# Calif. Man Tries To Amputate Own Arm



## JJR512 (Sep 1, 2008)

> Calif. Man Tries To Amputate Own Arm
> 
> 
> MODESTO, Calif. -- Police said a man tried to cut off his own arm at a restaurant in Modesto, Calif., because he thought he had injected air into a vein while shooting cocaine and feared he would die unless he took drastic action.
> ...


http://www.wbaltv.com/news/17353435/detail.html?rss=bal&psp=nationalnews


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## Jon (Sep 1, 2008)

Nothing like a drug user.


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## mikie (Sep 1, 2008)

I thought, by reading the title of the thread, it would've been some noble (or stupid) thing a person did to save their life...for instance the man quite some time ago (I believe I am telling this accuratly), cut off his own arm while hiking/climbing when he became trapped between a rock.



Jon said:


> Nothing like a drug user.



^ Yup.   <_<


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## Hastings (Sep 1, 2008)

I wonder how effective it was.

I mean, if anyone can amputate an arm with a butter knife, it's a drug user. I bet it's a lengthy process though. He was right to upgrade to a butcher's knife. I wonder how severe severe cuts are.


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## traumateam1 (Sep 1, 2008)

Wow... like said before nothing like a drug user ^_^
I heard this story once about a man flipping his car off of a highway and it ended up upside down in bushes with something trapping his arm. He wasn't found for days, and after almost dying from other injuries and getting attacked by animals he took out his swiss army knife (from what I remember) and actually cut throught his entire arm, freeing himself. I guess he controled the bleed and walked up to the highway where someone took him to a near by hospital, and the guy lived. When I heard that story I thought about what it would be like, and feel like to slowly cut throught your arm. I mean.. that's gotta be a lot of pain...
Anyway.. I like that last little comment in the article. _The Denny's closed for the night._
*Woohoo 100 posts!*


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## serupert (Sep 1, 2008)

My friend did some work with drug users while getting his RN and he had talked to a guy who was high on meth and the voices told him to cut off his arm with a chainsaw, so he did. They also told him to cut off the other arm but there was no way he could do it. 

Meth is some scary scary stuff.


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## traumateam1 (Sep 1, 2008)

Meth is an absolutely horrible drug. I saw a special on A&E about it, some personal stories and how it has affected people, and meth is down right scary. It's getting so bad in our city here that most of our city vehicles have the words "Life Or Meth" on the sides or back of the vehicles with pictures of family's and groups of friends in the backgrounds and a help line you can call. I was talking to a high school drug and alcohol counselor, and apparently it's worse than I thought it too be.. it's taking over this city slowly.
Anyways not to stray away from the original topic, thought I would just say that seeing as someone mentioned meth.


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## lightsandsirens5 (Sep 1, 2008)

Jon said:


> Nothing like a drug user.



You can say that again. And again and again and again and again and again.........but I'm getting a little carried away.


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## mikie (Sep 1, 2008)

lightsandsirens5 said:


> You can say that again. And again and again and again and again and again.........but I'm getting a little carried away.



However, in their defense, they increase our job security


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## Norcaldude360 (Sep 1, 2008)

Gotta love the people in this town!! No wonder its the meth captial!


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## Epi-do (Sep 1, 2008)

I saw this on my homepage yesterday.  Some of the things people do never cease to amaze me.


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## texmat3 (Sep 1, 2008)

While I understand that an air embolism can be deadly, doesn't it require a fair amount to air to get that point?  I'm thinking that he just remembered something that someone said and freaked out, thinking that any air is bad air.


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## firecoins (Sep 1, 2008)

I thought arm amputation was out of scope of a coke user.


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## Airwaygoddess (Sep 1, 2008)

Somebody has been pushing the Code Stupid Button again.......<_<


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## JJR512 (Sep 1, 2008)

texmat3 said:


> While I understand that an air embolism can be deadly, doesn't it require a fair amount to air to get that point?  I'm thinking that he just remembered something that someone said and freaked out, thinking that any air is bad air.



Yes it does, but we don't know how much air the druggie thought he had in his veins, and we can't expect a druggie--or even most lay people, for that matter--to know how much air in the blood is too much.


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## mycrofft (Sep 2, 2008)

*Norcaldude, right on, from Sacratomatoe.*

I case managed a psych pt who tried to cut off his hand with a saber saw.
I've never seen meth make someone do something like that. If a tweaker tried to do that, he'd take the saber saw...notice it was dusty...clean it off....see a little oil on the armature...disassemble it....re-grind the brushes with his fingernails...solder a new plug onto it....clean off the soldering iron...see a bucket of paint and clean out the garage to start painting it....all at one AM. When his wife comes out to tell him to knock off the noise, he'd bodily throw her out into the street.

Oh, and folks, despite what the DEA tells you, the meth/crack plague has been going on like WW III since about, oh, 1989.


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## ffemt8978 (Sep 2, 2008)

Airwaygoddess said:


> Somebody has been pushing the Code Stupid Button again.......<_<




My vote for post of the year!


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## LucidResq (Sep 2, 2008)

What?! Amputation isn't how you're supposed to treat air emboli?!


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## dancesport20 (Sep 4, 2008)

Pft, good luck cutting through the bone with a butter knife. I can't even cut bread with the darn thing. And if he really did inject so much air that he had an embolism I'm sure it would have traveled past his arm by the time he was done....
Meth users are an interesting bunch. Lol. What would they do without us?


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## Kathi (Sep 5, 2008)

...ähm may dying??

I had last year a patient who tried to kill himself with a
motorsaw. It was quite bloody...


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## BruceD (Sep 5, 2008)

Drat...

When I saw this title, I thought it was going to be about
Body Integrity Identity Disorder


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## EMTSteve (Sep 7, 2008)

LOL... lets get the air bubbles out by making more holes!!
People need to be told that it would take an incredible amount of air shoved into your veins to hurt you to kill that myth.


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## mycrofft (Sep 7, 2008)

*Under TODAY'S POSTINGS, the listing under this one's is:*

"Failed again, 3rd time's the charm?".
(Oh, Mommeee!)


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