Kitchen Shears and QR Powder...Gotta Gitcha' Some!

[Tarhead]

Lost a small piece of the tip of my left index finger last night using a chef's knife to open up a heavy plastic vacuum packed piece of fish. I felt like an idiot as we have a few pairs of kitchen shears and just didn't take 2 steps to open a drawer. It would not stop bleeding. Held pressure for 2 hours, still dripped blood. It wasn't very deep...just ~1/64" but ~1/4" in diameter so it sheared off a bunch of capillaries.

My wife had a similar incident a few months ago involving a rotary cutter cutting out quilting fabric pieces and we couldn't get her bleeding stopped after 2 hrs either. She ended up in an urgent care. They used a product called QR Powder and it stopped the bleeding instantly and gave her an extra pack just in case it started back.

Anyway...she poured this stuff on the oozing cut and it formed a hard scab (burnt like heck:swoon::swoon::swoon::swoon and no more bleeding.

We looked up the company after the excitement and they have a promotional deal for a 2-pack of the powder for $5.95. Here's the link:
http://www.biolife.com/index.html

Nice stuff to have in your first aid kit. Especially for everyone using sharp pieces of steel. Beats sitting in the ER for 4hrs. on a Saturday night:icon_thum

 

[TracyP]

Mark, glad to hear that the bleeding stopped quickly. As accident prone as I can be, I will look into this. Thanks for posting!!

 

[PChristy]

Nark glad that the bleeding stopped for you that the cut was not bigger then it was - Thanks for sharing the info on the powder -

 

[ptt49er]

That powder looks like it's awesome.

I'm just glad you didn't lose any more of your finger than you did! Ya didn't get any on the fish did ya?

 

[Tarhead]

Nope, no blood on the fish. The knife is very sharp and the cut was clean. I even finished cooking dinner, ate and cleaned up after dinner. All while holding pressure with my thumb and a paper towel waiting for the bleeding to stop. I'm not on any blood thinners or asprin d/t my healing cervical fusion which was scary.

 

[jeff...]

What's the powder made of? Almost sounds to good to be true, thanks for the link. I'll be sure and get some for the first aid kits.

 

[Tarhead]

It's a Potassium salt mixed in a polymer powder. There's another product (Quickclot) which uses powdered Zeolite and some kind of metal salt. They activate the platlets and form a clot (or plug if you pour it down a bullet hole or puncture wound). There is heat produced which causes the pain and can also cause a burn. The military and First Responders use a lot. They're being marketed heavily to industrial customers as a way to decrease lost time and OSHA reporting??? d/t minor cuts.

 

[CaptnA]

Basic first aid calls for direct pressure. What many people don't do is hold the direct pressure long enough or firmly enough. Not saying you did anything wrong! Sometimes it doesn't work. We have a sequence. Direct pressure, elevation, pressure point, then advanced measures.
At work we use a product called Celox. Interesting stuff. It is made from shrimp shells. It is safe to use on patients with shellfish allergies. Go figure. And a tourniquet developed by the military. Yep. Tourniquets are back! Neither is a first line application but they are both good tools.
If you are not bothered by a bit of 'gore', do a Youtube search. They cut a pig's femoral artery and stop the bleeding with Celox.
As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I abhor plastic packaging! I've had more than my share of dangit experiences with the stuff. We also have several pair of kitchen shears and like you, they are as close as the dangerous sharp knives but inside a drawer that often seems too time consuming to open.
Right tool for the job?? :eusa_doh:

 

[jerrye]

Sounds a lot like a chemical cauterizing stick a plastic surgeon used on my finger several years ago when I took a chunk of skin out with the spool of a hydraulic valve. It did burn; it also stopped the bleeding IMMEDIATELY. Nice to have this available over-the-counter, so to speak. Thanks for the link Mark. Have to order some for the first aid kit.

Of course, on more minor cuts, cyanoacrylate still works...:wink_smil

 

[Tarhead]

http://www.drugstore.com has a 4 pack of QR powder for $6.99 plus shipping. They also have Kyto Stat (shellfish derived) $15.99 for pack of 3 bandaids.

 

[GeorgeL]

That sounds like a good product to have around, but I'd REALLY like to get a hold of some of this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7354458.stm

George

 

[quid_non]

Here is another great product for cuts/bleeding developed by a local RTP company. It's available on-line
http://www.entegrion.com/Products/Stasilon/StasilonFR/tabid/2729/Default.aspx