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Letter Re: Eye Protection, Flushing, and Infection Treatment

One thing I haven’t seen on your blog is eye treatment. Nothing can put you out of action faster than an eye problem. Recently, I developed a bacterial infection in my right eye which was treated with a prescription oral antibiotic. I also used eye drops to help lubricate the eye and relieve some of the irritation. There are many different eye drops available. I used Allergan Refresh Tears which I bought at Costco. For my situation, my doctor said it was a good choice. My doctor informed me that I could have acquired the infection in many ways including rubbing the eye, someone sneezing or coughing around me. I also work at an auto shop where one of the guys is blind in one eye from an injury. Eye protection should be the first priority in protective gear. Make sure any safety glasses acquired have side protection and use goggles in dusty environments. Since most safety lenses are plastic and are easily scratched, make sure you get extra lenses. Sterile ophthalmic irrigation solutions (eye wash) should be included in first aid kits for rinsing the eyes if exposed to dust or chemicals. The eye wash solutions can be found in EMT. supply houses. One I am familiar with is Bound Tree Medical. They offer several sizes from 1⁄2 oz to 16 oz. I like the 4 oz size because it provides sufficient fluid for most situations and fits in most industrial first aid kits. - Bill N.

JWR Replies: Many thanks for raising this topic. Eye protection is crucial. Whenever anyone in my family shoots we always wear eye and ear protection. Ditto whenever we use a chainsaw. (BTW, I use a Stihl brand "forestry" helmet with built-in earmuffs and a full face mesh screen, although I've read that the Peltor brand may be superior.) We now store our workshop face goggles right on top of our bench grinder, where we can't forget to use them. A friend of mine with a very nice photovoltaic power system does essentially the same thing in his battery box:: he stores a set of wrap-around goggles right next to his hydrometer. (This, BTW, is a good practice for all safety gear. Store it alongside your tools--otherwise it will be "out of sight, out of mind." You won't forget to wear you kevlar safety chaps if you store them draped across your chainsaw box.)

We don't drink alcohol at the Rawles Ranch but we keep a shot glass handy, since they make an ideal "eye cup" for irrigating foreign matter out of an eye. And now that you've mentioned it, I now plan to add a mini-eye-wash station to our workshop. That is cheap insurance.

Parenthetically, many years ago a friend of our family was doing some tree pruning in his yard and had a pine bough whip across his face. This deeply scratched the cornea of his right and caused him years of trouble and some expensive medical bills. Simply wearing goggles would have prevented this mishap.

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