the Home”. It tells how + to sterilize cotton or linen cloth when steril- f gauze is not available and gives many ': other valuable First Aid directions. Ask for Booklet No. 29-F. It will be mailed without charge. HALEY FISKE, President. ——— NCE COMPANY~NEW YORK Biggest in the World, More Assets, More Policyholders, More Insurance in force, More new Insurance each year comicbooks.com a