So what should you do if your finger gets chopped off?

[radhak]

Hypothetical question - nobody harmed in that way, yet!

I was cleaning up today in the 'shop and got a scratch on my forearm, couple of inches long. Didn't even realize it, my 11-year old daughter pointed out many minutes later that it had drawn blood. She applied Neosporin on it, and asked if I got it on the table saw. I laughed and said, Don't be silly, a table saw injury would be serious, could even cut a finger off.

She goes wide-eyed and asks, so what would you do if your finger gets cut off?

I started to reply, but had to confess I did not know. So, a hypothetical question for y'all, that hopefully stays hypothetical for everybody: what's the recommended steps to take when a finger or a thumb is cut clean off the hand?

Note, I presume that if the finger is not cut fully off, it's not that much of a puzzle - tie it up as best as can be and rush to ER. (And if an arm is cut off, that's a different type of problem). But with a severed digit, inadequate care might mean a total loss, so being prepared might be good.

[atgcpaul]

I don't know how much of a cool head I'd maintain if this happened to me, but I'd probably grab the digit and also apply pressure to try to stop the bleeding and then go into the house to have my wife take me to the hospital and wrap my hand in a towel. I'd also place the severed digit on ice in a baggie and bring it with me.

If this happened while I was alone, I don't know if I'd call 911 and wait, or try to drive to the ER. For me 911 would probably be better. The fire and rescue is about a mile down the street. The ER is 4 miles away but I've been there before and the wait was long. Come to think of it, even if my wife was there maybe 911 would be a better start. I'd be their only patient. They'd take me to hospital to have it reattached.

According to this, though, you shouldn't put it directly on ice. Clean it off, put it in a bag, then put that in a container of cold water.

Http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000006.htm

I did cut my right index finger with a handsaw a few years ago. I'm right handed but predominantly saw with my left. I clamped my left hand over the finger, went into the house and at first had my wife try to apply liquid bandage. That didn't hold so she took me to the ER where I got 4 stitches.

I have actually dealt with a severed fingertip once. There was a service engineer working on one of our instruments at work. He was working with a partner. Someone pushed a button while his hand was in a pinch point and the tip of his index finger was sheared off. Those two guys went to the hospital (fortunately just across the street) and my labmate and I cleaned up the mess. BTW, there was blood on the fume hood like 7' off the ground opposite from where he was working 3' off the ground. Anyway, while cleaning I came across his fingertip just lying in the area where it was just cut off. I had lab gloves on so I picked it up, put it in a ziploc and then put that in another ziploc of ice. About this time the other guy came back and I handed it to him to take to the ER. It was the fingertip pad (the part you'd have printed) and they weren't able to reattach it. Apparently that guy still works for the company but doesn't work in the field anymore.

Paul

[tfischer]

The ER is 4 miles away but I've been there before and the wait was long.

They'll get you right in if necessary though. Recently I was having some minor chest pains for several days. I figured it was nothing, but also figured it would be worth having someone take a quick look. I went to our urgent care center, which also has an emergency room... I told them I just wanted someone to check me out, that I figured it was probably nothing... and those words were barely out of my mouth when they were rushed me into the ER and into "triage" and within minutes had an EKG done.

It was nothing.

[Richard in Smithville]

You almost always get seen faster if you arrive by ambulance. I always have a phone in the shop so I'll never have to use it.

[radhak]

That is a good link, Paul. And that bit about not putting the finger directly onto ice, but in a bag, then into ice-cold water, might be the make or break in salvaging it!

About the wait time at ERs, I was told that to be serviced at the earliest, you gotta get there with blood gushing out from somewhere, or you gotta say the magic words - chest pains. Everything else, you wait.

Worst, in my opinion, is kidney stones. They just let you stew, because they don't have anything for it, other than pain killers and the injunction to 'drink a lot of water'. You feel sorry for the patient !

[JSUPreston]

Worst, in my opinion, is kidney stones. They just let you stew, because they don't have anything for it, other than pain killers and the injunction to 'drink a lot of water'. You feel sorry for the patient !

I guess I was lucky with "Cletus" last year. SWMBO picked me up at the office and took me to the ER. They immediately triaged me and sent me to the back. They were able to diagnose based on my symptoms and gave me a shot of Dilaudid. It took the edge off...pain was somewhat tolerable. Then, the required scans confirmed that I was passing a stone, and that "Cletus" has a twin in the other kidney. A second shot of Dilaudid was given to me before I went home. All in all, I was there less than 3 hours.

Now, SWMBO, once she realized I wasn't going to die (I wasn't convinced), started laughing at me...something about it being like childbirth.

[dbhost]

Probably bleed and teach the neighbor kids new words...

[atgcpaul]

Now, SWMBO, once she realized I wasn't going to die (I wasn't convinced), started laughing at me...something about it being like childbirth.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This is hands down my favorite scene from Seinfeld so I can never keep a straight face when people tell me their kidney stone story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6tni0uYEWw

I probably shouldn't laugh too much, though. My dad had one a few years back so that probably makes it more likely that I'll get one. Karma's a b***h!

[JSUPreston]

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This is hands down my favorite scene from Seinfeld so I can never keep a straight face when people tell me their kidney stone story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6tni0uYEWw

I probably shouldn't laugh too much, though. My dad had one a few years back so that probably makes it more likely that I'll get one. Karma's a b***h!

Yep, that's about right.

[JimD]

I cut the tip of my big toe on my right foot off when I was a kid. I kicked a mower. There wasn't enough missing to reattach (didn't get down to the bone) and we couldn't find it anyway. Much more recently, I had two ER visits on successive days last year. The first visit I needed about 6 stiches for a cut in my left hand from a reciprocating saw. The very next day I almost cut the tip off my right index finger holding wood incorrectly on my CMS. I normally hold with my left hand but it was injured so I did it wrong and paid the price.

The first ER we visited was further away - my wife was there to drive me both times - and processed us smoothly. They looked at the injury and dealt effectively with me. I waited awhile but the blood flow had slowed a lot by then and the pain wasn't bad. The second ER was really an urgent care facility and they didn't really look at the injury. I waited a long time and the pain was pretty bad. When the doctor saw it after about half an hour, he shot me up with morphine, splinted it, and sent me by ambulance to the ER I visited the previous day. The bone was cut. But it survived. It's still growing in, actually, and touch is not very good (sensations are unusual and include frequent pain) but it is a lot better than it was in early July last year.

So if you have a reasonable choice, I recommend an ER over a urgent care facility. I think you want to take the missing piece with you but also realize small pieces cannot really be reattached. I wouldn't waste much time looking. It is also very handy to have someone to drive you. The pain was not so bad I couldn't have driven and I would have if I had to but it messes with you to have blood going all over. At least it does me.

Jim

[gsmittle]

Hmmm… I'd start with all the words I learned in my roadie days, then depending on which extremity and how much was cut off, either pressure and drive myself to the ER or pressure and call 911. If I can't operate the phone, have Siri call 911.

g.

[JimD]

I got excited but it did not help me or my wife. If you can just deal with it calmly I think it helps. after an initial "freak out " I calmed down. There was a lot of blood with the left hand injury which was disturbing. the right hand didn't bleed as badly but was ground up pretty good and looked worse. It also hurt more.

[Stytooner]

Not trying to advertise, but after the finger is taken care of and healing starts, a lot and I mean a lot of guys contact me.