What You Should Do If You Get Hurt in the Woods When Alone

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Gypo Logger

Timber Baron
Joined
Dec 8, 2001
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Yukon Territory
Although I'm not an expert on the subject, I just wanted to discuss a few things about it.
First of all, keep your cool and if you still got two legs and a heart beat, you'll probably be ok.
You can lose alot of blood and still live.
Finding the trail out can be the biggest problem, that's why snow is a good thing as you can sometimes follow your back trail.
When hurt you'll have mega adrenalin, so use that to your advantage and when and if you find help, be chipper and laugh a bit, that will help the first responder to act fast and not freak out.
Saw injuries are mostly just superficial, so keep your cool then too.
Most injuries are not life threatening and those that are will be read about in the news.
Once again, keep your cool and enjoy the adrenalin rush and the warm feeling of the blood.
John
 
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Although I'm not an expert on the subject, I just wanted to discuss a few things about it.
First of all, keep your cool ....
and not freak out....
Once again, keep your cool ...
John

Very wise words for any situation involving you or anyone around you .

:cheers:
 
nice very nice I say. Here where I'm at we use the panic button by a certain time thats if i or others on the crew don't make it back by a Certain time then it look out here we come a lookin for ya. It's easy for me to set that in motion because I camp out on every job even if its only thirty minutes from home. But thats my way of pulling the crew together to never leave one in the woods alone. The keeping your cool is a must in all things I do and is a hard act to fallow most of the time too.:dizzy:
 
Sounding like a righteous SOB, here goes Yukon.

1. Protect yourself as much as possible--use all the PPE all the time.

2. For those who haven't been fortunate ( sic ) to have been "in harms way" , understand what Situational Awareness means and how to do it. Look it up, it's easy to understand, difficult to do. Know when to quit, when to back away from say, a hanger, or when tired or pi$$ed off.

3. Last year I got recertified in Wilderness Medicine taught by a front line Army Medic just back from Iraq. It combines the best of emergency care, combat life saving, and advance first aid when away from nearby help. I was suprised to learn that some older training I got was obsolete, such as CPR, and triage. This training can/will save your own skin.
Look up courses near you.

4. Have basic life saving tools with you--always. Yes Virginia, duct tape and HD Kotex will do wonders.
 
Carry a first aid kit in the truck or your wood hauler.

For the first time, I bought a first aid kit and but extra large gauze pads and pressure bandages in the truck this year. I got a saw in my upper left thigh when I was about 19 and it scared the **** out of me, nothing serious, was sew up and healed fine. With my oldest son and the hired hand being allowed to cut wood on their own this year, I gave them a good first aid lecture based on the combat lifesaver course and made sure they had the good first aid kit in the truck, including betodine and peroxide.
 
4. Have basic life saving tools with you--always. Yes Virginia, duct tape and HD Kotex will do wonders.

I second this. I don't have the experience many of you do in the woods but have some experience with wounds. A dressing, tape and Qwik Clot could be lifesavers. I would think that bleeding to death would probably be the most serious issue you could have in the woods and still be conscious/ with it enough to help yourself.
 
I second this. I don't have the experience many of you do in the woods but have some experience with wounds. A dressing, tape and Qwik Clot could be lifesavers. I would think that bleeding to death would probably be the most serious issue you could have in the woods and still be conscious/ with it enough to help yourself.

:agree2::agree2: That's it !

That Quik Clot powder is standard issue in combat kits and on climbs. Go to your nearest ER, or when you see your local Urologist for your prostate :hmm3grin2orange:. Ask for a few of the "bleed pads" that are exactly like the older HD Kotex pads that are not sold anymore. (They want more slimming looking pads. ) The thick pads are simpler to use when you're alone, and more reliable. BUTT: you've got to know where to use pressure and sometimes, only sometimes, a tourniquet.

FYI Yukon. That so called adrenillin rush will only take you so far, especially when you get up there in years (like most of us Yukon :biggrinbounce2: ). Never count on it.

YOU CAN BLEED OUT IN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES !!!!!! (For those who know, a femoral artery slice, common cut on your left thigh, is the danger. ) That rush won't save you.

Most of us cut alone. Be aware. Use Situational Awareness.

I am dismissed. Glad you made it Yukon.
 
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3. Last year I got recertified in Wilderness Medicine taught by a front line Army Medic just back from Iraq. It combines the best of emergency care, combat life saving, and advance first aid when away from nearby help. I was suprised to learn that some older training I got was obsolete, such as CPR, and triage.

Triage is obsolete? Why? What replaced it? Really curious about this.
 
Backwoods experiences are too long for here, and a great thread by the way.

As a former EMT-I, know how to use the medical/first aid kit.

Be very very very familiar with all in the kit.

The time saved vs the time reading how to use it can mean a good and bad outcome.

Another addition to my jump kit has been "Quick-clot" burns like a #####, but stops bleeding.

I believe it uses silver-nitrate.

Had to take my 92yr old father to the ER today, he fell carrying wood and split his nose open...ten stitches.


Great thread, should be a sticky.


Kevin
 
For head trauma, life threatening or severe blood loss...

A medical helicopter may need to be called.

A GPS.

Flairs.

Radio/cell phone/satellite phone. AND A CHARGER OR EXTRA BATTERIES.

And I stress AGAIN know how to use them.
 
:agree2::agree2: That's it !

That Quik Clot powder is standard issue in combat kits and on climbs. Go to your nearest ER, or when you see your local Urologist for your prostate :hmm3grin2orange:. Ask for a few of the "bleed pads" that are exactly like the older HD Kotex pads that are not sold anymore. (They want more slimming looking pads. ) The thick pads are simpler to use when you're alone, and more reliable. BUTT: you've got to know where to use pressure and sometimes, only sometimes, a tourniquet.

FYI Yukon. That so called adrenillin rush will only take you so far, especially when you get up there in years (like most of us Yukon :biggrinbounce2: ). Never count on it.

YOU CAN BLEED OUT IN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES !!!!!! (For those who know, a femoral artery slice, common cut on your left thigh, is the danger. ) That rush won't save you.

Most of us cut alone. Be aware. Use Situational Awareness.

I am dismissed. Glad you made it Yukon.

Every situation seems to be different and the credit goes to those who pick us up off the ground.
John
 
Triage is obsolete? Why? What replaced it? Really curious about this.

Good question. Not Replaced, just redefined. Triage itself is not obsolete, but in a small group survival situation KNOWING WHEN TO SAVE A LIFE, AND WHEN TO NOT TO, WITH LIMITED PERSONNEL AND LIMITED RESOURCES FAR FROM EMT OR ER FACILITIES.

It was an eye opener for us in the class to hear about the medical record of CPR failures for adults. Not good. The discussion of when to let someone go was never done before in my training and experience. Interesting.

True triage in a mass casualty situation with many medical personnel with EMT gear around is not "Wilderness Medicine" .

Basically Gologit, we cut alone, usually a long way off from help. Don't depend on a cellphone to protect or save you.

JMNSHO
 
YA know on the other hand some of us would save others and would do all we can for them. However there is a small amount that think it just better to leave them there and let them go if you do find them in need of attention. What the heck do we do then? I always thought, Well, who really wants to go back to town and deal with all the crap it might just be better to stay there. Thats not a good attitude to have about it though because for me they always find me.....:chainsawguy:
 
Just remembered a thing.

Some years ago, I lived in Schuylerville, New York. Three friends and I were getting on the freeway to head south to Albany, when, in the furthest left lane, an accident occurred. One car lost control and pitched to the left into another. The two came to a rest in the median.

We acted quickly. First question: do we know the Good Samaritan Laws in this state? No. Second question: are any of us CURRENTLY carded CPR/First Aid? No. Third question: do any of us have a cell phone to call for help? No.

We determined from these answers that if we hung around, we would only contribute to the traffic jam already beginning, and could offer no real help. We would be part of the problem, not the solution. Instead, we drove to the next exit and called 911 from the first pay phone we found.

I've often wondered if this was the right decision.
 
Just remembered a thing.

Some years ago, I lived in Schuylerville, New York. Three friends and I were getting on the freeway to head south to Albany, when, in the furthest left lane, an accident occurred. One car lost control and pitched to the left into another. The two came to a rest in the median.

We acted quickly. First question: do we know the Good Samaritan Laws in this state? No. Second question: are any of us CURRENTLY carded CPR/First Aid? No. Third question: do any of us have a cell phone to call for help? No.

We determined from these answers that if we hung around, we would only contribute to the traffic jam already beginning, and could offer no real help. We would be part of the problem, not the solution. Instead, we drove to the next exit and called 911 from the first pay phone we found.

I've often wondered if this was the right decision.

Good points.

I don't know the current laws that cover the Good Samaritan's.

With the sharks/lawyers that chase ambulances....

nuff said there.

I get stopped by LEO's from time to time...to help before the Ambulance can get there. The cops know me around here. Especially in the wide open space areas, desert and forest.
 
Well, today I pretty much always carry my CPR/First Aid Cards, a current Red Card, a cell phone, a radio, a GPS, and a first aid kit, so it wouldn't be the same situation.

I guess what I'm getting at is yet another pitch for "situational awareness".
 
You all are going to think that I am crazy but besides a basic first aid kit I also carry maxi pads and tampons. I know it sounds strange. But a maxi pad will cover a large wound with out a problem and tampons with stuff a puncture wound. I have seen this more times than I care to talk about. It was two of the things I had on me all the time in Afgan and Iraq after I seen what they are capable of. I also carry my cell phone. When I go to an area to work I alway check to see if I have service. If not I do have a gps thing that has an emergency responce button. I have not had to use any of the above but I feel better carring them. 99% of the time I am in the woods I have some one else with me though.

Ray
 
You all are going to think that I am crazy but besides a basic first aid kit I also carry maxi pads and tampons. I know it sounds strange. But a maxi pad will cover a large wound with out a problem and tampons with stuff a puncture wound. I have seen this more times than I care to talk about. It was two of the things I had on me all the time in Afgan and Iraq after I seen what they are capable of. I also carry my cell phone. When I go to an area to work I alway check to see if I have service. If not I do have a gps thing that has an emergency responce button. I have not had to use any of the above but I feel better carring them. 99% of the time I am in the woods I have some one else with me though.

Ray

Good call Ray, there's nothing wrong with packing cotton ponies around for those,'heavy days'.
John
 
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