Eye emergencies in industry; first aid treatment by the physician.

Abstract

Eye emergencies in industry have assumed a tremendous importance because of their number and their cost to management and labor. It is far better to prevent than to treat these emergencies, but this paper is concerned with those unavoidable accidents that already have occurred. In these instances proper first aid treatment by the attending physician will save millions of dollars and thousands of man hours and prevent irreparable mental and physical injury to the injured person. Before discussing the actual accident, it is pertinent to recall certain physical characteristics of the eye area which aid in the prevention of damage to the eye itself. The strong bony orbit encases the soft globe and provides a great deal of protection. Witness the frequency with which a prize fighter is struck in the eye but how seldom there is injury to it. Other protective features besides this bony encasement, which usually preserve