titanium rings....

[Just Plain Ruff]

That crate of nitro he dropped was actually dropped in the ammo depot at the base in Iraq. Did anyone see that fire? WOW I'm glad it got under control and I don't believe anyone was injured.

[fallout]

Nitroglycerin was once the most volative explosives mankind had, until Alfred Noble discovered it could be mixed with an inert binding agent, resulting in dynamite.

Medical nitro is only .4 % actual nitro, the rest is an inert binding agent. Consequently, under almost all conditions short of being dropped in a furnace, it cannot explode.

[kyle308]

my instructor told us he once had a cardiac arrest victim who when he defibrilated, his arm erupted in a ball of flame...the patient had been wearing a nitro patch.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I've seen it spark but never erupt in flames. Your instructor might have been exaggerating but then again I was not there so I can't make even the closest judgement of truth or not.

But as for the boom factor - no boom there.

[fallout]

It may have been the oxygen, I believe I read a release of some defibrillator sparking and igniting lingering oxygen.

[Michael]

I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen our ring cutters used

[Just Plain Ruff]

the last time I looked at one of our ring cutters it was rusted all the heck. I don't think it would even cut paper let alone a ring.

Funny that no one mentioned a band saw or table saw to remove the rings

[fallout]

For the record, I suggested using a band saw to remove the patient's hand. Give credit where credit is due.

[Just Plain Ruff]

You are right Fallout I didn't see that. But no one said table saw

what about a chainsaw?

Otherwise tell the patient to remove their own rings but do so at your own risk as this could start a missing ring claim if you took custody of the ring for safe keeping.

Let the ER's worry about getting the rings off.

[Dustdevil]

I've used them in ER and OR, but never in the field.

If you EVER use one in the field, you had damn well better know these two things for absolute certain:

• need to IMMEDIATELY have the ring removed.

b. There was NO other, non-destructive way to get that thing off of there.

• If you fail to positively qualify both of those criteria, don't be shocked when, after the dust has settled, you have a VERY unhappy patient. And I've been in this business long enough to know that unhappy patients = unemployment, regardless of whether you are right or wrong.