GEORGE WASHINGTON
HOW HE CROAKED
Brief Bio
Born: Westmoreland County, Virginia
February 22nd, 1732
Died: Mount Vernon, Virginia
December 14th, 1799
67 years old
Significance
Timeline of his Ingury
December 14, 1799: Washington woke up that morning gasping for air and could not seem to breathe. A doctor came and performed bloodletting and blister-beetles.
Later that day: Washington had no signs of getting any better so the doctors near met up and continued giving him the basic treatments of bloodletting and blister-beetles. They also tried giving him calomel and tartar emetic which made Washington puke and poop instantly and continuously.
Late that night: Washington died at the age of 67.
Disease
Medicine/ Treatments: How it was Treated then and Now
- bloodletting
- made him drink molasses, vinegar, and butter
- wrapped a rag soaked in smelling salt around his neck
- blister-beetle treatment: crushed up poisonous beetles and rubbed them on his neck, which created blisters that the doctor would pop and drain the pus from
- wheat-bran poultices
- calomel
- tartar emetic
Now:
- hospitalization is required and antibiotics are given to help the person breath
Vocabulary
surveyor: A person who surveys usually people who survey the land.
poultices: soft moist material that was applied to body parts to relieve soreness and inflammation
epiglottitis: an infection on the flap of skin at the back of the tongue that protects your windpipe
calomel: a chemical that causes someone to throw up