Coworker with memory loss after chipping accident.

[JeffL]

We were out doing some storm damage pruning yesterday, 2 of us climbing, 2 guys on the ground. Just taking stubs and hangers out of some maples and pines at a house in a woodsy area. I was up a pine behind the house, and the other guy was on the side of the house in view of the driveway. I hear him start yelling for the other guy to go shut off the chipper and go check on Nate (my coworker). The other guy comes back about 5 minutes later as I'm getting out of the tree and doesnt really say much, I walk out to the driveway and see Nate just standing there looking pretty out of it in a daze. His face was all red and his eyes were pretty glazed over.

I asked him what happened and he said he couldnt remember, didnt know what happened. Told him his face looked ok, let me see under your neck. Sure enough under his beard just under his jawline he had a nice hole poked and a pretty big egg starting. No one saw it happen, the other guy in the tree just said he saw Nate standing next to the feed of the chipper with his hardhat laying on the ground a distance away, and he was just standing there rubbing his jaw. This was about 11am yesterday. He was spitting out some blood and chipped a few teeth. The other ground guy drove him down to the local ER and he stayed over night I guess, with no recollection of what happened yesterday, and has no memory of events that happened even up to a year ago.

Havent heard back from anyone yet as to whether hes still at the hospital or gone home yet, guess he had a CT scan that looked ok yesterday, but they had him scheduled for an MRI at some point today. Hope hes ok.

Our best guess is just the usual suspect, figure he put a curved piece of wood into the feed wheels, and it jumped up just right and caught him under the jaw and knocked him on his ass. As best anyone knows he didnt lose consciousness, which is pretty amazing considering the blow he took.

 

[371groundie]

that happened to me on my first day feeding a chipper. i fed the kinky branch (white pine about 2 inches and 8ft long) and it hit the guy that hired me right square on the forehead. i thought for sure i wouldnt be getting paid.

he didnt loose conciousness, no blood, just a killer headache. but that scared me straight.

i hope your coworker regains what he lost. be careful guys

 

[clearance]

A closed head injury with obvuios signs of damage should be treated by a doctor. Asap. You can "shake it off", but who knows, we are treeguys, not doctors. Doctors are unqulaified to cut down trees, we are unqualified to make decisions in matters like these.

When this type of thing occurs, straight to the ER, not later in the day. A few years back I fell from some scaffolding and woke up 26 hours later in the hospital. A nurse there told me that some people never wake up, something to think about.

I hope the guy is ok, best wishes to him.

 

[Saw Bones]

Could be a mild concussion, which gets better with time, or a sudural hematoma which can cause death as the intercranial pressure increases.

Possible skull fracture, fractured jaw, Damaged teeth) as well as soft tissue injuries to the throat and the list goes on. Best evaluated in the ER.

Some folks will insist that they are ok and want to go home, but they may not be totally rational after being struck in the head. Don't hesitate. Seek medical attention ASAP.

Please follow up and let us know how the guy does.

 

[tree md]

Back in the early 90's I was feeding an 18" chipper for a tree service I was working for at the time. I was in a hurry trying to finish the cleanup so I could move on to the next job. I fed a 7' long hardwood limb that was probably 8" in diameter and bent about 2 and a half feet from one end. I started the limb in the chipper then turned to grab another limb. As I turned the chipper grabbed the limb and pitched it upward striking me right under the chin. I saw pretty colors that I didn't even know existed. Bled like a stuck hog. Definitely rung my bell. I had to go get stitches under my chin but I was in pretty good shape considering the blow I took. The owner of the service I worked for told me I was lucky I didn't have my tongue in the way and bite it off. Said that that was pretty common with chipper accidents. I got lucky.

I hope Nate recovers quickly with no long term damage. Best wishes.

 

[Jumper]

Don't mess around with head injuries-early 90s I was jumping with ML at a DZ north of Edmonton, and he followed me into a tight area of the DZ as a very junior student, jumping with minimal accuracy skills-essentially hooked turned at low level and landed very hard. We picked him up and put him in his car which I had to drive back to town and on the way he started to make even less sence than normal-I got pulled over doing almost 100 mph(flat straigh prairie road) en route to St Albert General by the RCMP, waited/wasted 15 minutes to find out that all the ambs were in use, so we set of down the highway with the cop car in the lead, lights and siren on. Make a long story short Mike had a whopper of a concussion-we almost let him drive home alone, but I said I would do so given I drove up with a friend.

Maybe not applicable when chipping, but getting hit in the jaw is a well known contributor for head injuries in sport, which is why I always wear a mouthguard when playing hockey, even in goal. Helps with the teeth grinding when I get the juices flowing as well. My teeth are chipped enough as it stands, more glue and epoxy than enamel me thinks.

Hope your coworker is OK. Only encounter I ever had with a chipper was getting switched in the nuts-hard goalie cup might have helped LOL.

 

[ropensaddle]

Wow hope he recovers that is one reason I don't care for those type chippers. I have not had one get me in the head but have blocked it from happening and made a arm or hand sore. I like chuck and duck and even though they whip you they are more predictable imo just feed from the side or throw it in. Get better

 

[JeffL]

Hell be out of work a few weeks. Guess he's back at home now, still kind of in a daze and memory is a bit foggy, but otherwise ok. Be curious to see what course this takes, I hope he's gonna be ok.

 

[(WLL)]

man o man, tell him wll from a/s said get well soon. be careful folks, most accidents can be avoided. its a shame Nate had ta learn the hard way. all chippers(whisper, drum,disk,cone) need to be hand fed from the side! thank fer sharing your sad story with us.

 

[tree md]

I was feeding the limb that got me from the side. My mistake was taking my eye off of it and not getting out of the way fast enough as I bent over to grab another limb. I would say that if you are feeding a crooked limb it's best to anticipate it pitching, get well clear of the chipper as it feeds and don't take your eye off of it until it is feeding well.

 

[TreeTopKid]

Sorry to hear that Jeff wish him well from me. I had a co worker accidentally pull some brush from under my feet, and knock me out for five minutes. I had a hairline fracture of my skull (concrete) and in the emergency room I was apparently aggressive but I still have no recollection of this. I couldn't remember anything about anything for about 12hrs but my memory apart from the actual event all came back.

Didn't knock any sense into me though, (still stupid, and still doing trees!).

Tell your guy to get well soon, and watch that the chipper doesn't bite his ass again. I forgot to add the brush was about to be fed into the chipper when I stood on it!

 

[TackleTree]

Sounds the same as when football players or boxers get concussions. Thats the reason for mouthpieces. Guess chipping is a full contact sport.

 

[pdqdl]

Get a Bandit. They have horizontal feed rollers. They'll knock you in the knees (left side of the chute only) but they won't hit you in the head.

 

[Stoermer]

ouch

Glad to hear that the guy's doing ok.. I work with Bandits and you can get the same kinda injury from them. last spring one of the new kids on our crew tossed in a 12'-13' elm branch just as I was turning away from the chipper (bandit 280). The thing swung and clocked me right at the base of the neck.. once again, didn't knock any sense into me as I "walked it off" and continued to work for three months till I finally saw a doctor and found out that I had a torn muscle in my shoulder.. Smart..not