Tap Bells and Mouth Gags

Mouth Gags?

okay, is any one else wierded out at the word mouth gags? And what the heck are tap bells?

Tap bells are the bells you see on the front desk of an old hotel where you only have to punch down once and they ring. The mouth gags were possibly used as tongue protectors if ECT was used.

That sounds like a good title of a book!

I imagine that a patient sinking their teeth into someone was frowned upon enough by the staff to warrant a mouth gag .....or two.

No, Lynne's probably right. The "gags" were more likely used for electroconvulsive therapy. Why they didn''t pick a nicer name, like "mouth guards," and why they were stored with "tap bells" is beyond me!

this has been some what hinted on but i just wont to state my general interest and concern as to the fact that tap bells and mouth gags were stored specificly in conjunction and esclusively in this room.
and next to it was the strait jacket and hair gell room no doubt

for goodness' sake, there was no ect going on here. mouth gags were used to keep a patient's mouth open while doc stuck a tube down to lungs. this was a tb treatment facility, not a mental asylum.

Stephan,

Usually doctors use laryngoscopes to intubate. Back in the days of TB asylums, intubation wasn't really done much at all; Lynne was probably right, as usual. =)

Could the mouth gags have possibly been used in the case of a seizure? I'm not doubting Lynne, but it would seem that a TB hospital wouldn't have much use for ECT.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Glendale was an institution for people with mental retardation. Back then, it was common to restrain people who were spastic, so mouth gags were frequently used.

How often do tap bells at front desks beak? I know if you slap your hand hard enough on them they hurt like a mofo, but I have never broken one. Just wondering why they would store alot of tapbells.

Maybe......
They gave those with mouth gags, tap bells for the ability to call the nurses?

You know what, ~Me, I think you're on to something...it could have been for patients that couldn't talk and stuff because they didn't have those electronic buttons that you press nowadays to call a nurse.

Remember - anyone can get TB, even people with mental illness. There are a number of sites that will tell you about TB hospitals back at the turn of the last century that had wards exclusively for people with mental illness, and in some of those places ECT was used because it was considered state of the art at the time. A mouth gag is a small rubber device that is placed between your back teeth - dentists still use them so you don't have to hold your mouth open for a long procedure. People sometimes received insulin and/or Metrazol as well as ECT or in place of ECT and either way, the idea is that you know in advance that you are going to cause the person to have a seizure, so you want to protect their teeth from crunching together and breaking and keep them from biting their tongue. You can't be sticking your hand in the mouth of someone who is having a seizure unless you don't value your fingers. Trust me on this. :-)

Most tongue and teeth protectors were either rubber tubing you bit down on, gauze-wrapped/padded tongue protectors placed between the teeth, or "mouth gags."

Actually, I grew up in the area and my parents were around when it was still in use. There were quite a few patients with psychiatric issues here as well from what I understand. Just chiming in...!

Those Dymo labels just seem to last forever, don't they?

Mouth Gags. What other kind of gag exists? Discuss.

I didn't know what tap-bells were, incidentally, but it turns out I used to know somebody who... "collected" them.

Grifspop, lol, I never thought of that before, but you're so right! they really did!

sounds like the name of a porn movie, crazy!

hello everyone..i'm really confused where is all this stuff in the hosiptal i went there today and i didn't see any of it..

hey anyone wanna go with me i've been there so many tiimes but could never find anything all that interesting.

I was a patient there. I know what the mouth gags were for. They had nothing to do with ECT, but you folks go on with your fantasies. Heaven forbid anyone should intrude with facts.

The mouth gag ensured that the patient's mouth was immobilised during an exploration or operation on the mouth, trachea (airway to the lungs), larynx (the voice box) or the oesophagus (the gullet). When the finger holds are brought together the instrument opens. It works like a pair of scissors, only backwards. There was also a smaller version for use on children.

Intubation Set

Brief Description

O'Dwyer's intubation set. Consists of mouth gag, introducer, extractor, six oval metal tubes and six long obturators for same.

History of Object

Materials and Finishes

Metal (plated).

References

Creator Hudson, Dr. L.C.
Quantity 19 item (4.7 x 23.5 x 12.8 cm) Inventory Identifier MHM00283 Series 58

Stephan, are you telling me that the patients were awake during these proceedures?????

Before the introduction of paralitic drugs we had to create our own tools to intubate conscious patients in the field. It's a lot easier now.

Medic137(Bill), wow, that is insane, how well did that really work, I am a nurse so I am curious. I guess it is good that they have medication to put pt's "asleep", because, that would have to of been hard to perform while awake!!! :-0

Believe what you wish. If you choose to believe that "mouth gags" were used during ECT, go right ahead.

mouth gag + rubber tube= gastric washing.

Stephan,

Mouth gags were used for a variety of procedures, including ECT. Whether it was ever done at this particular facility is not known. In truth it would be unusual for almost any hospital in this country to not have administered ECT during the time period that this facility was open, as it was a widespread procedure across the United States.

As far as references for mouth gags being used for ECT, here are several:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40000618/
Anaesthetic - usual precautions, atropine not usually recommended methohexitone, a short-barbiturate, is best induction agent but not always obtainable. Propofol, etomidate or thiopentone or alternatives. Propofol widely used but can reduce seizure length, cause delay to convulsions or recovery or anaphylaxis. Immediately add muscle relaxant, check lungs are well oxygenated and insert mouth gag.

http://medical.med.tok...t/v47_n3-4_p123.html
Treatments were commonly given at about ten o'clock in the morning, usually three times a week. Patients had nothing to eat or drink in the morning before each treatment. Trans-pi-oxocamphor and dimorpholamine were administered by intramuscular injection. The electrode sites were carefully cleaned with alcohol swabs and then dried. The patients were given a short-acting barbiturate (thiamylal sodium) intravenously to induce light sleep. When the patients were asleep, assistants restrained their shoulders, arms and thighs to prevent extreme motion. A padded tongue depressor or other resilient mouth gag was placed between the teeth to prevent biting the tongue or other injury, and then a sine-wave electrical stimulus was given. Pulse and blood pressure were checked before and after the procedure. All patients received bilateral ECT with electrodes placed in the bifrontotemporal position. The ECT apparatus was a C-1 type electric convulsive device made by Sakai Medical Company.

http://www.moh.gov.om/...ELECTRO-CONVULSIVE%20THERAPY.pdf
EQUIPMENT
1. Patient's couch with side railings and adjustment to raise and lower.
2. Anaesthesia apparatus with endotracheal tubings and laryngoscope.
3. ECT machine with bilateral electrodes.
4. Electrolyte solution.
5. Emergency trolley with emergency drugs.
6. I.V. fluids and I. V. stand
7. Anaesthesia injection. [Sodium Pentothal, muscle relaxant, Injection Atropine, water for injection).
8. Gallipots for gauze swabs, spirit swabs.
9. Adhesive mouth gag and disposable bag.
10. Suction apparatus.
11. Oxygen cylinder with flow meter.
12. ECG machine with pulse monitor.

What is the status of ECT today? About a year and 1/2 ago I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing someone who was receiving ECT not for psychiatric treatment but as a short term solution for epilepsy. The person in question was experiencing seizures multiple times per week. Subsequent to ECT they were seizure free for months at a time, when seizures eventually reoccured they repeated treatment. Before anyone's imagination runs away with them the patient was receiving ECT voluntarily and was not an inhouse patient of the facility. The downside was that the treatment eventually ceased to be effective for some of the patients.

I am working from memory here so some of the details may not be exact. I think that the treatment was in limited usage back at the time of this article. Has the use of ECT gained momentum again? Do the doctors know why it has a temporary curative effect? Is it being used for other conditions?

You may need to be registered at MedScape to see the following articles. If so, let me know and I can e-mail them. I took out a few lines from each study I pulled up. Doesn't mean I agree or disagree with these articles - they are just the first research articles I pulled up. The research seems to suggest that ECT is useful for people with intractable depression when everything else has failed, and less helpful for schizophrenia unless it is actually a schizoaffective disorder:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/450436
"Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is more effective than medications for the treatment of depression, according to the results of a meta-analysis published in the March 8 issue of The Lancet. Bilateral ECT was better than unilateral ECT, and high-dose was better than low dose."

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/523771
"ECT can restore quality of life to people devastated by severe depression. Study leader W. Vaughn McCall, MD, leads the department of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine."

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/524769
"Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL), primarily from improvements in depression symptoms, which lasts for at least 6 months, results of a new study suggest."

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/485024
"The evidence in this review suggests that ECT, combined with treatment with antipsychotic drugs, may be considered an option for people with schizophrenia, particularly when rapid global improvement and reduction of symptoms is desired. This is also the case for those with schizophrenia who show limited response to medication alone. Even though this initial beneficial effect may not last beyond the short term, there is no clear evidence to refute its use for people with schizophrenia. The research base for the use of ECT in people with schizophrenia continues to expand, but even after more than five decades of clinical use, there remain many unanswered questions regarding its role in the management of people with schizophrenia."

http://www.medscape.co...087991?queryText=ect
"Data analyzed suggest that ECT is a valid therapeutic tool for treatment of depression, including severe and resistant forms."

I think the problem is that a lot of people don't realize what desperation feels like... I read about someone who was partially paralyzed, and underwent "bee sting" therapy to regain some mobility. She swore it worked... If I was in a situation like the seizures, and nothing else had worked, but then I heard about a new technique that MIGHT work, I'd try it, no matter how painful... That hope is what keeps a lot of people alive!

Gee, who said Glenn Dale was a mental health facility? Do your research.

I give up with you folks. You're bound and determined to imagine what you like about what went on at Glenn Dale. And I'll admit, gastric washing involves snaking a tube through the nose into the stomach (I recall it being a very long black rubber tube). But please do your research and contact people who lived and worked there. I know it;s harder than using your imaginations but give it a shot. You'll find that no one was zapping anyone's brain--there was no ward for the mentally ill-- and that mouth gags were used in the treatment of TB.

No need to flame people, please.

Now, Crownsville Hospital, they def. used electroshock therapy and all sorts of experiments having to do with the brain. and you know shyt went down there b/c they didnt know what worked in the early 1900's.

I have now read through the articles that Lynne provided. The articles, generally speaking, affirmed that ECT treatments provided beneficial results to the patients that received them, that the effects were temporary and that there were some negative side effects associated with the treatments. There was also an acknowledgement that there was a lack of studies regarding the long term effects of continued application of ECT.

Among the negative side effects mentioned were short term memory loss and a temporary impairment to learn new things (no examples were given. Inability to learn a new skill? Inability to learn new knowledge?? These are two different types of learning. There was no clarification on this point).

For anyone who wishes to read the articles on their own I would describe them as brief and reasonably easy for non-health pros to read with the exception of the Cochrane technical review. In the Cochrane technical review the main results section was harder to follow. However the intro and conclusions were easy to understand.

Registration at Medscape is free.

I will also state that I neither support nor oppose ECT usage (more info would be required to form a conclusion). I am only summarizing the articles as I understood them.

When I said 'discuss' I wasn't that serious. I just wondered what kind of gag existed which wasn't mouth-related. Curiosity has always been my downfall. Thanks though.

I am not sure if the mouth gags in question were used in conjunction with ECT or not. Nontheless, I can attempt to clear some misconceptions/questions about ECT.

I went through 13 treatments of bi-lateratal ECT in late summer of 2004. Therefore, it is definately still utilized, but it is not as commonplace as it has been in the past.

My memory was severely impared. (I actually drove to another state and woke up in a hospital with no clue as to how I arrived there.) I lost most of the previous year's memory and did have to change how I learned material. In example, I am in graduate school and I had to utilize a variety of new methods to learn new coursework.

ECT is utilized when other options have been exhausted. I live with BiPolar Disorder, Psychosis, and OCD. And in 2004, I was in a major depressive/quasi-catatonic state that was medication resistant. ECT was the only option that had a possilbity of helping.

Unfortunately for me, the treatment did not have the hoped results. But, it was a matter a despiration. (as Dr. Sketch discussed)

Not sure if this helps... But I wanted to share some possible insight.

Take care........................ ~la reina~

Yes, it's still used for depression, no I wouldn't be surprised that the "mouth gags" were used for something other than ECT. But, hey, what do I know? Fortunately, my TB test came up negative last year. :oD

All I know is my brother died from TB just 3 years ago and it wasn't a pretty sight.

Don't you think that maybe just a few TB patients were depressed just a bit? All those people dying around you that have exactly what you have, not being able to move on with your life, being stuck in the same place all the time? I would assume that the Hospital handled all of the aspects of the patients health care.

My Mom was at Glenn Dale and I'm trying to contact former patients and staff for magazine article. Please email
highergroundthebook@comcast.net

ok i was in that hospital the other day and i didnt see that

OMG!! I was there and took a pix of that same label......!

Yeah, alot of the labels in that room are wierd.

The piece of plastic that one uses in ECT is called a "bite-block". A "mouth gag" is an ENT instrument used to prop the mouth open during dental procedures. It would seem more likely that they were used for something besides ECT even in those days.

That may be the case in your area today, but if you check the references above you'll see that the term "mouth gag" was used for ECT procedures as well.

What does tap bells mean?

Tap bells are the bells you see on the front desk of an old hotel where you only have to punch down once and they ring.

How does tap bells and mouth gags relate to each other?

If my mouth were gagged, a tap bell (or any other bell for that matter) would be quite handy.
Just a thought... if one had a device in their mouth to prevent them from harm and were administered short bursts of shocks for therapy, a cat collar with bells would do the trick nicely. OR sleigh bells during the Christmas season!

.... I'll prolly go to hell for that one... :-{}

stephen is right, i think. sorry, lynne :)

mouth gags were an inherent part of a procedure to obtain a sputum sample from a patients stomach (to test for TB germs). i'm having trouble posting a link but there is a page about it on a canadian website if you google "gastric washing"...should be the first result

"tap bell" might refer to the bottle the stomach contents are collected into. this is just a guess, but "bell" sometimes refer to a certain shape of beaker or bottle. tap might indicate an opening in the top for collection of fluid from a tube or syringe. again, just a guess

The crazy stuff some of the paranoid people come up with here is ridiculous. Speculate away my friends!

wtf is ECT?

ECT = Electroconvulsive Therapy

i wish people would stop badtalking the glenn dale hosptial its a wonderfull land mark and that would be coll if they renivated the hospital and fixed it up and made it a musem now that would be cool. if u have any tales about the glenn dale hosptial e-mail me

erin.silvers@yahoo.com with ur name and date and story i might write a book if i get enough e-mails

My recollection is that Glendale was a TB hospital and when TB was eradicated it was turned into a mental hospital...

The fact that Electricity was EVER used as punishment is frightening, and it makes it worse knowing it was used on people who couldnt fight back and didnt know better.

Why do they have to call it, "Mouth" gags?, why not just gags? how many kinds of gags are there..?

Why do they have to call it, "Mouth" gags?, why not just gags? how many kinds of gags are there..?

I'm gonna bet that the Tap Bells are put in the same room because if your mouth is gagged, or has the rubber keeping it open, you would need a way to call the nurse still. So you get the tap bell - I've been reading a few google results for "Tap Bell" and there is mention of hospital patients having to use one because their call button was broken.

is it just me or does that sound a little kinky?

I live about 10 feet from he adult ward of Glenn Dale and I need to know where this sign is. I go into the hospital several times a week and I havent found it yet. Someone tel me what building its in. i can figure out the rest

It was in the adult ward, but its gone. I go in there all the time too, so i noticed it was gone like a month ago

I agree you people need to stop bad talking glenn dale. pg county just hired a firm and they are about to rennovate the complex. if you are wondering how I know is because my mom works for pg parks and planning commission. glenn dale is wonderful, you will never see buildings like that ever again. they were designed by nathan c. weyth and he also designed the first oval office. they are an important part of history!!!!!!

I would like to know who will do the asbestos abatement?

Glenn Dale is nice even though I live in Columbia, MD. That place is scary and my friend claimed he saw a ghost

In answer to John Black, today ECT is only used after all other choices have been exhausted. I underwent it in 2001 for depression and would not recommend it unless the patient has tried every other possible procedure or medication. It does cause memory loss and they do use mouth gags (these were used on me to keep me from biting my tongue). Only those who were in the hospital would know what they were used for in this hospital, but ECT is what mouth gags are used for in psychiatric hospitals.

Boy, look at all the hullabaloo over one label! Who knew it could be so much fun? It's common sense that mouth gags are always stored with the tap bells, no?

Why would a TB hospital have mouth gags? They normally wouldn't do ECT on a TB pt. It was/is used for people with depression. Yes it is still in use today but in a much more humane way.

Didn't I see this group on America's got Talent?

fyi, in dentistry we use mouth PROPS, NOT gags

yea ive been ther a rack of times and they have ECT chairs with the straps and all on the 3rd floor of the adult ward, you gotta think there was allot of experimenting going on with drugs ect..they were still learning about it at the time while it was still alive and going.

idk? but i DO know...not to argue with lynn because she is usually right! lol