A new perspective on how quickly things can go bad...

[xxguitarist]

codger, it took an hour or so for mine to significantly slow in its bleeding, I wouldnt want to see how long it takes with something more serious.. though I'm not sure if this QR stuff will stop anything too much more serious.

 

[Codger_64]

I have handled a couple of finger tip (below the nail) amputations myself. Talk about a geyser! Easy to count your heatbeats. Wrap and squeeze. One was myself in a heavy coil spring, the next was my daughter in a steel door. Same fingers. One has to loose an amazing amount of blood before expiring. A pint spread all over creation looks like gallons. Direct pressure and seek medical attention. Can't seek medical attention? Take an accredited wilderness medical course.

Codger

 

[Brian Andrews]

I have been trying like mad to find a photo or video of what I am about describe. But, I can not so I will just try to describe it.

While trying to split wood that is too small to stand on its own, you have two really good options.

1) Someone already mentioned this one: resting the ax on the wood, and use a wood baton to get it through.
2) My favorite way is to hold the piece of wood with the left hand while the right hand holds the ax. The wood is held against the face of the ax and parallel to the handle. Essentially both your hands will end of being very close to each other. You bring both the wood and the ax up together, and then down together on to your working surface (wood hopefully). Usually that is enough to split it fully. If you not, your ax is already started into the wood and it is easy to finish off.

The only place I have really seen that second technique demonstrated is in a Ray Mears video. Can't remember which one off the top of my head.

 

[TDahlgren]

I believe it was actually a mild case of shock (the pain barely even registered ever, though I do have a pretty good tolerance.), based on my first aid training. It was likely compounded by low blood sugar, possible mild dehydration, etc. Just a lot of things coming together & going bad causing me to pass out.

Yep 'Mild shock,' which really isn't like serious shock - serious shock you generally don't wake up from without medical assistance.

What you experienced is better described as a severe acute stress reaction - a mixture of anxiety, a dash of panic, the inevitable crash following your initial adrenaline spike, probably a bit of hyperventilation and all of the other factors you mentioned. Put another way, you fainted.

Which is a perfectly normal reaction - one that we often have little or no control over. Once in a woodshop I nicked my thumb with a miter saw, just a band-aid sized nick, an injury no more serious than the other dozen I manage to do a dozen different ways every year. But in this case I also had the immediate awareness of just how close I had come to a full finger amputation. I had already applied the bandaid when the rushing sound got so loud I couldn't hear the radio. Thankfully I had enough sense to sit down, before I fell down.

Thankfully your injury will likely fully heal. So consider this a good educational experience on what to expect under similar cirsumstances. sometimes all you can do is try to keep your head, sit down, concentrate on steady breathing, and wait for the symptoms to subside. The old head between the knees trick really does work.

The one thing you didn't specify is how long you applied pressure to the wound. With any serious wound the minimum is ten minutes of constant pressure - No Peeking. If direct pressure stops the bleeding, hold it for ten minutes, if bleeding continues after the ten minutes of constant pressure then it's time to pack it in and seek attention.

Unless I was way away from medical services I'd be really leery of using any hemostatic product on a finger wound. Basically, of the wound is small enough to not need sewing then bleeding should be manageable by more traditional means and if it is going to involve serious knitting, or digit re-atachment then those types of products are going to make a real mess for whoever does the repairs. Better to just hold pressure until you get to where you need to be.