Sep 09, 2009
A 20-year-old man working on a building site has accidentally shot himself in
the chest with a nail gun.
The man was working at a site in Colwyn Court at New Gisborne, north of
Melbourne, when a nail from the gun he was operating discharged into his chest j
ust after 7.30am (AEST) on Wednesday, a spokeswoman from Ambulance
Victoria said.
The spokeswoman said the man had a 75mm nail embedded in his left upper
chest.
Paramedic Fin English said when ambulance officers arrived, the man was
being cared for by colleagues.
"The 20-year-old man was handed a nail gun by a workmate, and it went off,"
Mr English said in a statement.
He said the man did the right thing by not attempting to remove the nail,
which could have caused more damage and bleeding.
Paramedics gave the man pain relief through a nasal inhaler and put a drip
in his arm.
"His blood pressure and pulse were quite stable, so it seems like he is incredibly
lucky, and the injury hasn't caused him too many problems," Mr English said.
The man was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable
condition.
WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said his organisation was getting an average
of one nail gun incident reported every fortnight.
He said workers, especially young staff, needed to be properly trained to
operate nail guns, which have sensitive triggers that can be easily activated.
"We're particularly concerned about the recent number of these (incidents),"
he told AAP.
Workers needed to be properly supervised and also take care when moving
nail guns around a building site, Mr Birt said.
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