Tetanus

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Greetings from the Grange. YEOOOW!!!!! Did anyone out side of Pike County hear me scream Saturday morning? Well my son didn't because he was on the mower, and my wife didn't because she was on the phone, and my other son didn't because he was watching cartoons...Well take my word for it, if you would have been here and not been preoccupied you would have heard me scream.

I was not screaming because I dropped my favorite tool (Black & Decker 9.6 V cordless drill) into the water trough...which I did. I was screaming because I had ran about an inch and a half of a ten penny nail into the arch of my foot.

Why would someone do that you ask. Well stupidity comes to mind with carelessness running a close second, again followed closely by stupidity.

I try to keep a clean barn...oh did I mention the nail was in the barn covered with goose poop? Like I said I try to keep a clean barn and I have had several comments on how nice it looks but there is always room for improvement.

This accident might not have been so bad had I not told my son earlier that morning to watch out for nails in a board and not to step on them. (Not the same board, not even in the same location. It was something we were tearing down)

Being a homesteader there is always work to be done. When you start one project you see several others that need done. I was installing a self watering tank in the temporary goose pen. This pen had not been used for a while and I had haphazardly tossed some used lumber in there to be used latter. At the time I knew there were nails in the lumber, That is why I stored it in the pen. No one ever went in there and it should have been safe till I could find the time to pull some nails. Well you never know when you are going to run across a deal and when you do you have to take it. The deal that came up was four geese. These geese were bigger than our others so we placed them in this pen till our geese got some size on them.

Still more important than pulling a few nails (Yes they should be pulled for the safety of the geese also) was getting the geese a constant supply of water. I scavenged a small water system tank and some used lumber and I was building a raised platform for the tank. The object of this is so I can fill the tank once a week and it will fill the water trough with the help of a float valve. I use the tank system because I am on a well and with the tank system if there is a problem with the lines or the float valve, it will not run my well dry.

When I got the tank into the barn to install it I noticed that the corner where I was going to work was a little dark. Note to self, install more lights. The note should have read BEFORE you start to work on the water tank. I also noticed that the geese had knocked down some of the stacked lumber. Note to self, Remove nails and re-stack lumber. That note should have read BEFORE you start work on the water tank

While I was working I was looking at the nail riddled boards laying there in the dark (Well almost dark) And I could hear my own words to my son from just earlier that morning. "Watch that board and don't step on a nail"..... Safety Tips from The Organic Grange #1. Always work in a well lit area #2. Always work in a clutter free environment #3. Never store used lumber without first removing the nails. #4. Keep the date of your last tetanus written down where you can find it.

Tetanus- a noun, An often fatal bacterial disease marked by muscular spasms and rigidity, esp of the jaw

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), July 22, 2001

Answers

Ow. So, are you current on your tetenus? Thanks for the safety reminders, and take care of your wound....bacon fat will draw out blood poisoning.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), July 22, 2001.

"ouch"! So sorry that happened to you and good reminder about tetanus..it is a popular myth concerning tetanus that one only gets it from stepping on a rusty nail or something pretty dirty..untrue. The tetanus bacteria is an anaerobe..cannot survive in an oxygen environment..that's why it lives in dirt. A person CAN get tetanus from having a teeny paper cut on their hand and digging in that nice clean garden dirt; folks who get deep cuts are more likely to be exposed to it, especially puncture wounds, hence the example of the rusty nail..some folks think it comes from manure..nope, just plain old dirt harbors it. That is why a cut in the homestead dirt area should be cleaned right away with hydrogen peroxide..all those nice bubbles are releasing oxygen into the wound..then use soap and water. For folks who have been immunized against tetanus, one vaccine lasts 10 years UNLESS you receive a particulary nasty wound, then if it has been more than 3 years since the last vaccine, you should get another as a booster. Adults frequently forget to get that booster every ten years. If a person has never had a tetanus vaccine and is injured, they have to have tetanus antitoxin which carries a high risk of severe side effects, but they are still better than tetanus. I only saw one patient in 31 years with tetanus..he made it after spending 3 weeks on a ventilator and being heavily sedated to overcome the spasms..not a good thing to have! I always advised my patients to write down the date of their last vaccine and carry it in their wallet..no point in getting a vaccine you don't need! God bless and I'll follow Grant's excellent advice!

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), July 22, 2001.

Yikes, that smarts! I hope your wound heals well and quickly. Thanks for the safety tips.

-- Squirrel (ThicketyRowWife@aol.com), July 22, 2001.

Death by tetanus is horrible! During nurses training, we from Vincennes In were required to spend 13 weeks at Riley Hosp. in Indy for our pediatrics training, since that was (and probably still is) one of the leading pediatric hospitals in the nation. Riley got bad cases from lots of other hospitals. I'll never forget the 8 or 10 yr. old boy who had scraped his leg on a piece of metal at the local junk yard, and since it was such a minor injury, nothing was done about it until too late. Several days after the accident, his folks took him to the doctor because of muscle spasms. He was brought to Riley, kept sedated in a dark, cool, very quiet room, since any noise could bring on more seizures. I wasn't with him when he died, but I've never forgotten the incident, even though it was summer 1956. I wrote my folks (no phone) and told them if the boys didn't already have tetanus shots, get them immediately.

-- ruth in se illinois (retired RN) (bobtravous@email.com), July 23, 2001.

Um, 4 hours ago, i stepped on a rusty nail, slightly punctured. i squeezed a lot of blood out of it, and then i put hydrogen peroxide on it and then mycitracin. Am i safe? it's 11 PM right now. please email me back because i might not be able to go back to this web site.

-- Pheng Seang (fieryblazer@yahoo.com), January 24, 2003.


<< Am i safe? it's 11 PM .>>

Had it been 9:45 , I'D say it's a life threatening situtation . But being that it's 11 pm , I think you'll be alright .

I usually don't go to the doctors unless bones are broke or internal organs are damage .If your still alive by the time you read this , you probably last a few more years.

-- Steve (Unreal@home.com), January 24, 2003.


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