M. just swung by my desk. Took two stitches to close up his wrist. He thanked me for the help and said he’d be more careful in the future.
I was going to say ‘Thats my mitzvah for the day’, but, technically, a mitzvah is done out of religious obligation. Since Im not religious, I can’t really have any religious obligation. But, I have my own moral compass and it says “Help that nice old man who is bleeding profusely”. So…good deed for the day. Chalk one up in my karma counter.
I think the total cost to me was something like $1.00 for the supplies and about five minutes of my time. Neither one is a high enough cost for me to withhold helping a coworker. Or even a stranger. (Under current circumstances.)
You did what any real citizen would do – help out where you can.
Hats off.
Kurt
Yes Commandante, you did the right thing. A no brainer. There is no mention of First Aid skills and Training.
My fear is that every Homie reading this episode will run out and buy supplies……..
If you do not know how to effectively Use the First Aid gear…………it doesn’t mean too much. No explanation needed there. Even if you just fix yourself up, you need to know how to implement the supplies…..and when. Little principles like,
Do thy Patient No Harm come up. PEOPLE NEED TRAINING
A common problem. Preppers buy medical equipment because it’s on a checklist or something. And think they’re prepared.
They are not. Especially when their checklist is “Buy bag full o’crap from XYZ suppliers”. 101 items! – 1 cheap bag, 100 bandaids?
As I’ve said before: People are not equipped (physically, intellectually or emotionally) for the sheer VOLUME of medical equipment (even bandages) that are used to treat even minor injuries in a hospital (minor in my frame of reference, not theirs). Its not hard to fill up a giant rubbermaid Brute container per patient.
And once a prepper ‘treats’ his child/spouse/neighbor/whatever for the injury, then what? What follow-on care is appropriate, or available? Fish antibiotics? Which ones? Using the wrong antibiotic isn’t ‘almost as good’, it’s totally wrong. Sutures? Was the wound cleaned out correctly? Because if you sew it up with foreign matter still in it, or devitalized tissue, your patient is well on the way to being your corpse to deal with.
just saw where a guy got stabbed at the SHOT show, someone had a tourniquet in their EDC bag. Nice.
https://www.usacarry.com/man-stabbed-at-shot-show-bystanders-deploy-edc-tourniquet-to-save-his-life/
Heh. I was at a Search and Rescue training event…at a community college. Walking through the dining facility, one of the cooks (trusties from county jail) had cut his hand.
Room full of EMT’s…..nobody had anything medical, including a clue.
I grabbed a towel, told the Sheriff to call an ambulance and get it treated.
You did what any real man would do. Even though “karma” is a concept from a religious system.
Commander:
You are correct that the material and time costs were low, but I suspect the PR value/ public praise are far higher!
I know that isn’t why you did it but it IS true…
You might inspire others to prepare more!
Ceejay