[Aikibiker]

I am getting more and more convinced knives are not that useful for self defense except for scaring people away. Actually using them, they are not that effective. I have been working in a level 2 trauma center for the last couple years. During that time I have seen a large number of stabbing victims literally walk in the front door with injuries that you would think would be instantly debilitating.

I will share a few of the more memorable knife wounds I recall.

The first stabbing I dealt with I was sitting in the waiting around 0200 when a guy stumbles in with no shirt on and covered in what I thought were lightning bolt tattoos. As he got closer noticed the gaping rents in his torso. I counted three including one very close to his heart that had to have clipped a lung. This guy was still on his feet waling and talking, though he started to fade fast as the adrenaline wore off. He and his girlfriend had driven about three miles from where he was stabbed to our hospital. The patient lived.

The second memorable stabbing happened about a year ago, I was once again in triage, though my desk was moved away from incoming patients. This guy walked in the front door very calmly and WAITED in line to check in. I first noticed something was wrong after I saw the puddle of blood next to the check in window. This guy intervened in fight at a park about 3/4 mile from our facility. He was stabbed in the groin and judging by the amount of bright red blood an artery was hit. This guy then proceeded to WALK to our hospital. He was treated and released within a few hours. His only concern was that his pants were ruined (cut off with shears by the trauma team). He also stated to me that he did not realize he had been stabbed for about 5 minutes after it occurred. He only realized when he noticed the blood.

The third happened while I was working in the emergency department. As I was walking around one of our Physicians Assistants flagged me down and asked me to talk to a patient that was giving him some problems. The PA told me under no uncertain terms should I let the patient leave, because he would die... eventually. This patient had at least arrived by ambulance. He had been involved in a bar fight and only after the fact, when a friend pointed out to him that he was bleeding, did he realize he had been stabbed in the inside upper arm. Our PA had been attempting to stitch the guy's brachial artery closed when the patient decided he did not want any more medical treatment. The reason was that he was upset he had been stabbed and wanted to go back to the bar and finish things with the guy that stabbed him. Yes, alcohol was involved. It took about 20-30 minutes of talking to finally convince the guy to get sewn up, all the while his severed artery was painting the floor of the exam room red. That patient also lived and was discharged after he sobered up.

I also saw a guy that walked into our Emergency Department with his throat cut. He was rude as hell to the medical staff and eventually left after being sewed up.

That said I carry still carry a knife as well as my pistol, but I also continue to train in martial arts, specifically standing grappling/clinch fighting.