Doh! First aid kit....

[Bojam]

So this morning I was tuning my bandsaw and trying to sort out the blade tracking and bearing guide alignment after installation of a new (thicker M42) Tuffsaws blade.

The saw was unplugged obviously and I was spinning the bottom wheel by hand and observing the bottom bearings. Somehow, inexplicably, my finger ended up getting sliced by the blade. All happened very quickly and really not sure now how it managed to end up there. I can vouch for the sharpness of Tuffsaw's blades . Anyway, the cut is quite deep and bled a lot but no serious damage done.

Made me think though about a first aid kit for the workshop. Are there pre-packaged first aid boxes for workshops - any recommendations? Or, if not, what would you put it a bespoke kit?

 

[Fitzroy]

Can’t comment on the first aid box as we have a well equipped house one, just a plastic ikea box with lots in it. Any shed injury has pressure on it with a clean paper towel and the triaged at home, plaster and get on with it, butterfly stitches and end of the days fun, or off to A&E for some proper care.

However I have found the bandsaw to one one of the more injurious tools when offline. It’s easy to spin the blade by hand and get some good stored energy, then brush the blade or trap/pinch yourself in a spinning wheel.

 

[Cabinetman]

Yes you can buy them already packed and on a quick release spring clip on the wall, I’ve got one, never used it in eight years but it’s there! I always use a workshop plaster which is a bit of kitchen roll and some masking tape. Ian

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

You can get quite a variety of ready to go first aid kits and I think they are pretty good but you will end up with many items you will never need or use. My wife is a nurse so she stocks mine for me. Finger cuts, as you have found out are easy to come by, for minor cuts a mix of good quality fabric and waterproof plasters is a must. A finger dressing doodah in conjunction with those tiny condoms to keep the dressing dry. An eye Bath is pretty essential as are a good quality pair of fine point engineers tweezers for extracting splinters.

 

[kinverkid]

I think a part of the bespoke kit for woodworkers, metal workers and gardeners would be a jewellers eyepiece (you can get them with a little LED light built in these days), a pair of tweezers, a pin and either iodine or alcohol swabs for those particularly awkward to remove splinters.

Gary

 

[akirk]

My wife's view (plastic surgeon / hand surgeon) is:
- plasters
- dressing
- phone so that you can call for help

she also uses a lot of skin glue (usually has some around at home as well) - I think you can buy it quite easily
I do know some who use super-glue instead, but she is always horrified by that!

 

[grumpycorn]

I sympathise - I managed to take a chunk out of my finger with a marking knife the other night because I didn't tuck it out of the way. At least I didn't feel it at first because it was sharp!

There's a pragmatic list on the fine woodworking site including a poster for reference!

https://www.finewoodworking.com/2007/07/17/woodworkers-first-aid
I particularly like the line: " Amputations need professional attention"

I've always wondered if it's worth getting some of that coagulant bandage stuff in case of a 'proper job' but lacking any medical knowledge whatsoever I've held off for now.

 

[Adam W.]

I would say that if you are on blood thinning medication, it's best to stay away from woodwork.

 

[Ollie78]

I have had several first aid kits over the years and find a lot of the contents not really what you need. Obviously you don't want to need any of it, but some don't even have plasters in.
So I have added what is needed most.

Tweezers and scalpel, for splinters. Get proper tweezers with well finished tips.
Plasters, I like the old School fabric strip type with zinc oxide glue, proper sticky but hard to find steroplast do some.
Scissors for cutting said plaster.
Antiseptic cream, I like germoline.

That's all I need day to day, I have eye wash and bandages etc but never used them.

Ollie

 

[Cabinetman]

I find snap off type blades are good for having a good dig and cut to get those deep splinters out. Ian

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Micropore tape is good for minor oopsies.

 

[Doug71]

I've always wondered if it's worth getting some of that coagulant bandage stuff in case of a 'proper job' but lacking any medical knowledge whatsoever I've held off for now.

I've got one of these in the workshop and one in my van, not cheap and have a use by date but might be handy if things go a bit wrong

WoundClot Advanced Bleeding Control Gauze for Forestry, Work, Travel & Home First Aid 5cm x 10cm (Single) : Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care

 

[Lazurus]

I only keep major trauma stuff in the workshop with the thought that if the injury is so bad I cannot get to the house to sort it tweezers and plasters will be of little help.

 

[baldkev]

she also uses a lot of skin glue (usually has some around at home as well) - I think you can buy it quite easily
I do know some who use super-glue instead, but she is always horrified by that!

Yep i used to use superglue, now i use mitremate so i dont need a spare superglue with me the reason its bad is that it has cynoacrylates in it which is toxic i think. Certainly sounds it
Im pretty sure mitre mate is basically the same stuff but with a seperate activator

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Mitre Mate is a cyanoacrylate "superglue".

I understand that most surgically promoted wound closure glues are also cyanoacrylate based. I assume there may be some additives to reduce inflamation etc, and are no doubt manufactured to a higher standard to mnimise contaminants etc.

Wife who is a highly quaified nurse is horrified if I use a piece of kitchen towel to staunch the flow of blood - she would prefer a proper medical grade antiseptic ........... The difference is probably analagous to the superglue question!

 

[gog64]

AFAIK all "wound" glue is CA. If I remember right, the medical grade stuff is not exothermic (or maybe it's less exothermic). Again AFAIK you can't get medical grade CA in the UK unless you have a medical license. I am allowed to buy it as I live on a farm and stupid sheep constantly do unspeakable things to their stupid selves. Not to mention shearers ("Oh, did I nick that one"?). It's really expensive and once opened, that's it, in to the bin for the rest. To be fair, I'd use CA on myself if I had to.

The anticoagulants are ace. They seemed like black magic to me and so in my ignorance I hadn't put any in my first aid kit (even though I regularly use a chainsaw). I had a particularly nasty dental operation (are their any other types?) last week and I AM on heavy duty anti coagulants. The surgeon said that he had the coagulant gel on hand, but he never used them, it was just in case. Anyway, part way through he says "ooh, that is a bit bloody isn't it" (if nothing else, we English can do understatement fairly well) and used a couple of the gel capsules. Well, I can assure you, they DO work amazingly well and I was very grateful to whoever invented them!. I've got some on order for the first aid kit...

 

[mikej460]

'Amputations need professional attention' had me stumped...

I rate good quality finger plasters, there are ones that wrap around a finger twice and others that fit over a finger tip and then wrap around your finger in opposite directions. I managed to get a bacterial whitlow last month that was incredibly painful for such a small wound and for this a piece of gauze then a plaster kept it clean and pain free until the antibios kicked in.

 

[Sideways]

Small stuff : betadine aerosol and several rolls of micropore around the house / car / workshop.
Pocket knife / kiridashi for splinters.
Flask of 99.9% Isopropyl alcohol on the shelf for degreasing etc makes a good antiseptic.
Superglue for the damn awkward cuts and nicks when you need to keep working and not drip blood everywhere.
Anything serious - I assume you'll be wearing a shirt and a belt ... they'll worry about infections after they stop the bleeding.

None of it matters if you've passed out from shock. Lone worker precautions.
A St Johns / Red Cross first aid course is a good use of time.

 

[stuart little]

My wife's view (plastic surgeon / hand surgeon) is:
- plasters
- dressing
- phone so that you can call for help

she also uses a lot of skin glue (usually has some around at home as well) - I think you can buy it quite easily
I do know some who use super-glue instead, but she is always horrified by that!

I thought that was what super glue was originally produced for at the time of Vietnam.

 

[Morty]

My own experience of a workshop accident, caught end of thumb in business end of the mill, bled a bit, went to A&E and had the nail removed next day. MSSA bacteria got into bloodstream which travelled to my metal hip joint and settled in. Rushed to A&E again with blue lights flashing and a temperature of 104 degs along with hallucinations. In hospital for 4 weeks and antibiotics for a further 6 months which didn't eliminate it so surgeon removed the metal pin & socket and on antibiotics for another 3 months also minus the hip joint. Three months later a new hip joint and am back in the shed again. Took a year out of my life that I can't get that back. I could say that I was unlucky as I've had my share of cuts with no after effects before and after this episode. My view now is minor cuts are ok but deeper ones near the bone should be treated with a bit more care.