Epipen storage on harness.

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jzack605

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I have what I’d consider a moderate reaction to bee stings. Been stung many, many times but always on the extremities. I’ve never gone into anaphylactic shock but worry I would if stung in certain areas closer to vitals or airways. The sting areas swell, a lot. Anyone deal with this and have a particular way to attach an epipen to the harness where it’s protected but easily accessed?
 
I have what I’d consider a moderate reaction to bee stings. Been stung many, many times but always on the extremities. I’ve never gone into anaphylactic shock but worry I would if stung in certain areas closer to vitals or airways. The sting areas swell, a lot. Anyone deal with this and have a particular way to attach an epipen to the harness where it’s protected but easily accessed?

Do like the grunts did to attach their fighting knives to their harness.

Duct tape.
Many wraps will hold it in place. Obviously you will need it in a case of some sort so the pen itself is still removable. If you have just a waist harness, you could secure it to one of the vertical thigh straps...

STIHL the BEST

ETA: Or get yourself a little waist belt/fanny pack to keep it in. It will be light and unobtrusive if all you have in it is your pen.
 
It seems to at least repel water. The bandages inside are in plastic so I've never had an issue with it getting wet inside.

One of my guys brings and epipen with him everywhere. Be safe around the bees!
Definitely always have been careful around bees. But the combination of a close call with a ground nest at the base of a Beech recently and Rachel Brudzinski’s story she told on the “Climbing Arborist” podcast has had me thinking lately.
 
Definitely always have been careful around bees. But the combination of a close call with a ground nest at the base of a Beech recently and Rachel Brudzinski’s story she told on the “Climbing Arborist” podcast has had me thinking lately.

Wow.
I listened to that last night.
It seemed like the stuff that went wrong was just extremely bad luck, right up to the point where her partner cut her rope...

Just goes to show how important aerial rescue training AND practice is.
 
Yeah definitely on the extreme side, but shows how fast **** can hit the fan. But pretty incredible she was able to get back in the saddle against all odds.

I told a new girl at my company whose new to climbing (as am I) to give it a listen. She didn’t seem to interested when I told her the jist of it. I think it’s important to be aware of how dangerous this job is and learn from stories like Brudzinski’s though.
 
Yeah definitely on the extreme side, but shows how fast **** can hit the fan. But pretty incredible she was able to get back in the saddle against all odds.

I told a new girl at my company whose new to climbing (as am I) to give it a listen. She didn’t seem to interested when I told her the jist of it. I think it’s important to be aware of how dangerous this job is and learn from stories like Brudzinski’s though.

Indeed and agreed.

About 15 years ago, I was fairly new to climbing, and had just become foreman of my own bucket truck. On our way to our bucket trucks one morning, my foreman ran a stop sign and we hit a gal broadside and flipped and rolled our crew cab one ton. My arm went out the window and the backside of my right hand was filleted off. Losing the tendons that operate your middle three fingers. And all of the skin and muscle that covers the back of your hand.

They took tendons out of my right foot to make my fingers work again, skin from the backside of my right leg and muscle from my right thigh.

That initial repair started to die because there was not enough blood flow. So then they skinned the whole top of my left thigh and cut me from my left arm pit down to my waist and took out a great big piece of muscle and then they extended the injury partway up my right arm so they could tie into more vessels and veins to get me better bloodflow. It’s amazing how quickly life can change in this business, even through no fault of your own. It took me three months to get back to work, and similar to Rachel’s story, my employer would not put me back in a tree or a truck so I was stuck dragging brush after that.
So obviously I went elsewhere and moved on. But horrible stuff happens in the blink of an eye. And a lot of us are extremely blessed each and every day that we go home safe to our families.
Furthermore, I had never considered the possibility of having PTSD after a traumatic injury like that until listening to Rachel. I spent a long time crawling inside the bottle, and playing around with green leafy substances. Lost a wife and generally made a mess of my life. Eventually I got my **** together and I’ve been sober for eight years now.

No one needs to experience that...
However it brought me closer to my creator, and made me who I am today.
I certainly didn’t like it, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
It was part of “the plan”, and I’m a more conscientious person because of it.
In my opinion.

STIHL the BEST
 
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Indeed and agreed.

About 15 years ago, I was fairly new to climbing, and had just become foreman of my own bucket truck. On our way to our bucket trucks one morning, my foreman ran a stop sign and we hit a gal broadside and flipped and rolled our crew cab one ton. My arm went out the window and the backside of my right hand was filleted off. Losing the tendons that operate your middle three fingers. And all of the skin and muscle that covers the back of your hand.

They took tendons out of my right foot to make my fingers work again, skin from the backside of my right leg and muscle from my right thigh.

That initial repair started to die because there was not enough blood flow. So then they skinned the whole top of my left thigh and cut me from my left arm pit down to my waist and took out a great big piece of muscle and then they extended the injury partway up my right arm so they could tie into more vessels and veins to get me better bloodflow. It’s amazing how quickly life can change in this business, even through no fault of your own. It took me three months to get back to work, and similar to Rachel’s story, my employer would not put me back in a tree or a truck so I was stuck dragging brush after that.
So obviously I went elsewhere and moved on. But horrible stuff happens in the blink of an eye. And a lot of us are extremely blessed each and every day that we go home safe to our families.
Furthermore, I had never considered the possibility of having PTSD after a traumatic injury like that until listening to Rachel. I spent a long time crawling inside the bottle, and playing around with green leafy substances. Lost a wife and generally made a mess of my life. Eventually I got my **** together and I’ve been sober for eight years now.

No one needs to experience that...
However it brought me closer to my creator, and made me who I am today.
I certainly didn’t like it, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
It was part of “the plan”, and I’m a more conscientious person because of it.
In my opinion.

STIHL the BEST
 
Wow stihl. Glad you came out ok and thanks for sharing. It sounds counter intuitive but I would rather know stories like yours and Rachel’s than be ignorant of them and what can happen to keep myself strapped to reality. Complacency is my biggest fear in this job, to me that’s when the door opens for mistakes.
 
Wow stihl. Glad you came out ok and thanks for sharing. It sounds counter intuitive but I would rather know stories like yours and Rachel’s than be ignorant of them and what can happen to keep myself strapped to reality. Complacency is my biggest fear in this job, to me that’s when the door opens for mistakes.

It is ALWAYS good policy to know the risks involved in what you are doing.

It took me a long time before I could ride with anyone. It’s hard to trust another driver after someone you trusted gets you hurt so bad.

STIHL

ETA: And thank you. I’m glad I came out ok too. :)
 
Put it your pocket?

I have an inhaler I keep in my pocket. I put it in a ziplock bag otherwise it gets full of sawdust, metal dust (when I'm welding stuff), etc. Did loose one a few years ago, got out of the skid steer in the parking lot while I was plowing snow and it came out of my pocket. I found it a few months later though when the snow melted. (that's how I figured out where I lost it).

I can go a few weeks without needing it and then without any real cause I go from fine to can't breath in just a few seconds time. I've gotten tested for all sort of allergies and they still can't figure out what causes it.
 
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