Tshwane firefighters sometimes go beyond the line of duty to rescue lives and limbs.

Last week the firefighters fought to remove two rings stuck on a man’s fingers, after an apparent allergic reaction had caused his fingers to swell.

Spokesperson for Tshwane emergency services Charles Mabaso said the man’s fingers had swelled dramatically, making it impossible to remove the jewellery himself.

“The man, about 40 years old, walked into Tshwane’s Station 5 in Wonderboom last Saturday requesting assistance with the removal of rings that were stuck on his fingers,” said Mabaso.

“Acting company commander Dawie Naude immediately requested backup from Station 15 in Innesdale for assistance with removing the rings. Leading firefighters Riaan Taute and Stephen Albertyn responded as backup.”

Mabaso said the rings were apparently stuck for three days before the man decided to get help.

“The rings were homemade, one made out of copper and the other of stainless steel keyring holders soldered together. The firefighters started to set up our rotary tool, which is a smaller version of a grinding tool, but with higher speeds and the ability to make thinner cuts fitted with a blade suitable for the work at hand.”

In the Fire and Rescue International newsletter, Mabaso further explained: “When assisting in emergency operating rooms, firefighters normally use water from a Ringers Lactate drip with an admin set to cool down the ring while cutting. A thin stick would be pushed under the ring to protect the finger but the circumstances were a bit different. They had to improvise by using a plastic bottle with water and making a small hole in the cap that worked quite nicely.”

Mabaso said unfortunately a thin stick could not be pushed underneath the ring because the man’s finger was heavily swollen.

Leading firefighter Riaan Taute said they had to improvise by using the rotary tool’s key that had a thin enough end to protect the man’s skin from injury.

“Leading firefighter Albertyn then started the cutting process, which is a very precise procedure as the blade of the rotary tool comes very close to the skin while cutting at high speeds.

Any movement from the patient by either pulling away due to the ring getting hot or the patient getting nervous could end in serious injury.”

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Mabaso said the firefighters did well keeping the patient calm and relaxed, while also “cooling and cutting the rings off inch by inch”.

“The rings were successfully removed from the patient’s fingers and he was very relieved after the procedure. The whole procedure took about 20 minutes and the man was advised to visit the emergency room as it looked like he already had an injury to the skin and might have had an allergic reaction to the copper.”

Station 15 is one of the Tshwane emergency services department stations with special operations capabilities and has become synonymous with removing rings at emergency rooms around Tshwane.

On Tuesday last week, the firefighters had to cut off yet another ring from a man’s hand at Kalafong hospital’s emergency room.

The “too-small” ring was quickly removed without injury to the man’s hand.