I sheared end of my index finger off 2 Sundays ago. Had surgery to remove rest of tip to last knuckle. Big round fell a few inches and sheared end/top side of finger off on metal lip. Still healing up.
Dang! My injury is minor. Hope you heal quickly. Hopefully our accidents are a reminder that accidents happen to experienced woodsmen too so please pay attention and be safe out there. Our families depend on us
A couple years back I smashed a fingertip in the splitter...didn't have to get hospital treatment, probably should have, but it healed up fine without. It wasn't so much that I had my fingers in the wrong spot, more just that weren't really where they should have been...and when the split popped, what I was holding on to came around in an unexpected way and pinched my finger in between two now semi-separate pieces of what was formerly one piece of wood...hard to explain, and honestly I don't even recall the exact details of it now. Fortunately I had leather gloves on and I think that allowed my fingertip to kinda slide out of the glove as the impact happened...instead of taking a full on blunt impact...sort of a glancing blow. Anyways, everybody heal up well!
Yikes! Glad it wasn't worse and your finger is still intact. Years ago I smashed my ring finger on my right hand. Big chunk of hard maple slipped and smashed it against the wood splitter. My finger looked like that grape in the bottom of the bag that's split apart and no one wants to eat. I remember going into urgent care and thinking it wasn't that bad. A very cute nurse was asking me what happened and how bad was the pain so I naturally tried to act tough and down play it. She then proceeded to clean it with iodine solution and cut away the dead skin. My toughness left and I started yelping like a baby. Then the needle they stick in the end of your finger with novocaine is even worse. Finger injuries are the worst...
Pre PPE and gross ignorance when clearing our lot , I sliced my left thigh just above the knee. The 80% of saw injuries. No chaps, jeans, no helmet, running shoes, nothing. Had the usual duct tape "kit" at hand ( thanks medics ) to bind it up while my wife took me to the ER. The ER nurse and wife chuckled at the routine male stupidity. So the nurse asks : " do you want the duct tape off fast or slow ? " Of course "fast" I say. She rips it off with hair and tears with whining while she and my wife giggle. Wakeup call for PPE after that and 9 stitches. Now the routine is situational awareness, brain in gear, and full PPE.
With both cutting wood and splitting wood, I stop when I get tired. Both activities can bite you when you are tired.
Sucks to see this thread and I can’t like the original post. Hope you heal up fast and have taken something from the experience. I spent about 7-8 hours yesterday on the splitter. Fatigue is a huge factor. The longer I go, the slower I get. Realizing you are not at 100%, extra caution needs taken. After all, slow and steady wins the race. Stay safe everyone!
Not so funny how fast chit happens with tools...the simple ones are the most dangerous. For many of us in another life we had no eye or hearing or sun protection in training, maneuvers or otherwise. Now I can't hear a g.d. thing in group settings, had to have my ear clipped ( like female lobsters here ) , a nose slice, and the coup de gras- eye surgery. You young #@%^&'s be warned. P.S. It's why I like the slow electric splitter--do it until I don't want to, have a Maine micro ale, read, practice, then go back when I want. No hurry. It plugs it and waits.....quietly.
As someone who works in the emergency department I see this stuff all the time. The vast majority are "seasoned" guys who get complacent. I still think table saws top the list of most often but anything can do it. One of the most impressive was a guy who wasn't looking and walked in to a running stump grinder. Needless to say when I get tired or careless this stuff pops into mind and I usually call it quits for the day.
FYI: If you see an offer of a Wilderness Medicine course, take it. Lots of so called "First Aid" protocols and CPR have changed over the years. Nothing like what we had in service or Outward Bound long ago. Everything from injections, evacuation, wound stopping, stability, to triage. Worth while for your own care and others when out in the woodlot or remote from EMT care. It's a weekend intense program that could save your life or a partner.
All of us need to be safe! Saws,splitters, grinders,drills, air and electric impacts, welding, ladders, and 100 other things will get you if your not careful! 4 weeks ago I took off the tip of a pinky finger with a grinder. So everyone be SAFE
He's doing well Brad, thanks. We've (my son and I) been cutting up wood for him to gather so he doesn't have to run saw. There is enough piled up it's about time to take the splitter back over for him to borrow. I've seen him a bunch, I just haven't asked to look at his thumb.
Too often cutting solo, I don't carry an emergency kit. Just dumb. Some kind of wound stopper like Kotex pads, or blood stopper powder, or even the old reliable duct tape when the s__t hits. We're doing some dangerous things out there. Wishes to all you wounded to heal fast.
