[Sherry Hale] I wanna share a story about a fellow member and
how First Aid for Gunshot Wounds certification
saved his life...in a kayaking incident.
Here is Andrew's story.
[Dr. Rick Hammesfahr] Well Andrew, it's really nice to meet you at long last. I hear you
have an interesting story. I know you took one of
our First Aid for Gunshot Wounds courses
but I understand that the incident was not a gunshot wound.
So what exactly happened to you? Can you share it?
[Andrew B.] Yes sir. Well,
I'd gone out to have a nice peaceful day on the lake
in the kayak and it didn't turn out that way. As I
was entering the water,
I ended up coming out of the kayak and the bank
was a lot steeper and the shelf was a lot
deeper, and as I tried to pull myself out, I kept
kind of sliding back in
and so I came back down on a branch that went
through, in and out of my foot.
To make matters more interesting there was an
alligator over on one side of the bank. I felt
you know the blood pumping out of my foot and then I
looked back and the alligator was no longer there,
so that was a motivating factor to get out of
the water real quick. But when I did exit the water
finally,
I realized that I had
an arterial bleed, because of what I had learned in the class.
I saw, you know, blood under pressure
coming out of my foot, bright red...
So I knew:
tourniquet, or hemostatic gauze, which I had received
in a trauma kit that I'd gotten as a result of the
class two days prior. I decided for whatever
reason to go with combat gauze and it sounds like
it worked out because I was able to pack my foot
properly based on what the class had taught me, and then
I was able to apply pressure for three minutes or
so, noticed there was no more bleeding, and then wrapped
it in a pressure gauze (pressure bandage) and then drove to the hospital.
[Dr. Rick Hammesfahr] Well that's quite a story. So you
got all of this information out of the classroom portion of
the First Aid for Gunshot Wounds course that you went to?
[Andrew B.] Yes sir.
[Dr. Rick Hammesfahr] When you were doing the skill stations and you're
packing this 12 feet of combat gauze into the
skill station wound-packing trainer,
did you ever think that you'd be packing these 12
feet into your own foot?
[Andrew B.] I sure didn't, no. Not whatsoever. And it even kinda
freaks me out a little bit today to see that that's how
much went into that wound.
[Rick Hammesfahr] Yeah, because it really wasn't that big of a wound was it?
[Andrew B.] It wasn't all that deep, I don't believe it, but it just
compresses so much. Which of course, is what
it's supposed to do. It did its job and stopped the
bleeding. So they said it's likely, even down to a
couple of hours, possibly, had I come in later
that I would have lost the foot and had I waited even
longer, it might've become a blood infection and
possibly affected my longevity.
[Dr. Rick Hammesfahr] I'm just curious. If you had not taken this
course when you're lying there with the stick
through your foot, the blood going in the water, and the
alligator who is no longer visible and you're wondering
where he is...what do you think would have happened?
[Andrew B.] I think I would have still gotten out of the water, but once I had
to examine the wound, I think I probably would
have just ended up wrapping a shirt or something around it
that was on hand and, as I know now that's not
gonna stop an arterial bleed, and of course,
passing out or worse could have occurred.
[Dr. Rick Hammesfahr] Well Andrew, thank you very much for your insight and your thoughts on this.
[Andrew B.] It's my pleasure.
[Dr. Rick Hammesfahr] It's a pleasure to meet you and find out your story and hear how you treated it.
[Andrew B.] I thank y'all for what you do.
[Sherry Hale] Our First Aid for Gunshot Wounds course will
teach you knowledge that can be applied to any
tragic accident where there is massive bleeding.
Car accidents, sporting accidents, this course is
for everyone.
Knowing how to properly use the skills and tools
can save a life. Get certified today and make sure
you are prepared. Go to gunlawseminar.com to
sign up for one of our first aid seminars now.
And thank you Andrew for sharing your story with us.
