It was a chilly December morning when the farmer took to the fields for a long day’s work. It was time to harvest barley but for this farmer his day would begin with a life changing event. As he stepped down from the tractor, he switched on the motor driving the large circular double blades of the harvester. As he turned around, he slipped on a patch of ice and fell onto the edge of the machine, thrusting his right arm into the moving blades. The shearing force tore his arm off and twisted his body around, throwing his left arm into the harvester and tearing it off as well.
It was a chilly December morning when the farmer took to the fields for a long day’s work. It was time to harvest barley but for this farmer his day would begin with a life changing event. As he stepped down from the tractor, he switched on the motor driving the large circular double blades of the harvester. As he turned around, he slipped on a patch of ice and fell onto the edge of the machine, thrusting his right arm into the moving blades. The shearing force tore his arm off and twisted his body around, throwing his left arm into the harvester and tearing it off as well.
Without hesitation he kicked the safety with his foot, shutting down the moving blades as he stared at his two amputated limbs that lay on the ground below him. He looked up to see that the farmhouse was more than 500 yards away and no one was in sight, so he got up and ran to the house. He kicked the door in and called for help. He ran straight to the bathtub and sat inside of it so he wouldn’t get blood all over the house.
EMS arrived after what seemed to be an eternity and he was taken by helicopter to the nearest major medical center. Just before leaving the scene, the paramedics retrieved the amputated arms from the harvester and transported them with the patient. At the time this incident occurred, this patient was one of only five successful double upper extremity re-implantations.
- What organ systems are affected in this patient case study? How are they affected?
- Based on your own prior knowledge and experience, why do you think this person did not bleed to death? What factors do you think could have contributed to his survival?
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