Hand vs. X-Jet: The results

[PLD 14]

Guys,

I did a really stupid thing today and lived to tell about it. I share here, so the same thing may not happen to others.

I had finished a nice job in an excllent time. The homeowner was pleased and I was packing up when dumba** struck fast and hard. When finished, I always flush all my lines and my xjet hose, etc. Normally, I do this with my HP hose after everything has been shut down and the gun has been disconnected and lines decompressed. For some reason today (for just a millisecond) I equated X-jet with low pressure and placed my x-jet chem line to the tip of the x-jet and pulled the trigger (pump off). The static pressure cut lose, ripped the chem line from my hand, and ripped the flesh from 4 of my finger tips. (picture a 3rd degree burn with charred flesh gone). Fortunately, there was minimal injection and it was little more than a flesh wound. Aside from some very sore fingers and a few days of bandages and neosporin, I will be fine.

For those who would (correctly) label me a dumba**, don't be so quick to be self-righteous lest you suffer a similar fate. I have a degree in physics, and and a great deal of experience with energetic materials in my experimental rocketry background. I am (and was) completely aware of the potential energy involved. I was in a hurry, and expediency overcame intelligence and common sense for a mere 3 seconds. And I got hurt. I knew the instant I felt pain exactly what my error was. Take this to heart, and don't let it happen to you.

Philip

P.S. I'm going to cross post this to the other major BBS's so as many people as possible get a chance to read it.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Philip,

Did you seek professional help? Might not be a bad idea, even if you feel it will be fine. You are lucky, it could have been worse.

[RyanH 14]

Damn, Philip!

I was going to see if you wanted to meet up at the shooting range in your area for a few rounds sometime. I might need to reconsider that :)

Hope you get better and back up to full speed.

Ryan H.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I hear ya, even with the new m-5 I have had incidences where I got my hand in the stream when trying to adjust the spray. I where nitrile glove which give no real protection from impact but they do protect from exposure. Damn it hurts when that hits your hand lol (now in retrospect) :)

Staying alert is always the best.

Be careful out there. I always tell my employees "This Job is NOT worth getting hurt! The damage that can be done is often irrepairable and causes severe nerve damage where the injury occurs, so be careful and follow the safety guidlines"

:seeya: Rod~

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Philip, hope you have a speedy recovery. This may sound sick, but post a photo. People need to see how dangerous the tools are.

Don't feel badly, we all have what I call a blonde or geezing moment. Ever try to move something off a hot stove without an oven mit?

Last year we had an emplyee who thought Rod was joking about how dangerous it was and he put his hand in front of the wand with the water on. After that Rod and I decided a demo with a few basic items like raw chicken, a hard boiled egg, and a carrot would illustrate well what happens and help guys to learn to believe and not try it just to see if we were serious or not.

Feel better, and thanks for sharing so others can learn.

Beth :groovy2:

[CCPC 26]

I developed a really bad habit when I first started my business by using the wand, without a tip, and with the pressure washer running, to rinse my fingers off (really, really bad idea). Well, one time while in a hurry and obviously not thinking to clearly I put my thumb and my for finger right over a 40° tip and tore my thumb wide open (hurt like a son-of-a-b***h!). The funny thing is the pain did'nt bother me as much as how stupid I felt for letthing it happen.

Bad habits like that will always get you in the end. It may take long time, but all it takes is that one instant when your mind is somewhere else. Needless to say, it took about 3 weeks for my thumb wound to close up, and I now have a faint scare across the surface of my thumb, which serves as a reminder of how easily things can go wrong. By the way, that bad habit stopped immediately.

[PLD 14]

Beth,

Thanks for thinking about me. I'm fine really. It hurt like heck, but no serious trauma. I thought about a pic an figured that might ick-out some. I'll try and get a pic online.

Philip

[One Tough Pressure 580]

The pictures shown in this snopes link are from an undetermined cause. Although the story claims they are from a spider bite, maybe they are from a water injection injury. Either way, it shows that something minor can turn major.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/brownrecluse.asp

[Mike Williamson 198]

Don't feel too bad...I did something really similar a couple months ago...tried to flush my xjet hose with a zero degree size 20 (not 2.0) tip that I use for rinsing...Not thinking that I'm still running around 700psi...It shot the xjet hose off and gouged into the side of my hand...not a bad injury, but hurt like hell and did get a bit infected I'm sure due to the injection of crap into my hand. Some alcohol (applied both internally and externally :) ) and a daily dose of chlorine helped clear it up.

[PLD 14]

Oneness: Yep, precisely what I tried to do. I was flushing my x-jet line too. Normally, I wear leather gloves, but I had pulled them off cause I was rolling up.

The injury hurt like hell, but cleaning up all my gear (rinsing buckets, flushing lines) hurt worse. 3.0% NaHClO, house wash, and raw flesh just doesn't mix too well....

Alan: Nothing like that pic. Each spot looks more like blister (from working) that you didn't/couldn't take care of until after you had worked the skin off of it. Anyone who has ever done alot of hiking/walking in boots can appreciate finding a blister you knew you had but has seriously underestimated till you got your sock off.

It's more notable than painful. A little neosporin, some band-aids, and a few ouchies this week at work and I'll be good as new. If my meager pain causes someone to think twice and avoid a serious injury, I'd do it all over again. Ok, make that a definite "maybe".

Philip

[PLD 14]

I found an article on injection injuries (below). I find it very interesting that injections injuries are rare in women. Are we really that dumb as a gender?

Philip

Copied from: http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic226.htm

-----------------------------------------

Background: A high-pressure injection injury should be considered a potential surgical emergency. Immediate decompression and thorough cleansing of the offending material from the tissue is required to preserve optimal function.

Pathophysiology: Acute injury is caused by introduction of a foreign material, under high pressure between 2,000 and 10,000 psi, into the poorly distensible digital or palmar tissues. The pathophysiology involves acute and chronic inflammation and foreign body granuloma formation. Damage results from the impact, ischemia due to vascular compression, chemical inflammation, and secondary infection. Highly viscous substances (eg, grease) require higher injection pressures than paint or solvents.

Fuel and paint injections lead to the most severe inflammatory response with a high incidence of subsequent amputation. Grease- and oil-based compounds may lead to oleogranulomas with chronic fistula formation, scarring, and eventual loss of digit function. For a photo demonstration of hydraulic injection injury, see farmedic.com.

Mortality/Morbidity: Overall incidence of amputation approaches 48%. Morbidity is dependent to a large degree upon the material injected. Paint solvents appear to cause the greatest damage and result in amputation in 60-80% of the cases. Grease, the more common injectant, causes a less severe inflammatory response. Amputation is necessary in about 25% of these patients.

***: These injuries are rare in women. Age: This injury usually occurs in young men while working, most often to their nondominant index finger. The average age at time of injury in one large review was 35 years (range 16-65 y). These injuries occurred to the nondominant hand 76% of the time.

[timhays 14]

i am glad your ok,there have been a lot of deaths from similiar incidents.

if flushing chemical lines is part of your routine i would fabricate some other system then placing your hands near the end of the wand.

[Mike Williamson 198]

I imagine there are far less injection injuries in women partly because there are far fewer of them in industries where injection injuries would occur. That, and they're not quite as deluded about their abilities and toughness as we men are. They're much more likely to take the longer, safter method than the quicker, stupid method.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

I have qc's on the end of my gun. If I need water to rinse my hands, or flush out my X-Jet/hose, I take the wand off and do it with low pressure. Providing that the heat is not cranked up, it is a quick and easy way to take care of small tasks.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=566

[Aplus 525]

Alan,

That's how I have mine setup too, except I have a q/c on the incoming side as well.

I find it much easier to be able to switch lances, or switch to my surface cleaner without shutting down. Acts like a ball valve if you think of it.

[Mike Williamson 198]

I have QC's on every high pressure connection on my machine, including the surface cleaner. I also use a ball valve at the end of my hose, to make it easier to switch between wand and surfacer.

[PLD 14]

i am glad your ok,there have been a lot of deaths from similiar incidents.

if flushing chemical lines is part of your routine i would fabricate some other system then placing your hands near the end of the wand.

It is. I clean/rinse everthing after each job to get rid of residue, grit, etc. Normally I drop the pressure, disco the gun, and just use house pressure to flush 'em. This time, I did exacly that but I figured I'd just use the x-jet nozzle instead of disco'ing the gun. The line was still charged and that was it...

Philip

[Mike Williamson 198]

Yet another reason to switch to a flow type unloader.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

I also use a ball valve at the end of my hose, to make it easier to switch between wand and surfacer.

Set your gun up like the picture I linked to and you can get rid of that heavy ball valve. Hate when those handles go stiff on you, and the carting around of extra weight. For the price of that ball valve, I can buy a toolbox full of O-rings

[Mike Williamson 198]

All my guns are set up exactly like that. The problem is, I don't use a gun on the surfacer. I don't mind the ball valve, and this way, I don't have to keep the trigger pulled on a gun the whole time I'm cleaning concrete. If I want to shut the surfacer off, I just shut the ball valve off. The way I have it configured the ball valve is right at the handle of the surfacer, so it is no problem.

[Paul B. 523]

You can install QD's on your XJet feed line, making rinsing easy at low pressure.

Or, with a QD on the chemical pick-up end of the XJet line, you can disconnect and drop into a bucket of water then rinse at high pressure.

As a safety net, I always require having a container of water close by for emergency rinsing. It is filled at the start of the job and it doubles for rinsing at the end of the job.

[PLD 14]

I had almost forgotten about this until I ran across the pic again this weekend. I've posted it at the URL below if you are interested. It's not gross unless you get really bothered by skined knees and the like.

Philip

http://www.OdorDestroyer.com

X-Jet vs. hand injury pic at:

http://www.odordestroyer.com/content/***/index.html

[Jim Carroll 14]

If my hands are dirty i just wash them in my water tank, clean xjet line every now and then with supply hose. I have had a fair share of mishaps though, most involved breaking equipment.