Was working at the ER this week and saw some cool stuff. A guy (mid 20’s) came hobbling in bleeding from his right thigh a decent amount. I got all excited thinking it was a gunshot. Had a 5.11 operator belt wrapped around his upper thigh as a TQ (though it was sliding all around and was really doing nothing). He also had celox clotting agent in the puncture wound.
Long story short, he had a Benchmade asst opening knife in his right pocket. It opened as he was sitting and he sank it deep into his thigh. The triage nurse came out and took his belt off, pulled the celox out, threw a bandage on it and told him to wait with everyone else. Even though he insisted he was losing a lot of blood and may die, it wasn’t an arterial bleed and wasnt bleeding all that badly. He was quite the bubba, saying to his girlfriend “I woulda sewn it up myself if we had needle and thread”. He had the wound irrigated and he was sewn up and sent home.
Makes me understand the old-school fear of tq’s seeing this donkey try to use one for non-arterial bleeding. Some people.
It amazes me to no end how many people don’t know the difference between arterial and non-arterial bleeding.
The best example of arterial bleeding I’ve seen so far was a guy who severed 3 fingers (and most of the 4th) with a table saw. It looked like the room had been shotgunned with blood. All over the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the saw…He was cool as a cucumber when we got there though, unlike the ones who aren’t cut that badly and think they’re knocking on Death’s door.
No quality OTF knife I know of could be accidently fired while in your pocket. The switch is stronger than the pull weight on most revolvers. (Speaking of Microtechs (Not the Halo model) and Benchmade Infidel.)
it was a benchmade infidel and he said something about the lock being off and having his hand in his pocket. I have no clue how he managed to do it though. Maybe his girlfriend stabbed him and he made up the story. I’m sure the guy feels like a bad ass for self “treating” a self inflicted wound, but he woulda been fine with a towel and then some super glue later.
Off topic… but I’ve never understood the love of automatic knives. I mean… when I was a kid I like chinese stars and switchblades… but at some point, you just need a good folder… and to move on to an M4.
Interestingly, the other week I was present when a female cranked a round through her holster with a 9mm.
In and out puncture of upper thigh, long laceration of the outer calf, bullet impacted dirt.
By the time I laid her down and started to work down, a well meaning kid had already cut most of her pants off and applied a TQ to her thigh…between the puncture wounds. No arterial bleeding.
It is what it is, she’s fine now, No harm, just over application of available items.
HIPAA is vague and shady if your stories do not allow for any way to recognize or identify the patient. Now hospital policy may say otherwise. In any case, do tell…I worked an an urban ED for 10 years and I still love the stories…
