Current News >
June 17th, 2008: Foreign Object Injuries.
Kemptville District Hospital
2675 Concession Road, Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0
Tel: (613) 258-6133; Fax: (613) 258-7853
June 16, 2008
For Immediate Release – June 16, 2008
Kemptville, ON, June 17, 2008 – A man in Kansas narrowly escaped death last week, according to local media, when his nail-gun accidentally discharged a 2.5 inch nail through the top of his skull.
Shelley Bottan, a Diagnostic Imaging Technologist from the Kemptville District Hospital, has seen her share of injuries like these here. "With so much construction, and new hand-held automatic tools, these kinds of injuries are becoming way too common." The Kemptville District Hospital's busy ER sees approximately forty-five patients a day; more than one case will involve what is referred to as a foreign-body injury. These may range from nails piercing the body, for example, to small objects up a child's nose.
"As long as they do not hit vital organs or joints, people can recover pretty quickly from injuries like these. They look gruesome, but our bodies are designed to seal up, and heal up, quickly" says ER Nurse Team Leader Eileen Goddard, "Patients sometimes ask about lockjaw, which is really tetanus, but this was a lot more common when more people were farming, and before large-scale immunization programs." A booster shot lasts up to ten years, and patients coming into KDH with dirty wounds or cuts often get a shot just in case.
What should you do if you’ve been 'nailed'? "Stay calm" says Goddard. "Excited people tend to pump blood out the wound faster and harder. Leave the object embedded, too, because it helps plug the wound until we're ready to take it out."
The Kansas man was treated by a doctor using an ordinary claw hammer to remove the nail. "So far KDH hasn't stocked any hammers in its ER," joked Goddard, "but there should be lots around with the new addition we're building!"
- 30 -
Photos included with this media release include:
 x-ray of the left hand of an eighteen year-old male, with nail |
 x-ray of mid-section of an eighteen month-old female, with pin |
For more information, please contact:
Alex Heath, Director, Kemptville District Hospital Foundation/ Manager, Hospital Communications
613-258-6133 x 194
aheath@kdh.on.ca