Chainsaw Accident

Thought you might be interested.

A fifty nine year old gardener, who was cutting a tree in his own garden, cut off his own arm below the elbow when the chainsaw slipped,
John Stirling was in a critical condition in the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead after initially being rushed to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Neighbour Steve Francis, who was decorating in his home next door, assisted John Stirling by applying a tourniquet to the upper arm under supervision from Paramedics.

The Argus quotes Mr Francis: â??I came out and tied his arm up with a belt and towels, the ambulance people talked me through it." and goes on to add: â??When the ambulance came they put him on a stretcher and asked where the arm was".

 

Exactly, As a fully qualified and experienced tree surgeon i tend to advise clients not to use their chinsaws off of ladders, it only takes a slight slip of their footing and thats it.

 

The cheap electric chainsaws are ok for cutting up small stuff, not really good fro felling. The ' small saws' we use are specialist saws and are designed to be used up in trees when climbing for pruning etc. To use these you have to be NPTC certificated. You cannot purchase them without the certification :thumb:

 

tbh chainsaws scare me, even in the hands of a pro when I see them hanging on that chain thing when theyre up trees I still shudder.
though saying that I still have two axes lol (bill hook and a hatchet) we needed them when we started taming the garden, and tbh we're still getting there :(

 

have you not tried using a brush cutter

 

nah not as much fun! lol the bill hook was perfect for the large pampas grass 'bush' we had to cut out of the back garden, the hatchet wasnt much good for anything to be fair though it did help chop up the tree branch I hard pruned off earlier this year (we used a proper tree pruning saw to detach it from the tree btw)

tbh we're on top of it now (touch wood) so it's back to fork, spade and secuters[spl?], and barrow and barrow loads of gravel - it's going to take an age to get on top of that in the back garden. I might start it soon, I thinking it's best to do big projects such as this when the weed growing has slowed down some for the autumn winter period. though saying that my grass seed in the front garden still hasnt done anything :(

 

Just make sure its watered. It normally takes around 7-14days to germinate :thumb:

 

ahh it's probably me being impatient then lol - it's only been 3 days! it's defo getting watered, the weather is making sure of that :(

 

The lack of PPE is not an issue, regardless of how affordable it may or may not be. What it comes down to is the ease of being able to hire or purchase a chainsaw. These things damage, maim and kill professionals when not used properly, let along the keen garden hobbyist. PPE is the last line of defence against personal injury. Correct training, assessment and use is what is required, something that the gent in question (and many others like him) will not posess. Leaving it to the professionals (that's what they're there for!), is all well and good, but people will continue to have a go themselves if it can save them money.

 

Gotta be honest. Have used a chain saw...well bought one, petrol not electric and used angle grinders, band and circular saws, drills, sanders...the biggest injury I have had, is hitting my thumb with a hammer.:wink: Reason...I was using the incorrect nails and incorrect size of hammer, so twas my own silly fault.

I think the only time you injure yourself with tools like these and many others are because of either not wearing the correct gear, not reading the instructions properly, you may have been frightened of the tool...or in a professionals case, become complacent leading to carelessness.

They are no more dangerous than driving a car.....now that is dangerous, heh,heh.

 

A tree across the road from me had to come down a few years back.
Not a big tree, but this guy grabbed his chainsaw from the back of his well used pickup. Dressed only in shorts and flipflops he attacked the tree......
He got away with it but I often wonder if he still has his own bits attached to this day......

 

"You cannot purchase them without the certification "

Wrong,alarmingly dozens of second hand top handle saws for sale on ebay, the regulations stupidly dont cover second hand sales.

No harm intrinsicly in buying or using a chainsaw if the user has done training and wears ppe of course by the time theyve done this they might just as well have had the job done profeshionally.

In this example though ppe wouldnt have helped however training certainly would have done.