Elastoplasts and the bother thereof

[Toddy]

So, I'm distracted, and oughtn't to be when I have a knife in my hand, but I was and I skliffed down and managed to take skin off the front of two fingers.
And, this is me, and I bleed, the red stuff runs. It does set, but it's really runny.

The sink looks like a bloodbath, and I stretch over to pull off a paper towel, and the whole roll and rod comes birling off and skitters over the kitchen floor

I wrap up my hand, and the paper towel turns scarlet, so I wrap it up some more and head over to the drawer where I keep elastoplasts.
It's a new box, it's still sealed.....
Can I get it opened one handed ?
Can I heck..
So, I tear the lid off and shake out the plasters, which are assorted sizes, and find them all in strips of five.
I need two.
I'm still leaking red stuff.
Find another paper towel.
Can I get the strips apart ?
Uhuh.....they don't want to, but do rip apart eventually, however there's red stuff on some of the papers now.
Can I peel the blasted papers off the plasters ????
I give up on the wee fold back and pull apart and just rip the damned things open.
Then I am faced with the backing paper that just does not want to lift !!!
I finally get one edge lifted enough to try putting the plaster on over the cut.....still leaking red stuff.
Plaster No1 is on
Plaster No2 is as unobliging as No1, but I find another paper towel, dry everything off and cover up the bleeder on the next finger.
Realise that I have bled through No1

Just as well I have spare plasters, and just use up the ones I got red stuff on.

I know hygienic and sterile is a good thing in plasters, but this is ridiculous

I'm going to strip a couple out of their covers and leave them tidy in the drawer so that they're easily at hand without all this unbelievably messy hassle.
And next time I try to slice off the top of a spice mill herb jar thing, I'll go and find a junior hacksaw.

M

 

[Tony]

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare Mary, sounds like you need to presume you're going to cut yourself and prepare the plasters before hand

 

[Ozmundo]

This is why I keep my mother around to supervise me. She is also very handy for telling me what I should have done differently.

There is nothing better than to have help when you have a problem. I know because I never have any help.....

 

[SaraR]

Ouch, ouch and ouch!

I've got one of those cardboard racks of plasters that you pull the plaster out of and it's already got one stick wing out in the open. Very handy in the kitchen.

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

Remember the old, dreadfully unhygienic, roll of Elastoplast?

Look at cut, roughly estimate blood output, position of cut and then hack off the "guessed it right" length and stick it on.

 

[John Fenna]

I find that low tack masking tape is ideal to cover the job until bleeding eases - and it is generally closer to where I normally cut myself than the 1st Aid kit is...
However - the last time I really cut myself it was with an ax and needed a bit more than masking tape! I did get a nice 1" scar out of it though

 

[Toddy]

Ouch, ouch and ouch!

I've got one of those cardboard racks of plasters that you pull the plaster out of and it's already got one stick wing out in the open. Very handy in the kitchen.

Oh do tell
What cardboard rack of plasters, ready to use ?

That sounds so very practical

 

[Buckshot]

you can get the 'easy open' ones as Sara says have one side ready to go when you take it from the container.
this type of thing (No affiliation, just the first result when i googled single handed plasters) https://wallacecameron.com/products...7-2cm-x-2-5cm-box-15-x-clip-10-for-kit-refill

IME they tend to dry out and need replacing more often than traditional style ones but can be really useful.
Not expensive though

 

[Kadushu]

Kitchen paper + rubber band is my first step. The rubber band may or may not slow the blood flow... But yeah, you just need loads of absorbent material for a while until a bit of clotting starts. All the time the flow is outwards I feel sterility is a moot point. I can only imagine what an arterial bleed is like and I hope it stays that way!

 

[Laurentius]

Been there, done that. Once went to casualty with an old towel wrapped round my hand, held on with gaffer tape. I had partially severed a tendon with my very sharp opinel.

 

[Toddy]

I'd just thought to myself that this was stupid and a sure way to have an accident
Then it was just one thing after another after another.
Plasters ought to be quick and easy and readily available, not this kerfuffle to get into the blooming things.
Sod's law sometimes.

M

 

[Paul_B]

There used to be a young lad at my old place of work. He was a bit of a head case. He came in with his hand bandaged up one day and I made the mistake of asking.

Turns out his mates were having knife fights for fun and he cut his hand. A proper fountain too. He saw my look of shock and he said "it was OK I got my lighter out and..."

Well he stopped the bleed but now had some burns instead. I did say he was a head case. He also said he'd be dead due to violence before he was 40. I think he is possibly 35 now or not!

 

[Paul_B]

I took the tip of my middle finger off a few weeks ago on the garden shredder. Surprised by the amount and length of time of the claret coming out. Couldn't stop the bleeding thing! I had a partner to get my plasters. However we went through so many before getting one to stick long enough to put a second over to secure it fully. Amazing how blood stops plasters sticking.

Another bleed of concern involved a large ambulance dressing on my hand which got replaced before mrt got there. Then the second one was gingerly peeled back by the mrt medic before a face was pulled and he put it back. He then put a third over the top of the second. A half hour walk down to the land-rover ambulance and 20 minutes to their base. Then a fourth large ambulance put on a the other two were dripping wet with blood.

The fourth lasted to the hospital but had blood showing through. On the coach back from the meeting point before I got to the hospital a little old lady got her first aid kit out when a few red spots appeared. She had one paracetamol and a micropore tape in the little box. She was devastated by that and so apologetic that I felt really bad until I got off the coach. It's amazing how some ppl just care and want to help complete strangers.

 

[Paul_B]

I find kitchen towel or toilet paper until I can get a plaster ready. I only use masking tape when I know there's no plasters and I'll be some time away from plasters. Tape just becomes harder than paper towels to replace when plaster is ready.

 

[Wildgoose]

Sounds nasty

Plasters have their place, generally for keeping small cuts clean and covered,

But! They are probably unlikely to stick to an actively bleeding wound. It’s generally best to apply direct pressure, applied with a clean cloth or dressing. A Jay cloth is fine. Get the bleeding under control then look to dress.

For finger and hand injuries pressure can be applied by holding a rolled up dressing of cloth and making a tight fist.

 

[Wildgoose]

Paper towel and toilet roll is ok if that’s what you have to hand but you need to be careful that is doesn’t disintegrate and contaminate the wound further. A tea towel, Jay cloth or handkerchief would be a better option

 

[Disabled Preppers]

LOL well here goes to another story on cuts lol yup be ready to get a bucket .
Ok imiage a young me who knows it all yup a carpenter with the look just do what i say , so my nephew and i are doing a flat refurb and the bath was a old cast iron job so me being smart i say get the clubhammer lets break it up to carry down 3 flights of stairs , so we break it in 2 and being big strong men lol we say oh lets go so we carry it out and get to the skip now i say to my nephew we throw it on 3 now remember it is a cstd iron bath so we swing one two and i say on 3 remember so as the bath approaches the skip before i can say 3 he let go so now my hands are holding the full weight heading to the skip i pull away but not in time my thumb get chopped between the bath and edge of the ksip nearly taking my thumb off i mean right down to the bone , i had a fear of doctors and hospitals long story so jump to me pouring blood running to the van grabbing a roll of scrimp cloth and wrapping my thumb so tight and them wrapping it in elecrtical tape , blood all down my arm but we have to collect a kitchen from magnets and some doors i have no choice carry on so i do we go in magnets to the counter a young lad serving says oh you again as i am holding my arm and hand high on chest blood still seeping he took one look hit the floor , the manager said he hates blood lol so then on we go now i go home and the wife gets my good old bowl out and a bottle of you name it TCP (victor medicine) i pour it in the bowl thumb straight in me hopping up and down as it is stinging and the wife saying you got to get that stitched no says i, i wrap it and bind it tight well 3 or 5 days pass and the wife said you need to clean it i open the wrapping and wow not a nice smell or colour so i get a stanley knife blade and cut the yucky bit and yellow stuff flys out the wife is scremaing at me to go to a doctor but nope so i wash it in yet another bottle of TCP and bind it this goes on for 2 or 3 weeks but it healed in the end lol , i have done many so called wounds like this a nail up through the eyelid and out the forhead pulled it back out screaming as i do thinking i lost my eye i wash face and eye dry it and then sealed it with plaster strips lol a chisel through hand again clean TCP and plaster butteflies lol , these days we have a huge medicine set and wound repair stuff but now days well not to jinx myself i do not work lucky really only time before i lost something like most i nthe trade .

 

[SaraR]

Oh do tell
What cardboard rack of plasters, ready to use ?

That sounds so very practical

They're refills for first aid boards. Here's an old one for kids, but they come in plain as well. I only really use it when I've cut myself on one hand so it lasts forever.

 

[MrEd]

So, I'm distracted, and oughtn't to be when I have a knife in my hand, but I was and I skliffed down and managed to take skin off the front of two fingers.
And, this is me, and I bleed, the red stuff runs. It does set, but it's really runny.

The sink looks like a bloodbath, and I stretch over to pull off a paper towel, and the whole roll and rod comes birling off and skitters over the kitchen floor

I wrap up my hand, and the paper towel turns scarlet, so I wrap it up some more and head over to the drawer where I keep elastoplasts.
It's a new box, it's still sealed.....
Can I get it opened one handed ?
Can I heck..
So, I tear the lid off and shake out the plasters, which are assorted sizes, and find them all in strips of five.
I need two.
I'm still leaking red stuff.
Find another paper towel.
Can I get the strips apart ?
Uhuh.....they don't want to, but do rip apart eventually, however there's red stuff on some of the papers now.
Can I peel the blasted papers off the plasters ????
I give up on the wee fold back and pull apart and just rip the damned things open.
Then I am faced with the backing paper that just does not want to lift !!!
I finally get one edge lifted enough to try putting the plaster on over the cut.....still leaking red stuff.
Plaster No1 is on
Plaster No2 is as unobliging as No1, but I find another paper towel, dry everything off and cover up the bleeder on the next finger.
Realise that I have bled through No1

Just as well I have spare plasters, and just use up the ones I got red stuff on.

I know hygienic and sterile is a good thing in plasters, but this is ridiculous

I'm going to strip a couple out of their covers and leave them tidy in the drawer so that they're easily at hand without all this unbelievably messy hassle.
And next time I try to slice off the top of a spice mill herb jar thing, I'll go and find a junior hacksaw.

M

Glad I am not the only one that refills the ‘single’ use herb grinders. I cut myself the same way doing the same thing - mine was in the web of my thumb though, ruined 2 tea towels!

 

[mrmike]

Does anyone else find that plasters are getting shorter nowadays? Struggle to get them all round a thumb, and no I don't have huge thumbs!

Toddy, have you tried haemostatic clotting powder on cuts? Supposed to stop bleeds in about a minute.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk