Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

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peejay
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Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by peejay »

Caused my own issue over the weekend which escalated rather swiftly & embarrassingly.

Went with a friend on my first camping trip for many years & my first wild camp, Kinder Scout being the target. We got up there ok after an initial night camping at a basic campsite in Edale (basically so I could pitch my tent etc. for the first time as a bit of a shake-down.

Proceeded to hike up towards Noe Stool via Jacobs Ladder. Bit of a graft for me tbf being somewhat out of shape but still enjoyed getting there. Managed to pitch up in a fab spot just as light was fading & proceeded to start boiling water to prepare my freeze-dried foods (definitely edible but as others here have suggested, not the sort of thing I'd be wanting to eat every day long-term so will temper my plans on that front).

Anyway, I was using a Trangia but with a gas canister attachment with a very small canister (luckily as it happened) and on trying to open the kettle lid to check that it was properly boiling, instead of the handle popping down, the tension of the handle popped the Trangia over, toppling the kettle into my tent! (I was using it in the porch area of the tent). Much effing & jeffing proceeded whilst I was trying to get the hot kettle out without burning my hand whilst also ensuring the Trangia with the still-burning gas burner didn't do any harm when I suddenly realised my foot was getting exceedingly hot!

I realised the water had also hit me so I managed to get my (double) socks off instantly but had received a nasty scald which hurt a fair bit!

I shouted over to friend to my right in his tent but out of view of my shenanigans (cooking his own meal) & lay there considering my options. Realised that I should really be dousing it in cold water, but also knowing that I had VERY little water (enough to eat/drink for the night etc. with a Sawyer on hand to top up supplies in the morning) so what little I had probably wouldn't do much, but dribbled a bit on anyway (this waster was clean from taps at camp, not filtered so not so risky cleanliness-wise)

It was 20:30, dark, 600m up Kinder Scout & it clearly wasn't life-threatening though pretty serious, we chatted it over & felt I'd hold fire & see how it was in the morning then decide.

Not a particularly comfy sleep, especially in a mummy sleeping bag but got through the night & found in the early morning the foot was rather sticky in the sleeping bag which didn't bode well, but wasn't overly painful (until I was pulling it away from the bag when it was a bit stingy).

Finally plucked up the courage to take a look and... was shocked at what I saw!!! MASSIVE blisters over the foot!

Immediately knew that foot wasn't going into a boot, which meant we had no choice but to call for assistance :-( Called 999 who then contacted Kinder Mountain Rescue and they were on-site within about an hour for the first responders, then the people kept coming & coming until there were about 15 of them!

I profusely apologised for forcing them away from their families/lives only to be told they'd had a quiet summer and were actually glad of a shout, given all the time the spend on training/meeting etc. it's apparently nice to be able to put it all into use, and in fact I was their first ever scalding call-out so they finally got to use that training!

So, stretchered down to Land Rover ambulance (team of 8 on the stretcher rotating with others regularly) it was a hell of a feat. Even the drive down the feeble excuse for a track in the Defender was a task in itself!

After some deliberation we all agreed that as I wasn't in much (any) pain that I'd probably be better making way to my own local hospital (damage was done by this point & Doc agreed that another few hours wouldn't have made any difference & I'd have waited that long for a local ambulance anyway) so made way to my local A&E and was treated rather swiftly & sent on my way with orders for daily dressing changes.

So, preps-wise - not much I could have done for self-treatment (we did have a FAK with some burn-related items but felt more sensible waiting for experts to arrive.

Can't believe how little pain I felt (from the following morning of course, not the time of the scalding) and even now there's still very little but I won't be wearing a shoe for a while so lucky I can work from home in the meantime (self-employed too so even luckier).

I have however learned that it's impossible to be too careful when dealing with hot stuff so shall be doing so far more diligently in future - nothing taken for granted.

Am also definitely getting myself on a FA course too, then beefing up FAK supplies once I know what to do with them.

All in all it could have been much worse, but also re-inforces that in a real grid-down scenario where such help isn't immediately available, the slightest mistake can leave you in dire-straits VERY quickly so I shall be far more careful in future!
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Manky foot :-/
Manky foot :-/
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xplosiv1
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by xplosiv1 »

wow .... thats horrific looking, glad to hear your ok though.

I'd say thats going to sting for a few weeks...... really makes you think about all the little things that can wrong quickly on a camping trip.
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pseudonym
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by pseudonym »

:o Heal up soon.
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Arzosah
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by Arzosah »

Good for you for writing it up in such detail, very much appreciated - a tiny little accident can have huge consequences.

Glad you're not in very much pain, by *now* anyway, but it looks horrendous :( get well soon.
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Deeps
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by Deeps »

Blimey mate, thanks for sharing. A cautionary tale for all of us. Hope you heal quick.
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peejay
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by peejay »

Thanks all. Feeling a bit more sore today now but will know lunchtime how it's looking.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I was VERY glad that on this occasion I was using the gas adaptor (which I very nearly didn't bring due to keeping weight down). If I was using the meths burner and THAT had toppled into the tent as well then I think it would have been a very different story altogether :shock:

So, as careful as I'll be with hot burny things in future, I shall be even more so when burning liquids are involved...
Yorkshire Andy
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Good few years ago I witnessed a lass sat legs either side of a cartridge standing stove when the pan toppled... She was hosted down from the camp water stand pipe via a flexible hose I "borrowed" from a nearby caravan

Then bundled into a ambulance....


Also saw and let fly at a camp shop staff member who tried to charge a frantic mother with a toddler who touched the BBQ for the bag of peas she grabbed to drive the boy to hospital ..
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
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Deeps
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by Deeps »

Yorkshire Andy wrote: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:06 pm Good few years ago I witnessed a lass sat legs either side of a cartridge standing stove when the pan toppled... She was hosted down from the camp water stand pipe via a flexible hose I "borrowed" from a nearby caravan

Then bundled into a ambulance....


Also saw and let fly at a camp shop staff member who tried to charge a frantic mother with a toddler who touched the BBQ for the bag of peas she grabbed to drive the boy to hospital ..
You're right, he could have waited until she came back and then charged her.
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Medusa
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by Medusa »

Oh my, that is pretty horrific. Hope that you heal quickly and thank goodness for mountain rescue.
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Dave999
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Re: Something hard to prep for but should have been avoidable :-/

Post by Dave999 »

Thanks for sharing, hope the foot is on the mend!

Just shows how something could esculate quickly without outside help!