Citation

Jawaid S, Cody D. BMJ Case Rep. 2018; 11(1): bcr-2018-227293.

Affiliation

Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine, Magpas Air Ambulance, Huntingdon, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bcr-2018-227293

PMID

30567220

Abstract

A man in his 50s suffered an impalement on a crowbar after falling from the roof of a domestic shed. A helicopter-based prehospital emergency medical service team was called to assist in the patient's care. The crowbar had entered from the left-upper quadrant and was tenting the skin of the right iliac fossa. Analgesia and prehospital sedation were provided to facilitate extrication. A series of improvisations were carried out to support the logistics of transferring the patient using an air ambulance to the regional major trauma centre with the crowbar in situ. The patient was taken to the operating theatre without any imaging and a section of perforated bowel was removed. He made a full recovery and was discharged home 9 days postincident.

© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2018. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Language: en

Keywords

accidents, injuries; prehospital; sedation; trauma