Our First Emergency Room Visit

I had to document the first emergency room visit for our family. This last Wednesday at approximately 8:30pm Matt sliced his pointer finger open with a razor blade. He, of course, didn’t think the cut was that bad, having wrapped it in toilet paper at the scene. When he got home to continue with proper first aid, my suspicions that it was worse than he thought were confirmed as blood began to flow uncontrollably upon the removal of the TP bandage. Those of you who know me well know that I am not that great in emergency situations, but I did my best to keep my composure as we jumped in the Mazda and cruised to McKay-Dee ER. We hadn’t planned very well for all of the blood and at one point Matt was bleeding through what napkins we had and was beginning to drip. In the desire not to get blood all over the car, he stuck is hand out of the window and proceeded to get blood all down the passenger side of the car (Am I getting too graphic for you?)!!!

We finally arrived at the ER and I sent Matt in while I parked. All of the blood had the waiting room in a frenzy – they pretty much thought he had cut his finger off. One old lady almost went home “That young fella cut his finger off, and all that is wrong with me is that I can’t breathe! Let’s just go…” It was pretty humorous when they pulled off the make-shift bandage to find a ¾ inch cut. Apparently he had cut an arterial vein which was causing the blood flow. They got us into a room pretty quick and had him in a finger tourniquet, as it was the only way to get the blood to stop. I did a pretty good job with the support while they stitched him up. I was able to control my nausea, only having to get some fresh air once. It makes for a good story, but in reality the cut only required four stitches.

If you ever want to see pictures, Matt has it pretty well documented on his phone. And remember, as per our doctor’s orders that night, if you ever want to stitch yourself up, the best thing to use is fishing line.