Had an accident at work yesterday

***mrogers*** · May 10th, 2012, 19:09

I cut my middle forearm badly at work yesterday - 3 inches long and almost an inch deep. Blood pouring out like a waterfall everywhere. I called for a tourniquet to stop it and had towels wrapped around my arm immediately. I was rushed to hospital by ambulance. Heck, in my mind's eye I can still see my arm being sliced open. Fortunately no tendons were cut - just the muscle.No major blood arteries were cut,fortunately. A smaller vein was severed though and I lost a fair amount of blood. I still can move my hand fingers and haven't lost feeling in these so that's good, but on one side of the wound there's no feeling in an area, so a nerve has been cut.
My arm was all stitched up inside and outside - about 12 stitches in all. It's all bandaged up and in a sling now although I can take it out from time to time to do small things. The funny thing is that when the accident happened, I didn't feel any pain. So I'm going to be off work for a while - in ten days the stitches will be removed and I will be told when I would be able to return to work. What a bummer.

**johnh_049** · May 10th, 2012, 19:19

glad it wasn't any worse.

***Bomber_12th*** · May 10th, 2012, 19:28

That's scary as hell, but I'm glad it wasn't any worse for you Mark!

**Navtech** · May 10th, 2012, 20:43

I didn't feel any pain.

My dadd had a finger cut by a circular saw
He knew when he saw blood on the wall that was opposite him .. no pain ..
He put his finger piece in ice and go to hospital with own car !
They were not able to make a good graft .....
Unfortunately after some time he experienced pain .. !!

***luckydog*** · May 10th, 2012, 20:45

OUCH !!!

***mrogers*** · May 10th, 2012, 22:02

This is what I was doing when the accident happened...

Picture me as the shearer in that vid....that's not me, but this is what I do for an occupation.
This vid shows a top NZ shearer David Fagan in action at a competition. Just thought I would post this vid so that you'll get a picture of what I do for a living.

***PeteHam*** · May 10th, 2012, 22:57

Oh that's not good

Wishing you a speedy recovery .... here's something for you , purely medicinal of course ....

Get the most you can out of ACC .....

Pete.

***mrogers*** · May 11th, 2012, 00:28

Thanks PeteHam, cheers for the medicinal remedy!

Shearing is an art in itself. It requires co ordination of eye, hand and feel. And a very fit person of course! My style is very similiar to that in the vid.
I cut my forearm when the sheep suddenly slipped out of position and I momentarily lost my balance and drove my clippers into my arm. Argh. This was the first major accident that I've ever had in my shearing career of 30 years.

***deKoven*** · May 11th, 2012, 04:31

Originally Posted by mrogers

Thanks PeteHam, cheers for the medicinal remedy!

Shearing is an art in itself. It requires co ordination of eye, hand and feel. And a very fit person of course! My style is very similiar to that in the vid.
I cut my forearm when the sheep suddenly slipped out of position and I momentarily lost my balance and drove my clippers into my arm. Argh. This was the first major accident that I've ever had in my shearing career of 30 years.

Hmm, that was outstanding. I learned to spin about 15 years ago but never had seen a sheep sheared. You do that all day? Dang, how many sheep in a day for a good shearer?? Can readily see you'd have to be fit and trim in order to get even one day in. I assume there's a season? Down times? Hmm, hmm.....

**middle** · May 11th, 2012, 09:07

I have to show this to my wife who shears our Angora goat twice a year...the goat's pretty strong and altho I hold him down if he wants he can kick free. I worry about her getting cut. So far the goat is the only one who's evr been nicked. Get well soon.

***Daveroo*** · May 11th, 2012, 09:10

well shame you got hurt at all....allways a bummer when ya get hurt..as far as feeling pain..when i fell..i had a drill bit in my chest,my right wrist was broken,and my hand was flopped back on top of my forarm..i was looking at the palm of my hand..odd thing there,,i hadnt cut my fingernails or anything...and they had dug into the skin and were holding my hand inplace on my arm...and i was bent backwards around a wall.at a 90 degree angle.....i felt no pain what so ever..i even went out the a local bar that night with my girlfriend,,,b( it was a friday,,2:55.august 11th,1995..anyway..went oout..had a grand time..but when i woke sunday morning...i couldnt move....and i felt PAIN...eee

my dad was water sking back in 1974,on memorieal day,there were a bunch of us at folsom lake..but my mom dad sister and "larry" the boat owner left to go sking...small boat so only a few could go at a time,and the big group of people had driven to the lake via rattlesnake bar road/campground ...they were gone for several hours..when a placer county sheriffs boat pulled up and asked for me,,,i was 12,and an adult who was responcilbe for me,they then informed me my dad was being flown by helicopter to the hospital and mom was being taken by ground ambulance..my sister was with a deputy at the boat launch....it was 2 full days before anyone told me what was going on....( never do that to your kids,you may think you are protecting them...you are not)..but turned out..my dad was using a two handle ski rope..let go of one as he fell,it lassoooed around his right foot and "skined" his foot...they amputated in the same place as the chop on kunta kinte on roots.right where your pants lay on your shoe..mom was in shock and was taken for treatment...my sister was like...wow.that was cool...sicko...

my point to all that...dad felt almost no pai for many years...took several years for the nerves to regenerate to cause pain...he hurts like heck now though...

***mrogers*** · May 11th, 2012, 23:00

I work 8 hour days doing that sort of thing, anything up to 7 days a week. Often I travel up to an hour on the road to get to work, depending on the location of the farms that employ me to shear for them. Usually I start at 7.30am and finish at 5.30pm in a normal day's work, but my day starts when I hit the road at anytime between 6 and 7am. Quite long days. I have shorn up to 300 sheep in an 8 hour day, but I normally do 200 or so a day. Of course I'm lean fit and trim at 48 years of age.
The vid of the shearing that I posted is more of a sprint in a competition sense whereas in a normal working environment it's a bit more relaxed and slower paced, but still the same style.
There are seasons and down times. If it rains the sheep are soaked making them too wet to shear so there is some down time in that waiting for a day or so for the sheep to dry. They heve to be completely dry for shearing, the wool has to be dry for packing into woolpacks otherwise it goes mouldy, if shorn wet, and it's a no-no to do them wet, because of the danger of boils on your arms and legs from the wet wool, and other associated dangers with wet conditions.
The seasons are summertime which is usually very busy up to 7 days a week, a break in the autumn which is a quiet time and I can do other things for a change or catch up on some things that I couldn't do when I was busy, like some home maintenance, etc. or just go on a holiday, like I go to the Warbirds airshows Omaka or Wanaka (although I haven't been to Wanaka
for a while because it has got so expensive for accomodation there) I've seen all the warbirds like the FW190, spitfires, p-40s etc, and soon will see the Mosquito and Avro Anson MK1 fly (which will fly from my local airport soon)
In the winter I'm back at work, although not as busy as in the summer, I use a winter comb for the winter shearing and it leaves some cover on the sheep for keeping warm. I would do about 2 to 4 days a week in the winter, It's a bit more spread out going into the spring and then it's busy again come summertime.
Quite often I relax by sitting in front of my puter catching up on all the latest news at simouthouse and do some flying in FS9. It does help me to unwind and relax after the stresses of the day working. It's my hobby, after all.
Middle, I do shear Angora goats, lots of them, and they are shorn like sheep in that vid, but with a slightly different style.
Daveroo, that was painful, what you described, when you fell. Ouch!

.

***TeaSea*** · May 12th, 2012, 05:23

Glad to hear it wasn't more serious, although something like that can hurt like hell afterwards.

I am glad that you mentioned your work. This is not an "odd" job per se, but it is interesting and not something most folks would do.

**rhumbaflappy** · May 12th, 2012, 07:43

Your numbness may take quite a while to heal. Nerves do regenerate and re-route, but it will take years, and no 100% recovery. Glad the tendons are OK.

Dick

***TeaSea*** · May 12th, 2012, 09:45

Every case will be a little different but brother rhumbaflappy is right, they will attempt to fix themselves. This is one of the goals of physical therapy, to regenerate those paths.

My dad got hit in Vietnam and his hand never quite came back, but it was a very difficult injury to treat.

It was really only a problem when he was serving in Alaska and he really had to watch it because he would not catch any potential cold weather injury....he couldn't feel it.