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Tailgate Safety:  Dumb (and dangerous) mistakes...  |
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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 02 2007 : 07:48:51 AM
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Have you ever been injured in the wild due to bad judgement or plain old bad luck?
While I was working on an island wildlife refuge 3 miles off the coast of WA, I was climbing around a pile of old lumber looking for snakes when I stepped on a rusty nail that poked right through my Vibram boot sole & into my foot. As I contemplated when I might have had my last tetanus shot (more than 10 yrs ago), I looked out at the raging November sea & realized there was no way - short of calling the Coast Guard - that I was going to get to a doctor because our 21' USFWS boat couldn't handle that kind of water. I played the odds & went on about my business, thinking maybe I'd get my foot checked out later in the week. Come to find out that tetanus is only treatable within 24 hours of exposure (at least that's what I heard). Lucky me, I healed up with no trouble!
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catscharm74
outbound
35 Posts
35 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2007 : 08:37:09 AM
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Not letting people know your intinerary. Even given a general location and times, dates, # of people can save lives. Leave this in your car, with friends and family, even leave some in your backpack if you need to leave a trail of sort if you do get into trouble.
Being inexperienced and thinking you can beat Mother Nature. She will win if you are not careful and have not planned. Take some classes, go out with an experienced person, learn all you can. |
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Elizaray
outspoken
680 Posts
Elizaray
680 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 7:50:21 PM
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catscharm74- That is great advice. It is sad how many times my hometown area has to send out Search And Rescue each year for people who have gone missing. Camping is great recreation but we have to respect the earth and the creatures who roam it.
Elizaray |
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Elizaray
outspoken
680 Posts
Elizaray
680 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 8:01:33 PM
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My dumb and dangerous mistake:
Okay so I was 8. I guessyou are etitled to a few dumb mistakes as a child- I just hope my daughter's dumb mistakes won't be so painful!
As I mentioned in a different post, my family started building a log cabin in the foot hills of the rockies when I was 4. By the time I was 8 a good majority of the major construction was done and it was more of a "fiddling" project for my dad. On this specific time I believe he was re-building/creating the front deck. I just remember he was going to be doing "dangerous" (read working with the saw) work and did not want us girls under foot. We had also just brought up some old bikes from town for riding around in the country. Of course they were in poor repair and both had low air pressure in the tires.
My sister and I didn't care. We set off on a bike ride down the road and back. The nearest neighbor was about 5 miles down the road which we thought was a good landmark. We made it most of the way to our landmark when we realized we were at the top of hill. My sister decided that I should go down first because she wanted to ride fast! So away I went. Unfortunatly I soon realized that people should not ride bikes that are to big for them for a reason.
The bike quickly gained momentum and I lost control. The pedals were spinning so fast that they knocked my feet off and I lost even more control. I vaguely remember my head hitting the handle bars as I flew head over heals. My face smashed into a rock on the ground.
I was okay other than the fact that I shattered the bones in the front of my upper jaw and my front two teeth got jambed up into my gums.
My sister helped me up and we walked all the way back to the cabin. My dad (an EMT for 18 yrs) took one look at me and got us into the car. Luckily he had his EMT pack with him and was able to give my mouth a lidacaine wash to numb the pain. We first thought that my teeth were back at the crash site but luckily they were still in my mouth.
I had to have emergency dental surgery that day and had root canals done on both my front teeth. In High School I ended up having to have one of the damaged teeth pulled because my body decided to reject it.
So for one silly/dumb decision I have a fake tooth as one of my front teeth and cost my parents a bundle in dental bills.
Elizaray |
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Jen
Expedition Leader
1384 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
1384 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2007 : 12:09:12 PM
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I can tell you firsthand that safety glasses are a good idea while working in the woods because I wasn't wearing any when a limb smacked me right across the eyeball. (My hub & I are cutting & clearing a bunch of scraggly cedars from our forest). Ouch! I feared the worst, but I can see just fine & there appears to be no real harm done. Just a little warning, I guess to WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!
The View From My Boots: www.bovesboots.blogspot.com
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Tailgate Safety: Dumb (and dangerous) mistakes... |
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Dumb (and dangerous) mistakes...
