We almost made it...
It's another holiday, and as I've said before, the family tradition is that either someone is sick or we have a disaster. We almost made it though the day without incident.
About 2 hours ago, Mary yelled from the kitchen, "Lyndsay's cut herself!" She sounded scared.
I bolted. Sure enough, Lyndsay was running water over her thumb. She had been cutting up watermelon for a fruit salad. Drops of blood were everywhere on the counter and floor. She'd cut the thumb deeply, but fortunately the cut wasn't very long. I wrapped a paper towel around it and told her to keep pressure on the wound.
She sat down on the floor. That should have been a warning, but Mary and I were trying to get the blood cleaned up before it dried. We did that quickly, then I washed my hands before examining her cut. If she took the bandage away and stopped the pressure, it immediately began bleeding again, not spurting from an arterial cut, but a steady flow that would not be stopped without stitches.
Lyndsay's face went blank, no emotion, no focus. She said her vision was blurry. She was going into shock. We got some water for her to drink and kept her talking. In a few minutes, she was ready to go.
Hi Ho, we were off to the emergency room.
Like I said, that was 2 hours ago. I do not want to visit emergency rooms at any time and on the 4th of July, it's worse. We were lucky enough to be there before all the fireworks injuries show up later this evening, and fortunately there were no major medical emergencies for the staff to contend with ahead of a simple cut finger. It's probably the quickest ER trip I've ever made.
We still have 5 hours until the holiday is over.
About 2 hours ago, Mary yelled from the kitchen, "Lyndsay's cut herself!" She sounded scared.
I bolted. Sure enough, Lyndsay was running water over her thumb. She had been cutting up watermelon for a fruit salad. Drops of blood were everywhere on the counter and floor. She'd cut the thumb deeply, but fortunately the cut wasn't very long. I wrapped a paper towel around it and told her to keep pressure on the wound.
She sat down on the floor. That should have been a warning, but Mary and I were trying to get the blood cleaned up before it dried. We did that quickly, then I washed my hands before examining her cut. If she took the bandage away and stopped the pressure, it immediately began bleeding again, not spurting from an arterial cut, but a steady flow that would not be stopped without stitches.
Lyndsay's face went blank, no emotion, no focus. She said her vision was blurry. She was going into shock. We got some water for her to drink and kept her talking. In a few minutes, she was ready to go.
Hi Ho, we were off to the emergency room.
Like I said, that was 2 hours ago. I do not want to visit emergency rooms at any time and on the 4th of July, it's worse. We were lucky enough to be there before all the fireworks injuries show up later this evening, and fortunately there were no major medical emergencies for the staff to contend with ahead of a simple cut finger. It's probably the quickest ER trip I've ever made.
We still have 5 hours until the holiday is over.
posted by Ed W at 6:44 PM
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