Jonas, 32, sewed up his own leg after ER wait

[roo_ster]

http://www.thelocal.se/28150/20100803/

Dude in Sweden (Viking,was this you?) got tired of waiting in an ER to get his wound stitched up, saw a needle & thread kit nearby, and did the job himself.  The hospital reported him to the police.

Some of the comments are high-larious. "You want better service, pay more taxes!"  Or the guy who claims the CIA poisoned him (via the Portuguese intel service) with ricin and that the subsequent socilaist Swedish medical treatment was great.  I'm not making that up: http://www.thelocal.se/28150#comment555690

For my own part, I think self-service stitch kits would be great.  Include needles, thread, hypos, novocaine, saline wash, and antibacterial goop.

[Bigjake]

http://www.thelocal.se/28150/20100803/

Dude in Sweden (Viking,was this you?) got tired of waiting in an ER to get his wound stitched up, saw a needle & thread kit nearby, and did the job himself.  The hospital reported him to the police.

Some of the comments are high-larious. "You want better service, pay more taxes!"  Or the guy who claims the CIA poisoned him (via the Portuguese intel service) with ricin and that the subsequent socilaist Swedish medical treatment was great.  I'm not making that up: http://www.thelocal.se/28150#comment555690

For my own part, I think self-service stitch kits would be great.  Include needles, thread, hypos, novocaine, saline wash, and antibacterial goop.

They key to sewing oneself up would be whatever sort of vaso constrictor they put in the novocaine.  Sewing skin that's still bleeding profusely is a serious PITA, and makes the intricate part really hard.  

[Viking]

http://www.thelocal.se/28150/20100803/

Dude in Sweden (Viking,was this you?) got tired of waiting in an ER to get his wound stitched up, saw a needle & thread kit nearby, and did the job himself.  The hospital reported him to the police.

Some of the comments are high-larious. "You want better service, pay more taxes!"  Or the guy who claims the CIA poisoned him (via the Portuguese intel service) with ricin and that the subsequent socilaist Swedish medical treatment was great.  I'm not making that up: http://www.thelocal.se/28150#comment555690

For my own part, I think self-service stitch kits would be great.  Include needles, thread, hypos, novocaine, saline wash, and antibacterial goop.

Yeah, read this story as well. Not me though. I do think I could do it, pain-wise, but my needlework is unfortunatly lacking. As for "You want better service, pay more taxes!", it was the same when we had a leftist government. Funny though, AFAIK, back in the 60's we had FAR lower taxes than we do now, and yet the general opinion is that services provided were better, more swift etc. Then again, one of our older PM's said something along the lines of "taxes are a necessary evil, therefor it's our job to make sure they are put to good use and not being wasted". Imagine that...

[HankB]

. . . hospital staff were not as impressed by his initiative and have reported the man on suspicion of arbitrary conduct for having used hospital equipment without authorization.

Arbitrary conduct is a crime in Sweden? I'd love to see the definition in the law books!

As for the part about " . . . hospital staff were not as impressed by his initiative . . ."  I'd say he wasn't impressed by hospital staff.

[roo_ster]

Arbitrary conduct is a crime in Sweden? I'd love to see the definition in the law books!

As for the part about " . . . hospital staff were not as impressed by his initiative . . ."  I'd say he wasn't impressed by hospital staff.

Who showed no initiative.

[Viking]

Arbitrary conduct is a crime in Sweden? I'd love to see the definition in the law books!

As for the part about " . . . hospital staff were not as impressed by his initiative . . ."  I'd say he wasn't impressed by hospital staff.

The article on The Local is written/translated shoddily. He might be charged with criminal conversion (I think that would be the term).

[kgbsquirrel]

So what are they really mad about? That he was doing their job for them or that he (presumably) swiped one of their suture kits? Does it qualify as practicing without a license/certification if you do it to yourself? 

By the by, staples (surgical, not hardware) are much easier to use.

[Viking]

Probably both, but the only thing he can be charged with is swiping one of the kits, but obviously they are mad at him for doing it quicker (and perhaps better) than they are capable of.

[MillCreek]

So what are they really mad about? That he was doing their job for them or that he (presumably) swiped one of their suture kits? Does it qualify as practicing without a license/certification if you do it to yourself? 

By the by, staples (surgical, not hardware) are much easier to use.

Butterfly closures, steri-strips or DermiBond FTW!  And the vasoconstrictor is epinephrine that is used along with the local anesthesia.  I have done some field laceration repairs with butterfly closures and gotten excellent results.  It does of course depend on location and the skin tension in the area. 

[BridgeRunner]

Steri-strips+tegaderm.  Seems hard to find Tegaderm these days.  Used to be at every pharmacy/discount store, but I can't find it lately.

[lee n. field]

Include needles, thread, hypos, novocaine, saline wash, and antibacterial goop.

+ Duct tape and medical cyanoacrylate glue.

What more would you need?  No detcord, we're not doing amputations here.

[BobR]

+ Duct tape and medical cyanoacrylate glue.

Plain old super glue is plenty good for field expedient repairs. Make sure you have genuine duct tape and not the infamous duck tape. 

bob

[seeker_two]

Sounds like the patient may be charged with impersonating medical personnel.....competent medical personnel....

[MechAg94]

Sounds like the patient may be charged with impersonating medical personnel.....competent medical personnel....

Maybe he could press those same charges on the hospital staff.   

[Ex-MA Hole]

Reminds me of earlier this summer when I got tired of sitting in the er for 5 1/2 hours and pulled out my own iv and walked out of the er.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i got compliments on my stitching from the er room doc  he though i had training  i told him yea  played hockey. we would hold the cut on the ice till it numbed then stitch faast.  its getting just the right tension thats tough too much and it puckers or worse tears out