Doh! First aid kit....

[Lonsdale73]

When I got my hand caught in the planer/thicknesser, the nurse in A&E asked how it happened then said "Ah, a woodworker. At least you will be familiar with the repair process." And then she superglued and pinned (stapled) my finger tip back in place.

 

[TheTiddles]

Been on Warfarin for years and no problem. Cuts just take a bit longer to clot. Warfarin is old hat these days but it is very easily neutralised by a Vitamin K injection, which could be important in the event of a serious injury. Newer anti-coagulants are not reversible.

A paramedic recently told me that kitchen roll should not be used on a significant injury - it disintegrates and leaves pieces behind, making it much more difficult to clean and dress a wound. He rcommended a clean tea towel but I guess any clean, lint free cotton cloth would do. I have a box of old washed shirt and sheet fabric in my workshop for use as rag. Perfect.

A true woodworker can be identified by his first reaction to injury - is there any blood on the wood?

Jim

Yes, weapon of last resort is cloth. Using non-sterile lint… I suppose you’d be a useful warning to others.

I was pleased to see use of tourniquets has made its way back into first aid courses as if you have a really serious one, there isn’t an alternative.

 

[1steven]

Marry a nurse my darling wife has put me back together more than a few times over the years.

 

[JimB]

Do not try this!
I read in a Kipling story a long time ago that a handful of spider web would staunch bleeding.

 

[okeydokey]

Also beware of what looks like a minor but LARGE splinter. Some years ago I was on a wood turning course and somehow I must have caught the workpiece and a bit about the size of one half a clothes peg in length came off, one end was sharp and stuck itself through the top (near my knuckle) of my middle finger (top as you look down at it flat). I was a bit inclined to pull it out, the onsite first aider (a wood supplier/timberyard/turning equipment dealership) said no and they carted me of to A+E. Must have been a slack day the triage nurse say hmmm I'm not touching that and I ended up with a doctor x-raying it, taking to a sterile operating theatre and after careful review gently eased the wood out. Only then said I was so lucky I should have destroyed a tendon that moves the joints. After a good dose of antibiotics I was good to go. If I had pulled it out myself most likely a not good result the scar is a reminder

 

[hairy]

A good little first aid phrase is "bind it where you find it"

For a massively wide supply of all things first aid, and above, try S P Services, so much stuff it can be confusing!

There are also courses out there if you are a little further from an ambulance than you might prefer, such as "Far from help" in the UK by WMT which my wife and I have done a few times. Gives you food for thought plus a few extra skills

Also beware of what looks like a minor but LARGE splinter. Some years ago I was on a wood turning course and somehow I must have caught the workpiece and a bit about the size of one half a clothes peg in length came off, one end was sharp and stuck itself through the top (near my knuckle) of my middle finger (top as you look down at it flat). I was a bit inclined to pull it out, the onsite first aider (a wood supplier/timberyard/turning equipment dealership) said no and they carted me of to A+E. Must have been a slack day the triage nurse say hmmm I'm not touching that and I ended up with a doctor x-raying it, taking to a sterile operating theatre and after careful review gently eased the wood out. Only then said I was so lucky I should have destroyed a tendon that moves the joints. After a good dose of antibiotics I was good to go. If I had pulled it out myself most likely a not good result the scar is a reminder

 

[TobyT]

What does come into play is whether ambulance call outs are covered or not. In some provinces here, this one among them, there is a charge especially if it isn't life threatening. You don't call for one when you will have to fork over $400 or $500 for a cut or amputated finger. You get someone to drive you in if you can.

Pete

While cost of an ambulance isn't an issue in the UK, reponse times are. For various reasons, and Covid is amongst that, but by far not the only one, ambulances are hard to come by. I don't work for the health service, but someone close is involved in urgent care.
There are 4 categories of ambulance (my interpretation of the breakdown):
1 unconcious, major bleeding leading to death soon, heart attack etc) should be an 8 minute response,
2 not immediately life threatening but need urgent hospitalisation. 15 minute I think
3 Need review in A&E but can wait. Old ladies fallen over in the kitchen and can't get up sort of thing. 30 minute. Partially-amputated finger is probably in here.
4 The rest. Do they really need to go to A&E? Ambulance was called so they get stuck on the list unless a qualified specialist can arrange for alternative care. 4 hour response.

None of these targets are being met by any of the ambulance services as far as I am aware. Cat 3 can take a number of hours to arrive, and I did hear of some recently taking 14 hours. Forget Cat 4.

Basically if you need to visit A&E try and make your own way their, unless you fall into the Cat 1/2 territory. Get your other half to drive, or a neighbour, or take a taxi. Take a book because A&E is also busy. And looking at the figures you might want to take a camp bed if an overnight stay might be needed, as bed occupancy is already at very high levels.

If you are a non-urgent case you should call 111 first so they can book you in the queue. However, the algorithms they use may mean that you get ordered an ambulance even if you don't want them. The 111 call handlers are not medically trained and have no leeway in interpreting what the computer provides as an outcome. Urgent cases will not be turned away from A&E. If you turn up with a minor injury they may make you ring 111 from their before being put in the queue.

Take more care this winter to avoid accidents. Our medical services are already stretched to the limit and it get's worse over winter. If you even think you have an infection make sure to ring the GP early so that you get an appointment and any needed antibiotics in a prompt manner.

 

[Inspector]

A slight correction to the costs of an ambulance. The nurse in the family, SWMBO, told me all ambulance calls are charged. Many people have insurance, usually through work, that covers it.

Response time will be dependant on where one lives. Being 15 minutes from the nearest hospital puts that response time as the minimum for us and they do prioritize based on severity. Weather also factors in too.

The argument against going to emergency yourself is if working alone and you are one of the ones that get queasy at the sight of blood, especially your own, possibly passing out, you become a hazard to yourself and those sharing the road. So having proper stuff to stop the gusher and waiting for an ambulance might be best. Or call a taxi. At least they have radios and can call for an ambulance to meet them should things start going really bad.

Pete

 

[TobyT]

A slight correction to the costs of an ambulance. The nurse in the family, SWMBO, told me all ambulance calls are charged. Many people have insurance, usually through work, that covers it.

Response time will be dependant on where one lives. Being 15 minutes from the nearest hospital puts that response time as the minimum for us and they do prioritize based on severity. Weather also factors in too.

The argument against going to emergency yourself is if working alone and you are one of the ones that get queasy at the sight of blood, especially your own, possibly passing out, you become a hazard to yourself and those sharing the road. So having proper stuff to stop the gusher and waiting for an ambulance might be best. Or call a taxi. At least they have radios and can call for an ambulance to meet them should things start going really bad.

Pete

I agree, don't go to hospital alone. Unfortunately in the UK the first step in looking for emergency aid has by default become 'call the ambulance'. We have become reluctant to call on friends and neighbours to aid us, and this had led to a dependency on a resource that has become restricted. In the past ambulances were for the seriously sick.

There is an argument that charging for ambulances would improve the situation by making people more wary of calling them. My thoughts are that this is not the case, those who can (through work or just having the money) will call the ambulance because they can (and pay a premium for it), while those who might really need it are too scared of financial loss to call it. Unfortunately we have now entered a tragedy of the commons where a limited resource is over-utilised.

Many of us are more than 15 minutes away from hospital despite the small size of the country. Virtually all major trauma centres are based in cities (a term I'm aware that across the world means different things, here it's a major populations centre). This used to be solved by having ambulances not currently on a call parked up around towns away from the hospitals so they could reach the patient quickly. Now those ambulances are rarely not on a call, although that may mean they are in a queue to offload their patients in the A&E ward, having been parked up for half an hour.

 

[Frank House]

from the era of Nelson...
silk is far better than linen / cloth as it doesn't leave bits in wounds...

however there may not be much call for dealing with wounds from cannonball in the average workshop

No doubt direct interaction with incoming cannonballs would produce its own type of wound, but I have read that most injuries in the days of "wooden walls" resulted from fast-moving wood splinters, rather like shrapnel, so perhaps the experience from that time is still relevant.