Accidents Happen — Using a Chainsaw
A couple weeks ago, Greg and I tested his chainsaw to see if it was cutting well. It was improved, but still not cutting great. Later, I learned to sharpen the chain and went out to cut up the Russian olive trees in our pasture that he’d cut down.
As I went out to cut, I felt nervous. I’ve not used a chainsaw much and don’t know all of the safety precautions. As I was going out to cut, I thought about the time I cut the tip of my finger off with an electric planer. I definitely don’t want to have another accident like that—or worse.
I placed my noise-blocking headphones on to reduce the sound. Throughout the cutting I listened to an audio I wanted to learn from. When the chainsaw was started, I had to turn up my audio slightly. Each time the saw was off, I turned down the audio.
As I worked on the trees and hauled the small branches to the burn pile, I became more tired. I tried hard to keep my mind focused and thinking about safety. After working in the hot sun for hours, an accident happened.
I had just made some of my final cuts and I reached to my back pocket to adjust the volume, when I heard it. The sound was a strange ringing sound. I quickly pulled the phone out of my pocket to discover that I’d somehow dialed the emergency 9-1-1 number.
I waited on the line for the dispatcher to answer. When she asked what was my emergency, I explained that there was no emergency. I explained that I’d attempted to adjust the volume while the phone was in my pocket and it somehow dialed the emergency number. She said, “Yes, that actually happens very often and thanked me for staying on the line.” After the call ended, I thought the incident was over.
Actually, the phone had only begun it’s emergency procedure. “Notifying emergency contacts,” it said and began a countdown from 10, 9, 8... After finally getting that turned off, the phone then showed all my emergency data. It listed my name, age, weight, height, allergies, medications I’m taking, emergency contacts, and anything else that might benefit emergency personnel or anyone who might happen upon me unconscious.
After finally getting my phone back to normal, and being grateful that the only thing I’d hurt was my pride. My mind really began to think about the situation. I know how easy it is to have an accident with a power tool. In a medical emergency we have so many great systems available to help us. We can quickly dial 9-1-1 and swiftly, help is at our side. Our emergency contacts are alerted and they can also come to assist - perhaps even quicker than emergency personnel. And then, if a passerby might happen upon me, they could step in and assist. For each of them, they would have access to my most pertinent medical information. We truly live in an amazing age.
My mind thought deeper about these amazing systems. Are there other types of emergencies? What systems do we have for these other emergencies? What do we do if there is an emotional emergency, a person struggling with suicide? How about an emergency for a person struggling with an addiction? Perhaps most important, a person struggling with spiritual illness that might cause spiritual death. Is there some way we might better recognize when a person is in one of these crisis? Is there a similar process that might be beneficial. How are we alerted? Who is alerted? What do we do to help?
As I went out to cut, I felt nervous. I’ve not used a chainsaw much and don’t know all of the safety precautions. As I was going out to cut, I thought about the time I cut the tip of my finger off with an electric planer. I definitely don’t want to have another accident like that—or worse.
I placed my noise-blocking headphones on to reduce the sound. Throughout the cutting I listened to an audio I wanted to learn from. When the chainsaw was started, I had to turn up my audio slightly. Each time the saw was off, I turned down the audio.
As I worked on the trees and hauled the small branches to the burn pile, I became more tired. I tried hard to keep my mind focused and thinking about safety. After working in the hot sun for hours, an accident happened.
I had just made some of my final cuts and I reached to my back pocket to adjust the volume, when I heard it. The sound was a strange ringing sound. I quickly pulled the phone out of my pocket to discover that I’d somehow dialed the emergency 9-1-1 number.
I waited on the line for the dispatcher to answer. When she asked what was my emergency, I explained that there was no emergency. I explained that I’d attempted to adjust the volume while the phone was in my pocket and it somehow dialed the emergency number. She said, “Yes, that actually happens very often and thanked me for staying on the line.” After the call ended, I thought the incident was over.
After finally getting my phone back to normal, and being grateful that the only thing I’d hurt was my pride. My mind really began to think about the situation. I know how easy it is to have an accident with a power tool. In a medical emergency we have so many great systems available to help us. We can quickly dial 9-1-1 and swiftly, help is at our side. Our emergency contacts are alerted and they can also come to assist - perhaps even quicker than emergency personnel. And then, if a passerby might happen upon me, they could step in and assist. For each of them, they would have access to my most pertinent medical information. We truly live in an amazing age.
My mind thought deeper about these amazing systems. Are there other types of emergencies? What systems do we have for these other emergencies? What do we do if there is an emotional emergency, a person struggling with suicide? How about an emergency for a person struggling with an addiction? Perhaps most important, a person struggling with spiritual illness that might cause spiritual death. Is there some way we might better recognize when a person is in one of these crisis? Is there a similar process that might be beneficial. How are we alerted? Who is alerted? What do we do to help?
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