OT:A first aid scare. a bit long but a wake up

WE had an incident at my work that was so shocking and could've been so bad that I feel I need to share. One of the owners arrived and backed his pickup up to our
roll-off dumpster of trash. He had a toilet from home remodeling to pitch and backed up perpendicular to the roll-off. Me and two workers were in the shop doorway
talking about 100ft away. He lifted the toilet from his truck bed to the dumpster and must've clunked the edge on his way in. All we heard was "clunk...and oh ****".
I just figured he pinched a finger or something. We looked out and he was holding his hand up and it was bleeding. I just figured a bad cut. My coworker saw better
and sprinted out with a few disposable shop towels. He screamed for more rags. I ran the box out and oh my God! Blood was pouring between the coworkers fingers as he
added more and more towel as he was squeezing the guys wrist. It was obvious he cut an artery, blood had sprayed all over in the trash. I called an ambulance as they
tried to stop the flow. They ended up putting a belt around his arm. The amount of loss was very scary and I feared he would bleed out before our eyes. A policeman
happened to be next door at a neighboring business in the back yard and a coworker ran and got him. He had a velcro tourniquet. My point here is: Im 57 and I've seen
a few things-not a lot, but a few. I watched old folks die, was there when my son broke his leg, twice, took my dad in when a chainsaw just knicked his chin (11
stitches). But I've never seen anything like this. I bet he bled a quart at least. I know what to do, we all do for the most part. I've seen countless safety films
at my former job of 29 years in a plant. But, I dont think I could've reacted like that guy did with the direct pressure. My mind was just racing in a panic. I did
handle the phone call well because I've made 3 or 4 911 calls for help. I'm just afraid that If it had been just him and me I would have failed the "test" and it
would've been fatal. So, please take a second to review in your mind how something as simple as a cut could be fatal. In a way, I'm glad I was there it shocked me
into thinking what I should've or could've done. He's ok, cut a nerve partially, 5 tendons and his artery.

Sounds like you guys saved his life. Thanks for sharing.
It IS a good idea to review how one should react to different kinds of injuries or emergencies.

Gerrit

That ceramic is sharp, don't take much either. You most certainly acted upon instinct and did not panic, even though it's gruesome!
No doubt you helped save him from bleeding out.

Best to focus, if you can, on the immediate threat, there will be plenty of time to panic later LOL ! Seriously, not an easy thing to do.

Having suffered a similar wound, angry woman with a steak knife that I had no idea she had, stuck the darned thing in the side of my leg, below the hip. I had to do the same thing to myself, tourniquet, apply pressure, didn't work very well, but slowed it some. The had to convince her to calm down, and drive me to the nearby ER. Meanwhile my shoe is full of blood, overflowing, and my toes squashing around in it. They rushed me in immediately, nurse tried to look at it, it sprayed all over her white uniform, was to the bone and almost 2" wide.

Ornery woman got charged with felony assault, as the police showed up soon after.

Staying calm like I did, pretty much saved me, if I had to walk or wait for a ride, was only a mile too, might not be here today.
I have a hole to the bone still, lay on that side when working on something from underneath and it reminds me every time of what happened.

Got to stay calm is the lesson learned.

Everyone should have at least some basic first aid to fall back on. Everyone, ESPECIALLY FARMERS can potentially find themselves in situations where First responders or an ambulance can't get there soon enough. I had my first training as a junior ski patrolman at 15 and have been in EMS ever since.

You can plan for anything but some of us are just not cut out to work well in a panic situation.

A few years ago my wife choked on a piece of food at the dinner table. I panicked. I knew what to do but just panicked If it would have been just me and her she would be dead. Luckily my daughter kept her cool and help her

It takes a special person to keep their cool in such situations.

Thing is no one know until they live through it how they will react.The Military practices first aid over and over again because they have found that many people while they panic will fall back on that training. But in the military you practice to go to war over and over and over unless you are in a war. A civilian job with a little safety class every now and then doesn't give you the training to fall back onto. Don't have the answers. Just glad everything turned out all right!

Rick

(quoted from post at 21:49:23 06/25/20) Thing is no one know until they live through it how they will react.The Military practices first aid over and over again because they have found that many people while they panic will fall back on that training. But in the military you practice to go to war over and over and over unless you are in a war. A civilian job with a little safety class every now and then doesn't give you the training to fall back onto. Don't have the answers. Just glad everything turned out all right!

Rick

Click to expand...

Rick, I disagree. There is no telling what a "little safety class" will teach, but I doubt that there are many that are not taught on the Red Cross curriculum by a certified instructor. There have been many times when responding to a call that there is already care being given by a bystander, family member or co-worker etc. this rapid intervention does often make a huge difference. The answer is simply to not just wish that you had training as someone's life ebbs away, but instead go find and take a Red Cross first aid class in your community especially if you are in a dangerous lifestyle like farming.

Never know how anyone will react in a crisis situation. Any training will help some but it needs more than a one-time class to really take hold. You did good.

I have received cpr, and first aid training through work ! All employees were required to have it. Granted none of us are medics, but we do have a clue how to handle a situation. You did good ! Each job site and supervisor has tourniquets along with first aid supplies. You never want to have to use the stuff, but it’s a necessity. Current supervisor has needed some attention a few times. Bitten by a Stihl demo saw and once with a chainsaw ! Shenanigans s very experienced, and accidents can happen to anyone !