talk me down - tetanus.....

post #1 of 3

10/24/12 at 1:55pm

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Need some words of wisdom here.....I had to take my 6 yr old son the the ER today - he had to get a staple in his head for a laceration due to being hit (accidentally) with a shovel by his brother. Of course they were digging in the dirt in our yard and the shovel had dirt on it. The wound bled pretty profusely. We do not vaccinate, and of course the question of giving the tetanus vax was raised in the ER - we did decline, but I am having second thoughts....I appreciate any words of wisdom, as well as your time reading this. Thanks so much.

If it bled profusely, I wouldn't be needlessly concerned about it, as the blood "washed" the wound and oxygenated it. Using some hydrogen peroxide on all wounds (another oxygen source) makes me less worried about the great scary tetanus monster too. It can always be a worry, but it is so rare, and the wound bled...So it makes the risk much, much less likely than an actual puncture wound like a thorn, nail, animal bite, etc, which did not bleed afterwards.

post #3 of 3

10/25/12 at 12:42pm