The conveyer belt is not a ride.

[csquared]

I am curious as to what will happen in the aftermath. The woman will probably sue the store, and corporate will probably pay rather than fight it. Make me wish the store would take the video to Child Services. If they go after her for child endangerment, then the store would be pretty much off the hook.

And before I forget, you did a great job saving that child's life.

[Dragon_Dreamer]

*HUG* I hope your workplace rewards you for quick thinking, and gives you a few more mental health days!

[Luna Baby]

Many years ago, 20+, I was shopping at a local big box store on my lunch break when a parent wasn't paying attention and allowed her darling child to reach over and allow the belt to run under his fingers. I couldn't move when the belt grabbed his fingers and sucked 2 of them in, just as AK described in the first post. What scarred me, though, was that the employee grabbed the child's wrist and pulled him free. Poor kid lost 2 fingernails, but after reading this post, I have to say he was lucky that was all he lost.

[Shyla]

How horrendous for the kid and also for you. Get some good rest for yourself to recuperate. You did really well doing as much as you did before losing it. Take care of yourself.

[Kittykat]

She's lucky he didn't sever an artery. You did an AMAZING job keeping calm, I don't think I could have been that calm.

[XCashier]

Also, since I'm rambling, why do parents think that it's okay to set their kid down anywhere? I encountered this on a daily basis at the fabric store, when parents put their kid down on the cutting counter. Sometimes I let it go, but other times the kid would try to stand up or move around and then I had to tell the parent it was not okay, I was using sharp scissors.

Oh, yes! If they don't plonk the kid down on the counter, they let the kid stand looking straight down the cutting guide, their eyeball at just the right height for a horrific accident should the scissors slip. And yet if you try to protect the kid, you are the bad guy...!

What a nightmare scenario. And of course, nobody is going to be thinking about the trauma you endured, not just witnessing this but trying to provide care in a horrific situation with absolutely no time to prepare mentally.

Please, please do what you have to do to take care of yourself.

Seconded. Take plenty of time off, see a counselor if you need to.

The poor kid, having an idiot for a parent. Now he has to pay the price for her stupidity.

[Kristev]

I'm so impressed that you kept a calm head and probably saved that child's life . . .

What in the world is wrong with parents?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Wow... hope you and the kid recover from that traumatic experience! O_o

[AkaiKitsune]

My goodness!

I'm confused as to why the medics would have you start an IV line...?

In a crush injury there is usually considerable muscle damage. Traumatic muscle injury can cause large quantities of potassium, phosphate, myoglobin, and at least two other things I can't actually remember the name of to leak into the circulation. As you might imagine, things shouldn't be put somewhere they are not supposed to actually be. Particularly in large quantities. Myoglobin levels in the plasma (which is what blood is partly made of) are normally very low. If a significant amount of skeletal muscle is damaged (such as in traumatic amputation) the excess myoglobin is filtered by the kidneys and can cause renal obstruction, renal damage, and if left untreated then renal failure: the excess myoglobin is nephrotoxic. Which is just a fancy name for damaging the kidneys. Nephro meaning 'kidney' or 'pertaining to the kidney' and toxic meaning 'harmful' or 'pertaining to harm of'. See that fancy class in Latin and medical terminology I took came in handy. In the adult, a saline at 1,500 ml/hour(?) Not entirely certain on the amount because it's been a while since I learned this shit, should be used (I have no clue for a child). This is an aggressive means to hydrate the body and helps preserve the kidneys. Because kidneys are import things to keep functioning. Or so I hear. It also helps in keeping the body from going all spastic into shock because of the blood loss (I think? Can't really remember).

Sorry if I come across as sarcastic or condescending, it's a coping mechanism. Not some aimed at you because of your question.

I also had to be talked through it because I only know the theory and that for adults. As you might imagine classes tend to discourage their students from jabbing sharp things into their fellow classmates and it's not really something you can practice on a dummy because they don't actually have veins/arteries. (Doesn't stop some of them from bleeding though)

As far as keeping a level head goes. I've been trained on shit like this since I was little. Byproduct of being raised in a military family on a military base where one parent's absentee and the other is gone for months at a time on duty. Funny thing, lifers don't generally know what the hell to do with kids other then don't leave them unattended. Knowing them they probably googled 'what to do with your kids when your at work' and came up with things like 'clubs and daycare'. Guess they figured firstaid is both something to do and that it's useful. Normal kids played on playgrounds, I grew up running the obstacle course with the other base brats when nobody else was using it. When you're indoctrinated practically at birth to a 'community' for lack of a better word, where physical and mental discipline is expected and you see it enforced and emphasized every day it skews the way you react and think. Kinda like a cult now that I think about it. In my family, it is expected that you go into the military when you're out of school or old enough to apply. I'm the only one of my family in almost 1000 yrs who has not made it a career. (Such a lifestyle from childhood can also manifest authority issues... Which are not appreciated) I did my one tour of duty out of obligation to family (No, not in the field). And left ASAP because it wasn't for me and it wasn't what I wanted in life. I've seen first hand what happens to those who put the uniform on and at the end of their service, some of them can't take it off. Or if they do, sometimes there's nothing left underneath. Hell, my entire family is military. Who would of guessed that people raising kids to be in the military, like they're a subordinate, while PTSDing would ever sometimes go wrong. I appreciate the service my family has lent to its country (including all the ones they came from) and I love my country. But I'm not prepared to be another parent who raises their kid with the idea that PE and combat training are the same thing and should be practiced every day. Children running courses meant to challenge a physically fit adult tend to lead to problems. Some of us more rambunctious base brats were taught how to stitch minor injuries before we even were school aged. Personally, I don't think that's okay. And while not all military families have this attitude (in fact it's rare even for those living on the base) mine has seen too much of the military and forgotten how normal people function.

[jedimaster91]

I also had to be talked through it because I only know the theory and that for adults. As you might imagine classes tend to discourage their students from jabbing sharp things into their fellow classmates and it's not really something you can practice on a dummy because they don't actually have veins/arteries. (Doesn't stop some of them from bleeding though)

Depends on your course. When I was getting my degree (medical imaging), we practiced on each other and we also had a dummy arm that had veins. But yeah, IV starts are more of an art than a science. You couldn't pay me enough to start one on a kid that just had a traumatic experience/injury. I remember during my rotation at the children's hospital it would routinely take 4 or more adults to hold down a toddler for a stick. I mean, I'd do it if I absolutely had to, but only if I absolutely had to.

[greek_jester]

I remember during my rotation at the children's hospital it would routinely take 4 or more adults to hold down a toddler for a stick.

I was the toddler on the receiving end of that, and I have the life-time phobia of needles to go with it. Not great considering my medical history! Thankfully the local hospital's phlebotomy department are wonderful and have no problem with letting me go in a private cubicle with curtains drawn tight, make sure I never actually see the needle, and listen patiently while I babble on about whatever happens to be in my line of sight.

Much better than the hospital where I used to live; I've told the story before of the 6'+ male nurse built like a rugby player who waved a needle under my nose and told me to grow up, then got rammed into the wall by my shoulder as I made a run for it. Did I mention that I'm a dumpy 4' 10.5" bespectacled female?

[been_there]

Oh, no: I was in no way questioning the validity of starting a line! Completely indicated for the situation. (https://patient.info/doctor/crush-syndrome)

I was asking why in the world paramedics on scene would place that burden on you, rather than doing so themselves.

[AkaiKitsune]

Oh, no: I was in no way questioning the validity of starting a line! Completely indicated for the situation. (https://patient.info/doctor/crush-syndrome)

I was asking why in the world paramedics on scene would place that burden on you, rather than doing so themselves.

Probably in a rush and I might have been using 'doc talk' instead of the civvie words. Tends to happen when I'm stressed. I fall back on jargon. Probably assumed I had some training and my workplace name tag has a sticker on it indicating I'm first aid certified and my level on the front (according to workSafe standards) and with my extra certifications on the back. Apparently this was for easy identification in event of a store emergency. (Meanwhile I have to take a second to realize the paramedics knew my name because I'm wearing a name tag so....)