Rare accident from a drone spraying pesticides

Doctors from the Department of Orthopedic Trauma Surgery, E Hospital received and treated a male patient (43 years old, in Hanoi) who had lost a lot of blood due to a deep cut in the buttocks area.

The doctor examines the patient.

The initial cause was determined to be the fan blades of a remote-controlled pesticide sprayer ( agricultural drone or also known as fly-cam) repeatedly slashing both buttocks, causing massive bleeding and pain, and requiring family members to take him to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Specialist II Doctor Kieu Quoc Hien, Head of the Department of Orthopedic Trauma Surgery, Hospital E, said that after many years of working, this was the first time the doctor received a case of injury caused by a remote-controlled aircraft.

The patient was admitted to the hospital with severe blood loss, with many large, jagged wounds on both sides of his buttocks, signs that he had been repeatedly slashed by the fan blades...

Upon admission, the doctors promptly made a clinical assessment, temporarily stopped the bleeding, and disinfected the wound to prevent the risk of infection. With a complex wound, large in size, the left side measuring 6cm x 9cm, the right side measuring 6cm x 10cm, the patient was quickly transferred straight to the emergency operating room to avoid life-threatening hemorrhagic shock or infection.

Through medical history, the patient said that while operating the remote-controlled pesticide sprayer, the device suddenly malfunctioned: it could not fly as high as usual even though the fan blades were still rotating.

Instead of taking safety measures such as stopping the device remotely or waiting for the fan to stop completely, the patient subjectively approached with the intention of pulling out the battery to check. While bending down to operate, the fan blade, which was still operating at high speed, suddenly slashed repeatedly into the buttocks, causing many deep lacerations on both sides and massive bleeding.

Fortunately, as soon as the patient was injured, he was discovered by relatives and taken to E Hospital for emergency care.

According to specialist doctor II Kieu Quoc Hien, currently, remote control devices, especially drones, are increasingly being used in agriculture, helping farmers save time, effort and improve labor efficiency.

However, if not operated properly, these devices also pose a serious risk of accidents. With high operating capacity, the rotation speed of the fan blades can reach thousands of revolutions per minute, creating a very strong cutting force, enough to cause serious damage to soft tissues, and can even rupture tendons and muscles if in close contact.

In this patient’s case, the wounds on the patient’s buttocks were not only wide and ragged due to repeated slashing, but also had a very high risk of infection. Because drones operate directly in the field environment – a place that contains a lot of dust, bacteria and pesticide residues. Therefore, emergency treatment needs to be carried out quickly to avoid complications.

During the surgery, the team cleaned the crushed tissue, continuously irrigated the wound area, cut away necrotic tissue, checked for vascular and nerve damage, and performed multi-layered restoration. Thanks to timely treatment, the patient's health is now stable and is being monitored and cared for post-operatively.

According to Dr. Hien, the patient was very lucky that although the cuts were large, they did not damage the important nerves in the buttocks area. If the direction of the cut had been deviated by only 1-2 cm downwards, the fan blade could have cut the sciatic nerve - the largest and most important nerve that controls sensation and movement of the entire lower limb. If the sciatic nerve were severed, the patient could face partial or complete paralysis of the legs, seriously affecting the patient's ability to walk and recover.

In addition, if the wound is displaced upwards, the risk of severing the superior gluteal nerve is also very high, leading to complications such as abnormal gait, weak gluteal muscles and body imbalance during movement. These are very complicated complications, difficult to recover from and can have long-term effects on quality of life.

Doctors warn that this is a serious work accident but it is completely preventable if you follow the correct safety procedures when using flying devices such as drones. Modern agricultural equipment such as pesticide spraying aircraft bring many benefits, but also pose the risk of accidents if not operated properly.

Therefore, when using, people need to strictly follow the safety instructions, especially do not approach when the device is not completely turned off. If there is a lack of understanding or negligence during operation, dangerous accidents like the above can happen at any time, endangering the user and people near the drone's operating area.

THIEN LAM

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tai-nan-hy-huu-tu-may-flycam-phun-thuoc-tru-sau-post889997.html