Not a joke, really.
I've been quietly listening to the list for a while, and indeed this
is the right place to ask this question.
I work as medical director for mountain and cave rescue teams, and we
try to plan ahead for even unlikely occurrences -- such as a caver
with a leg trapped under a rock.
Don't worry about anaesthesia, bleeding control, etc. And don't
worry about the skin and soft tissues -- cutting through them with a
serrated pocket knife is fine.
The problem is cutting through the big bone in the middle, in cramped
spaces. In the operating room under controlled circumstances, we use
a wire saw like those sold in camping stores (about 14" long with
serrations along it, a split ring on either end). Actually, one of
the orthopedic surgeons in Charlotte, NC has switched to actual
camping saws -- they're a lot cheaper and work just as well.
But one of these saws requires a fair bit of room around the leg, and
might not work very well in some situations. An alternative is a
Gerber folding camp saw, which can be used with minimal motion even
in a confined space. But it still requires some motion, and in some
situations might be very slow and tiring to use.
I had seen a "WoodZig" at the local Hechinger's last year -- a tiny
battery-powered chainsaw (blade about 6" long) on a long stick, for
tree pruning. But Hechinger was out of them. And when I called up
the company in Portland, OR, they said they had discontinued them
and had nothing similar to offer. Gak. It had looked ideal -- just
hold it in place and it would cut right through.
Any of the inventive minds on this list seen anything else that would
be good? The requirements are:
1. lasts long enough to cut through a leg
2. can adapt to using non-rechargable batteries (don't trust NiCads
for rare, life-safety situations)
3. lightweight for hauling into wherever
4. can be easily used in very tight situations where one can just
reach in with one hand.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Keith Conover, M.D., FACEP (NSS 12893, WD4PSY)
http://www.pitt.edu/~kconover
- Information Systems Coordinator, Dept. of EM, Mercy Hospital
- Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept. of Emergency Medicine,
Univ. of Pittsburgh (EM Residency and Center for Emergency Medicine)
- Medical Director, Wilderness EMS Institute
(http://www.wemsi.org; for a WEMSI-sponsored list, send "subscribe
wilderness-emergency-medicine" to Majordomo@list.pitt.edu)
- Eastern Region, Natl. Cave Rescue Comm./Appalachian SAR Conf.
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