Put SuperGlue in your First Aid kits.
Last night I was washing dishes and reached to pull off the CuisinArt slicer blade one-handed. Slip. I knew instantly, the way you do, that my thumb was cut deep and bad, and was going to bleed bad. It did. Bandaids didn't stop the drip.
But amid my fury at myself (oh shit oh shit, emergency room, stitches, dumbass!) I remembered hearing, or reading, about doctors using Superglue to hold together small lacerations, rather than stitches. I thought, OK, I have superglue, I'll see if I can at least slow the bleed until I can get to the ER.
Found the glue, removed the padded paper towel from my sliced thumb, slapped on the glue and closed it tight again.
30 seconds later, it was done. Sealed. Tight. Not a drop. I put a couple of Bandaids on the now-sealed wound.
My sister got me to the emergency room, the doc said "Where's Superglue Woman?" examined my thumb, and said I'd done a fine job by myself. All they did was clean away the dried blood, give me a new Bandaid and a tetanus shot. It's been 24 hours since I dumbassed myself, and the wound is still sealed and starting to look like it might repair.
These days, with so many natural disasters forcing people to take better stock of their emergency supplies, it might behoove you to throw in a bottle of Superglue with the bandages and antiseptic.
But amid my fury at myself (oh shit oh shit, emergency room, stitches, dumbass!) I remembered hearing, or reading, about doctors using Superglue to hold together small lacerations, rather than stitches. I thought, OK, I have superglue, I'll see if I can at least slow the bleed until I can get to the ER.
Found the glue, removed the padded paper towel from my sliced thumb, slapped on the glue and closed it tight again.
30 seconds later, it was done. Sealed. Tight. Not a drop. I put a couple of Bandaids on the now-sealed wound.
My sister got me to the emergency room, the doc said "Where's Superglue Woman?" examined my thumb, and said I'd done a fine job by myself. All they did was clean away the dried blood, give me a new Bandaid and a tetanus shot. It's been 24 hours since I dumbassed myself, and the wound is still sealed and starting to look like it might repair.
These days, with so many natural disasters forcing people to take better stock of their emergency supplies, it might behoove you to throw in a bottle of Superglue with the bandages and antiseptic.