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[00:00.42] After a long day helping patients in the emergency room, Priya is prepping dinner when her knife slips and neatly severs her finger.

[00:10.25] Fortunately, being an ER doctor, she knows exactly what to do.

[00:15.56] First, she cleans the wound with a wet paper towel and bandages her finger— careful not to wrap the wound too tightly.

[00:24.06] To manage the pain.

[00:26.72] she knows not to take ibuprofen, which would prevent the wound from clotting, and instead opts for acetaminophen.

[00:33.10] Then she rinses off the severed finger, wraps it in a clean, moist towel, and puts it in a cooler while avoiding direct contact with ice.

[00:44.52] Finally, she rushes to the hospital, where luckily, a skilled hand surgeon is on staff.

[00:51.16] Thanks to the clean cut and Priya's rapid response, the surgeon can get to work.

[00:57.00] They set the bones and fix them in place with wires before repairing the tendons, nerves, blood vessels, and finally, the skin.

[01:06.83] The entire incident is finished in about eight hours, and after a few months of occupational therapy, Priya's hand is back in action.

[01:16.39] This is the ideal outcome for reattaching a body part.

[01:20.64] Unfortunately, it’s also incredibly unlikely— and not just because most people aren’t as prepared as Priya.

[01:28.08] In reality, there are countless complications that come up with most accidental amputations.

[01:36.32] First, there's the accident.

[01:38.71] Unlike Priya's clean cut, most traumatic amputations occur in car crashes or industrial accidents that cause extensive, uneven tissue damage and dirty the wound in a way that prevents reattachment.

[01:53.85] Plus, more than half of all limb amputations in the United States are due to disease, and limbs removed for medical reasons obviously aren’t safe to reattach.

[02:05.80] Then, there’s preserving the limb. When a body part is severed, its blood circulation is cut off, stopping the influx of oxygen and other nutrients.