Saturday, August 13, 2011

Protective strip, the Band-Aid!



In my boyhood days I used to spend summer vacations
at my brother-in-law's house. Being a pharmacist, he gave me cute medicine boxes from his medical shop. One of those boxes contained samples of medicated bandage strips. I took out one of the them and peeled out the plastic covers from it. It exposed a reddish orange coloured cotton gauze in its centre. The plaster-like outer parts of the strip stuck to my fingers. I wondered how this small pad containing the antiseptic, Mercurochrome 'heals' wounds and abrasions.
This adhesive bandage strip was Band-Aid of Johnson & Johnson Co. It is used widely now in all parts of the world in all shapes!It is said that it gained popularity as it was then used in treating victims of World War II, and also given free to Boy Scouts. It was invented out of necessity. The idea about it was given by Thomas Anderson in 1920 to Earle Dickson as a solution to solve the problem of latter's wife, Josephine - she frequently had cut wounds while cooking. Dickson placed a long pad of thin medicated gauze cotton all along the centre of the entire plaster surface of the roll; rewound it on the spool and gave it to his young wife for on the spot use by her. Finding it very useful and convenient, he informed about it to his employer, James Johnson of the company, Johnson & Johnson. James produced then Band-Aid and marketed it successfully. Now a variety of Band-Aid adhesive bandages are produced that suit to the usage and needs - like water-proof and skin-coloured strips!
This Band-Aid is a
wonder strip that aids all those needy people at times of agony!

Click on and read about these related topics:
Band-Aid brand history
Mercurochrome, the antiseptic
Earle Dickson

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