Rusty nail ... Puncture wound ... Do I take her in?

[dirty ethel rackham]

DD8 stepped on a rusty nail outside while running through the sprinkler. She has a puncture wound about 1 to 2 mm deep. I tried to make it bleed, but there wasn't that much blood - maybe two drops. I poured hydrogen peroxide on it and it foamed a little.

I am not sure if she is up to date on her tetanus. I thought she was because I have a vague recollection of the doc saying she was all caught up. However, a couple months ago, I found her baby book and that did not have a record of all the doses. ( We vaccinated on a delayed schedule.)

The docs office is closed. They would send me to Urgent car. So, hive, I pray you ... What should I do?

[Tracy in Ky]

I am 99% sure that you have 24 hours from the time of injury to get the shot, so she should be fine to wait until tomorrow when you can call the Dr. :)

[Twinmom]

Is it possible that you could get an on-call doc at your practice to call you back? You could ask them. If not and it were my child, I would take her in for a tetanus shot, just to be safe.

[In The Great White North]

Tomorrow's a holiday.

When was her last DPT or PT or DT?

[iquilt]

I would take her in for the shot - dh had a similar experience while on duty with the ambulance and ended up with quite an infection within hours. Watch the sight of the wound and if you see any red or purple streaks take her in.

[Tracy in Ky]

Tomorrow's a holiday.



Oh yes--I hadn't thought of that.

[camibami]

Go get a tetanus shot. Worth the aggravation of an Urgent Care visit, IMO.

[8FillTheHeart]

YOu actually have 72 hrs before you need to get a booster. I would wait and call. Ds actually stepped on a rusty horse shoe nail (talk about tetanus breeding ground) and they didn't give him one b/c it was under 3 yrs.

[elizabeth]

Oh dear why do these things always seem to happen on a holiday???I would definitely take her in for a thorough irrigation of the wound and for a booster if need be. The risk of infection is a real concern. Tetanus risk is not the rust per se but in the soil etc...We had to do this recently and have adopted the mantra thatif someone vomits, needs a tetanus booster or is otherwise excreting excessive anything it is a holiday!! I hope the little cutie is ok and that urgent care is open. The ER is always full of drunks/ meth addicts here on holidays...we call it the knife and gun club.

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

You may have already taken care of this, but if not here's a suggestion: In our area WalMart has a NP (Nurse Practitioner) in a walk-in clinic. It is never busy, no "knife & gun club," and a visit is $40, not including any Rx you may need. They also accept most insurance. This is where I go when I know I don't want to wait in the ped's office for hours and it's not bad enough for the emergency room. In some areas of the country I think some drugstores have this service, too. As a nurse working on her MSN, I would trust an NP for just about anything. I hope this doesn't ruin your entire holiday weekend.:grouphug:

[dirty ethel rackham]

I know it would have been within the last 7 years. I just don't know if she had the full series. I thought she did, but, with my "swiss cheese for brains" memory, I don't know if she really did and my baby book is out of date or if she didn't because we were off schedule and the doc was relaxed about it.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I called the doc. Luckily, my doc is on call today. He told me that we have 48 hours to get the shot so I will call the office Tues AM to have them check her records and, if necessary, get her in for a shot. Now that he says that the final shot is usually given around age 4-5, I am sure that she didn't get it.

Thanks for the advice.

[Laurie in CA]

Just read this and so glad you got ahold of the doctor. At least your mind will be at ease. My son shot himself with a pellet gun years ago and we went to emergency and they gave him a tetanus shot right away. Then a short time later someone else came in and gave him another one before we could even say he just got one. No harm done but maybe he's good for a while.

[Remudamom]

My dd just had a booster because she stepped on something clean and cut herself. A rusty nail puncture wound screams tetnus, tetnus comes from the ground. I wouldn't hesitate, my dd had her last one five years ago and that wasn't good enough.

[Tracy in Ky]

I called the doc. Luckily, my doc is on call today. He told me that we have 48 hours to get the shot so I will call the office Tues AM to have them check her records and, if necessary, get her in for a shot. Now that he says that the final shot is usually given around age 4-5, I am sure that she didn't get it.

Thanks for the advice.

Oh good. I'm glad you got to talk to him. Breathe easy now. :grouphug:

[Alexandra]

that I think Epsom's Salts is a miracle substance. I would soak in a hot water/Epsom bath. If you don't have any, I would use regular table salt. I would also for sure get shots but in the meantime you can soak that puncture wound.