Another Hamburger Hand

[bcw]

Monday my father-in-law turned his right-hand thumb and first three fingers into hamburger.  Fortunately, there will be no loss of function as there was minimal bone and tendon damage.  There was lots of meat damage, and the hand surgeon says it’ll never look pretty.

He waited 4 days to tell me of this accident because he was embarrassed.  Mainly because I have repeatedly told him to use the guards that come with his machinery.  For reasons I cannot fathom – he routinely does not use the TS guard.  Guards on a TS can accommodate most work without removing them.  It is a very rare instance where I can’t have my TS guard on the saw.  He was milling 3” wide window sash material, pretty sure the guard wouldn’t have been in the way.

I have 3 woodworking acquaintances (1 a former business partner in WWing) that have mangled fingers or thumbs from removing TS guards.  Now that number is 4.  Stupid, just plain stupid.  If you think you are good enough to run without a guard, or you think the guard is itself a safety issue….you are dead wrong. Period.  Don’t be stupid, use the safety guards that need to be on the equipment.

I wouldn’t have written this post except for 1 secondary thing, not the because of guard and the accident – we read and hear of TS accidents all the time, people don’t listen – nothing new here.  I wrote this because of what happened AFTER the accident.

My father-in-law removed enough meat from his hand that bleeding was an issue in his mind, and he applied a tourniquet, and then had his wife drive him to the hospital.  I don’t think this was the best move. He should have stayed put, and called 911.  He lost enough blood that he went into shock, and his pulse was at 40 by the time he got to the ER.  And he’s 77, so heart attack is also a possibility during trauma.  Same goes for his wife, who was driving dealing with trauma and under severe stress herself.  Lots of bad things could have happened after the TS accident.  And not just for them, but for others on the road.
 
Bottom line:
Use your safety equipment.
Have a good first aid box available
If you are negligent in using safety equipment, and severely injure yourself, call 911.

[Phil Thien]

That is awful.

Prayers for a better than expected recovery.

[Steve N]

Well you speak the truth, too bad he wouldn't listen.

In reality it's akin to being a stunt driver, and refusing to wear a harness. Only difference is he knows he's gonna crash. Evidently the no guard folks think they are invincible. Not a matter of if, just when.

Yeah 911 is a good option in a lot of instances when they refuse, and the wrong option for so many who are barely ill, math has always been wrong, and likely always will be.

[bcw]

If I sound harsh on my FIL, I'm not, I love the guy and I feel real bad for his misfortune.  I posted this for all to see and learn from.  We aren't invincible, we make mistakes. Gear up so the mistake is a ruined piece of wood, not your hand and get help when needed.

[iclark]

If I sound harsh on my FIL, I'm not, I love the guy and I feel real bad for his misfortune.  I posted this for all to see and learn from.  We aren't invincible, we make mistakes. Gear up so the mistake is a ruined piece of wood, not your hand and get help when needed.

You did not sound harsh to me. Thanks for sharing the heads-up.

I agree about the safety guards on the TS and most tools.

On the calling 911 versus being driven to ER, that depends somewhat on where you are. I certainly understand where you are coming from and agree in most urban and suburban areas. There are places around here, though, where people have waited well over half an hour for paramedics to arrive when it is a 20min drive to the hospital. The 911 folks always blame it on bad maps or municipality mix-ups (911 calls going to the wrong county and the different counties not cooperating on rapid response) or shortage of response teams in that area as the families call again and again while their loved ones die. In rural areas, the decision process tilts even further towards immediate family transport. With the proliferation of cell phones. though, it does become more viable for the paramedics to meet the family transport vehicle en route. Basically, I am saying that one needs to have an understanding of the response time and functionality of the 911 system where one is working/living.

[daddo]

A firefighter might say people are stupid for not having working smoke detectors in each room or a planned fire exit for each room.
A nutritionist might say people are stupid for eating fast foods or foods from a box or eating sugar.
A doctor may think people are stupid for mountain climbing or other dangerous activities.
Storing flammables in the garage, not having a burglar alarm, security lights, having a gun in the home, knowing first aid, wearing no eye protection while mowing, not getting your furnace checked, buying new tires before they fall apart................................

It's all relevant, and we all could be called stupid and should hold our judgement to others.

Glad he is ok.
The fact that he was hiding it from you may say something about how you react to him. Be supportive not judgemental. I've made that mistake before.

[ez-duzit]

...I have 3 woodworking acquaintances... that have mangled fingers or thumbs from removing TS guards...

Come on!

[ianab]

Thing about modern ambulance is that's it's not just a taxi with fancy lights. It's got a paramedic, the diagnostic gear, and drugs etc that the ER would be using. So they can assess your injuries, stabilise your condition, administer drugs and fluids, make sure you aren't in shock, restart your heart etc.  All the things they would need to do first at the ER, IF you are still alive when you get there. 

I live in a rural town town too, and it's about 30 min to a hospital, under lights and siren, more in a car. But I'm about 5 min from an Ambulance, with a paramedic...  If I'm bleeding bad enough to need to go to hospital, I'll take the ambulance every time. 

OK, further down the road things get a bit more hairy. Earlier in the year a local came across a crashed car with an injured driver, no houses nearby, no cellphone coverage etc. Gave him first aid and drove him an hour into town to meet the ambulance. Luckily he wasn't seriously injured (needed a few stitches etc), But if the police or fire guys call for an ambulance out there, they just send the chopper. And yes it's called the "Forgotten Highway".

[MichaelMouse]

Response times certainly matter in life-threatened cases.  Not so much for minor injuries or others.  Sometimes you can find, after the fact, that you pay a premium price when your insurance company considers your kidney stone a non life-threatening emergency not worthy of an ambulance ride.  DAMHIKT

If you've got the bleeding stopped, having someone take you in seems perfectly acceptable.  As with guards, it's your choice, always open to second-guessing.

Splinted the daughter's tibia, loaded her and drove the 40 miles to the hospital where she worked and knew the orthopods, myself. After exam and X-Ray, the ortho Dr said " can't see how anything I do in plaster is better than this, so leave her splint on and schedule the OR for the morning." Stable.

[BloomingtonMike]

Prayers sent. So sorry to hear this news.

Please tell him to look up Medihoney gel and Manuka Wound Honey. Amazing products.