Banged up my finger at work!

[ThomR]

I was at work on Tuesday and to make a long story short I ended up sticking the middle finger of my right hand into a small high speed fan. Thankfully nothing was broken, just two dislocated joints and a fair amount of skin damage.
The guard on that fan had apparently came off somehow. The location of the fan is on the top of a vacuum loader that I can't see the top of. I stuck my hand on the top of the vacuum loader to see if it was still hot and it kinda just grabbed onto my finger.
Be praying for a speedy recovery and no complications.

[merlin101]

I guess that'll teach you to keep your finger out of places it doesn't belong![smilie=1:
Glad you didn't lose it!

[country gent]

Hope for a speedy recovery. Painful injury there. Fans can be dangerous. I have seen fingers lost to fans, probably bigger than the one you dealt with but those blades spinning arnt forgiving at all

[ThomR]

I was up on about a 4 foot platform with guard rails on three sides. I'm very very thankful I didn't pass out and fall backwards off the platform.

[ThomR]

I have a picture of my finger if anyone wants to see it.

[00buck]

It not your trigger finger I hope

[country gent]

We had a tradesman lose 3 1/2 fingers in a fan on the roof of the plant. Adjusting the thermostats "on point and had his other hand supporting him inside the fans housing. When the fan kicked on it took part of hand index finger and next along with part of middle finger. To much damage and dirt to reattach. This was a ventilation fan for the plant.

[Geezer in NH]

It not your trigger finger I hope

Appears to be more important.

[ThomR]

It's the middle finger on my right(dominant) hand. The only real damage is past the last joint so I will be fine. I might lose the nail on that finger, and there is a pretty good chunk of skin missing, but no internal damage. I still have feeling in the end of my finger. The last joint was dislocated and the end of the finger was bent at almost a 90 degree angle downwards.

[NyFirefighter357]

I was at work on Tuesday and to make a long story short I ended up sticking the middle finger of my right hand into a small high speed fan. Thankfully nothing was broken, just two dislocated joints and a fair amount of skin damage.
The guard on that fan had apparently came off somehow. The location of the fan is on the top of a vacuum loader that I can't see the top of. I stuck my hand on the top of the vacuum loader to see if it was still hot and it kinda just grabbed onto my finger.
Be praying for a speedy recovery and no complications.

Sound like a lawsuit in the waiting. Can't compete in the weekend shooting matches or Sat. night bowling league. That was the only finger you picked your nose with. Can't sleep, having nightmares of killer fans chasing you. Can't signal to drivers that have cut you off. lol Hope for a speedy recovery.

[jcren]

When I built industrial bandsaws for a living, I lost a lot of hide to carbide burrs in die grinders cleaning up plasma burn holes. Burr would bind and kick out and anything close by was in peril. The worst i saw (on hands any way) was we were loading a huge saw on the truck and one of the guys tried to reposition a block but got his thumb under the saw foot and the entire 6,000 pound saw was set down bfore he hollered. Popped the end of his thumb like a grape.

[abunaitoo]

Did the company report it to OSHA?????
I hope your company is paying for the injury and not charging you for time off.
Workers comp injury.
It is an OSHA violation to have a operational fan, with no guard, working on site.
With the injury, the fine from OSHA will be outrageous.

[ThomR]

Sound like a lawsuit in the waiting. Can't compete in the weekend shooting matches or Sat. night bowling league. That was the only finger you picked your nose with. Can't sleep, having nightmares of killer fans chasing you. Can't signal to drivers that have cut you off. lol Hope for a speedy recovery.

My finger is going to be fine. My time off is paid. This was the first time the guard on any of vacuum loaders had come off and there was no way to tell it was off because it can't be seen by your average person.

[Handloader109]

Well, I banged my left had about 18 months ago while trying to loosen a bolt on my car. I didn't have insurance and with no blood, or true dislocation, I thought it would be OK. Ring finger. It moves fine during the day, but in morning it hurts like all get out to bend it the first couple of times. Good luck....

[ThomR]

My wife changed the bandage on it a few minutes ago. I only have a small sliver of fingernail left, there is a pretty good gash on the right side of the finger and it got skinned up pretty good. Fortunately it doesn't hurt very much now that I got that god forsaken splint off.

[FISH4BUGS]

Man it HURTS just to read these descriptions! :)

[beemer]

I worked around woodworking machinery all my life, I certainly understand how fast things can happen. Hope for a speedy and full recovery.

[ThomR]

Did the company report it to OSHA?????
I hope your company is paying for the injury and not charging you for time off.
Workers comp injury.
It is an OSHA violation to have a operational fan, with no guard, working on site.
With the injury, the fine from OSHA will be outrageous.

All workplace injuries where I work get reported to OSHA. My time off is compensated. The fan can not be seen from the platform I was standing on. They went a long time without having any injuries at work. They recently had three within a few weeks of each other and got an inspection from OSHA. It's generally a very safe work environment.

[ThomR]

I have an appointment in the morning to see the orthopedic surgeon. I'm expecting they are going to want to perform surgery.

[nylocmik]

Does it look as bad as poor fella?225957

[ThomR]

Mine looks worse. I'm getting my finger amputated past the last joint today.I'll still have two thirds of my finger and it shouldn't affect my ability to shoot. I'm going to have to re-learn how to play bass, at least as far as my right hand technique goes.

[Grmps]

I'm Sorry you had to lose part of your finger. Mine was at the first joint, you'll be surprised how fast you adapt. It will take a while to quit using it instinctively.

I had to switch my change from my right front pocket to my left because I kept pouring it through the hole where the missing finger is and down the outside of my pants. :groner:

You'll be glad it was your right hand instead of you're left, I find that I handle small items (screws, primers, etc with my left hand and the right is holding tools)

A word or warning, I re-felt the accident for over a year after it happened as the nerves healed (and they picked the worse times to heal) wake you right up it will.

[ThomR]

I'm home from surgery. The doctor said I made the right decision by having it amputated. I'm hoping I can get some sort of settlement from work comp.
When my accident happened it didn't hurt at all. I felt it happening but didn't hurt until later.

[Mauser48]

I got my finger in a drawer clamp last week.

[ThomR]

I got my finger in a drawer clamp last week.

Are you ok?

[Mauser48]

Are you ok?

Bruised it pretty good but no permanent damage luckily!

[ThomR]

Bruised it pretty good but no permanent damage luckily!

That's good to hear!

[ThomR]

The only thing I'm concerned with is being able to grip and shoot my pistol as well as I could before the accident. I'll be able to get my middle around the front of the grip under the trigger guard.
Funny thing, the grip texture on my pistol regularly dug into the pad of my right middle finger and caused pain while I was shooting. Maybe this will improve my shooting.

[dbarnhart]

ouch. I hurt now just from reading this.

[ThomR]

ouch. I hurt now just from reading this.

I can deal with the pain. The really crappy part is not being able to shoot. I have an appointment for this Thursday. Hopefully my finger is healing well and I can get back to normal in a couple weeks.
I'm planning on getting a prosthetic finger as soon as possible.
226163

[rl69]

Don't be in any hurry. The few people I know with prosthetic fingers don't like them

[ThomR]

Don't be in any hurry. The few people I know with prosthetic fingers don't like them

It should be covered under work comp. If I get it and don't like it I won't be out anything.

[ThomR]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPt_lf3MQsc

[Plate plinker]

Time to practice one hand shooting.

[ThomR]

I got my huge bandage off of my hand today. Currently wearing a small bandage and a plastic finger protector.
My finger looks better than I thought it would. I get the stitches out next Thursday.
226387

[rl69]

Looks good

Remember never stick your hand anywhere you won't stick your toung:)

[ThomR]

I go to get my stitches out tomorrow. My finger seems to be doing pretty good.
I went out and put about 40 rounds down range today with my pistol and my wife's pistol. There was a little bit of pain but not too much.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Sorry for your loss. What happened between, "it'll be fine" and amputation? Poor circulation?

[abunaitoo]

So glad your OK.
Could have been worse.
You seem to be taking it well.

[ThomR]

Sorry for your loss. What happened between, "it'll be fine" and amputation? Poor circulation?

The hand surgeon looked at it and said it was worse than I originally thought it was. When she looked at my finger she said she could see the bone, so there was more damage than I thought.

[ThomR]

227502
Finger is healing well. I have to go to physical therapy two times a week for the next four weeks.

[Wis Tom]

Fan blades are pretty unforgiving. Hopefully that will be it, and the healing will continue. take care.

[bruce drake]

It will take a while to recover your grip strength as you will want to protect the stump for a while as its healing. Don't rush too fast to do pistol shooting with your right hand. But consider this as a perfect opportunity to reinforce your off-hand pistol handling for the next 6 months or so. One, it will give your hand time to heal without additional stress while on the second, it will give you a potentially life-saving skill that many pistol shooters may not have at all.

[starbits]

My brother-in-law lost part of the same finger. He would use his undamaged fingers as legs and paint a face on the stump and use his hand critter to mess with the kids.

Starbits

[country gent]

My Grandfather lost the tips of 2 fingers at work in the late 40s early 50s. His complaint was they were more sensitive to cold nd bumps than before. Something for you to keep in mind.

[bruce drake]

My Grandfather lost the tips of 2 fingers at work in the late 40s early 50s. His complaint was they were more sensitive to cold nd bumps than before. Something for you to keep in mind.

Dang right on that! I cut the tips of 4 fingers to the bone on my left hand (interior of 1st knuckles on pinky, ring, middle fingers and thumb) when I was 12 and the scar tissue still sends waves of pain if I hit them the wrong way...