I'd be interested to try super glue, too

Shawn

: I managed to split the skin on my knuckle on a wood surface yesterday. The
: wound was about 2 inches or more long. That gave me the chance to see if I
: could suture my hand by myself. If I had gone to the hospital I would have
: been there for hours on end waiting to see a doctor. I remembered that
: Brianne convinced me to take sutures on my trip last year so I hauled one
: out and used my S&G skills to good end.

: Because it wasnt a puncture wound I wasn't very worried about infection
: although I did sterilize the area around the wound to be safe using one of
: my med kit steri-wipes. Eight stitches and some struggling with bad angles
: and I was on the mend. Today there is almost no swelling although it hurts
: a little.

: My thought here is that for those of you going on wilderness paddles where
: there is little chance of getting medical help in case of emergency, get
: the sutures and carry them in your med kit. A deep and/or long wound must
: be closed immediately after the injury or you will have serious problems
: with bleeding and/or infection. I bled profusely but once sutured up, no
: bleeding. I applied Polysporin as an antibiotic and gauze pads tightly
: wrapped so as to apply good pressure to the wound. I then taped it up with
: even pressure over the wound to ensure that there was no risk of stressing
: the sutures, effectively immobilizing the wounded area. That meant using
: the gauze to bind my two small fingers together then taping them with med
: tape so that they can't bend. The next risk if this had happened out in
: the wilds would be to have something available to cover the bandages so I
: could keep paddling. A snug rubber or nitrile glove would work well. I
: wouldn't be able to wear a paddling glove because of the added bulk of the
: bandages. Another problem I discovered was that in the wild I would have
: used up all of my sterile gauze mopping up the blood, so adequate gauze
: supplies means maybe 20 pads or more, large ones would be best because
: they can be folded to be used on the wound. Another problem was that I
: didn't ahve peroxide in my kit. That would have been useful for
: sterilizing large areas of skin for wounds on other parts of the body.

: Although I feel like a dolt for not being more careful, I did get to learn
: that I have what it takes to provide myself with appropriate wilderness
: medical care. As I look at the rest of my hand now, I can see that even
: the minor sweelign has gone away. Brianne, thanks for the advice, next
: time I have to do the sewing I'll be thinking of you.

: Robert N Pruden