Femur fractures
Created | Updated May 3, 2002
Femur fractures are perhaps the most horrifying fracture the eye can see. The femus is the big bone in your thigh, so when that breaks you can picture how bad it gets.
Common characteristics of a femur fracture are:
-the bone is sticking through the skin (duh!)
-one leg is longer/shorter than the other
-one foot is turned towards the outside
-twitching of the broken leg
-odd shape of leg
A femur fracture is hard to look at, but is also life threatening. The inside of the thigh is a place of major blood vessels. If the broken bone breaks the artery, the blood and spurt up to a height of more than 7 feet. I kid you not.
As in all medical emergencies, communication is vital. Always send someone to the hospital unless you are the only one. Thank the Lord for cell phones. So this is what you do. You give the patient as much oxygen as you can (O2 works wonders)and apply what is called manual stabilization. Once you start, you can almost NEVER let go until you are finished splinting. You may only abandon the patient (leaving before finishing care or before higher medical authority arrives is legally called abandonment) This means you press down on the broken leg, stopping the twitches and movement of the patient (most likely unconcious now). You do this because you MUST take every step to prevent the blood vessels to be broken. If it is a very bad day and you find that the blood vessels have already been broken, then you must stop bleeding. Direct pressure (the usual remedy for bleeding) in this case is a very bad idea. Slow the blood flow/loss by applying large LARGE amounts of pressure directly towards the patient higher up on the blood vessel. Usually holding the part of flesh that connects the leg to the body, parallel with the groin works well. Unless there is no one else to help you, but you MUST NOT use a tournicate because they invariably cause more harm than good.
At this point you need a second person. In order for you/medical staff to be able to move the patient to a hospital, you must traction splint the patient. This involves puling and maintaining a distance between the broken bones. Do this by pulling very hard on the broken leg to extend it. The muscles in the thigh are the strongest in your body, besides the heart, so be warned. If your patient is still concious at this point, they won't be anymore. This is the type of thing that makes people swallow their tongues to die. Be very careful. A third person to help you out would not be a bad idea. Now begins manual traction, which involves pulling the broken leg to straighten and extend it. If you have trouble doing this, place your foot between the patients legs to gain leverage. Pull directly away from the patient. Once the leg is extended about 2 inches (5cm) longer than the normal leg, manual stabilization can be stopped.
If you have a traction split, a bulky metal apparatus thats functions a bit like the rack, you should use it. Otherwise, wait for higher medical authority to arrive. If you get tired, get someone else to take over. But remember, if the leg snaps back to its broken state, chances are that the blood vessels will all be broken and the person will bleed to death in a few minutes.
Common characteristics of a femur fracture are:
-the bone is sticking through the skin (duh!)
-one leg is longer/shorter than the other
-one foot is turned towards the outside
-twitching of the broken leg
-odd shape of leg
A femur fracture is hard to look at, but is also life threatening. The inside of the thigh is a place of major blood vessels. If the broken bone breaks the artery, the blood and spurt up to a height of more than 7 feet. I kid you not.
As in all medical emergencies, communication is vital. Always send someone to the hospital unless you are the only one. Thank the Lord for cell phones. So this is what you do. You give the patient as much oxygen as you can (O2 works wonders)and apply what is called manual stabilization. Once you start, you can almost NEVER let go until you are finished splinting. You may only abandon the patient (leaving before finishing care or before higher medical authority arrives is legally called abandonment) This means you press down on the broken leg, stopping the twitches and movement of the patient (most likely unconcious now). You do this because you MUST take every step to prevent the blood vessels to be broken. If it is a very bad day and you find that the blood vessels have already been broken, then you must stop bleeding. Direct pressure (the usual remedy for bleeding) in this case is a very bad idea. Slow the blood flow/loss by applying large LARGE amounts of pressure directly towards the patient higher up on the blood vessel. Usually holding the part of flesh that connects the leg to the body, parallel with the groin works well. Unless there is no one else to help you, but you MUST NOT use a tournicate because they invariably cause more harm than good.
At this point you need a second person. In order for you/medical staff to be able to move the patient to a hospital, you must traction splint the patient. This involves puling and maintaining a distance between the broken bones. Do this by pulling very hard on the broken leg to extend it. The muscles in the thigh are the strongest in your body, besides the heart, so be warned. If your patient is still concious at this point, they won't be anymore. This is the type of thing that makes people swallow their tongues to die. Be very careful. A third person to help you out would not be a bad idea. Now begins manual traction, which involves pulling the broken leg to straighten and extend it. If you have trouble doing this, place your foot between the patients legs to gain leverage. Pull directly away from the patient. Once the leg is extended about 2 inches (5cm) longer than the normal leg, manual stabilization can be stopped.
If you have a traction split, a bulky metal apparatus thats functions a bit like the rack, you should use it. Otherwise, wait for higher medical authority to arrive. If you get tired, get someone else to take over. But remember, if the leg snaps back to its broken state, chances are that the blood vessels will all be broken and the person will bleed to death in a few minutes.
