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Small Child Finger Removal From Truck Bed at Long Beach Memorial Hospital
By frhayes | September 30, 2008
On Monday, September 29th Engine Company 13 received a call of a small child having their fi
nger stuck in a vehicle. Upon arrival the crew found that a 3 year old child had some how got their middle finger stuck in a truck bed. It seems that the child had reached down one of the holes in the top of the truck bed and had reached even further down to a smaller opening where the finger eventually became stuck.
The crew from station 13 attempted to dislodge the finger by many different means, however due to the length of time and the numerous attempts to free the finger, swelling began to occur and began to make the attempts even more difficult. Truck 7 was requested by the on scene Captain to assist with this complex operation. It was determined that the best way to free the finger was to remove a 6 by 6 inch section of the truck bed, and then transport the child to Long Beach Memorial Hospital where more technical procedures could be undertaken.
The final procedure initiated to remove the finger was to have the LBFD Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) respond to Memorial hospital to use one of their air cutting saws to cut away the remaining sheet metal. After the child was sedated an IV bag was used to cool the cutting surface and the air tool was brought in to remove the finger, and allow for reduction of swelling and the re-curculation of the area.
This incident is a great example of all the LBFD crew members and LB Memorial hospital personnel working together in which to take care of an otherwise unique situation.
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