jjhack

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
1,018
Reaction score
2
"Accident" The word spooks me everytime I hear it, much less the event that actually causes it!

They happen so fast and out of nowhere with little or no warning. One minute your sitting happy and content and the next all hell breaks loose and you are in the middle of a trauma. Whether it be driving on the way to a hunt, falling in the woods, a steep side hill, or out of a boat, through the ice, or maybe out of a tree stand. Could be while you're cutting food for dinner, or with a chain saw for firewood, or lord help us if it was to involve a gun!

No matter how careful you are sometimes things are gonna happen. Imagine how the odds would change with reckless behaviour. I am writing this today because of an Accident I recently had. I was skinning the paws of a couger we shot. Not the big one, another smaller one we recently shot right at the end of the season. The hide was frozen with paws intact. I thawed it to complete the job. I have skinned hundreds of paws in my life. A tedious job but not really hard. I always turn the toes inside out to the last joint. I never split the toes. As usual by the time the lips, ears, nose and eyes are complete and perfect, the tail gets some attention and then the paws. By the time you have done all but the last paw your mind will begin wandering and your stomach growls. Hurry and anxiety to finish is an understatement even for a guy like me who has done this countless times.

Well, guess what, that razor sharp caping knife will slide easily into human flesh. When it does this nasty deed and there is plenty of salt and raw meat invloved it can be an infectious nightmare of a problem, not to mention that salt really gets your attention! There is a bigger problem when you sever the pulse in your thumb. Did you know you have a major blood transfer tube in your thumb? I do now! Did you ever see how far blood shoot's when you slice a big vein or artery?

Amazing stuff, but difficult to apprecieate at the moment. When you cover the slice into your shirt and slowly clear your mind and then take the dripping blood soaked shirt off the wound and it's still pumping full bore,......... things start to get fuzzy, vision starts to shrink a bit and thoughts about what to do next are clouded with shock and horror.

Hmmm Long drive to the hospital, I wonder how long I can go with this thing spewing blood like this? Wish my wife was home! Wish I had a neighbor close by, Wish I was more careful!!! Holy cow, one minute life is good, the next you're in trouble and without any help. Fortunately I am still here typing this, my first aid training was good and sound information. I do realize now, it's much easier to believe that stuff when your helping somebody else then when you're selling it to yourself!

Be careful guys, when you're tired, stressed, fatigued, take a few minutes rest, get a coffee or a soda. Relax take a breath and go back to work in a few minutes. The hurry is not worth the accidents.

You don't know they are waiting for you to have that one small lapse of concentration. It's much easier to take that 10 minute break then it is to be on antibiotics and have your thumb stitched and sore for a week or more. While waiting at the Emergency room I wondered what would have happend had the knife slipped and sliced my wrist open!

There are so many things, bizzare or not that have your worst nightmare in mind. Seems like there is some sick twisted bit of fate that lurks over everyones shoulder pushing you to do things you know are wrong, or making you hurry. The trick is having strong enough will power to overcome the push that evil fate is wispering in your ear. Just tell that devil your taking a break, that will get him to leave! The word Accident spooks me everytime I hear it. I don't know if I'm getting older now or what but I'm awefully careful about everything and I still have them occur to me. My will power gets stronger each time I have an unfortunate accident. I'm working on getting that devil to visit somebody else for a while, no more rush and hurry for this guy. The time I thought I had saved while in a hurry has long since been lost and will not be recovered....... Ever!

Think about your safety especially when in the bush. Take 5 and clear your mind once in a while. The time you save when you hurry is never enough to compensate for the down time you will have when your hurt. Remember too, help is never EVER as close as you need it.
 

Speckmisser

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2001
Messages
12,900
Reaction score
27
Dang, JJ... another great one.

Wish you'd post these out in a general area where they'd get more traffic. This is the perfect kind of thing for the Campfire area.

Anyway, well done. Glad to see you're still able to type. Hard to do with stitches and bandages on the thumb, though, huh?
 

docapi

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2002
Messages
515
Reaction score
0
wow. great post. You might give speck a run for his money.
<


<
<
 

SDHNTR

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
6,716
Reaction score
13
Good post, really got me thinking. My absolute favorite thing to do after a successful hunt is to crack a cold one and get to work. Fortunately I can finish dressing and skinning a hog in only a beer or two but I'll be thinkin' twice next time. I had many really close calls in my deckhand days. A razor sharp knife, slimy hands and rough seas are a accident waiting to happen.
 

recurveshooter

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 4, 2002
Messages
95
Reaction score
0
good to hear that you are ok ,JJ .
accidents can get serious , to get to our basement you have to go out doors .i make my money as a baker and have a refrigerator in the basement where i keep eggs by the case .2 fridays ago when i was finishing up started out with 1/2 case of eggs hit the top step icey took a header and crushed the eggs but banged up both legs ,scratched up the right one and hurt the left one but only a couple of small scratches in the left . cleaned the right leg up with antiseptic , left ones just had a bit of broken skin so didn't pay much attention to it ,now have a bad infection and spending time with leg up .so as JJ says becareful and from me no scratch is to small to clean , i sure have leaned a lesson .-- herb
 

One Track

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2001
Messages
4,469
Reaction score
6
Good stuff JJ.

I've also found that taking the time to sharpen your knife during a long skinning project is worth the time. I put a blade about two inches into my forearm while skinning a bear. The knife was getting dull and I was struggling to make the cut. Took as long to get the blood to stop flowing as it would have to hit the stone a few times.
 

Grizzledbastard

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
127
Reaction score
0
"Fortunately I am still here typing this, my first aid training was good and sound information."

Sir, I'd like to ASK you for some of that information. I'm sure no matter how much we all think we know - there is SOMETHNIG we can all learn.

If you would, please share exactly WHAT you did, so some of us may learn from it.

Or - did you drive to the hospital alone after wrapping it tight?
 

jjhack

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
1,018
Reaction score
2
The Experience was scary to say the least but having been through the Emergency first aid training in school I was able to assess the problems I was having and with pressure and some attempt at calm thinking I was able to decide what steps were needed to get this fixed. Had I paniced and not known what to do I wonder what would have happened. I doubt it was at anytime life threatening where it happened but in the bush two days from help on a pack trip it would have been a real bugger to solve.

Visually bad wounds can be disturbing whether yours or somebody elses. For me at least they are not that bad when it's somebody else. However when it's my own blood squirting then I was a bit light headed. I think the training helped mentally to realize what was going on and what needed to be done. Therfore removing much of the panic and getting the proper care quickly.

If a person has no real training in First Aid or Emergency respose then who knows what they will do, or how they will get through something like this to themselves or to a friend or hunting partner? Calm clear thought goes a long way towards safe resolution of difficult situations!
 

Latest Posts

QRCode

QR Code
Top Bottom