The apparatuses of the system Draeger in the international rescue-service.

  • Dräger Medizintechnik GmbH.
Date:
[1913]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The apparatuses of the system Draeger in the international rescue-service. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    by J. W. HaascrLpe. With 11 Illustrations and i Diagram. The ,,Draeger“ Rescue Apparatus for use in irrespirable atmosphere may be used with Helmet or Mouth-piece. It is self-contained, i. e., independent of the outside air. The Apparatus purifies continuously the expired air. It renews constantly the used-up Oxygen and makes the CO2 produced by the breather harmless. The dress is so compact as not to hinder work in narrow spaces. The modus operandi of the Apparatus is as follows; The exhaled air escapes through the exhalation pipe s^ and through the exhalation valve v^ into the exhalation bag b\ from whence it is drawn by the injector nozzle d. It is then drawn through the Potash Cartridge p, here the air is purified and warmed; and flows through the cooler 1 to the injector d, where it is revivified by oxygen at the rate of 2 litres a minute. The air mixture, now again suitable for breathing, flows through the second pipe z~ into the inhalation bag b“ and from here through the inhalation pipe s and the inhalation valve v into the mouth of the wearer to be re-inhaled. Then the circulation is repeated anew. (See diagram.) If the reader knows physiology, he will recognize at once, that the Apparatus is a technical reconstruction of the physiolo- gical conditions prevailing on our earth. Heinr. Draeger says in one place of his biography: ,,The modern inventor, if he wishes to create something perfect, must understand in a poetical manner the ways of expression of nature, in order to translate the same into technic, as it is impossible to copy or simply translate nature. Nature also creates more universal. Man must specialise. He must adapt his tools and arrangements for one purpose only. By means of this concentration he is enabled to surpas^ manifold the working of the natural organs with his machines. or two Potash Cartridges of the 1904/09 pattern allow work up to 36000 meter=kilograms to be performed. Untrained men perform less, while trained men do more. As much as 56 000 M. Kg have even been reached. The Apparatus is capable of being used day and night underground or aboveground for fire brigade-work, on account of the simple and quick way in which the cartridges can be exchanged. Heinr. Draeger summarises the singular construction of the Rescue Apparatus in the following sentences: ,,While he air circulates through the Apparatus, being revivified by oxygen and the exhaled carbondioxide is absorbed in the Cartridge, the wearer breathes, according to the output of work, quietly or wildly, from the inhalation bag pure air and exhales into the exhalation bag the vitiated air. He knows nothing of the wonderful process taking place in his apparatus; he breathes as in pure air. He cares nothing, like our mother earth, that round him lurk dangers and death. Both form for thems elvesa world of life of their own. But from the aesthetic point of view man stands higher. The Earth is an embodied Egoist. Man on the other hand stands in such moments in the service of his unfortunate brethren, in the service of humanity, he cares only for others. It is the same to him, whether he goes down into the bowels of the earth where fire damp prevails, or whether he goes into a pipe filled with coal gas, into sulphur fumes or to the bottom of the sea. He breathes pure air. The number of ,,Draeger Rescue Apparatus in use has surpassed 7000 sets. They are to be found in all coal producing countries of the earth. They may be found in Germany, France, England, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Roumania, Italy, Spain, Luxemburg, Den- mark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, United States, South America, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, West Indies, India etc. etc. The Rescue Apparatus is being used as Smoke Helmet one hour type — by about 150 Fire Brigades. By reason of the daily increasing demand for Potash Cartridges it may be deduced that the use of this Apparatus is growing steadily. The Rescue Apparatus makes the man, equipped with the same, to a higher organised being; because a new circulation-organ wor- king together with his other internal organs is added, an air-circulation organ, similar to a blood-circulation organ consisting of heart and arteries. According to Bernh.Drae- ger's investigations, which have since been recognised as the foundation of brea- thing apparatus, a rescue apparatus should circulate 50 litres of pure air per minute. It should alsoabsorb during 2 hours of hard work in the apparatus about 94 litres of carbon dioxide. The ,,Draeger Rescue Ap- paratus fulfils these condi- tions. The two separate bags, one for inhalation and one for exhalation, that the expired air is re-inhaled again. Diagram of the Modus operand* of the Draeger=Rescue= Apparatus. prevent entirely During the two hours work, for which the apparatus is constructed, 7200 litres of air are moved through the circulation circuit; it supplies during the same time 240 litres of oxygen and absorbs 100 litres of carbon dioxide. The Potash Cartridge of the 1910/11 pattern