Causualties of FIRST

[KyleGilbert45]

While FIRST may be low key when it comes to physical contact, like in the previous mentioned sports we have to remember that a human body is no match for a drill press, table saw, mill, or electric shock. While accidents do happen, safety should be a number one concern.

[114Klutz]

One of our guys managed to thread his pinky by screwing a nut onto it.

He's fine - albiet a little embarrassed.

[DinkyDogg]

Originally Posted by 114Klutz

One of our guys managed to thread his pinky by screwing a nut onto it.

He's fine - albiet a little embarrassed.

...That was me. Our mentor told me that normally, he would offer me a bandaid, but screwing a nut onto one's pinky is pretty darn stupid and he wished me great and long lasting pain.

[Wayne C.]

We had one of our guys weld himself to a battery by sticking two hex wrenches in the terminals. There was no need for a bandaid but he had an embarassing tattoo on his hand for a few weeks.

He is now a safety officer on the pit crew and vows never to repeat something that stupid.

WC

[Rohan_DHS]

Originally Posted by Wayne C.

We had one of our guys weld himself to a battery by sticking two hex wrenches in the terminals. There was no need for a bandaid but he had an embarassing tattoo on his hand for a few weeks.

He is now a safety officer on the pit crew and vows never to repeat something that stupid.

WC

umm...painful?! :|

Well I got cut with nose pliers when I was trying to pull out one of those darn terminals from the 2005 electronics panel. The cut was pretty deep, and long too...and I still have the scar on my finger. It's a pretty cool scar though lol...but that's the only injury I had. As for the team, just a couple of minor cuts here and there...nothing major.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by KyleGilbert45

While FIRST may be low key when it comes to physical contact, like in the previous mentioned sports we have to remember that a human body is no match for a drill press, table saw, mill, or electric shock. While accidents do happen, safety should be a number one concern.

Yeah but some of those sports cause lifelong (and occasionally life ending) injuries due to the design of the game.
Wilson Magnet had a student paralyzed during a football game a couple of years ago.
They showed the hit on the news. It was at the end of the half. He hit the running back and just dropped straight to the ground. It took the whole half to pick the kid up and take him to the hospital while his teammates had to go huddle in the opposite endzone and strategize for the second half (that had to be awful).
FIRST can be relatively safe if you practice common sense (unfortunately sometime common sense isn't all that common) respect the power of the equipment you are handling and stay aware of what you are doing with it (and others around you). If yu aren't sure get a mentor, they're expected to know better.

[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

Yeah but some of those sports cause lifelong (and occasionally life ending) injuries due to the design of the game.

Aye. On our soccer team two years ago, during a home game, one of our players broke both bones in his left leg when another player kicked him, and the guard didn't even break. Its a sinking feeling when an ambulance drives across the field. He had three operations and 9 months to get it back to semi-normal condition.

However, against the same team on their field a few games later, a player slit his knee open to the tendons on a piece of shale while slide tackling. Again, that sinking ambulance feeling...

A football player in the area died this past summer from heat stroke during conditioning in full gear. That would be especially hard, having to play the rest of the season after a teammate died.

But FIRST is doing quite well on the other hand, as there are relatively few serious injuries. A broken finger or a bad cut is nothing compared to other things. And thats a very, very good thing.

P.S.- Biggest mistake you can make w/o cutting something off: Don't tightly grasp a four-fluted endmill on the flutes and try to clean it off. At least it didn't scar...