Table saw victims; who has got one?

E

EMTIsee

Forum Crew Member
Messages
74
Reaction score
5
Points
8
Statistics say that 10 fingers are injured a day by table saws. That said EMS will without a doubt have a victim at some point . So who where has had one, what was your treatment?

Here is an amazing new invention I found. I feel law should force these to be put on all saws.
 
I haven't seen one in the EMS but have seen multiple table saw (and other spinning object injuries, namely, lawnmower and blender) injuries in the ED. Treatment (in this order): control bleeding, wrap with a dressing, find any amputated appendages and put on ice, manage pain effectively, drive to ED (preferable, one with a good hand doc).

In the ED, we will look at it. Take x-rays and look at how messed up it is (the lateral views are the best, you can actually see the morphed/missing soft tissue). Irrigate it really well and wait for the hand doctor to come in.
 
Sawstop is awesome, been around for a bit. Though they are quite a bit more expensive.
 
I had a patient this past year that ran his left hand through a table saw. Severed the pinky and the other fingers were hanging on by threads, though his thumb was spared. I felt really bad for the guy until he showed me his right hand that was missing two fingers from another table saw encounter... And he is/was a woodshop teacher at a local high school. I don't know which was worse, the pain or the embarrassment for him...
 
My first shift as part of my EMT-Basic hospital clinical had a guy come in after severing a finger on a table saw while building a birdhouse.

The Saw Stop has been around since 2000 or so. Amazing technology. I know my school system uses them in their woodworking classes.
 
Now that I'm working for a hand surgeon, I see these injuries all the time. Try to save the amputated piece and we might try to stick it back on, but even then the devitalized tissue might not stick and we end up doing a revision amputation a few weeks/months later.
 
They are a pretty frequent occurrence. Most manage not to take off a finger or four. Prehospital treatment is pretty simple, control the bleeding and treat the pain.
 
We can actually take these patients directly to an orthopedic urgent care and they'll get same day surgery from the hand surgeon. Haven't ever had a table saw injury but had a dude catch his hand in a 20 ton press brake and partially amputate his pinky and ring fingers. Called them to see if they'd take him, they accepted, took him there. Unfortunately he ended up losing the fingers but he, UC staff and the surgeon were stoked I took him there instead of the ER.
 
I've had three. One was an older gentle who chopped off most of the fingers on his left hand. They were only able to recover his index finger and place it on ice.

The other two were the same guy. He dropped a circular saw onto his right thigh, cutting an 8-10inch slice, but did no real long term damage. Saw him again a month later after he partially cutoff his left thumb with the same saw while working on the same project.

I should buy him one of those Saw Stops.
 
Had a guy attempting to trim his tree with a circular saw that is made for cutting plywood. Ended up cutting the center of his palm to the point where there was only a flat of skin holding all of his fingers to the palm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top