What is a machine operator's pinch point?

In other personal injury legal news a worker at the J.E. Adams parts manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids lost a part of his hand when it got stuck inside the machine. I’ve handled similar cases involving pinch-points and dual operation palm button manufacturing machinery. Most modern machinery won’t allow the operator to insert his hand into the location of a pinch point and to also start the machine’s operation. In other words both of the operator’s hands are needed to start the machine’s manufacturing processes. For more information about this story read the Register’s article titled, Worker loses part of hand in machinery, May 6, 2010.

Table Saw Injuries to Adults and to Children

Both children and adults are injured by table saws every year. In this study the causes are examined and tell us how to avoid being injured or how our children can avoid injury in shop class.

Can you be too careful when young children are playing and you're mowing the lawn?

Two-year-old infant injured by lawnmower

 

How does a 2-year-old boy get hurt by a lawnmower? There aren’t many details but that’s exactly what is reported by KCRG in a Scott County Sheriff’s Report. The child was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City for treatment. No further news was available. The news item was from June 8, 2009.

Kid's do unexpected things. Adults need to expect the unexpected!

This isn’t the first such incident this year. In Rhode Island a 2-year-old girl ran into the path of a riding lawnmower that struck her foot on May 11, 2009. The driver attempted to swerve from the infant and she went in the same direction. A tourniquet didn’t work and she taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence or Warwick. The child was at the babysitter’s house but was being closely watched; they were walking. Police continue to investigate the incident. Photographs of the home are online with WPRI.com. She is undergoing surgery although one report said she was critically injured. A later report indicates no charges are being filed. Children do impulsive things; of course the lawn mower operator is expected to anticipate the unexpected and to not operate the lawnmower when children are close.

http://www.truveo.com/somerset-lawnmower-accident/id/9844514

And in Michigan, Plainfield Township a 4-year-old girl’s foot was amputated after being run over by a riding lawn mower driven by an unknown person. She is expected to live. The location of the accident occurred about 8 miles northeast of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Emergency personnel were able to stop the bleeding which seems to be the first order of ER work. If this should ever happen to you stop the bleeding and have someone call 911. But above all else stop the bleeding.

4-Year-Old Brock's Story

This newscaster states about 10,000 people a year are injured by lawn mowers and about half of those injured are under 5-years-of-age. Obviously you can't be too careful when cutting the grass in the presence of infants. Reported on KMBC.com, June 9, 2009, Boy Recovers After Lawn Mower Cuts Arm, Kansas City, MO.

Lawn mowers injure about 10,000 people a year; half of those are children under age 5.

For more safety tips, visit childrensmercy.org.

KMBC, Missouri

The Palm Beach Post reports on June 3, 2009 a 60-year-old grandpa mowing the lawn had a 5-year-old grandson run in front of the John Deere riding lawnmower causing him to run over the boy’s left leg.

Jake's story from May, 2008,  - Shriner's step up to help

The 60-year-old ran over his grandson's left leg, severing the boy's foot a few inches above the ankle.

“‘Grandpa, grandpa! It hurts, it hurts!' he said," Michael Langston, Charlie's brother, recalled. "My brother took the foot inside the house and wrapped it up."

Clutching the boy's foot in a bag, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue paramedics flew the 5-year-old in a helicopter to Delray Medical Center, fire-rescue Deputy Chief Steve Delai said. "He was conscious and alert," Delai said. "He was calm and his vitals were good."

Unfortunately, doctors could not reattach the foot, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Lawnmower Safety, Dr. Kevin Latz, Orthopaedic Surgeon

British Doctor Volunteering in Republic of Congo performs surgery through text-message instruction

Doctor David Nott, doing charity medical work in the Republic of Congo performed surgery by text message instructions sent from a colleague in the United Kingdom. The boy, sixteen-years-old had injured his arm in an accident. By the time Dr. Nott arrived for his one month per year stint with the charity Medecins sans Frontieres, the boy’s arm was badly infected and the boy was dying. To save the boy’s life the doctor determine the arm needed to be amputated. An arm amputation isn’t a procedure the doctor had previously performed. Aside from having very few resources he would be required to also remove the collar bone and shoulder blade.

Sending a text-message to a colleague in the U.K. Dr. Nott received step by step instructions on how to perform the operation.  If you would like to hear Dr. Nott click on the video link.

Today at the Des Moines InjuryBoard we salute Dr. Nott for his creative abilities, quick thinking and gutsy move.