Gross out-- Not for the faint of heart

[Morticia]

When I read Vorbau's post I thought 'Hey! They really do that?'

30-mumble years ago,  I read a book where they treated a bad cut just that way.
I thought at the time that it made a lot of sense, but I never saw another reference to it and figured it was just an unusually good piece of fiction.

Kind of cool to think it really is true.

Was that an SF book where there had been a massive die-off from some sort of bio-warfare plague, and the protagonist and his family had escaped it because they were in an isolated fishing camp in Canada?  I think there was such a scene in that book; the son had cut his leg open with an axe, and there was no doctor available.

That is exactly the book! It's called "The Last Canadian" I thought I was the only person on the planet who'd read it!

You are definitely not as alone as you think. 

[ladyknight1]

^

I spent the last week getting trained to be a trainer for Wilderness First Aid. The course was taught by two MDs and an EMT. We had many pictures of injuries and diseases as part of the course. I was stalwart throughout, until we got to the eye injury pictures. Wow.

[tiff019]

I usually get lucky with scars. (I'm clumsy so i get a lot of injuries, just not usually so dramatic) Mine look terrible the first several months, then fade to the point that you have to get close to find them. My big worry with my leg is that its gonna get caught everytime I shave.

Kimblee - this is what we do when there's no medic/aid station handy:

- Clean wound and area around it thoroughly
- Shave area around wound if necessary, and dry thoroughly
- put adhesive tape or sticking plasters (bandaids) above and below the wound, parallel with it and almost but not quite touching the edges
- stitch through the tape - NOT the skin - with an overhand stitch, using strong thread, dental floss (unwaxed) or fishing line, making sure the stitches extend a little bit beyond each end of the wound
- cover the entire thing with antibiotic ointment (not cream) and a clean dressing.

Be sure to change the ointment and dressing at least once a day. Keeping the wound covered will help speed healing and minizime scarring as well.

Just another little factoid courtesy of my professional engagements ...

Vorbau, from the field

Is it bad that out of all of Vorbau's posts on this thread, THIS ONE is the one that made me go BLECHHHHH. 

No, that makes you normal. For Ehell, that is.

For a scalp wound, you can close it temporarily (if the victim has hair long enough) by crossing strands of hair over the wound and tying them in square knots ...

Sometimes the tie the hair trick is done for longer than temporary fixes! I went to a family friend's house when i cut my head open (he is a doctor) and decided that rather than send me off to get stitches - the wound closed up perfectly when he pulled the couple strands of hair on either side of the wound closed. So he tied em up - put on some medical skin glue and sent me on my way!

[Sirius]

^

I spent the last week getting trained to be a trainer for Wilderness First Aid. The course was taught by two MDs and an EMT. We had many pictures of injuries and diseases as part of the course. I was stalwart throughout, until we got to the eye injury pictures. Wow.

Like the time the chief of our Hyperbarics section did a slide show on how hyperbaric oxygen treatment helped with wound healing.  He showed all these slides...while we were eating our symposium-supplied breakfast.  It actually wasn't that bad, as he was fascinating to listen to (and very easy on the eyes).   Lots of wound "before and after" pictures.  Eek.

[Elfmama]

When I read Vorbau's post I thought 'Hey! They really do that?'

30-mumble years ago,  I read a book where they treated a bad cut just that way.
I thought at the time that it made a lot of sense, but I never saw another reference to it and figured it was just an unusually good piece of fiction.

Kind of cool to think it really is true.

Was that an SF book where there had been a massive die-off from some sort of bio-warfare plague, and the protagonist and his family had escaped it because they were in an isolated fishing camp in Canada?  I think there was such a scene in that book; the son had cut his leg open with an axe, and there was no doctor available.

That is exactly the book! It's called "The Last Canadian" I thought I was the only person on the planet who'd read it!

You are definitely not as alone as you think. 

My copy gives the title as "The Last American", but it was the same book, just marketed differently.  Easy enough to do, when the city that the protagonist starts from is never named.

[Midnight Kitty]

I arrived to work one day and found the coroner had put a female floater (suicide victim, who sinks after jumping off the bridge and floats to the surface days later when gas sets in.) She was nude, green, and bloated, smelling like road-kill.  I had to do my 16-hour shift with her on my desk.

How can you work with a corpse on your desk? My desk doesn't have room for a body and if they put a body on top of everything, I couldn't get any work done.  Besides, that's got to be a violation of at least one OSHA regulation for a safe workplace.

OSHA Rule 666:  There must be no dead bodies or parts of dead bodies in the administrative offices or anywhere employees are not wearing full Personal Protective Equipment.

[KimberlyM]

When I read Vorbau's post I thought 'Hey! They really do that?'

30-mumble years ago,  I read a book where they treated a bad cut just that way.
I thought at the time that it made a lot of sense, but I never saw another reference to it and figured it was just an unusually good piece of fiction.

Kind of cool to think it really is true.

Was that an SF book where there had been a massive die-off from some sort of bio-warfare plague, and the protagonist and his family had escaped it because they were in an isolated fishing camp in Canada?  I think there was such a scene in that book; the son had cut his leg open with an axe, and there was no doctor available.

That is exactly the book! It's called "The Last Canadian" I thought I was the only person on the planet who'd read it!

You are definitely not as alone as you think. 

Anyone remember the author?

[White Dragon]

When I read Vorbau's post I thought 'Hey! They really do that?'

30-mumble years ago,  I read a book where they treated a bad cut just that way.
I thought at the time that it made a lot of sense, but I never saw another reference to it and figured it was just an unusually good piece of fiction.

Kind of cool to think it really is true.

Was that an SF book where there had been a massive die-off from some sort of bio-warfare plague, and the protagonist and his family had escaped it because they were in an isolated fishing camp in Canada?  I think there was such a scene in that book; the son had cut his leg open with an axe, and there was no doctor available.

That is exactly the book! It's called "The Last Canadian" I thought I was the only person on the planet who'd read it!

You are definitely not as alone as you think. 

Anyone remember the author?

Wiki says it is this guy:

"William C. Heine is a Canadian author most notably known for The Last Canadian, a science fiction novel filmed as The Patriot starring Steven Seagal. Heine was editor in chief of the London Free Press, London, Ontario, Canada."

[Lady Snowdon]

When I was 18, I was working for a landscaping company during the summer.  I cut the side of my knee pretty badly while using a hedge trimmer.  When I looked closely, I could see the fat underlying the dermis...

Anyway, being a silly 18 year old, I *walked* over to my nearest coworker and told him I'd cut myself and could he call the boss and let her know?  This guy, who bragged about his elite Army service, and how tough he was, turned slightly green at the sight of my leg.  He went off to find my other coworker, who really couldn't stand the sight of blood.  So I then had two people freaking out over my cut, while I was just like "Umm, can someone get a hold of Boss so she can take me to urgent care?". 

Boss showed up, and took me to Urgent Care.  The doctor I saw actually gave me a choice of stitches or butterfly strips.  He said it was because my knee moved so much that any stitches he put in would have to be loose enough to allow for the movement, and would do about as much to narrow the scar as the butterfly strips.  I ended up not getting stitches.  My scar is about half an inch wide at it's widest point, and turns interesting colors if I'm really hot or really cold.  Thankfully it's faded at last, so it's not as noticeable. 

[Elfmama]

DD2 fell against the sharp corner of a coffee table and cut the top of her ear open.  Did you know that the cartilege in your ear is hollow?

[violinp]

DD2 fell against the sharp corner of a coffee table and cut the top of her ear open.  Did you know that the cartilege in your ear is hollow?

I do now!

[random numbers]

DD2 fell against the sharp corner of a coffee table and cut the top of her ear open.  Did you know that the cartilege in your ear is hollow?

And how many people, upon reading that, immediately feel their ear to see if they can tell it's hollow?


I did.

[LadyClaire]

Yesterday we had to clean something at work, and used some sort of unmarked spray bottle of cleaner we found in the janitor's closet.

I wore latex gloves, but some of the cleaner got under the glove and onto my hand. A few hours later, my hand felt tight and itchy. I looked at it, and all of the skin on my palm and fingers had started cracking and peeling. It was disgusting. I was shedding little shreds of skin all day.

Never using unmarked bottles of cleaner again..

[CrochetFanatic]

So...I'm sick as a dog, not sleeping well because of my cold, and I wake up to a stink bug trying to crawl up my nose.  I am not happy. 

[White Dragon]

So...I'm sick as a dog, not sleeping well because of my cold, and I wake up to a stink bug trying to crawl up my nose.  I am not happy. 

Look on the bright side...

....at least with your cold you can't smell it.