[at-l] Somewhat OT Help Needed

[thornel@attglobal.net (W F Thorneloe)]

I haven't a clue, but this doesn't sound reasonable. If you have a 
gangrenous extremity, it is black and dead. It will autoamputate, is devoid 
of sensation (including pain). There are risks of infection in the 
neighboring tissues that are injured and compromised by cold or vascular 
loss. You could amputate such extremities, and would want to cut in to 
healthy tissue - which would hurt like a sonofabitch. But you could simply 
wait a week or two and watch the blackened part scab/chip off, just like 
your baby's umbilicus chipped off after a week.

Campmor sells a hand powered chain saw that is dandy for such cutting.

OrangeBug

At 12:13 PM 3/16/2001 -0600, goinggoinggone@webtv.net wrote:
>I am trying to remember the title of the book by Peter Freuchen in which
>he describes having to amputate his own gangrenous toes with a pair of
>tin-snips, subsequent to frostbite. I remember that once he determined
>that there was no hope of saving the toes, he cut a hole in his tent and
>stuck the front of his foot out into the cold, in hopes of providing
>some anaesthesia....He wrote about 20 books, about half of those on
>Arctic and Greenland exploration, but I just can't find the relevant
>passage in the local library or online...Many thanks in advance if
>anyone here can help me find the book title and page numbers!