Saving the Day

[JNieporte]

So, it's 9:01am and I haven't been to sleep yet. Hooray for me. I was tinkering with some of the Huntsmans that I got from felinevet, and remembering all the things I've done with my first Huntsman. I wanted to share my story with you, and ask for similar tales if you have them. Please, only your stories: anecdotal words or "I heard some guy..." just isn't the same.

A little over 12 years ago, a friend of mine lost his dog, a four-year-old German Shepard. The dog was gone for a day before he contacted me. We lived only a few blocks away, so he came right over. He knew I have extensive experience as a tracker, so I grabbed a few things and we left. We ended up in some woods, and a little over a mile in, between calls, we heard the dog. It was half barking, half crying. We got to it, and it was stuck between a large rock on the ground and an even larger rock on its lower leg. Even with both of us trying as hard as we could, neither rock would move. The dog's leg wasn't coming out, and there was still blood coming from the crushed leg. I'm not sure how long the dog was trapped, but there was a lot of blood on the ground. I told him we could call a vet to come out, or we could take the leg off. He said he didn't want to wait for a vet (in cases like this, if you can even get a vet to come out, it will take about 24 hours). SPCA would have shot the dog, as a similar incident happened a few months before.

I have used tools to amputate animals before, and I've cleaned out many hunted animals with a Swiss Army Knife. I have a working knowledge of both human and animal surgery; I'm not some guy who wanted to play doctor. I had him tie the dog's mouth shut with a bandana so neither of us would get bit. A length of 550 cord and a rod tied off the leg just above the knee, an improvised tourniquet. I waited for the blood flow to stop, pulling out medical supplies and other tools in the meantime. My friend's job was to hold the dog down while I did the amputation.

A rudimentary hair removal with the scissors made the skin easier to see and work with. The main blade sliced through everything, albeit I worked very deliberately. Every muscle, vein, and artery was tied shut with the inside strands of 550 cord before clipping. The saw cut through the bone, which actually didn't seem to bother the dog much. Adrenaline pump, or just the sensation of a vibrating but no pain, I don't know. When the leg was off, I rinsed everything with bottled water and put as much gauze in as I could. A few plastic grocery store bags went around the stump and were tied shut. I hoped this would prevent severe infection.

After a long night of worrying and changing the gauze at my friend's house, we were able to get the dog to an emergency pet hospital. Although the dog was now with only three legs, he lived. He lived for a good seven years after that incident, eventually dying from a car accident.

This was over twelve years ago. I've gotten more medical training and better surgical instruments since then, but a Huntsman or Camper always goes with me. Even in my trauma bags.

[GNandGS]

wow.

[Inzelique]

Holy crap.  You win. 

[Smaug]

I have nothing of that caliber either.

But I do have one related to my old dog. (gone now)

He was a Chihuahua/Min Pin named Floyd. One day, he started having seizures. We got him on some seizure meds, but in the meantime, my wife was concerned he would hurt himself if he went into seizures again, and was banging his head against the bars of his cage.

(he had to sleep in a cage, as he was no neutered, and would get up in the middle of the night and pee on things)

So we went to Walmart and bought a few of those super-deluxe foam bath mats. I cut it into long strips with my Super Tinker, and put them around the inside perimeter of the cage. Next, I cut slits toward the top part, spaced along the length of it with the small blade. Finally, I got some cable ties to secure it in place to the bars through the slits.

That project was done 100% with the Super Tinker.

Floyd loved to be in his cage from then on. He never had any more seizures, and he would sometimes lay against the padded walls.

Only a few months after that, he somehow got mega esophagus and could not keep food down. Or water. We had to put him to sleep, and he was only 8 years old. It broke our hearts, because that is just middle age for a Chihuahua. He was actually the WORST dog I ever had: he occasionally bit me, he never stopped marking things, he was agressive toward other dogs. But he was also playful and had so much character.

I miss him more than our old black lab, who was a better dog all-around.

[JNieporte]

Holy crap.  You win.

If I wanted to undoubtedly win, I'd post about the time I, well... maybe some other time.

Smaug, thank you for your story about Floyd 
"Saving the day" doesn't have to mean saving a life or even anything that important. Just being there with the right tool is often enough to save somebody's day.

[kkokkolis]

16 years ago, my 2 years old little daughter (a female devil) managed to lock herself inside her bedroom. The key was on the inside but she was in a state of panic and she couldn't understand that all she had to do was to turn the key in the opposite direction. In fact the key was half way out of the keyhole and she couldn't take it out of the hole either.
Guess what. I used the undervalued fish scaler/ hook disgorger divot tip from my Swisschamp to move the key and eject it from the keyhole. She then took it and passed it under the door, as instructed and a few seconds later she was in my arms.
Don't underestimate any SAK tool. You might not know but they know why the put it there!
Vive le Suisse!

[GNandGS]

Today while walking the dog I had this terrible itch on my back.  Used the file on my leatherman ES4 to reach it and stop the annoying itch.  True story.  A true joke if you will

But damn.  I hope I never feel the need to compete or compare notes with OP.  Gold star for you man!

For day saving I've dealt with broken lady fingernails, cutting open that pack of hot-dogs for the BBQ, slicing bread when the only other knife was some butter knife, and prolly some other lame thing.  Looking at my sleeping dog trying to imagine "if I could".  Hope I'm never tested.  Damn again.  wow.

[tw56]

I've used the pliers on a leatherman to remove a tick from a dog once. I am amazed you did that.