Would you chop your hand off if...

[Maciamo]

Imagine you were in the jungle, say in North-East Australia, and a snake, which you recognised as one of the most poisonous in the world (eg. saipan) bit your hand. There is another person with you and he/she is certain that if you don't do something, you will die within a few minutes. There is no anti-venom where you are and the nearest inhabited area in several hours walk (you would die before, as walking stimulate blood circulation and accelerate the effects of poison on the body and brain).

Take the poll to choose what you would do.

[jovial_jon]

I would chop off my hand, I wouldn't want the other person to have to do that - I wouldn't like to chop off someone else's hand so I would just do it myself...although, it is hard to tell when you've not had that kind of experience. Maybe in that situation I would do something different than what I thought I would.

[RockLee]

I would probably die....but I would die trying at least!!!!



w00t post 300 !!!

[Frank D. White]

we have had 2 lobstermen out on their boat alone.They got their hand and arm caught in the winch that pulls up the traps. They had to chop off a hand and one his arm, or bleed to death at sea alone. Both did it and got their boat back to shore to save thier lives. I hate to say it, but I think I would panic, go into shock, and die, before I could get up the nerve to cut?

Frank

[kirei_na_me]

I think I would ask the other person chop off my hand and hope I didn't go into shock.

[RockLee]

You'll go in shock automaticly I think...unless you have steel nerves

[Glenn]

I'd probably go into shock right after the bite, and not have time to consider my options!

[Elizabeth]

I wouldn't be in that situation to begin with....but what would you use to chop with exactly ? And where ?

[kirei_na_me]

Good points, Elizabeth. Nor would I be in that situation.

And Glenn, I think the same might happen to me too. I think I would panic and faint when the snake bit me. Hmmmm...but then that might help the chopping off of the hand easier if I was passed out. That is, if the person I was with chose to chop it off. It would depend on who the person was.

Okay, okay...I'll stop rambling!

[Frank D. White]

WOW, a woman with 3 balls!!

Frank

[Jean-Francois]

I will immediately chop my poisonous hand off with my good hand, but I won't throw it away. Just in case one day technology can help to put it back. If not, I will keep it as a ... don't-know-what.

Anyway, I won't let my friend do it if I can do it myself. What if I become poor one day and decide to sue my friend who saves my life?

[Glenn]

Wow, that's a lot of thought that you've put into this, Jean-Francois. I guess you can afford to think about things like that if you survive the shock, unlike me.

[jovial_jon]

Can you imagine what it'd be like to be the other person and to be asked to umm...'give them a hand' I suppose you could say. That would be pretty horrible.

One thing you could do with the hand is sew it to the top of your head so you look like one of those funky chickens with a mohican...

[Mandylion]

Since it seems there is no way to save yourself - you'll bleed to death and or get gangreen assuming you can't call a helicopter and a tournaquit at the wrist is not going to solve anything - so I would probably wait to die (of course that assumes I had time to sit and think rationally like I did for this post).

This is truely one of those situations where you could run, but you would only die tired.

[TimF]

Since it seems there is no way to save yourself - you'll bleed to death and or get gangreen assuming you can't call a helicopter and a tournaquit at the wrist is not going to solve anything - so I would probably wait to die (of course that assumes I had time to sit and think rationally like I did for this post).

This is truely one of those situations where you could run, but you would only die tired.

Well put Mandylion i was waiting for someone to say it. And besids Even if you run it only speeds up your heart rate which pumps the venom in you blood faster which in turn causes it to spread through the body.

[Jean-Francois]

Since it seems there is no way to save yourself - you'll bleed to death and or get gangreen assuming you can't call a helicopter and a tournaquit at the wrist is not going to solve anything - so I would probably wait to die (of course that assumes I had time to sit and think rationally like I did for this post).

I still want to put up a fight.

Wow, that's a lot of thought that you've put into this, Jean-Francois. I guess you can afford to think about things like that if you survive the shock, unlike me.

It only takes me one minute altogether to make this decision and type it up � For me, it isn�t such a hard decision to make. I mean, the other option is DEATH, which bears the highest opportunity cost in this case. I can always kill myself later, but if I die I cannot �UNdie� again, can I???

Well, ever since I was a kid I was told over and over again to stay clam especially in front of any crisis. And one of the most important things I have learned from living in the United States is � Only the Paranoid Survives. The loss of a close friend whose body couldn�t be found in the rubbles of the World Trade Center helps strengthening this belief too.

So, whenever I am bored, I will ask myself questions like � What am I going to do if somebody pulls a knife to my throat?�, �Should I climb out the widow if there is a fire?�, �Is it possible to kill myself first to avoid humiliation if I am caught by the terrorists?� & etc.

Off-topic:
One time a friend of mine went for an interview for the position of a stockbroker in Hong Kong. When she got to the fifth floor of the building where the interview was conducted, the room was already full of young applicants. The interviewer walked in and pointed at the widow, �If you want this job, jump off from here!� During the whole interview he only asked one question. �Who want to jump?�

Only two or four (can't remember) persons wanted the job bad enough to jump off the building (of course, there were safety measures) and one of them was my friend. Yes, it was an American brokerage firm. And yes, my friend got the job.

One thing you could do with the hand is sew it to the top of your head so you look like one of those funky chickens with a mohican...

I think a better option is to put it on ebay � Fresh Human Hand beaten by Exotic Jungle Snake (Caution: Eat it at your own risk).
Seems like there�re many collectors willing to pay high price for weird stuffs nowadays.

[chiquiliquis]

I like the option where I take the machete and, with what's left of my life force, I chop the snake up into 20 raw bloody pieces. Then, I get a fire going with my friend and I feast on my enemy's scorched entrails. I die with the last laugh.

[mad pierrot]

There is another person with you and he/she is certain that if you don't do something, you will die within a few minutes.

A few minutes is good enough for me.

[Foxtrot Uniform]

When a rabbit or other animals gets its leg trapped in something, they will immediatly chew it off to save their life. Because we are humans, we have ability to chose whether we would cut off our hand and live or not cut it off and die.

Anyway, I would rather die than live without my hand (I'm rather attached to it), so I would say something deeply philosophical to my friend (who would be weeping) and slowly die as dramatic music plays in the background.

[CC1]

I chose the tournaquit...but only because I don't believe that cutting off the hand would actually help anything. The venom would in all likelyhood already be in your bloodstream. I have learned before that even though they do it in the movies you can't actually "suck out" the venom! So I guess I would take my chances. Now as Frank mentioned, if I were caught in a machine, as in his story I would probably chew my arm off if need be to survive! But in the case of the snake bite, I would probably apply a tournaquit just above the elbow and take my chances that way.

[Bounty Hunter]

I would wait and die.

I would rather die with my whole "Being".

Am ready for death anyway thats why i have chosen my lifestyle.

[Arch]

I'd chop it off no problem , however i'd keep it as my glourious achievement !

[RockLee]

Hmm after a good night sleep I think I would take all kinds of ANTI-VENOM stuff with me HAHAHAHA...so if a snake bit me I would be prepared...no hand to be chopped of or die of poisoning !!!

[EscaFlowne]

WELL, I started out with both my hands..I'm dying with both my hands....just not yet. I would use the tournaquit, and believe me, my will to survive would get me to the place i need to be to heal myself. Im not dying! I haven't met silver angel yet!?!?!?

[RockLee]

hehe Esca...you womanizer !!