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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

MN Jury: WWBU to go to A&E today?

9 replies

stubbyboardman · 07/08/2019 17:00

DH thinks it wasn't necessary, I think it was.

DH cut his hand on a glass while washing up, the cut is between two of his fingers and is about 3.5mm deep. He's basically cut straight through the webbing between his fingers. It bled profusely. We packed it well with gauze and wrapped a bandage around it which stopped the bleeding (both first aid trained, as we teach bushcraft/whittling). We rang the GP surgery who told us to go to A&E if we thought it needed stitching.

The nearest minor injuries unit is in a different town 30 miles away and neither of us drives (medical reasons). DH thought it would be fine and we should just leave it, I thought it might need stitching/might still have glass in it and we should go to A&E

So we went to A&E and DH was made even twitchier by the screens and posters blaring out the message that we shouldn't be there unless we had a genuine emergency, could we go to minor injuries instead etc etc. Triage nurse ordered an x-ray to make sure there wasn't any glass in the wound, then about half an hour later he was seen by a nurse who said it couldn't be stitched because of where it was. She glued it, stuck it together with steri-strips (which wasn't very successful because as soon as DH's dressing came off it was bleeding profusely again) and wrapped the bandage back around it.

DH thinks he was right all along and we needn't have bothered going. I think it was better to be on the safe side and it is a very nasty cut in a very nasty place.

So who IBU?

OP posts:
randomsabreuse · 07/08/2019 17:10

Major issue is you can't check for broken glass without x-ray and leaving broken glass in is bad. Glass related injuries always need checking, unless you are certain there is no glass - all of my gung go vet friends have got glass cuts x-rayed unless they can completely piece together the culprit. These are people who will staple their own cuts if they're happy they are clean...

gamesanddaisychains · 07/08/2019 17:13

I think you did the right thing, it could have been worse and you wouldn't know without further investigation.. I had a small accident last year, walking barefoot at home and stubbed my toe against furniture. It hurt but I am quite clumsy and accident prone so thought nothing of it. and assumed it would feel better the next morning. My second and third toes really hurt the following day but I thought that walking it out would be ok and took my 2 large dogs out as usual. This went on for 2 weeks getting no less painful until my daughter insisted on taking me to A&E, which also happens to be a number of miles away. Xrays disclosed hairline fractures in both toes and although there is no dressing that would help, I was told it would take about 3 months to mend and to rest the foot as much as possible.

LeekMunchingSheepShagger · 07/08/2019 17:19

You did the right thing...it needed to be X-rayed.

AngelasAshes · 07/08/2019 17:26

You guys are fine. You’re not like the woman who barged past me in the A&E queue exclaiming that she’d just broken her ankle. She RAN in wearing a full size heavy backpack and carrying an oversized full shoulder bag. Now, I’ve broken my ankle and there is no way in hell you can 1) run on it and 2)/carry heavy things.

JustDanceAddict · 07/08/2019 17:30

Yes, it’s fine. I’ve gone for non-life threatening emergencies for the DCs as minor injuries only x-rays up to a certain time. You just have to wait longer!

Clariana · 07/08/2019 17:33

I don't want to disagree with you @AngelasAshes, and I am sure you are right about the woman in your case, but I fell whilst skiing a few years ago, hurt my ankle, then carried on skiing for the rest of the week. Went to minor injuries a few days after getting back and asked them to have a look as it wasn't getting any better, and they said, " Not surprising really as it is broken". So it is possible.

But OP I think you are right, you needed to check for glass.

francienolan · 07/08/2019 18:37

If it's an injury that can be handled by minor injuries usually they send you there. If they saw you in A&E they needed to.

Chouetted · 07/08/2019 19:48

It's fine. You're only expected to go to minor injuries if there actually is one near you, and I wouldn't count 30 miles away as exactly near.

I traveled for an hour to get to a minor injuries unit instead of A&E (like you, I'd seen all the posters), and the staff very politely pointed out that this was pretty daft, given I only lived a couple of miles from A&E!

SouthWestmom · 07/08/2019 20:09

I didn't know about a and e for glass? Really? The other week a piece worked its way out of my foot - god knows how long it was in there!

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