2nd degree burn=hospital, right?? (language, much rage )

[teh_blumchenkinder]

could go in morons in management, but I don't work there, so here it goes.
1) Where this takes place is a right-to-work state-- which, for practical terms mean "if you're a bother, we fire you at some later date for shit/no reason"
2) Burrito Hell is a substitute name-- another tex-mex food item and something that rings
3) BF works there.
I got called tonight because there wasn't anything in the store's first aid kit. So why did they need me? No one had a car to get anything-- for a fucking second degree burn! Grease dumped on the back of a coworker's hand-- just from the description of "there's blood" told me, someone's who's first aid course is almost 10 years behind her, that this was serious.
No hospital. No workmans' comp. Not even a report-- in the logs, to the health department, nothing. I had to use my BF's own money and hoof it to the store to get burn ointment and appropriate bandaging, for under 15 bucks. I barely managed it.
And I have to wait a few days to call corporate or find another phone, 'cuz I already filled out a survey in the last six weeks.
Originally, I was going to give coirker (dude numero tres at the store) a ride to his place to get the stuff, but his psychotic gf won't even stand the idea of him in a car with something that has a vagina. Why they told her my gender I haven't the slightest.
FFS.
The burn was about the size of a tennis ball, very pussy, already raised a few millimeters off the back of his hand. hair was still in place, and very slight blood seemed to be beading at the pores. He couldn't keep it under cold water for very long, because the pressure hurt too much. I told him the skin was still cooking, and he just shrugged it off. Stupid fuck, now that's definitely going to blister!
AND the GM for the night's all "suck it up, and no you can not leave."
YOU SUCK BH GM! No love. Not at all.

[Mytical]

Ok that is so much BS...you can not tell a worker not to go to the hospital if they have been in an accident! If you have a labor board, this should absolutely be filed with them (anonymously (spelling?)). Making you spend your own money is even worse. The guy should go immediately to the hospital and get the burn documented.

Sounds like a real mess you have there

[teh_blumchenkinder]

I have no idea if my state/city has a labor board. I need to find out. My current plan is to bitch at corporate "how gross it is that a store doesn't have anything to keep a worker's puss/blood out of the food, and I'm totally calling the Health Dept. on you,"--thus the survey whine. I should find out. That might fix the "no first aid kit" problem. Maaaaaybe the douche-manager.
If I don't handle it just right, Xavier won't have a job any more-- not immediately, just a week after or so...

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Okay, look here. The guy needs to know he can DIE from that. He also needs to know that's workman's comp right there.

[XCashier]

AND the GM for the night's all "suck it up, and no you can not leave."
YOU SUCK BH GM! No love. Not at all.

He needs to be removed from his post. Second degree burns are not something to shrug off, and you do not ignore an employee's injury. And that guy needs to go to the hospital STAT! Why he's shrugging it off as well is beyond me; guess he thinks his boss won't let him, so why should he bother?

I agree about giving both corporate and the labor board a call; this manager is lawsuit bait and someone needs to help the employee. Thank you for caring enough to do so.

[Anakah]

Is that a lawsuit waiting to happen?? Oh my god. They should've been taken to a hospital!

[GiggityGiggityGoo]

Sounds like the burn victim is an enabling idiot, really. Not filing a report or anything? Just shrugging it off???

It's because of employees like him that scum managers get away with so much...

[teh_blumchenkinder]

See, that's just it. He won't lose his job over getting burned, filing workmans' compensation and going to the hospital. Oh no. That would be a lawsuit right there.
Nope. He'll get fired for something a little more legitimate. You know how it is in fast food; you have to be insanely fast, insanely accurate on everything from tills to orders to inventory, you have to be exactly on time and exactly off on time, you have to clean perfectly-- and normally, this does not happen. Burrito Hell has the most exacting standards for the shittiest pay (for example, it's usual, and very normal, for a worker to get a two cent raise after being there a year-- up from minimum wage.) There is always more applications than managers can deal with, I suspect it's because all the high school students and drug addicts go there for cheapass food, and therefore think "oh, hey, I can get a job there!"
Thus, Xavier will be canned for being two seconds over on his average handle time for drive thru on a day when there was only five people in.
But, never for a burn. Uh uh.
EDIT: although why Xavier doesn't want unemployment is beyond me. Yeah it sucks, but at least you don't get emergencies denied you.

[MoonCat]

Maybe he should get out before something worse happens. Somebody could lose a finger or something and the manager would be saying "So what? You've still got nine. Get back to work."

That manager is an idiot.

[ThirdGenRetail]

Health department, POLICE, I think... Denying him the opportunity to go to the hospital for an ON THE JOB INJURY is pretty much a violation of human rights. He shouldn't have stayed, and the moment the manager said "Get back to work" he should have said "Go yourself, I'm going to the hospital." Will-to-work state or not, there ARE laws in place about that.

[Sparky]

Workman's comp?

I've heard (don't know if it's true) that if you accept Workman's comp you waive your right to sue.

And this guy ought to sue. Nothing in the first aid kit? That's a violation of OSHA right there.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Honestly, I think X can get a better job-- but BF mentioned something about not getting any pain meds for him because they don't work for X anymore since he had at one point been a pill popper. So, X might be working at BH because of a drug conviction or something.
Also, found a phone and called in, giving all 1's (horrible-awful) and bitching about how 'it's so gross there's puss in my food i'm never eating there again get a first aid kit!!blargle"-- but, then again, it was a 1888 number, message left for management.
Let's hope that works. I feel bad about the 1's, but then again, someone will notice that shit.

[Sapphire Silk]

Workman's comp?

I've heard (don't know if it's true) that if you accept Workman's comp you waive your right to sue.

And this guy ought to sue. Nothing in the first aid kit? That's a violation of OSHA right there.

You do NOT give up your right to sue by accepting Workman's Comp. If anything, you risk losing rights by not claiming it.

Definitely an OSHA violation, which is separate from the Workman's Comp issue and can lead to major fines for the owner.

Honestly, I think X can get a better job-- but BF mentioned something about not getting any pain meds for him because they don't work for X anymore since he had at one point been a pill popper. So, X might be working at BH because of a drug conviction or something.
Also, found a phone and called in, giving all 1's (horrible-awful) and bitching about how 'it's so gross there's puss in my food i'm never eating there again get a first aid kit!!blargle"-- but, then again, it was a 1888 number, message left for management.
Let's hope that works. I feel bad about the 1's, but then again, someone will notice that shit.

There are other options to narcotics for X. Ibuprofen or naproxen are both anti-inflammatories that work very well on burn pain. Also, I would continue cold compresses over the burn dressing . . . that will also help.

The fluid in the blister is not pus. At least, not yet. It is interstitial fluid . . . the normal fluid that exists inside our cells. It is normally sterile, but it is also a wonderful breeding ground for bacterial. 2nd degree burns are at high risk for infection, and are very painful because of the extreme irritation of the nerve endings (3rd degree burns are painless because the nerve endings are destroyed).

X needs treatment for the burn if he has not gotten it already. If he has not been seen, carefully and gently wash any burn cream off the wound. It will dry out and cause more problems if you don't. He may need an antibiotic ointment to prevent infection on it. If he uses Workman's Comp he has to see the company doctor, but if he doesn't like what the man says he has the right to see his own doctor and WC has to pay for it.

Sorry to hear about his injury: hope he is doing OK!

[Der Cute]

Do you have a camera phone? Take a pic, record data, time ect and file with Labor board. YESTERDAY

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Last I heard:
Xavier (which, btw, if you haven't figured it out yet, is so not even close to anything remotely related to his real name aside from gender and he might have once glanced at some one with those letters in that name) is/has gone to the doctor's/emergency room.
He is an adult, and he has, more than once, had all options recited to him, at least once by me alone. Like BF said, it is his choice, as as that may be.
re: interstitial
Yay new vocabulary! I called it 'pus' because it was oozing out of his skin like sweat or water and was clearish, and it hadn't even formed a blister yet when I saw it. Is this fluid in meat that gets cooked too?
I'm kinda glad that the burn cream I got had pain relief in it anyway, as well as antibiotics. It wasn't neosporin, but specifically 'for burns'. Difficult to find without, actually, unless you count aloe vera. Is AV good on burns in general?
Yeah, yeah nothing commercially available at RankAid is meant for 2nd degrees.
I remember the difference between second and third as "can you feel pain" y/n yes= second, anything more than "oh it looks about as pink as a sweater" or over the size of a normal notebook (11 by 8 1/2 in) needs a doc. I hope X had enough sense to bring the burn cream with him to the emergency room...