I hate the sight of blood. Especially my own!

At our campground, the water comes directly from the lake to supply the individual campsites and the washroom buildings. Normally, we've got it all hooked up and running by now. But this year the water level is so low, and last week when it rained, it turned the shoreline to thick mud. So we had to wait for it to dry up again before we could get close enough to the water to put the intake in.

And, we were waiting for a rebuilt pump to be ready. Well, yesterday was the day.

So the local well service guy brought the pump back and I helped him install it.

I was getting a garden hose ready to help prime the pump, and I was backing up in our yard when I tripped over the fire ring. I tried to correct in order to stop the fall and my leg hit hard on the edge of the fire ring. I knew right away even without looking at it that I had done some damage to the front shin on my leg. It didn't tear my jeans, but the blood started staining through immediately.

I got the first aid kit and went and found Ruth. She cleaned it up and put some bandages on it, but it looked pretty nasty.

I went back to work. But I lifted up my pant leg to look occasionally, and it wouldn't stop bleeding.

Eventually, I got our summer employee Valine to look at it. She has her first aid certificate. Anyhow, she thought it might need stitches to close it properly.

So, I called the local medical clinic in town...only about 20 minutes from here. I explained the situation, and they put me on hold. She came back and said "we really suggest that you go to the emergency room at the Swift Current Hospital".

Huh? For a few stitches? I questioned her... "Seriously? You can't even look at it?".

She put me on hold and got back to me again saying that they were fully booked up this afternoon.

The Swift Current Hospital is about 45 minutes each way. And I didn't really feel that this was an emergency, and I hate when people go to the emergency room for little aches and pains. Seems to me it's a big waste of resources. But, Canada's great medical system says that if you show up at an emergency room (no matter what for) a doctor has to see you. So you get all kinds of people who go to the emergency room with a head cold or minor aches and pains and waste everybody's time.

But what was I supposed to do at that point?

My mistake was that I called the clinic first. I should have just headed over there and they pretty much would have had to look at it if I was standing right there.

So, I drove myself into Swift Current.

I felt like an idiot going to the emergency room with my little cut.

But fortunately it wasn't busy.

I was processed in about five minutes and they led me to the "internal" waiting room. A nurse soon came and looked at my leg and kind of hummed and hawed before saying that a medical student would be by to take some info, and then the doctor would look at it.

Waiting for the doctor.

So I'm in the internal waiting room for about 20 minutes and over that time a couple of other guys came in. One had stepped on a nail, and the other thought he had broken his hand. Opposite where we're sitting, there's a bulletin board...

Are you sure it's an emergency?

Well no, it's not what I would have considered to be an emergency! But I tried to do exactly what the sign says and was told to got to emergency!!!

Stuff like this drives me crazy.

Ouch.

A second year medical student came in and looked at it, and asked a bunch of questions for the paperwork. Then, the doctor came in, had a quick look, and said that it was a deep gouge and he would do more harm than good trying to stitch it. So then another nurse came in, cleaned it all up and put a nice dressing on the wound.

All fixed up.

Then I drove back to the park. A waste of about three hours.

It'll be sore for a few days, but I'll live.

While I had been gone, the water system had been put into service for the year, so now we can open the bathrooms and get them cleaned up. Just in time for opening day today! We have a few reservations, but May long weekend at this park has never been a really big event. Plus, the weather isn't supposed to be fantastic. Nice enough temperatures, but cloudy and with occasional showers.

Anyhow...lots of work to do so we better get at it!

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