Wilderness First Aid: Take the Test

[gdurkee]

Looks to me like you did everything exactly right! There's always a decision tree, but all of yours were perfectly reasonable. Even had you chosen somewhat differently, it's really difficult to see on what grounds he might have sued. If the bleeding is stopped on a severe wound, I wouldn't take apart anything to clean it either. Were you to do that without a good reason, the bleeding would very likely have started again (not serious on a finger, but a not unreasonable general rule...).

He made a choice to wait for a helicopter, the wound got worse. It was a toss up and he chose wrong (or,as you say, maybe couldn't get out on his own. Though a partial finger amputation, even with some blood loss, wouldn't prevent that).

Incidentally, you wouldn't have wanted to put the finger remnant in snow. A moist gauze is all you want to do. It's unlikely they could reattach after 12 hours or so (probably far less, especially if it was a crushing injury then amputation). And, even when he got out, a micro attachment like that could only be done at places like Las Vegas, LA, UCSF, Reno etc. So you've talking another couple of hours, minimum, to get to such a hospital. I had a similar case years ago. We actually got the guy out at last light by helicopter; he went to Visalia then to San Francisco -- not even Fresno could do that. He got his finger back. Pretty lucky but I think it was under 8 hours total.

So anyway, even though you're 2nd guessing yourself, that's kinda my point, that even with minimal training, the basics are all there and you did all you could, did it right and stayed well within the parameters of "first aid."

Incidentally, I've been an EMT since 1976 and was a park medic for a couple of years. We take 24 hours of CE each year. That said, I'm not really recommending nothin' here -- take a course (he said in a total cop-out CYA message).

g.

[quentinc]

Most states have "good samaritan" statutes that make it harder to successfully sue someone who attempts rescue in a halfway reasonable manner. People tend to blow things out of proportion based on the few cases (out of thousands) that lead to some absurd result, and of course get all sorts of exaggerated press coverage (because, after all, they have to sell those newspapers, TV shows, etc.). And as much as everyone loves to blame lawyers, it's a jury of your "peers" that are making the decisions here.

My favorite story is about some guy on a Sierra Club trip who fell in Joshua Tree and broke his arm. They put on a makeshift splint. When they got him to the hospital, the nurses cut through the splint to free his arm, cutting through the guy's shirt in the process. They did a great job fixing him up and his arm was fine. So what did he do? He takes the hospital to small claims court, for the cost of his shirt. Unfortunately you cannot legislate away idiocy.