heartless, the problem is that whatever you do yourself is unlikely to get the wound cleaned all the way deep inside. Don't be fooled. Infection can take up to three days to really start setting in. Your topical antibiotics are not able to get all the way, deep inside the wound. You really should see a doctor today. If it's the cost, don't worry about it...that's your employer's responsibility since it was an on-the-job injury. Call your regular doctor. They might have Saturday hours, and this sort of injury is something they'll squeeze in an appointment for. If you get their answering service, leave a detailed message describing the injury...the answering service doesn't mean the doctor is completely unavailable, it means they screen the calls so the doctor is only disturbed by emergencies on his off hours...yours is still an emergency. If you can't get through to your doctor, and the hospital is too far for you to get to on your own, look in the phone book and see if there are urgent care clinics closer. Sometimes, in areas where there aren't nearby hospitals, or when they get really overcrowded often, smaller clinics open up for "urgent care" which means they can handle things that aren't likely to need hospitalization, such as wounds like yours (they can clean it properly, give you your tetanus booster, and a prescription for antibiotics that will make sure infection doesn't develop or spread, and can do an x-ray to see if you have any broken bones)...they're also good for things like broken bones (not compound fractures though, just simple fractures that can be easily reset and casted...if it needs surgery, they'll refer you on to the hospital anyway), and stitching up cuts that require stitches, and can treat minor illnesses, or determine if an illness is serious enough to require hospital treatment without having to sit in the ER for hours to be told you have the flu and go home and drink lots of fluids.
heartless, the other reason to go now is to simply have it documented by a doctor. Since your boss didn't have the sense or decency to get you to a doctor him/herself, you want something that shows you needed medical care for an on-the-job injury in case it causes more problems later. For example, if you get lucky and don't have any infection, and the hole itself heals up okay, but you have damage to a tendon or have chipped a bone and that leaves a weakness that later requires surgery, without any documentation that this was the result of a work-related injury, you'll be the one stuck with the bills later on, and may have problems getting insurance to pay because it's a "pre-existing condition" by then. But, if you have medical records that show you were treated now, and it was a job-related injury, even if you stop working for this employer, if this injury causes problems down the road, this employer is still the one responsible for your treatment. I know when you're 16, you really don't think about these things. Heck, people in their 20s and 30s often don't think of these things, but when you're still limping every time it rains when you're 40 or 50, you'll be thinking back to how foolish it was to not get that treated properly when you had the chance. I currently work with someone who is about 60 who has a lot of pain almost daily from old injuries he never got treated. He often comments, "When you're young and strong, you're not so careful. You don't think about when you get old."
