You and a friend are out hiking miles away from civilization. He slips and falls 15 feet. Breaks his leg and makes a huge gash in his arm.

Given a first aid kit... Could you set the leg and suture the gash?

I have no problem closing gashes, but either splinting a broken bone, or being forced to set it..... I don't think I could do it, even if I knew how. I mean splints are easy enough... but setting a bone involves screaming and pain.... <shudder>

I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

Do I have the skills? No. Do I have the stomach? Absolutely not. But I think there are times that you either find the courage to set your fears aside, and do what has to be done, or you abdicate for the moment your sense of humanity.

Doctors do what is necessary on a regular basis. They know that some of the things they do will cause pain and suffering, but that the goal is to heal, and they know that sometimes the choice of healing first requires acts that will inflict pain. Oncologists certainly live with this choice on a daily basis. (Frontal Lobe is certainly far better qualified than I am to speak from a doctor's perspective, and maybe he will chime in on this one). My impression of doctors is that they have learned, by necessity, to tune out sqeamishness and their own human discomfort at inflicting necessary pain to achieve a higher goal.

I'd like to think I'd be up to the task. But I won't know unless it happens. I do believe, that if I got through it, I might pass out, but I'd certainly have a serious set of the shakes. Adrenaline can be a bear. But I'd try to do what had to be done.

Stomach.. in my mind.. no way..

In the Army I learned quite a few things..
You can do things without thinking to save the ones you love. I HATE blood, but when your brother is next to you in danger of dying somthing takes over and it really dosn't matter so much. You really have to be in the specific situation to answer the question, and with the knowledge I think we all could do it, no matter how "week our stomach".

I don't have the skills to do anything like that, but I do have the stomach.

Done both multiple times..... (I'm a paramedic, it's all in a days work)

My experience has been that most people are much more capable than they know they are.

Well if I had a bleeding friend with a broken leg I am figuring I could go for a walk while they set the leg and repair the gash. What's the old saying? You broke it, you fix it

Yes.
I broke my arm when I was young, bent it 90 degrees between the wrist and elbo. My grandfather set it before I left the house to go see the doctor. The doctor xrayed it and put it in a cast, they didnt have to do anything to me. If he had not done what he did they would have had to cut my arm to set it because of swelling.

I had a friend who was in a really bad auto accident and i stayed with him over months of time to help him recover. You'd be surprised what you can do when out to the test. Just to name one of the many fun times we had; he broke his back and it was surgically put back together with hardware holding it until it healed correctly. After being home for a short time, he developed an infection. No signs of it that any body caught including him but one day he went to the bathroom and, while i waited outside (he had to have someone walk with him to hold the back brace to keep him steady for some time) he said something from inside and i asked if he was alright. He said that i better come in. When i came in he was complaining about his shirt in the back being wet. I had thought his dog had peed on the seat of the toilet or something but, when i looked there was a line of brown pusslike liquid running down the side of the toilet. So he stood up and i tried to look but the back brace covered him to well to see. By this time he's starting to panic and saying it's got to be his back and we've got to remove the brace which we were told to never do while hes standing. So i tell him to remain perfectly still while i take it off and not to move one bit once the brace is off no matter how bad he wants to look. When i removed the brace and lifted his shirt, this brownish puss just started to run out in a never ending stream. I grabbed a towel but it was faster than me and was getting all over the place everytime i tried to rinse the towel out. It made quite a pool all over the floor and he was, of course in a panic. I took him by the shoulders and made him look me in the eye and told him he was ok. It was just puss and i wouldnt let anything happen to him. I also said; "ive gotten you this far man, im not about to let anything happen to you now."
That did calm him down but this liquid kept coming and it changed color to first yellowish and then a neon/lime green that i will never forget in all my life. It had to consistancy of toothpaste but it flowed much faster and, for most of the time, it was the neon/lime green color. He leaked for a good half hour or more and we seriously had to have caught a liter of this green crap out of his back! No exaggeration.
His dad got home after a while and also paniced but we got him to the hospital once i got it to start slowing down where they admitted him and had to do another two surgeries. His dad later commented to me how he couldnt believe i wasnt freaking out like he was. I said: "well freaking out wasnt going to help him any and i had to take care of it so i didnt have time. Besides, he was depending on me and i knew if i freaked he would be even more scared than he was." It certainly was a gross and scarey moment or moments but, at the time, all i could think about was helping him out and making sure he was ok.
He certainly had some terrible painful nights in the hospital and at home that i was the only one there for too. It was very difficult for me to watch and hear those times and ive never felt so helpless in my life, but i did make him feel better and did help him out there so it was worth it. He needed help to do about everything and i did everything i could and it did help him so, even though it was real hard to watch i would do it again without a second thought.
As a side note because i know Ryan has a sick mind like mine, after catching all that green puss i was in the bathroom washing my hands and i saw some green toothpaste. I thought about putting some on my wrist, coming out and acting like i missed some. Then i was going to taste the toothpaste n front of everyone and say: "mm, minty." I told everyone i was thinking about doing that and they all said they're glad i didnt.
------------------

[This message has been edited by Dave Gunsul (edited 07-12-2006).]

Yes and yes, Military and EMT-I trained.

Yes to both, I flew medivac for a while in the Army, saw a bunch of gut wrenching things, helped the medics when needed. I've been a first responder for over thirty years, that's not nearly as qualified as an EMT but I've seen my share of ugly things and that's not including my dating years.

------------------
Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 07-12-2006).]

quote Originally posted by Shyster: Doctors do what is necessary on a regular basis. They know that some of the things they do will cause pain and suffering, but that the goal is to heal, and they know that sometimes the choice of healing first requires acts that will inflict pain. (Frontal Lobe is certainly far better qualified than I am to speak from a doctor's perspective, and maybe he will chime in on this one). My impression of doctors is that they have learned, by necessity, to tune out sqeamishness and their own human discomfort at inflicting necessary pain to achieve a higher goal.

The squeamish reduces over time. You get desensitized and so your emotional response to the situation reduces over time. You never want to get to where you are completely desensitized, but you do want to get to the point where you can concentrate on the situation instead of your own emotional response to it.

Most people can overcome even a severe emotional response to it if the situation is desperate enough. But if the situation is not life-threatening, then people will use that as an "out", and call for help instead of dealing with it. Nothing wrong with that.

Funny how the sound of cracking bones causes a more severe visceral response than the sight of blood for most people. Same for me.

[This message has been edited by frontal lobe (edited 07-12-2006).]

My dad taught us to sew ourselves up.
I have done it to myself.

I don't know if anyone knows this, but the end of a needle is round, to keep from fraying threads when sewing.
My dad taught us to sharpen the needle on a rock before sewing skin.
Makes for an easier skin entry.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: My dad taught us to sew ourselves up. I have done it to myself. I don't know if anyone knows this, but the end of a needle is round, to keep from fraying threads when sewing. My dad taught us to sharpen the needle on a rock before sewing skin. Makes for an easier skin entry.

Where the heck were you 12 years ago when I needed this information.
I stitched up my finger, no insurance.

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: Where the heck were you 12 years ago when I needed this information. I stitched up my finger, no insurance.

Hard to get the needle through, wasn't it?!
Put a point on er', she goes right through!