Let's be careful out there

John Cahoon

John Cahoon

JWC Custom Knives
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
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I wasn't planning on posting this but...
Just a reminder that simple cuts can get serious fast. I was just reading on a non knife related blog about a bloke telling how he had a simple cut, and ended up with both MRSA and Staph B infections, almost lost his hand to a cut 1mm long and 1 mm deep. Ten days in the hospital. He was practicing with a karambit so I guess it's somewhat knife related.

I had my first serious cut a few weeks back, got distracted. I used expired Neosporin,it flared up pretty quick and got me thinking. Got some new Neosporin and it cleared up pretty quick thankfully. I probably made it worse by continuing to hand sand steel without more than a heavy duty bandaid, gauze, tape, etc. (big dummy)

Might be a good idea to keep up with tetanus boosters too, and know where the nearest urgent care place is.
 
MBB said:
One thing I would highly highly recommend stocking in your shop is a Quikclot combat gauze. They're a bit expensive but they work. If you end up with uncontrolled superficial bleeding, they are the thing to use, as they will stop most bleeding within 5-10 minutes or buy you time until EMS gets there.

https://www.amazon.com/QuikClot-Adv...ywords=quikclot+advanced+clotting+gauze&psc=1
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I actually do keep these around for that reason. I original started buying them for a fly in fishing trip we go on each year. Some guys laughed at me being paranoid, until I explained just how long it would take to contact emergency help and have someone fly in, and fly you back out. Lucky for me I actually live right across the street from the hospital in my town. The close emergency room more than makes up for all the times I get woken up at night by a Life Flight chopper going over my house.
 
If you're not allergic to shell fish I would recommend Celox over Quick Clot. QC requires manual debridement before suturing, Celox can be removed by irrigation. Or, it did originally, it's formulation may have changed in the last decade.
 
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We use Quikclots every day where I work and never have any need for debridement prior to suturing, (although we use the gauze type). The gauze itself causes hemostasis.

I looked up Celox. It sounds like a version of the potato powder we used to use (which also works well). Having both on hand sounds like a good choice.
 
I was hospitalized for 9 days and was 12hrs from losing my leg after kneeling on asphalt and getting something under my skin. Still don't remember any sharp pains or slivers. It did a number on my knee and took me 5 months to recover fully. Bacterial infections don't care how they get into your system. Take care of yourself and spend the time treating your cuts and scratches to avoid infection.
 
kuraki said:
People don't think septicemia be like it do, but it does.
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I had a poke in the left thumb knuckle from a bone shard when cutting up a giraffe leg bone for scales. No different than the hundreds of other pokes, small cuts, and scrapes we all get every day in the shop. I never gave it any mind, and washed up well after the day's work. Knuckle was a bit sore the next day, but I ignored that (at my age my fingers hurt after a day of hard work anyway). The third day it was swelling up. I squished out a little puss and put on some Neosporin and a band aid. The fourth morning I saw red lines running down the thumb and the knuckle was really swollen and sore. I went to the doc-in-the-box where the MD took one look and got a scalpel. He cut the finger open and all sorts of crap came out. They irrigated the inside well, gave me an injection of antibiotics, and put me on a 30 day course of "kill it all" antibiotics. He said I had a rampant staph infection and was getting septicemia. Another day or two and I could have lost my thumb ... or worse ... read on.

I worked with a PHD who poked his knee on a low metal shelf. It merely took a Band-Aid to take care of it. He came down with what he thought was flu a few days later, and died 8 days later of septicemia.
 
It's really popular here and other places to want to CA glue up a wound.

It's not necessarily a good idea, as a sealed puncture wound leads to that type of infection.

I can't see the red streaks well - some sort of minor colour blindness.
Don't be shy to ask somebody to look at it.
 
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Septicemia... That is what my knee infection developed into. The specialist said I was running a marathon 24hrs a day for 4 days. I was unconscious for 2 days of the ordeal. I just remember my leg was a purple tube. Oddly enough, they did not have to cut me open... just a bit of draining. It was 2 months before I could be on my feet for more than a few minutes before the pressure would build. My skin was like memory foam. If I pushed down with my open hand, it would leave the imprint of my fingers for 5-10 minutes. They figured it took hold in my bursa fluid. Apparently, that stuff is like cotton candy to bacteria.
 
So, the "dead in a few days" thing is typically necrotizing fasciitis ("flesh eating bacteria"). It's caused by gas forming bacteria getting between tissue planes (the fascia) and rapidly spreading (minutes to hours, rather than days). It's rare, but when it happens, you feel very sick/very fast and the only thing you can do is go to the ER where someone will likely have to remove the rotten chunks from you body before it kills you. It is way more common in diabetics but can happen to anyone. Amputations are common in survivors. Death is common overall.

Septic joints are usually a slower course (days), usually presenting with pain, redness, and +/- fever. Drainage with irrigation, followed by prolonged antibiotics is pretty standard. The joint can be trashed if the infection is left to go on too long, resulting in permanent osteoarthritis or fusion. Seek help early.

ANY infection left long enough can result in sepsis, which is basically the local infection getting into the blood stream and attacking everything else in the body. Sepsis is usually associated with a shock-like state (chills, shakes, hypotension/light headedness, confusion/altered mental status) which will progress to death without intervention (fluids, pressors, antibiotics, etc.). The key with people in this state is obviously to get them to the hospital immediately, preferably by ambulance. In the field, head down/legs up positioning will improve the central blood pool and give your coconut more to work with. Untreated, death is common. Even with best care, it can still happen.

Mike
 
I was working around dinner time... my knee was itchy before bed(10pm)... woke up at 3am in horrible pain... emergency at 4am .. all hell broke loose at 4:05am and was rushed to a specialist 2 hrs away via ambulance. I spent the next 9 days in the hostital.

So yep... it happens fast.
 
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Did you know that the first person to receive antibiotics was infected by a scratch from a simple rose thorn? Upon initial treatment with penicillin, his fever subsided, but since they didn't know the appropriate dosage at the time of this experimental treatment, the infection wasn't totally cured before they ran out of penicillin and he still died:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Alexander_(police_officer)

I know two people that got a skin infection and had to be hospitalized. Another person I knew got an infection during a relatively simple operation and died from it.

Thanks for the reminder because I need a tetanus booster. And my paying job is in microbiology and immunology! :eek:
 
I still believe anecdotally there is a genetic predisposition to certain bacterial infections. I know a number of people with similar stories, either cellulitis, or another infection developing into septicemia, and dozens of people who've contracted Lyme as my area is kind of a hot spot for that, and they're almost all people who get fewer cuts or spend vastly less time outdoors than I do (not to mention the clinical rotations in the nursing home MRSA factories). I can't even begin to count the number of times I've had cuts or punctures in poor conditions, or how many bear ticks I've dislodged over the years, and I've never been afflicted by anything neosporin or a little drainage wouldn't fix.

There's no evidence of this that I'm aware of and it's plausible I've just been extremely lucky, but if I was someone who'd contracted a bacterial infection like that in the past, I would be particularly careful about it in the future.
 
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I don't have much to tell in the way of horror stories, but I am an EMT, and a police officer. I ALWAYS carry a tourniquet on duty and when I'm in the shop. Sticking a sharp metal object into your leg can kill you in minutes. Get a CAT tourniquet or something similar, practice with it until you can put it on, one handed in under 30 seconds. could save your life!

and yes modern medicine has decided that tourniquets are good and save lives as well as limbs. they can remain in place for HOURS before there is significant, permanent nerve or tissue damage. plus it's better to have one limb than to be dead!

https://www.life-assist.com/Product...MIwrfNzaDM2gIVXEsNCh08PQ3sEAAYAiAAEgKV5_D_BwE

here's the first link on google to buy a CAT. meow.
 
Septic? Been there & done that! o_O:confused: I had an internal infection that went to a 105 fever and talk about it affecting your brain!:eek: Loonier that a shit house rat! Way crazier than any drug I took in my youth:D.....I always tell knew makers to get a tetanus shot ... Ever seen any pics of what it can do to you?? Google it and see.. Any doc worth there salt will ask me about it as soon as I tell them my occupation....Stainless Steel dust does have some anti- microbe properties to it and I’ve never had a infection in my hand & finger cuts from working in the shop .. But if any cut ever swells, And I’ve managed some deep ones!! :rolleyes:I’m never shy about visiting a doctor !!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
A.McPherson said:
I don't have much to tell in the way of horror stories, but I am an EMT, and a police officer. I ALWAYS carry a tourniquet on duty and when I'm in the shop. Sticking a sharp metal object into your leg can kill you in minutes. Get a CAT tourniquet or something similar, practice with it until you can put it on, one handed in under 30 seconds. could save your life!

and yes modern medicine has decided that tourniquets are good and save lives as well as limbs. they can remain in place for HOURS before there is significant, permanent nerve or tissue damage. plus it's better to have one limb than to be dead!

https://www.life-assist.com/Product...MIwrfNzaDM2gIVXEsNCh08PQ3sEAAYAiAAEgKV5_D_BwE

here's the first link on google to buy a CAT. meow.
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Trauma intervention has certainly advanced, or at least best practices proven, since 2001.
 
Brock Cutlery said:
Great info. I don't even have a first aid kit. What would you guys recommend as essentials?
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I have a spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide to wash out any wound, butterfly strips, Sport Strip Band Aids, 2X2 gauze pads, gauze wrap, surgical tape, non expired Neosporin at minimum. Liquid bandage for abrasion injuries and nitrile gloves for universal precautions.
 
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Spideyjg said:
I have a spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide to wash out any wound, butterfly strips, Sport Strip Band Aids, 2X2 gauze pads, gauze wrap, surgical tape, non expired Neosporin at minimum. Liquid bandage for abrasion injuries and nitrile gloves for universal precautions.
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Sounds like a nice start. I'll get something together. I get cut and jabbed all the time. I just keep working. This thread could freak you out a bit.
 
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