Broken Leg

[Wayne]

I have just got home from the hospital. Val and I went for a walk in the fields near our home with the mutts. A lovely night loads of bird song. All sorts of spoor to analyse.

I am happily walking ahead of Val when i hear her scream she has fallen on the uneven ground amongst the the nettles and mud.

It took a few momemts to calm her down to find out what was wrong. She has injured her foot. I get her settled and then catch the dogs so i only have one thing to deal with. Now i can do a decent assessment. Its cold and windy in the fields and we are at least a mile from the nearest road and its getting dark soon.

I take a close look at her lower leg it doesn't look good. It's swollen and the foot is at an odd angle. I check the ankle it seems fine then above the ankle i can feel her bones are broken and hear the bone grind. S**** I have 2 muddy wet dogs a wife with a boken leg in pain and shock and I am a mile from tthe nearest road. My first aid kit is at home afterall we were out for a quiet walk before going home to celebrate my birthday in the morning.

First thing is too treat for shock so I put her on her bag and wrap her in my fleece. Now what should i do? I decided after some soul searching to dial 999. I am a first aid instructor and teach remote care. I could have splinted the leg and tried to get her to the road. My ego said sort it. However i knew that to do the bushcraftty thing would possibly have caused more limb damage. Giving an accurate location to the ambulance call centre via mobile with no map was dificult. I left Val to guide the amulance to her.

It eventually took 5 paramedics and a Sussex ambulance 4x4 to carry her 300 metres to where they could get a 4x4.

She will need surgery in the morning to reconstruct the bones in her leg.

Eventhough I am well trained and importantly I practice my first aid skills regulary it was hard to control my feelings and deal with the situation dispassionately. I am annoyed with myself for not having a FA kit with me.

Please consider how you would deal with a similar situation and get some training in First aid.

 

[Nemisis]

Sorry to hear about the accident Wayne I hope Val is ok soon.
Dave.

 

[Longstrider]

Sorry to hear that your good lady is hurt Wayne, and hope she mends well and soon.

As for beating yourself up for not havinga FAK with you, stop it. Are you going to carry one everywhere every time you ever set foot outside the door in future? I doubt it. Very few of us ever do. We take them in our day bags or bergens if we are away for longer or going into the no-wheres for a while but we cannot be expected to carry anything and everything that might be useful for any given situation on every walk outside our homes. The best bit of kit you can carry is knowledge, and you take that everywhere with you.

I was taught that the first and foremost job of any first aider is to prevent the injury or situation from becoming worse . By choosing to call in the parameds instead of splinting the leg yourself, that is exactly what you did. As I see it, you did exactly the right thing, you made Val as comfortable as you could, ensured that she was in no life-threatening state and called in the Pro's to deal with the injury. That's what the emergency services are there for, emergencies.

 

[leon-1]

Wayne don't beat yourself up about it, it doesn't matter how well trained people are they can never really know how they will react untill they are faced with a situation.

I have dealt with broken limbs in the field before and the first time it took a little nudge before I started into action. In the end you did the right thing and most people don't carry a FAK when they are out for a short walk so I wouldn't worry about it.

Pass on my best wishes to Val for a speedy recovery and take it easy.

 

[Goose]

Even if you had a first aid kit with you, would there have been anything in it to deal with that injury? Even if you had splints and splinted it, you would have had to call help to move her, you would have probably done the same thing if you had a kit with you.
Hope she recovers soon.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Wayne, I am sorry to hear that. Please dont listen to the voice beating on you. You did the right thing, period! There was no better way to deal with the situation.

I hope your wife and you feel much better by now.

yours
Abbe

 

[Christy]

Sorry to hear about the nasty fall. How is Val doing? Did she have surgery yet?
Like the others said, no-one will carry enough equipment around to perform on-the-spot-everything care. There's only so much a person can do on his/her own. Let us know how the op went ok?

 

[Neanderthal]

Sorry to here about Val, hope she makes a quick recovery.

Don't worry about not having your FAK with you, few of us would carry the kit required to deal with a broken leg on a short walk. Sounds like you did all you could to make Val comfortable in the circumstances while help arrived and prevented things from becoming worse, this is very important for the casualty (I know I've got the T-Shirt).

You had the most important thing with you, 'Knowledge'. Sometimes it's knowing what not to do that makes the difference and I find it helps you focus in these situations. A quick check of A.B.C. and finding they are OK is a massive relief and helps assesment of the situation.

BTW Happy Birthday mate.

 

[falling rain]

Wayne. Firstly best wishes to Val, and I hope she recovers quickly. Secondly you have my utmost admiration for showing such humility by making this post. There are not many people, myself included who would have the courage to make public an event such as this especially as you are a FA instructor and admit you were scared. Full respect to you.
As people have already mentioned. It's harder to control your feelings for someone you love than if it had been a buddy in the same situation. I don't think there's a man here who would have reacted any differently than you did when a loved one is involved. Splinting Val's leg would have probably caused her severe pain and no one wants to see a treasured one go through any more pain than they are already. Well done. I'd say you handled it perfectly

 

[davef]

Hope she gets better soon

Trying to splint displaced fractures like that correctly without vac splints or *lots* of kit is nearly impossible. You did exactly the right thing, you got the right help in the right place and minimised further damage to the limb and the rest of the casualty.

Well done mate

 

[pumbaa]

Hi mate ,
I think you definately did the right thing , and at least you didnt do what a friend did when similar happened to his wife , He passed out !! Didnt have a mobile either !!
Please send my love and best wishes to Val
Pumbaa

 

[william#]

what rooten bad luck - wishing val a speedy recovery

sounds like you did everything right as did ems
as has already been said splinting is very tricky and tbh as you were in sussex you did the right thing in just assessing treating for shock stabalizing ie keep her still and calling in the proffesionals .
i dought anything in a small walking first aid kit would of ben much use (maybe the silver blanket ) any how .
if you have blood spirting out all over the place you got a more imediate hands on scenario - ie stop the blood - if someone stops breathing you can get on with rescue breathing .
when you get a broken limb there is so little you can do (unless of course your 3 days from the nearest road).
Running scenarios around your head afterwards is often a responce after dealing with such things and you probably will for a while shows you care but the bottom line is you got val out to get more advanced treatment she is well if not a little soar .

well done for doing the right thing

 

[andyn]

Hey Wayne, I logged on this moring in order to say Happy Birthday and can't believe that this has happened

Like everyone else has said, don't feel bad for not having your FAK, sounds like you dealt with the situation perfectly under the circumstances and didnt panic making the situation worse...like trying to make her walk back to the car!

I really hope that all goes well at the hospital this morning and that Val can get back home soon.

Take care and I hope Val recovers quickly and that you can both celebrate your birthday soon.

See you soon.

Andy

 

[Biddlesby]

Sounds like you dealt with it very well. I'm sure I wouldn't've - I am planning to book myself on a first aid course when the time and the money make themselves available.

Hoping for a speedy recovery.

 

[ScottC]

Best wishes to Val for a speedy recovery. You did the right thing, I don't think going the bushcraft way would have been appropriate in that environment when paramedics were just a call away.

You remained calm and acted quickly and admitted that even with your training you found it hard to keep a check on your feelings for which I respect you greatly for!

 

[wingstoo]

Wayne,

Hope all goes well with Val.

As the others have said, no point beating yourself up over this, you did the right thing, what could have happened if you had tried to extricate her could have been a lot worse, could have ended up with two casualties...

It is always harder when dealing with a loved one rather than a complete stranger, especially in a situation like the one you were in, it could of ben a lot worse, by the sounds of it you did have a first aid kit of sorts, your phone! without it you would have had a long walk to find a phone... So well done for having it.

LS

 

[pibbleb]

Wayne, I sorry to hear about Val's accident I hope she recovers quickly and the surgery goes well.

Please don't beat yourself up, sounds like you spotted that the first aid you could offer would possibly make things worse in the situation you were in, it takes a bigger man to clam things down, analyse the situation clearly and direct professional medical assistance to your location as quickly as possible than to run around chopping down a lumber yards worth of timber for splints.

Plus it's emotionally difficult to deal with loved ones.

Oh Happy birthday as well.

Paul

 

[ArkAngel]

Wayne

Really bad news, i hope Val recovers quickly.

As everyone else has said you did everything right. Unless your FAK consists of vac pumps, splints, some form of heavy duty pain killers, portable x-ray machine and a 4x4 or rescue helicopter there was nothing else you could of done.

I have been in a similar situation myself and yes as a loved one you want to do everything possible to 'make it better' but there is no magic wand cure to that.

You appraised the situation, kept calm, made the right decisions to keep Val warm and out of shock, realised you could'nt solve the situation entirely on your own and called in the appropriate help.

Clear, decisive, decision making mate....VERY WELL DONE

 

[tomtom]

Wayne that is really ribbish luck mate, dont beat youself up about it you simply cannot plan for EVERY eventuality and in the end your actions got her to hospital safely.

Happy Birthday for today and i hope Vals op goes well!

 

[Wayland]

Clear thinking is the most important first aid skill of all.

Perfect response in my opinion.