Attn those who work on your own guns
As a full time gunsmith it is with great humility that I relate the following.
Last Tuesday I was working on a gun when my screw driver (one of the small ones) slipped and stabbed me. It didn't go in far (about 3/8")in between my thumb and index finger. I cleaned it and continued to work and thought no more about it. 3 hours later, on the way home, it started to feel as though I was starting to cramp in the ball of hy hand. I thought I had simply over used it. The next night I had my wife take me to the ER. It appears the chemical residue (cleaning & blueing solvents, oils, lead, copper, brass, etc) had already started a mass infection. It had gone under the sheath that covers the tendons. Dr.'s said if I had waited 24 more hours I could have lost the use, or even lost, my hand. Massive doses of IV anti-biotics (plus a little Morphine and Dilauded[:o)]).
Just thought I'd pass this along so ya'll will pay attention and take care of yourselves.
Lance
Gunsmith
Gander Mountain
Fayetteville, NC
Last Tuesday I was working on a gun when my screw driver (one of the small ones) slipped and stabbed me. It didn't go in far (about 3/8")in between my thumb and index finger. I cleaned it and continued to work and thought no more about it. 3 hours later, on the way home, it started to feel as though I was starting to cramp in the ball of hy hand. I thought I had simply over used it. The next night I had my wife take me to the ER. It appears the chemical residue (cleaning & blueing solvents, oils, lead, copper, brass, etc) had already started a mass infection. It had gone under the sheath that covers the tendons. Dr.'s said if I had waited 24 more hours I could have lost the use, or even lost, my hand. Massive doses of IV anti-biotics (plus a little Morphine and Dilauded[:o)]).
Just thought I'd pass this along so ya'll will pay attention and take care of yourselves.
Lance
Gunsmith
Gander Mountain
Fayetteville, NC
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gun bluing is extreem;y poisonous. hope you get well[B)] 0 -
Thanks for the tip... 0 -
Thanks! Glad to hear things are o..k. 0 -
Glad to hear all is well. Thanks for the heads up. 0 -
Being stabbed between the fingers hurts bad enough alone.
People may think that they are clean. But tools and especially hand tools can cause infections very easily.
Know a guy that lost a thumb due to a high pressure grease gun that shot grease under his skin.
Hope that all goes good for you.0 -
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Generally when I impale or slice something while doing gun work, I go in and bathe the source of the blood in peroxide. I wonder if that would be adequate against the sort of chemical infection you describe.
Given my track record, in regard to injuries, I expect eventually I'll find out....0 -
Cleaned it with peroxide, put Neosporin on and band-aided it.
Lance0 -
Thanks for the heads-up. Hope all is well. 0 -
I've beat, mangled and busted my hands up pretty well and with some variety over the years.
I got my first piercing when I was in my 30s. A 1/16th" punch through the tip of my finger. Oooooh, so cool.
I've smashed my fingers left and right.
Caught a few frags of jacket getting kicked back out of my bullet trap (bled all over the place, now I use a welding glove to hold the rifle's forend)
Once I was beating a pin into place on something and the punch jumped the pin and smashed the fleshy outside of the upper section of my pinkie on the right hand. It split the skin and a bleeder, apparently, as blood started squirting out like a horror movie.
It happens.
D.0 -
I think someone on this forum should start a "worst scar" post with pictures. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Zebra
I think someone on this forum should start a "worst scar" post with pictures.
Scar you want. Scar you got..
How about one big gag nasty scar on the face of America...
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Cut about 1/8" off the tip of a finger once and stuck it back on with superglue, and you'd never know which by looking...
Mashed my thumb real good with a hammer working on the house one day, then mashed it again the next day throwing a log in the furnace. That second one hurt to bad to even cuss.[:0][8D]0 -
Thanks for the tip. Once we get the new house squared away, I intend to start using a Turk Mauser for a project gun, learning how to cold-blue, glass bed the stock and so forth. Safety warnings are good advice. 0 -
Oh ya and always remember when welding, if a piece of metal falls don't grab for it... especially when its beat red....
Yes me not bad
Yes friend Emergency room the day after I did it....
Learning to weld can suck at times Also remember aloe Vera is your friend burn spray is not. You will know why if it ever happens to you 0 -
quote:Originally posted by redice
Oh ya and always remember when welding, if a piece of metal falls don't grab for it... especially when its beat red....
Yes me not bad
Yes friend Emergency room the day after I did it....
Learning to weld can suck at times Also remember aloe Vera is your friend burn spray is not. You will know why if it ever happens to you
That reminds me of when I worked as a welder for Gundersons in Portland. We'd kneel down and do plug welds on this big piece of metal for a railcar end. It was winter and I just bought me a pair of new high dollar Carhart insulated coveralls. I finnished one weld and scooted over to the next and I guess my new coveralls went on the weld I had just finnished. All the sudden my leg got real hot and it took me awhile to figure out I was on fire under that mask. I jumped up and the whole crew was rolling laughing as I danced around with my leg on fire trying to put it out haha.
You know how they have that nice quilted insides to those coveralls? Ya that happens to melt into your leg really well and I was picking it out of the scab for weeks haha.0 -
YIKES! 0 -
Working maintenance at the lumber mill two summers ago, I got a light scratch that got so infected the doc said if I would've shown up a day later, they would've had to amputate my hand, the blood poisoning was traveling that fast. I went to the doc three days after the scrape and I had red tracks running most of the way to my left shoulder. 0 -
Greatly appreciate your taking the time and having the interest in alerting us about this. Might save one of us in the future. 0 -
Spryor- I believe this, I own a knife you made-AWSOME
AZEX- Got hit by shrapnel out of my "snail" earlier. just a 22 LR and stuck under the skin, tweezers took care of it. I too now wear a glove when tast firing.
Safety in the shop is of the utmost importance.
Lance0 -
Back in the spring I managed to get bit by a possum [ he was stuck between 2 boards in our privacy fence and I was just trying to free him]. Talk about a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach [xx(][:(][8][:0] I dialed 911 !
I went to the ER and after 3+ hrs they gave me a tetanus shot and an antibiotic prescription and sent me on my way [ with a bill for $650 ]. Turns out possums don't pass on rabies . The animal control people said there is no case on record of a possum passing rabies.0 -
quote:Originally posted by LesWVa
quote:Originally posted by Zebra
I think someone on this forum should start a "worst scar" post with pictures.
Scar you want. Scar you got..
How about one big gag nasty scar on the face of America...
That is an upside down cross on the right side of the picture.0 -
scooting along a roof rafter on my butt, legs hanging down, felt a little poke and all of a sudden my left leg wouldn't move. ??? scooted some more and I still couldn't move my leg. ??? looked down and there was a pretty thick sliver sticking out... pulled it out... 5" long!! then I could move my leg again.
must have went through the muscle and pinned it there. didn't hurt one bit. kept on working. -no infections-0 -
Thanks for the tip! Sorry about the wound, the infection, and the embarassment!
We all like peroxide. That said, peroxide works primarily by cleaning through bubbling action. It does not disinfect, it does not steralize, it does inhibit first intention healing. If you have an open abrasion with a lot of dirt and grit, you might use it. With a puncture, you are wasting your time.
I have worked around hospitals and vetinary clinics for 30+ years. I am neither an MD or a veterinarian, but I have never seen either use peroxide. Wounds are cleaned with betadine or other antisceptic with or without sudsing action, depending upon the nature of the lesion. For most things, soap and water is better than peroxide.0 -
Know a guy who had a similiar experience while cutting the nuts off a bull calf. When he first sliced the palm, his buddy said "Ouch. I guess you won't be wacking it with that handd for a while"
The infection nearly killed him.0 -
Tetnus shot. Once every 5 years. No infections in a LONG time. 0 -
Tetnus shots only cover you for infections from Clostridum tetani! 0
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