OT: First aid and "Nonstick" gauze pads

First - close the wound with super glue.

Then it usually doesn't need a bandage.

Dennis wrote: (...)

Surely you jest!

Thanks! It scabbed over nicely and I see new pink skin where the scab has crumbled away. I'm halfway home.

Like a lot of older guys, I suffer from AK (Actinic Keratosis). It is a precursor to skin cancer. I discovered that I can delete AK lesions using a gas duster in "freeze mist" mode.

It works a treat but this last time around I got a little enthusiastic with the mist and gave myself a 1.5" diameter spot of surface frostbite.

Note to self: use an aperture next time and don't try to make a puddle!

--Winston

Thanks guys, but see my other reply. This was surface frostbite, not a standard boo-boo.

--Winston

That does work. when I get a burn I make a beeline for the freezer. Press the burnt spot directly on the ice or vice versa, as long as I can stand it. Rarely blisters, stops hurting much sooner It's worthwhile having a fridge in the shop just for that. And the beer, of course.

I don't recommend using the ice directly. The ice can actually do as much damage as the heat did.

But running cold water over the burn to cool it is a good thing. You want to stop the cell damage and resultant dermal plasma discharge if at all possible.

HOWEVER this is only for first and CLOSED second degree burns. If you already have blisters and they are open use STERILE water to cool the surface. Do NOT apply anything except STERILE water or Saline to a 3rd degree burn AND get the victim to a burn center ASAP.

Junior thought that the white part of the soldering pencil might be a good handle - quick revision of his thought process!

Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Only problem is, my bee-er-- shop fridge has no freezer section, all fridge, it has a flat, cold plate at the back. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Thats a neat trick, I use spray freeze in a similar fashion - gets rid of warts as well. Good to hear it wasn't a metal gouging skin incident.

(...)

Tools? Oh, I'm *careful* with tools.

--Winston

(...)

Ouch! We've all been there, one way or another.

--Winston

Respectfully, I wouldn't worry all that much about whether the water is sterile in the first few seconds after a really bad thremal or chemical burn, as long as the water used is from a bacteriologically clean and cold source. Running city water or a known safe well and a clean hose, or large quantities of unopened bottled drinking water.

It may not be medically certified "Sterile USP", but I would consider it sterile for all practical purposes - the instant you open the bottle and pour it on a victim that hasn't been through a Surgical Scrub that water isn't sterile anymore anyway...

Perfection is the enemy of progress, and you want to get the heat out of those tissues (or the chemicals flushed off) *NOW* while it is still doing damage, not waiting twenty minutes from now to get the ambulance there with the Sterile Saline - by then the damage is done. If I get burned, Firehose me now, baby!

IMHO (ARC Advanced First Aid and EMT and the School Of Hard Knocks) extensive tissue damage from the heat or chemical agents staying on/in the tissues any longer than necessary FAR outweighs the odds of picking up an infection from the emergency lavage.

Once the ambulance arrives, then you can switch over to the sterile saline and sterile drapes and dressings. After the immediate hazard has been removed, *now* you have the luxury of time to start worrying about infection.

-->--

[ ... ]

I remember seeing an ad in one of the electronics industrial magazines. Probably late 1960s or early 1970s. It was for a company which wanted to do your assembly work for your -- soldering and the like.

Naturally, they got the most attractive female around for the photo shoot -- receptionist or secretary, not one of the assemblers.

They put her in a lab coat and they gave her a brand new Weller soldering pencil for the shoot.

And -- yes -- she held it by the white ceramic part, not the cork a bit farther back. Based on her relaxed expression, they did not bother to plug in the cord. :-)

But somehow, this did not fill me with confidence about their abilities. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

The problem with that is do you KNOW the water is clean. Easy enough to grab a liter of sterile or saline and toss it in the fridge.

True, but at least your sure that nothing in the water is going to be a problem.

Not with one of our hoses! Stagnant pond water and water wetter may not be helpful..... Works on fire but I would keep it off the skin, I don't really want it on my turnout gear!!!!!

True, But if you have the stuff handy use it. How many years in the trenches for you?

What kind of bee-er--?

Wes

Most of us only grab for the falling soldering iron ONCE.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Currently, mostly James Ready 5.5 with some Lakeport Honey and the last four bottles in existence of Lakeport Wee Willy. Gerry :-)} London, Canada