Hammers, boards and a crowd of scurrying people make a foolproof recipe for injuries, both big and small.Safety is paramount down at the Wellborn Manor work site of the Jimmy Carter Work Project, but the first few hours on the job brought brisk business for the medical crews.
As some put it, anytime you get a bunch of people together with hammers, heavy building materials and power tools, bandages and bruises are bound to follow.
Uneven and muddy construction ground certainly doesn’t help, workers added.
The first-aid team — consisting of six doctors, at least six nurses and a crew of paramedics from the Anniston Fire Department — are on site and ready to take care of the wounded.
Most injuries are what might be expected, not life-threatening, but a bit grisly for the weekly house warriors.
"Torn off fingernails where hammers meet fingers, bumps where boards meet heads and heat exhaustion," said Jean Stanko, a nurse practitioner at Anniston Family Practice, which is heading up the team.
"The neatest thing is that no one wants to quit."
Even the Pennsylvania woman who fell and broke her wrist wanted to return to work after getting her cast, Stanko said.
But there are those who have come to first aid representatives with requests outside the team’s purview. Stanko said they’ve had to "redefine what first aid is."
"One girl came to me asking for caffeine," she said with a laugh. "I told her to go drink a Diet Coke."
