Personal health in the jungle
- Collection:
- Tropical Disease Motion Pictures
- Series Title(s):
- War Department official training film
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Army. Signal Corps.
- Publication:
- [Washington, DC] : War Office, 1944
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Moving image
- Subject(s):
- Malaria -- prevention & control Military Medicine Tropical Medicine
- Genre(s):
- Animation Instructional Films and Videos
- Abstract:
- This film is designed to acquaint the soldier with the contents of his individual jungle first aid kit (M2) and to give instruction on how and when to use them. Other general rules for keeping healthy in the jungle are also discussed. There are not only human enemies in the jungle, the narrator cautions. Other enemies include the climate, which can cause heat exhaustion. To combat this, the soldier is admonished to take salt tablets, stay in the shade, wear his helmet, and wear his clothing loosely. Another jungle enemy is the fly, which carries diarrhea and dysentery. Food and garbage must be kept covered and human excrement disposed of properly. Soldiers are shown using a straddle trench and a cat hole, in which excrement is immediately covered by earth. Polluted water is another jungle enemy. Water is not to be taken internally until it has been boiled or purified. A soldier is shown by a stream putting Halazone tablets in his canteen. The worst jungle enemy is the Anopheles mosquito, carrier of malaria. The contents of the soldier's individual jungle first aid kit (M2) are shown. They include iodine, sterile dressings, wound tablets (sulfadiazine), bandaids, "Skat" insect repellent (dimethyl phthalate), atabrine tablets, athlete's foot solution, and Halazone tablets for purifying water. Soldiers are shown in jungle settings using each item in the kit in an appropriate and timely manner, for example, a sterile dressing is applied to a leg wound, a tick bite is dabbed with iodine and covered with a bandaid, insect repellent is put on exposed skin and on uniforms where they are tight over the skin, etc. Cleanliness is advocated over footage of men bathing in a stream and showering in a rain storm. Liberal use of "G.I. powder" on armpits, chest, crotch, and feet is demonstrated. Malaria tablets are to be taken when the medical officer so orders. Animation is used to illustrate how a tick feeds, how to remove a tick with a hot cigarette; how the Anopheles mosquito carries malaria. Shots include soldiers in the jungle demonstrating all the aspects of maintaining personal health mentioned herein.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 015 min.
- Color:
- Black and white
- Sound:
- Sound
- Provenance:
- Received: June 12, 1956 as a donation from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
- Technique:
- Animation and live action
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9300109A (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9300109A