As a result there are always serious dangers that come along with working with wood. The simplest injuries can be a slight cut or even a splinter. Mild injuries can range from a deep cut to ones that requires stitches. Severe injuries have a far broader range. When using tools such as skill saws, table saws, or grinders there is always the risk of severed digits, limbs, flying projectiles, burns, broken bones, electrocutions, scars, or even amputations. All of which can lead to high future medical bills, lost wages, disability, and unemployment. If the proper precautions are not taken these seemingly infrequent accidents may become much more frequent.

To properly protect one’s self from accident while wood working one must take a few steps. Firstly, when using any tool, especially an unfamiliar tool, be sure to make sure that the tool is in proper working order so that when being used there are no unexpected actions of the tool. Secondly be sure to be familiar with the tool and how it works, this includes knowing what proper safety precautions to take when using the tool. Precautions can range from simple gloves while staining and sanding wood to metal guards and wooden guides to ensure that know part of the person is getting near a spinning blade or wood planer. Be sure to not only know the proper cautionary materials needed to use the equipment but to utilize them at all times when working with dangerous tools. Finally, there should always be a medical kit on hand in case any accidents to occur. A simple medical will help but will probably not be enough in case serious injuries happen.

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Eventually the discussion should turn to the future of the assistive device.  The days of a wooden leg are gone, but the changes in the fields of assistive devices for the future will make the best devices of today seem like wooden legs.  I recommend anyone interested in the topic please pick up the January 2010 edition of the National Geographic Magazine.  The title of the article is Merging Man and Machine, The Bionic age.  The article, written by Josh Fischman, details the potential of many different devices which are revolutionizing the field of bionics and aid to those who have lost an arm or leg or have lost the use of their arms or legs.  The technology is much too complicated to explain in this short blog.  In a nutshell, scientists are tapping into the remaining nerves in the injured person’s body to communicate with robotic devices and move them as if they were the person’s own limb. Even more exciting is that the field is not limited to prosthetic arms or legs.  Scientists have implanted devices that help the deaf hear and the blind to see, using variations on this same technology.  One man, described in the article as having the use of his arms, but not below his wrist (i.e. he can move his arms but his hands do not work, was implanted with a device that allowed him to move his fingers.  This device lets the man eat and do some very basic activities of daily living.

To be sure, these technologies are not perfect, but the field of bionics is looking at Steve Austin, six million dollar man of 70’s television, as a possibility.  The real bionic person will not be superhuman, but may be able to feed and dress themselves, and do what the average person takes for granted.  What a giant leap forward this may well be.  If you have suffered an amputation or paralysis, call John P. Young, of Young and Young.  He has the experience to help you and the quite resolve to make your life better.

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 We start first with acute care, and post acute care hospitals.  Acute care hospitals are those hospitals that treat immediate injuries and conditions and there short term consequences.  The goal of the acute care hospital is to get the patient stabilized, so that proper treatment can be rendered to address the patient’s medical issues. The word acute simply means having short and relatively short duration. Thus the patient who has been injured in a car accident or is injured in a construction accident is going to be taken to an acute care hospital.  

There are different types of acute care hospitals.  They are divided by levels.  A level one trauma center is the most prepared for significant trauma patient.  Indianapolis is fortunate enough to have two level one trauma centers, Wishard Memorial Hospital and Methodist Hospital.  The most severely injured patients will go to one of these hospitals.  As the ability of the hospital to deal with significant trauma decreases, their level increases.  Many hospitals are not equipped to deal with significant trauma, and the patient is likely to be transferred by either ambulance or helicopter to the level one trauma centers. 

After your stay in an acute care hospital is complete, you may be transferred to a post acute care hospital.  These hospitals are typically referred to as rehabilitation hospitals.  These hospitals specialize in helping patients adapt to life after their injury.  They do this by offering many types of rehabilitative therapies, including occupational therapy and physical therapy.   Many spinal cord injury, brain injury and amputation injury patients become patients at a post acute care hospital. 

Qualified accident attorneys and injury lawyers know the difference between these types of facilities, and will work with you doctors and hospital staffs to fully understand your needs and requirements.  Young and Young is dedicated to helping you and your family deal with severe injuries.  We have been since 1954.  Give us a call, we can help.

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