darwin award

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Specializes in burn mostly....

ok. we have a thread on the worst things we have ever seen as burn nurses. what about the most uncalled for, 'stupidest' reasons that a person has ever come in with a burn?

mine is alway the guy that came in working on his hotwater heat nekkid.

i am thinking...k... it is time for some utility work. better take my clothes off..

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Specializes in Burn/Trauma PCU.

The ones that kill me are bonfires and turkey fryers. Always seems to include some drunk/high guys with daredevil complexes. "Yeah, I can jump over the bonfire!"

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Well, I have to say that about 50-75% of our burns occur from stupid situations....mainly involving alcohol or drugs or suicide attempts!!!! And just stupidity. I once had a patients family ( may he rest in peace) who stated, "They should put warning labels on that gasoline that states this kinda stuff can happen" What??????

Oh and I forget the occassional meth lab explosion!

I have to be honest, I think its b/c until I was burn nurse I didn't realize the severity of a burn injury....honestly. General population assumes that its fixable, esp. when it isn't.

Aside from burns from crack pipes, the stupidest is usually the "I was burning bursh so I poured gasoline on it." Where is the common sense of people in America?????

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

How about this.....

I was smoking while I was using ACETONE to take off my nail polish and put the cigarette in the bowl of ACETONE instead of the ashtray.....

OR.....

I was drunk one night so I decided to get in a cherry picker and see what power lines were all about.

OR.....like stated earlier....

The infamous, I was at this bonfire, sitting next some gas, I was bored, so.........

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

From a number of years back now:

Young man decided to use a large metal drum to make a barbecue grill. He forgot to find out what was originally in the drum. He put himself, his wife, and their son in the burn unit. He was worst; they all survived.

A couple was doing some home remodeling and had taken up a tile floor. They decided to use kerosene to get the glue off the floor. It was summer. The window AC unit somehow sparked. They both survived, too.

A young woman walked into her house late at night and thought she smelled gas. She decided to light a match to see what was going on. The house went BOOM. She didn't survive.

Another guy was drinking and got hungry. He decided to fry some potatoes. The grease caught on fire and set his curtains on fire. He went out and got the water hose from the yard. His burns weren't bad; he died from smoke inhalation.

The very worst was a lady who committed suicide by dousing herself with gasoline and setting herself on fire. The only thing not burnt was a palm-sized area on top of her head. She was given morphine and valium until she died. She did this in front of her 12-year-old daughter.

Six months of burns was all I could handle.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Meth lab explosions, in my book, qualify for the Darwin gold.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

This is scary stuff! I give you nurses so much credit- I dont think I could handle working with these horrible burns, especially when caused by shear stupidity

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I have a friend who took a burn unit spot for her synthesis rotation next month. She has a special interest in wound care so this was her first choice. As for me I took a spot in a rural ER.

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Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.
From a number of years back now:

Young man decided to use a large metal drum to make a barbecue grill. He forgot to find out what was originally in the drum. He put himself, his wife, and their son in the burn unit. He was worst; they all survived.

A couple was doing some home remodeling and had taken up a tile floor. They decided to use kerosene to get the glue off the floor. It was summer. The window AC unit somehow sparked. They both survived, too.

A young woman walked into her house late at night and thought she smelled gas. She decided to light a match to see what was going on. The house went BOOM. She didn't survive.

Another guy was drinking and got hungry. He decided to fry some potatoes. The grease caught on fire and set his curtains on fire. He went out and got the water hose from the yard. His burns weren't bad; he died from smoke inhalation.

The very worst was a lady who committed suicide by dousing herself with gasoline and setting herself on fire. The only thing not burnt was a palm-sized area on top of her head. She was given morphine and valium until she died. She did this in front of her 12-year-old daughter.

Six months of burns was all I could handle.

Wow I can't imagine the mindset after your shift......

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Specializes in NICU.

Walking outside, barefoot, on the bare sidewalk in July :uhoh3:

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Specializes in ER - trauma/cardiac/burns. IV start spec.

Our darwin entry was the young man that was going to show his girlfriend just how much he loved her. He stood at the foot of the bed poured gasoline on his shirt and lit the shirt. He proved it so well he is waiting upstairs for her.

the saddest one was the night a young couple decided to get married. they had the house and the baby so why not. The bride was driving the car behind him and saw him run off the road and the truck flipped several times and burst into flames. He was wearing his seatbelt - too bad - this time the safety feature was his down fall he could not get the belt off and get out of the truck in time. Finally there were enough fire ext. there to permit someone to pull him out. Round here we refer to burn vic's as crispy critters. He was alive when he reached our ER. I was the dedicated burn nurse - I cannot smell burned flesh. The MD and I started working on him. The subclavian line sounded like it was going thru styrofoam. I was getting foley in Lets just saw it wasnot easy on either of us. We were pumping him with morphine and got fluids running..his family did not understand his condition and wanted him transfered to UAB Burn unit. Doc Sully called and UAB agreed to take him. Burn percent 97 percent body 3rd, 2 percent 2nd (groin area) and 1 percent that was 1st degree and it was right on the top of the head. His transport left our hosp. at 11:59pm Everyone asked me how long i said 12 hours. Got a call at home the next day he died at 11:57am. That was the worst case I saw alive his legs were contracted, his arms were contracted. :scrying:

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Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.

God bless ya, all of you.:saint:

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