How will you fix a broken bone after tshtf ?

I thought it might be interesting to find out what some of you have planned in the event of taking a fall and breaking a bone after the shtf. Do you have med. supplies and actually know how to use them? Have you had experience at this type of thing or even thought about it ? No xrays, no doc's only you to do the deed . What will you do now.

 

I am a healthcare professional and there are many excellent websites that address first aid for fractures in the field. Fractures (broken bones): First aid - MayoClinic.com is a great place to start.

 

good response with a useful reference. I defer to the technical medical experts, but my own thoughts are:

1. Set the bones early i.e. before the bones have knitted a deformity into place.

2. Set the bones right first time. Nobody wants their bones broken a second time to fix something that wasn't done properly the first time.

 

I think by staying calm , using your head you turned it more to your direction then many others will in the same situation.

There was a man at the beginning of last winter who decided to ride his quad in the snow before leaving his cabin to go back to the valley. The S.O had people out looking for him for over 2 weeks before finally giving up the search. He was finally found come early spring. Dead. He had rode his quad a little to close to the edge of a wash, and when the snow gave way, tumbled over and received a compound fracture to his femor. He eveidently managed to crawl about 1/2 mile before he died. Happened in Forest Lakes Az. just last winter. I know his neighbors and had met him once while visiting them. They are further south from us. This is what I am asking people to respond to and also to address this problem as it can be a real nightmare should it happen to them.

 

If soloing...carry a personal locator / EPIRB

It is possible, given that it was a compound fracture and that it was in wintertime above the snowline, that he bled out or died of shock or hypothermia. Quite possibly the lesson to be learned by that scenario, is to have a personal EPIRB locator on one's person in remote areas when one is soloing, and to have daily contact scheds so that any search effort starts sooner than later.

The other thing that occurs to me, is that perhaps his priority should have been for shelter and keeping himself warm and dry, though it seems that given that they were searching for two weeks or so, he may not have been easily seen at the crash site.

Having a functional radio and distress signalling gear with his survival equipment on him or his quad would have helped his chances too. Once having won a Darwin Award, there are few chances for a second award on the mantle piece.

 

Well Chelloveck, I think you are very right. Haveing an emergancy kit attached to the quad may have saved his life. The area of Forest Lakes is so heavily treed that you can barely see a cabin through the growth. A simple boat type flare gun could have made the difference also.

 

For a simple fracture, setting and splinting will have to do.

Setting a bone may be impossible if the fracture is a compound fracture. Only surgery would set it correctly. In the abscence of this, I would apply manual traction and gradually release tension everyday there after giving the bone some time to heal to the point where the limb may be usable again. It will never be 100% again. Some sort of physical therapy is must.

I think that is about the only option for a shattered bone.

Maybe a doc will chime in with a better option.

 

FYI, the new terminology for fx is closed (formerly simple) and open (formerly compound).

There are very specific recommendations for manipulating fx'd bones in the field, so please be very, very careful about this. Fractured bones have razor-sharp edges that can slice through blood vessels like a knife. Field-expedient treatment when you're faced with a fx out in the middle of nowhere is of course different than a situation where you can call 911. My point is that whether out in the middle of the forest or in your front yard, it's imperative to educate ourselves about how to approach a person that has sustained a fx.

 

if it's a crushed bone or compound fracture. Might possibly die due to blood loss/ poisoning. I'm thinking I should research further.

simple fracture. set it or get drunk and have wife set it for me. she's was a CNA.

 

I guess the nick is more appropriate.. hope you get feeling better.., sends good mojo RH's way

 

This is one of the best answers I have seen so far. Put your minds back to when our great-grandparents were kids. Early to mid 1860.s. Back when drs. were also barbors. Yes, that is true. No, no exrays, no real pain meds and no real knowledge of medicine. You are probably more adapt at this type of medicine right now then they were. Are you prepared to have someone like me put my foot in your arm pit, give you a stick to bite on and start pulling and hope I twist your arm the right way?

This is the type of medicine we will be talking about. At least most of us.

 

If it's compound be sure to get a sterile, wetted cloth or gauze on that bone ASAP so it does not dry out

I've seen one of these in an ATV accident and advised them to do so..they had a good sized group and water. Then I headed out to make a 911 call at a nearby country store as I did not have a cell phone and neither did they

 

How to fix a broken bone

I have been a EMT since 1964 and a LPN and on to RN . If the break is not a open fx you can get by aligning and splinting if no other care is available. But I warn against treating any injury yourself if care is available. Post SHTF we may be on our own and should have first aid training before it is needed, and the confidence to practice it may be essential for our families survival.

 

Unless you absolutely cannot get to professional help then do what you have to. If you can get out then just stabilize the break so that it cannot flex any. Do not cut off blood supply. Check by pressing the nail beds to see if they turn pink after pressure is removed after applying bandages/sling. If that bone is next to a vessel(they are) and you cut it then you may bleed out in short order.

 

I was a US Navy Corpsman and was stationed with the USMC I've set bones and relocated joints in the field. It isn't much fun for the person doing it and even less so for the person having it done. If you set a bone then you need to check to ensure that they have good circulation and they have good nuerological responce as well. If not then it needs to be reset ASAP.

As always any medical info coming from me is for informational purposes only.

BWM

 

Backwoods, Have you ever heard of my sweetie--Goatlady?? She is from Arkansas, is a preper, and has goats-among other critters.