B
Blinky
Guest
Today I was snap cutting pieces out of a pine leaning over a carport. I was making the second cut on a piece right in front of me when I noticed it starting to break prematurely... I caught it with my left hand and somewhere in there the saw (spinning down) jumped out of the cut and caught my left leg on the inside of my knee... ruined my favorite climbing pants.
I knew I was cut but it didn't hurt so I considered finishing the tree because I was almost done. I checked it again and decided to let the ground know I had a problem, my pants leg and boot were soaked. They had peroxide, gauze and towels waiting on me when I got down and were insisting I go to the ER... which for me was a non-starter.
Hell, I figured some betadine and bunch of steri-strips and then I'd go back up and finish the tree. It really wasn't a bad cut, it was just bloody and they were freaking out because it was a CHAINSAW cut. A Sugoi could've done a lot worse.
Long story short, I cleaned it, bandaged it up, ate lunch and went to see my buddy who is and ER doc and also happens to be a wood turner who I've supplied with some really nice hunks of wood. He irrigated it and sewed me up in his bathroom... hurt a lot worse than the saw did. Only six stitches... in his words, "That's not a chainsaw cut, that's a chainsaw kiss."
The only thing I think I could've done differently to avoid the cut would've been to rig the piece instead of snap cutting and chucking. I'd already made a dozen identical snap cuts, this piece was apparently just angled enough to make the cut break before it was supposed to. I wasn't in a rush, I had both hands on the saw while cutting. Left leg, inside knee.
Just an aside, my doc friend, who's seen lots of chainsaw injuries, said it's really tough to stitch them because the tissue is usually so mangled. He says the most important thing you can do once blood loss is under control, is to irrigate the cut with tap water as quickly as possible and clean it out.
Pic below...
I knew I was cut but it didn't hurt so I considered finishing the tree because I was almost done. I checked it again and decided to let the ground know I had a problem, my pants leg and boot were soaked. They had peroxide, gauze and towels waiting on me when I got down and were insisting I go to the ER... which for me was a non-starter.
Hell, I figured some betadine and bunch of steri-strips and then I'd go back up and finish the tree. It really wasn't a bad cut, it was just bloody and they were freaking out because it was a CHAINSAW cut. A Sugoi could've done a lot worse.
Long story short, I cleaned it, bandaged it up, ate lunch and went to see my buddy who is and ER doc and also happens to be a wood turner who I've supplied with some really nice hunks of wood. He irrigated it and sewed me up in his bathroom... hurt a lot worse than the saw did. Only six stitches... in his words, "That's not a chainsaw cut, that's a chainsaw kiss."
The only thing I think I could've done differently to avoid the cut would've been to rig the piece instead of snap cutting and chucking. I'd already made a dozen identical snap cuts, this piece was apparently just angled enough to make the cut break before it was supposed to. I wasn't in a rush, I had both hands on the saw while cutting. Left leg, inside knee.
Just an aside, my doc friend, who's seen lots of chainsaw injuries, said it's really tough to stitch them because the tissue is usually so mangled. He says the most important thing you can do once blood loss is under control, is to irrigate the cut with tap water as quickly as possible and clean it out.
Pic below...
