Shop mishap

Sorry that happened to you. I took the end of my thumb off on the belt grinder a few years back. I had to immediately sit down on the floor.
Frank
 
I have a big scar on my inside arm from reaching over the belt grinder and catching the edge of the belt.
 
I read and article a while back where a knifemaker was stressing the importance of being able to perform basic triage on yourself in the shop after an accident. You may think you know what to do but its probably a good idea to actually walk yourself through the processes. I've only gone as far as teaching myself how to tie on a tourniquet one handed. That does remind me though to make up a tourniquet. I figure anything beyond that and I'm in serious trouble and better just call the meat wagon.
 
A tourniquet is an unlikely thing to ever need in the shop. A compression dressing is very likely. Put whatever is clean(est) on the wound and bind it tightly. Use a shop towel and tape up if needed.

One thing I never go out to the shop without is my cell phone. In a severe injury, placing an immediate call for help and telling them where you are can be the difference between being a seriously injured person and a fatality. Pre- think these calls - Name, address, where the shop is and where you are in it. injury type and severity. Don't hang up unless they tell you to. Even if you pass out, they can trace the phones location.

You should have a First Aid Kit with the normal things like Neosporin, band aids, eye wash, etc. - as well as having a stack of 4X4 gauze pads and an ace bandage. If there is a large wound, put on the pads and bind it up tight with the ace bandage. If the injury is bad enough to need compression and still is bleeding - Call 911 ASAP - Call for help from another nearby person - then apply more compression.

The triage for a wound when you are by yourself is
1) Immediately cover the wound and apply hand pressure.
2) Turn off the equipment if possible, and leave the injury area if needed.
3) Uncover the wound and quickly assess how bad it is. A lot of blood isn't good. Exposed meat is scary, but not as bad as gushing blood.
4) Re-cover the wound and apply a pressure dressing.
5) Go for help if mobile, call for help if woozy or too injured. DO NOT try and drive yourself to the emergency dept. unless it is very minor. Once the adrenalin of the trauma crashes, you can pass out easily.
 
Injuries can probably be avoided for the most part through being careful, except for Mary Ellen.
I was thinking through my blunder and realized the portaband is the one piece of equipment I really wasn't worried about. Small teeth, slow speed, fairly easy to keep away from.
So I was carelessly pushing the steel too hard and it slipped, and I jammed my hand right into those slow moving teeth pretty hard.
I now have a bit of respect for my band saws cutting abilities.

Some good advice above. I did get to thinking last night, what would I do if it were significantly worse.
Cell phone is a great idea and should be heeded.
Bandages or compress.
I was thinking a big zip tie for tourniquet (Lord I hope that is never needed).
But above all, pay attention and be respectful of your tools.

I was laughing with the doc. I can shoot, skin, and butcher a deer without the slightest bit of woozy feeling, but I couldn't watch him put a couple of stitches in my hand.
That is a real concern if I were to hurt myself badly.

porta-cut.jpg
 
Ground a blade once before I drilled the tang holes. In my mind, using my left hand as a drill press table clamp was a smart thing to do. At least until the drill bit caught on the tang and the knife started spinning around. Oops:)
 
That just show that one slip can make a huge impact on what you're doing or on you. I have injured myself more than anything with my disc sander once I got one. I think it's because I am doing stuff I should have a surface grinder to do instead of just holding it against a 12" fast moving disc--DOH!! That's good advice Stacy, I have all the first aid stuff, but is upstairs in the master bedroom on the other end of the house--I should probably put some gauze and Goat Tape + some band aids down in the shop---I've wrapped up a lot of cuts/sanding burn-marks with a blue shop paper towel and some electrical tape.
Good on you for sharing and offering the reminder Brock.
 
Frank Niro said:
Sorry that happened to you. I took the end of my thumb off on the belt grinder a few years back. I had to immediately sit down on the floor.
Frank
Click to expand...

I almost took the end of mine off yesterday on the belt grinder using a 60 grit. Luckily all it did was separate the nail from the nail bed. Hurts like hell but could have been worse.

Jay
 
That portaband injury is the exact same location doing the exact same thing as me three weeks ago. I didn't require stitches, but that wound is wide and does not heal easily.
 
kdogmcg said:
That portaband injury is the exact same location doing the exact same thing as me three weeks ago. I didn't require stitches, but that wound is wide and does not heal easily.
Click to expand...

It's not fun. Sorry to hear you got bit too. Hopefully others will learn with less pain.
Mine is aching a bit, but I was able to grind, so that's a good thing.
 
Luckily I have 35+ years working in one hobby to another, wood working, bamboo flyrod making, airgun parts making, leather, plastics etc.

And I still have all my fingers and not one stitch to date.

I attribute that to never working tired or sick and always use a push stick for sawing and grinding.

Those two things have kept me and my finger safe for years.

Feel better
 
AVigil said:
Luckily I have 35+ years working in one hobby to another, wood working, bamboo flyrod making, airgun parts making, leather, plastics etc.
And I still have all my fingers and not one stitch to date.
I attribute that to never working tired or sick and always use a push stick for sawing and grinding.
Those two things have kept me and my finger safe for years.
Feel better
Click to expand...

My only claim to fame is I've never broken a bone. Otherwise I tend to be clumsy as hell.
I have to be extra careful because of that, and you can see how that works out for me.
 
Not working tired is huge. The first knife I made was a very crude cord wrapped handle. I got off of a midnight shift and was exhausted but really wanted to finish it up. I tied a knot in the end of the handle and didn't have much to hold on to in order to pull it tight. So I got the brilliant idea to put the cord in the vise to snug it up. Yeah, standing there with the end clamped in the vise and the tip pointing at my midsection I start to pull it towards me to tighten the knot. I remember saying out loud "what are you doing you stupid b@#℅rd.". If that cord would have slipped out I would have stabbed myself in the gut. Whenever I get tired I think about that and take a break.

On another note, my wife knows not to try to get my attention if I'm running any piece of equipment. We have an agreement that she waits until whatever machine that is running is off before she gives a holler.
 
I can remember 2 or 3 times I had to stitch my self up. I have had a lot of stitches in my life but doing them your self is not as bad as you would think. I'm not at all saying do it your self instead of going to the doctor but it was in my situation the only option. A full day drive from any hospitals out camping with friends, whittling on a stick around the fire. One slip and the knife ran across my finger just below where the bandsaw got yours. Was to the bone and about 1/3 of the finger. I did what I needed to do and saw the doc when I got back from the trip. Everything was a ok, no infection and healed great. I think the bigest thing is keeping calm and trying to think clearly.
 
I keep a suture kit at work and an emergency/trauma bag at home. When I get a cut that I can stitch myself, I do it immediately ( after cleaning things up). It heals fast when it gets closed fast. I have stitched myself up at work and they didn't know I was doing it until I was done. It has been a good while since I have had to have sutures, as I try to avoid it more now. Age has its benefits.



About a tourniquet - I have been involved with advanced first aid for 50 years. I have trained people for trauma care, and grew up in a family of half educators and half medical folks ... including battlefield and shipboard medicine. I have many friends in emergency medicine. Of all those people and the tens of thousands of severe injuries they and I have dealt with, only one time do I know of tourniquet being used during an emergency. It was when a hand had to be cut off at the wrist to free a person in a horrible industrial accident.
The rule I was taught on using a tourniquet is - "Use it if the person is going to die "Right Now". If they won't die for a few minutes, take that time to try something else."


When I go to a knife event or other large group outing, I always take the "big gray bag"... Besides all the necessary stuff for minor injuries, there are several large boxes of 4X4's and several rolls of ace bandages. I actually have a tourniquet in there, but know enough to realize I will likely never use it. There are probably ten thousand possible emergencies that are more likely than any one involving a tourniquet.
I would have a small disposable tank of breathing oxygen or an epi-pen before I would stock a tourniquet in the shop first aid box.

The most used supplies are band aids, neo-sporin, and eye wash. I would recommend a good size squirt bottle or two of sterile eye wash for anyone working in a knife shop.

A last comment on first aid supplies and such. They do no good if you can't get to them quickly and easily. Put the supplies in clear plastic bins and put them where they are accessible. Best locations are near the door of the shop, in the kitchen, or in the house downstairs bathroom. Everyone in the house/shop should know where they are and how to use them.


Footnote:
I realize that a lot of military folks are on BF and some will read this post. I know that tourniquets are issued to soldiers with their armor gear and they are taught how to use them. Suffice to say that battlefield medicine is not the same as civilian medicine and battlefield injuries are not the same as shop injuries.
 
Last edited:
Hey Brock sorry to hear about your injury! Always good to have a reminder. Also very good advice to have a first aid kit in the shop. Mine's upstairs now but going down today! Impressive, Stacy that you have sewn yourself up. We'll have to add another title to your user name-Rambo:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top