Re: [Paddlewise] accident scenerio

"... and impaled on their paddle [a leg injury ;-]. you are near a
road, and i'll make up whatever other "details" you need ;-)"

|a:  what's your first plan of action
What does impaled mean?  Literally as in the paddle is buried through the
leg orto the bone?  Or just stuck 'em a bit and made the water a shade of
red?  I'm assuming our Intrepid Paddler has an injury beyond the abraided
skin stage.  8-)

If it is impaled I would leave the paddle in place to limit bleeding if
possible.  Stabilise the paddle to prevent/limit movement, compress the
wound to minimise bleeding, keep the victim warm and try to keep them from
going into shock.  If no impaled but lots of blood, pretty much the same.

|b:  how do you decide if the person is capable of continuing on, on their
|own, or if someone needs to play ambulance driver
Depends on a:  If the paddle really impaled someone has to play ambulance
driver or call a real one.  8-)  ** I ** would not be driving if I was the
ImpaledOne.  Real Impalation is going to be a no brainer on driving.
Otherwise how much are they bleeding and is it stopped?


|c:  how do you notify the "next of kin" --- ie tell them to meet you at
|the hospital/ER, without adding undue stress to the callee
"Hi, its GreatPaddler, ImpaledOne had me call you to let you know he is ok
but has a little boo boo from the kayak trip.  We decided to be safe rather
than sorry so we took ImpaledOne to the hospital to be checked outed.  Can
you meet us there?"

How is that?  You need to keep the other folks calm so the following would
be a bad idea.

"YO!  ImpaledOne's wife!  YEAH!  MAN YOU should have seen what your Hubby
did!  He was Trying to beach his boat and got really wickedly window shaded
by this humongous wave!  He went over and over and over.  We thought he was
a gonner!  When he finally came up for air, gulping for breath and spit'n
sand we could see, like WOW, HIS PADDLE HAD BROKEN IN HALF AND WAS LIKE
BURRIED THROUGH HIS LEG!  It was way cool.  Blood all spurt'n all over the
place.  The ocean was just red!

But he is like ok now.  Can you come get him from the Emergency Room?  We
can't hang out much longer since we have to get to the bar to celebrate our
crossing."

I think this would be the wrong way to notify the next of kin.  8-)

|d:  what other factors should be involved/considered
Does ImpaledOne have a local NextOKin?  If not, does ImpaledOne have
children or pets that might have to be looked after while the Shaft is
removed from the Shaftee?  Someone needs to take care of our
BelovedShaftee's 'yak, gear, maybe vehicle.

If the accident was away from transport its a whole new ball game....

|e:  is this discussion usefull?
Yes.

Later...
Dan McCarty


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