How to Tell If Finger Is Broken or Jammed?

By Dr. John Knight

Fingers are one of the most common body parts to injure because we use our fingers constantly throughout the day. They’re also one of the most common body part injuries to ignore and leave untreated. While you may believe you’ve jammed a finger, many of the same symptoms appear after a break as well. It’s essential to understand the difference between a jammed finger and a broken finger so that you can practice safe and effective treatment methods.

Contents

• 1 What Is a Jammed Finger?
• 2 Diagnosis and Treatment Options for Jammed Fingers
• 3 What Is a Broken Finger?
• 4 Diagnosis and Treatment Options for a Broken Finger
• 5 When Should You See a Doctor?
• 6 Contact The Hand and Wrist Institute Today!

What Is a Jammed Finger?

Image via Flickr by SarahCartwright

A jammed finger occurs when the tip of a finger forcefully presses against the hand. This situation can cause the ligaments in your hand to be overstrained and stretched, a condition that often happens to athletes. Jamming a finger is usually very painful but does not involve a fracture. However, you should still take a jammed finger seriously to avoid exacerbating the injury. Some common symptoms of a jammed finger include pain in the injured area, redness and swelling, weak feeling in the finger, and inability to extend the finger fully.

Jamming a finger is a prevalent sports injury often due to having your hand absorb the impact of catching a ball. This type of injury can occur in many other ways, such as lowering your hand to break a fall or slamming a drawer or door on the finger. A jammed finger can happen during any activity that puts extra strain on the joints. A jammed finger may develop permanent deformity of the joint or cause damage to the veins of the finger and lead to permanent stiffness if left untreated.

Diagnosis and Treatment Options for Jammed Fingers

You should always consult a medical professional if you believe you have a significant injury; however, several at-home methods can help reduce pain in the injured finger. One of the most common is icing the jammed finger, which can help reduce swelling and bring down pain levels. If possible, reapply ice to the area for 20 minutes every hour or as needed for pain.

Another step you can take to reduce pain is taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). The NSAIDs can reduce inflammation, swelling, and pain when taken at the recommended dosage. A critical method for pain relief is resting the injured finger. If you’ve jammed or broken a finger, the severity of the injury could increase if you continue to use it. If you’re in a position that makes resting the finger difficult, you may need to tape your fingers.

By taping the injured finger to the finger next to it, resting the finger can be easier as you’ve now splinted it and cannot bend or move around, allowing swelling to go down and the healing process to begin. You can also try testing your finger’s mobility. Try to move or bend the finger. If you experience sharp pains and a lack of motion, you may have broken the finger, and you should contact a doctor immediately.

What Is a Broken Finger?

Broken fingers are the result of fractures to the bones that make up your fingers. Fingers are common parts of your body to break because they constantly navigate our environment. A broken finger is hard to ignore because of the intense pain typically associated with this injury.

You can break a finger in several ways, and one of the most common is by extending your hand to break a fall. The weight of your body and the pressure of the fall can cause your bones to fracture, often resulting in extreme pain. Other common injuries include smashing your finger in a door, hitting it with a hammer or other tools, and catching a ball incorrectly.

Typical symptoms of a broken finger include swelling, stiffness, and bruising. Within several minutes of the injury, your finger may experience swelling. Bruising and the inability to move or bend the finger often follow this swelling. Numbness is also a common symptom of a break. It indicates that the nerves in your fingers have become compressed, often because of the swelling.

Another indicator of a broken finger is an exposed bone. If part of your bone is visible through the skin, you have a broken finger, and you should go to the emergency room for treatment. Other symptoms may imply a broken finger, such as burning, tingling, bleeding, limited range of motion, and persistent numbness. 

Diagnosis and Treatment Options for a Broken Finger

You can try several at-home treatments while you wait for a doctor to examine your finger. Never try to set a bone yourself or push an exposed bone back into place. If you have these symptoms, seek treatment immediately. NSAIDs, an ice compress, and tape are helpful methods to decrease pain and swelling for other symptoms. When taping a break versus a jam, it’s often beneficial to use a sturdy object to create a splint rather than taping directly to another finger. You can splint a finger using ice pop sticks to keep the finger straight and stabilized.

At the doctor’s office, your doctor will use an X-ray to determine what type of fracture occurred. Treatments will range based on the severity and location of the break. Some treatments may be as simple as splinting the finger and waiting for it to heal. Other treatments may require surgery to correct the fracture.

When Should You See a Doctor?

Depending on the injury, you may not be able to diagnose it correctly at home. While a jam is less severe than a break, both can cause similar symptoms and need treatment. The best way to know if you’ve broken a finger is with an X-ray. If you’re unsure, don’t wait around for the pain to go away naturally; make an appointment to have a doctor examine the finger. If the finger begins to feel numb and look white or pale, you’ll need medical treatment as these symptoms indicate low blood flow to the area.

Contact The Hand and Wrist Institute Today!

Broken and jammed fingers can be very painful and have lifelong consequences if not correctly treated. If you experience a break, jam, or other injury and think you should see a doctor, let the experts at The Hand and Wrist Institute help you. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Knight, an expert physician and one of the best hand surgeons in Dallas, TX, today at 855-558-4263, or contact us via our secure and convenient online messaging service.

Dr. John Knight

Dr. Knight is a renowned hand, wrist and upper extremity surgeon with over 25 years of experience. Dr. Knight is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Fellowship trained. Dr Knight has appeared on CNN, The Doctors TV, Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Oxygen network and more.

How to Check If You Have a Fractured Finger?

If you have suffered a fall or other type of impact to your hand, it is important to check for a possible fracture. While some fractures are obvious, others may not be as noticeable. 

In this article, we will take a look at the signs, symptoms, and treatment available for broken fingers and what you need to do If you have suffered a finger injury.

How Much Force Does It Take To Break a Finger?

The average person can apply between 5 to 10kg of force to an object before their fingers start to feel pain. However, the amount of force required to actually break a finger bone is much higher. It takes approximately 20 to 30 times more force to break a finger bone than it does to cause pain in the finger. In other words, it would take between 100 and 150 kilograms of force to break a finger bone.

Are Broken Fingers Common?

Yes – broken fingers are common in sports, activities, and day to day life. 

Common causes of broken fingers include falling on an outstretched hand, getting a finger caught in a closing door, or being hit by a heavy object. In most cases, the break will occur in the bones of the finger closest to the nail. These bones are called phalanges. 

Finger fractures can also occur at the joint where the finger meets the hand. This type of break is called a metacarpal fracture. Metacarpal fractures are usually caused by punching something with great force, such as a wall or another person.

Broken Finger Symptoms

The symptoms of a broken finger include pain, swelling, and bruising. The affected finger may appear crooked or deformed. It may be difficult to move the finger or put pressure on it. 

Some of the most common signs and symptoms of a broken finger include:

Pain: This is usually the most prominent symptom of a fractured finger. The pain may be constant or intermittent and may worsen with movement.

Swelling: You may notice that your finger is swollen, especially around the area of the injury. 

Bruising: A black and blue discoloration of the skin may indicate a fracture. 

Deformity: A broken bone can cause your finger to look crooked or out of alignment.

Numbness: If the nerve is damaged, you may feel numbness in your finger.

If you have any of these symptoms, it is important to get in contact with a specialised hand therapist right away. They will be able to confirm whether or not it is a fracture, and advise you on the right treatment program to ensure it heals correctly.

What if It’s Not Broken, Just Sore?

If your finger is swollen, bruised, or in pain, but not visibly broken, you may have a sprain or strain. These injuries happen when the ligaments or tendons in your finger are stretched or torn. A fall or blow to your hand can cause this type of injury.

Other possible causes of finger pain include:

• Arthritis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Trigger finger
• Ganglion cyst
• Infection

If you’re experiencing finger pain, swelling, or bruising, it’s best to see a hand therapist to receive an accurate diagnosis and begin a treatment plan. Depending on the cause of your symptoms, you may need medication, targeted physical therapy, or referral to a specialist for surgery.

What Kind of Health Care Professional Operates on Broken Fingers?

The type of doctor that performs surgery on broken fingers is called an orthopaedic surgeon. These surgeons are specially trained in surgically treating musculoskeletal injuries, including breaks and fractures. Seeing a hand therapist can provide you with an accurate diagnosis on your finger injury, and refer you to the orthopaedic surgeon, if necessary, as not all injuries will require surgery.

If you have suffered a broken finger, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible so that your injury can be properly diagnosed and treated.  Hand therapists are the perfectly equipped to provide you with the initial care and protection you need to heal properly, or get you a referral to the right specialist if surgical opinion is required.

Once you’re in the recovery period of your treatment, hand therapists,  including occupational therapist and physiotherapists, can help ensure you’re getting the hand rehabilitation needed to make a full recovery following the fracture. 

How Long Does it Take to Recover?

Recovery from a broken finger can take several weeks. During this time, it is important to follow instructions from a medical professional and avoid activities that could put stress on the injured finger. With proper care and treatment, most people are able to make a full recovery from a broken finger.

What Now?

If you think you have fractured your finger, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Apricus Health are the experts when it comes to hand therapy, helping patients through painful hand and wrist injuries. Whether acute or chronic, the team at Apricus will provided targeted assistance to help anyone suffering from broken finger symptoms. From diagnosis to treatment including splinting or casting, Apricus Health will be with you every step of the way. Should you require surgery, you will be referred to the relevant specialist. Surgery is typically only necessary for more severe fractures. 

For more information on identifying, treating, and managing a broken finger, get in touch with Apricus Health today. Our multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals in North Queensland can ensure you’re on the right road to recovery following a fracture.

Do they take in the army without fingers / with broken fingers?

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Broken fingers – is there a reason for a delay?

The absence of any finger or knuckle, and a possible fracture may seem like an obvious option for exemption from military service, but do not rush to injure yourself. In practice, this pathology has its own nuances.

Going to the enlistment office without a finger to hang out is considered an old grandfather’s tale, but does it really work? Many young people of military age are wondering if they take into the army without fingers or with broken fingers?

In order to correctly answer this question, it is necessary to study the Schedule of Diseases.
The schedule of diseases is an annex to the Government Decree “On approval of the regulation on military medical examination”. It is this legal act that members of the VVK are guided by when deciding on the suitability of a conscript.

Consult

Find answers to your questions or consult a military lawyer

Hand and finger categories

To understand whether they will be accepted into the army without fingers, you need to read article 67 of the Schedule of Diseases. According to it, the young man can be assigned the following categories of fitness:

• “D” – unfit for service. The young man is released from military duty.
• “B” – limited service life. The young man is released from military service and is transferred to the reserve.
• “B-3” – good with minor restrictions. The conscript is sent to the army, subject to restrictions on the choice of troops.

The article gives a detailed description of each deformation. In order to understand the specific medical terminology, you need to know what the diagram of the bones of the hand looks like and what each bone is called. Pay attention to the picture below:

Category “D”

A young man is recognized as unfit for the army if he is missing:

• 2 hands at the level of the carpal joints or metacarpal bones;
• 3 fingers at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joints on each hand;
• 4 fingers at the level of the distal ends of the main phalanges on each hand;
• the first and second fingers at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joints on both hands.

In the Schedule of Diseases, the thumb is named first, the index finger is second, the middle finger is third, the ring finger is fourth, and the little finger is fifth. The thumb (first) finger has two phalanges (proximal and distal), all other fingers have three.

Category “B”

The document describes a fairly wide list of grounds for exemption from military service.

1. First of all, of course, this is the absence of one hand at the level of the metacarpal bones or the carpal joint.
2. In addition, category “B” is assigned if one hand is missing:
   • 3 fingers at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joints or 4 fingers at the level of the distal ends of the main phalanges;
   • first and second fingers at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joints;
   • the first finger at the level of the interphalangeal joint and the second – fifth fingers at the level of the distal ends of the middle phalanges;
   • first fingers at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joints on both hands.
3. Also released from the army:
   • damage to the ulnar and radial arteries or each of them separately with a sharp violation of the blood circulation of the hand, fingers and the development of ischemic contracture of the small muscles of the hand;
   • old dislocations or defects of 3 or more metacarpals;
   • destruction, defects and condition after arthroplasty of 3 or more metacarpophalangeal joints;
   • old injuries or defects of the flexor tendons of 3 or more fingers distal to the level of the metacarpal bones;
   • a set of chronic injuries of 3 or more fingers, leading to persistent contracture or significant trophic disorders (anesthesia, hypoesthesia and other disorders).
4. Recovery from 2 or more fingers after their deprivation also releases the conscript from the army.
5. Absence:
   • the first finger at the level of the interphalangeal joint and the second finger at the level of the proximal phalanx or the third to fifth fingers at the level of the distal ends of the middle phalanges on one hand;
   • second – fourth fingers at the level of the distal ends of the middle phalanges on one hand;
   • 3 fingers at the level of the proximal ends of the middle phalanges on each hand;
   • the first or second finger at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joint on one hand;
   • the first finger at the level of the interphalangeal joint on the right (for left-handers – on the left) hand or on both hands;
   • 2 fingers at the level of the proximal end of the main phalanx on one hand;
   • distal phalanges of the second – fourth fingers on both hands;
   • chronic dislocations and osteochondropathy of the wrist joint;
   • defects and dislocations of 2 metacarpal bones;
   • destruction, defects and condition after arthroplasty of 2 metacarpophalangeal joints;
   • chronic damage to the flexor tendons of the 2nd fingers at the level of the metacarpal bones and long flexor of the first finger at any level.

Do they take in the army with broken fingers?

Of course, it is impossible to serve with broken fingers. But it is too early to rejoice at the liberation from the army. In case of fractures, you will be given a delay from the call until the restoration of health. Thus, you will save yourself another 6 months, but no one guarantees that you will not be taken into the army during the next draft campaign.

4

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Zhara. Lake. Fingers

Heat. Lake. Fingers

Nikita Sologub

May 22, 2017, 12:17

Texts

Photo: Nick Rains / Auscape / UIG / TASS

“Unidentified persons inflicted bodily harm on Vasiliev.” The story of a Nizhny Novgorod man who was accidentally cut off two fingers by the police, and the paramedic of the ambulance they called broke three ribs and blackened his eye.

On July 15, 2016, 52-year-old worker of one of the factories in Nizhny Novgorod, Sergei Vasiliev (the name of the victim was changed at his request), had a day off. His wife left for work early, Sergei got bored, and he drank a couple of shots of cold vodka. It was terribly hot outside.

By noon, Vasiliev put on sweatpants and a T-shirt, put a beach towel in a bag and went to sunbathe on Zemsnaryada Lake, bought another half-liter of Finka vodka on the way and soon fell asleep. He woke up in a room for administrative detainees of the first police department on the nearby Heroya Smirnov Street.

The man returned to his wife only in the morning – with broken ribs, missing two fingers and losing sight in one eye.

In the cell and on the porch

Vasiliev says that in the cell he woke up almost sober. Two other detainees explained that he was very drunk, so they decided to leave him in the department for the night. Vasilyev didn’t like this option – knowing that the police could issue him a fine and let him go home, he began to bang on the door: “To explain that I legally bought a bottle of vodka, I didn’t do drugs, I didn’t commit crimes, only an offense – drinking in a public place – so you can, after all, pay on the spot and go home to your wife.

Operatives Lobanov and Kuzyanin responded to the knock, they did not go inside the cell – they talked to the detainee through the half-open door. “I say: “Let’s solve the question somehow differently, why should I spend the night here? Write out a receipt, I will pay for it later, or let me call my wife, she will immediately pay, and I will go home, continue my quiet, peaceful life.” But for some reason it didn’t suit them, they told me: “Shut up”, ”recalls Vasiliev.

Trying to persuade the policemen, the Nizhny Novgorod citizen held the massive metal door with one hand and put the other on the jamb. A minute later, the door slammed shut, and the phalanxes of Vasiliev’s two fingers fell to the floor. “I see that two fingers are missing, the phalanx of one is hanging on a piece of skin, blood is flowing like a fountain, I am screaming. The men from the cell start drumming, but the employees, apparently getting used to this, ignore it,” he says.

The police opened the door only after eight minutes. According to Vasiliev, instead of pulling the arm with a tourniquet and stopping the bleeding, they bandaged the injured hand. The bandage instantly soaked in blood. Then the victim was taken to the porch to wait for an ambulance, although the hospital was one and a half kilometers from the department. The phalanxes of fingers cut off by the door, he says, were swept away by the police and thrown away.

The ambulance arrived 10 minutes later. According to Vasiliev, after getting out of the car, paramedic Basmanov, like the police, began to bandage his fingers, but the bleeding did not stop, and then the doctor, seeing a beach towel in the man’s bag, wrapped his hand with it. “Then he offers to go to the hospital. And I am in such a state – a painful shock, and in general, well, my fingers were torn off – and a thought passes through me, maybe a strange one, that here they cut off my fingers, threw them stupidly on the porch, and if I leave now, then no one will care about it anymore, you won’t prove anything to anyone. That is, now they will put me in an ambulance, they will also throw me out somewhere behind a neighboring bush, or later I will return and they will say that they already picked me up along the way. I then say that without some kind of documentary fixation of what happened in the department, I will not go. The paramedic replied: “Well, to hell with you.” And he leaves, ”recalls Vasiliev.

The man remained sitting on the porch. The bleeding did not stop; the blood-soaked towel soon had to be thrown away. At some point, Vasiliev felt that he was losing consciousness, but found the strength to knock on the door of the department. The police called an ambulance a second time. After some time, the same paramedic Basmanov arrived. “He got up like that, looks and says:“ Where is your towel, what am I, will I spend more bandages on you? – “Yes, it’s lying around.” He takes this dirty towel and tries to wrap my hand with it. I say: “Well, you’re an idiot, or something, now you will cover everything with dirt on my fingers, then they will amputate my entire arm. ” Well, here the vocabulary from him has already gone like this: “Yes, you ****** [got] me already, but I’ll get you now, ***** [damn], to ***** [damn] mother * ****** [beat]”. The policemen, there are about five of them, ran out onto the porch, I’m sitting on it, and he just starts to clobber me – in the head, in the body, anywhere. I start screaming: “What’s going on? Are you the police or what?”. Then one of them says to him so languidly, they say, well, stop it. This nurse is running away. I woke up in the hospital already. That’s how sunbathing and drinking vodka cost me two lost phalanxes of fingers – although if they had not thrown them away, they could have been sewn back – three broken ribs and damaged eyesight, ”he sums up. The phalanx, which was left hanging on a piece of skin, was sewn to Vasiliev in the hospital.

“Within authority”

Already on July 16, an internal check was scheduled in the police department on the fact of Vasiliev’s injuries. It ended three days later: the materials were handed over to the investigation department for the Avtozavodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod. During interrogation, police officer Lobanov, who unsuccessfully slammed the door, said that Vasiliev tried to push his colleague Kuzyanin away with his hands and leave the cell into the corridor.

“At that time I was behind the door of the cell, I did not see the events taking place, but only heard Vasiliev screaming and trying to get out. I saw Vasiliev’s hands trying to push Kuzyanin away. Then Kuzyanin tried to return him to the premises, but Vasiliev actively resisted. After that, being outside the door and realizing that Vasilyev was inside the cell, I closed the door, as Vasilyev became more and more aggressive, and already intended to inflict physical pain and bodily harm on Kuzyanin. When I closed the door of the room, I was sure that Vasiliev was inside. When I closed the door, we heard Vasiliev’s loud cry, opened the door and saw blood on his right hand, as well as the absence of a finger phalanx, ”Lobanov’s explanation says.

According to the police officer, the duty officer Malyshev promptly called an ambulance, which arrived at the department in 20-30 minutes, and Lobanov and Kuzyanin went to “their responsible and reported on the situation. ” Malyshev claims that no one drove Vasilyev out onto the porch – the doctors took him out onto the street. “During the provision of assistance, Vasilyev continued to behave aggressively, while trying to beat the doctor. Then Vasilyev refused hospitalization, and the doctors left, but after a few minutes Vasilyev became ill, and he asked to call the ambulance staff again. The ambulance officers who arrived in the presence of a police officer took Vasilyev to [the hospital],” the police officer told the investigator.

On August 18, a month after the incident, the investigator of the IC Denisov issued a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case under paragraph “a” of part 3 of article 286 of the Criminal Code (abuse of official powers with the use of violence) and part 2 of article 118 of the Criminal Code (causing grievous bodily harm on negligence) in relation to Lobanov, who, according to the document, acted “within his powers”. “[…] Hearing screams in the cell, [Lobanov] opened the door and asked what had happened. At this time, the detainee […] deliberately tried to leave the cell, but met resistance in the form of policeman Kuzyanin. Then Lobanov and Kuzyanin, making sure that no illegal actions were being committed in the cell, began to close the door of the cell, but Vasiliev continued to resist. After that, Lobanov closed the entrance door to the cell, inadvertently causing bodily injury to Vasiliev. […] The explanations of the police officers are consistent and do not contradict the materials of the check,” Denisov concluded.

“Bashed his head”

Vasilyev turned to the “Committee for the Prevention of Torture” and filed a complaint about the incident. Yevgeny Chilikov, the organization’s lawyer, explains that as a result of the check, the materials were divided into two proceedings: the Investigative Committee took care of the police, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs took care of the paramedic.

Soon Vasiliev was interrogated by district police officer Chernikov, but the victim did not tell him about Basmanov’s attack. “I was in a very depressed state, and my fingers still worried me more. It’s like I’m 53 years old, everything is fine, and here it is. Therefore, when he asked me where the bruises came from, I said that I didn’t know – I remember that in the police I woke up exactly without any injuries, and the police themselves say so. It’s not that I didn’t remember that the paramedic attacked me, but somehow I didn’t attach any importance to it – here I am all rewound, there are no fingers, all bruised, both eyes are swollen, one does not see anything at all, my ribs are broken. And I remember that I was beaten, but who? He asks: did they beat us, in the police? I say “No. Well, somehow impulsively answered, emotionally, the head has not yet turned on. And then the film rolled off, the picture was restored, and I remembered the paramedic, ”he says. In the future, the lawyer explains, Vasiliev was ready to come for interrogation again, but the district police officer limited himself to the first version of his testimony.

Paramedic Basmanov, interviewed by him, said that, having arrived on a call along with other members of the brigade, he saw a man sitting on the floor, “who had blood.” From the offer to go to the hospital, the man, “who was in a state of severe alcohol intoxication” and “randomly waved his hands both at the paramedic and towards the police,” “rudely refused.” About half an hour later, the ambulance again received a call at the same address, and Basmanov returned (at the same time, the testimony of the police officers themselves said that another brigade had already arrived at the department for the second time). “Together with a police officer, this man was forced to get into an ambulance. Along the way, the man continued to behave inappropriately, aggressively, beat his head, arms and legs against protruding objects, inflicted injuries on himself. Later, I learned from the hospital staff that this man continued to behave aggressively [in the hospital], and then ran away to a cafe, but after a while he again sought medical help, ”the paramedic said in the testimony.

During the inspection, district police officer Chernikov ordered a forensic medical examination of a duplicate of Vasilyev’s medical record from hospital No. 35. According to the document, the man went to the optometrist four days after the incident. The doctor diagnosed him with a contusion of the right eye, rupture of the sclera and erosion of the cornea of ​​the right eye. During treatment, the visual acuity of his left eye had a value of 1.0 (normal vision), and 0.1 in his right eye (sees only the top line according to the Sivtsev or Golovin table). The improvement occurred only a month later – then the visual acuity of the right eye recovered to 0.2, and a few months later – to 0.4 and did not rise any more.

After examining the hospital documentation, the expert came to the conclusion that the injury to Vasiliev’s right eye could have occurred shortly before going to the doctor from “a blow to a protruding solid object under the circumstances specified in the decision. ” However, the expert did not give an assessment of the severity of the harm caused to the man’s health, specifying that for this it is necessary to wait until the end of the treatment. On the basis of this examination and the testimony of Basmanov, the district police officer ruled that “in this material no corpus delicti was revealed.” 19December, he issued a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case under Article 115 of the Criminal Code (causing minor bodily harm) “due to the lack of corpus delicti”.

Unidentified police officers

Chilikov was going to appeal against the refusal of the district police officer to initiate a case, when unexpectedly a representative of the prosecutor’s office read out a decision to cancel this decision of the policeman. In a document dated April 2017, the prosecutor points out the shortcomings of the investigation. So, he writes, the district police officer did not identify or question the police officers who brought Vasiliev to the police station; did not interview the rest of the doctors from the ambulance team who were on call; did not claim the ambulance call log. Now the district is conducting an additional check.

In December, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 112 of the Criminal Code (deliberate infliction of moderate bodily harm). According to the decision, the reason was not the statement of Vasiliev himself, but the report of the investigator and “the presence of sufficient grounds pointing to signs of a crime” – that is, the results of a forensic examination that recorded the amputation of fingers, fractures of three ribs and an eye injury.

The document says that on July 15, 2016, in the premises for detainees of police department No. 1, “unidentified persons inflicted bodily injuries on Vasilyev.” However, since then he has not been summoned to any investigative actions. “It was initiated against unidentified persons, although it was clear who was involved in the fact that he lost his fingers. It was simply done on the basis of the instructions – in such situations, you need to initiate a case. As there is a corpse, it means that it must be the case, automatically. That is, they formally followed the instructions, but in relation to whom – in relation to no one. Well, most likely, over time, it will simply be stopped, this is just a formality, ”says Chilikov.

Now, the lawyer says, the “Committee for the Prevention of Torture” is seeking to open a case against the paramedic who attacked Vasiliev. “What happened inside the department is really an accident, plus maybe the police did not act quite correctly, not quite according to instructions. But according to the episode with the doctor, after meeting with whom Vasiliev’s vision fell twice in one eye and three ribs were broken – and everyone confirms that he got into the cell without any injuries – we will continue the investigation. I believe that the use of force by the doctors in this case can be equated with the inadequate use of force by the police, in this case the doctor is the same agent of the state, and in the same way he did not have the right to use force, but had to help, ” says Chilikov.

According to Vasiliev, a few weeks after the incident, the head of the PPS company came to his house and apologized for the actions of his employees. He insisted that what happened in the department was an accident. “And I do not insist that it was intentional. But I think it’s a mess. If you call the elevator, you must make sure that the cabin has arrived, and then step into it. If I drive a high-risk vehicle, a car, I must comply with the rules for driving it. And if I’m on duty, I should be responsible too, right? And so — a pedestrian crushed and “oh, I was distracted by accident!”. Well, it doesn’t justify me, does it? And just like you, if you close the door, you have to make sure that there is nothing there. What if my head was there? That death did not happen, so no one will be punished. If the head – it’s all right, and the fingers – well, it’s nonsense, ”the victim is indignant.

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