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Old 03-10-2009, 09:20   #1
swatsurgeon
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Medical/Trauma Wound Analysis

Over the years, I have recognized a few things.
1. Most gunshot wounds (low velocity) are not lethal...remember the data I posted a while back.
Deaths from GSW (not dead on scene, but did not survive to discharge from hospital) Head = 62%, Chest= 28%, Abdomen= 9%, Extremity = <1%
So the moral of the story is shot placement within the confines of each body cavity must be nearly perfect to result in death from hemorrhage....since the advent of present EMS/medical/trauma systems.
High velocity wound are a different story since the permanent and temporary cavities are relatively larger, more unpredictable and result in significantly more injury per body area which translates into significantly more deaths due to hemorrhage in each body region. This makes for a medics and trauma surgeons use of all available resources to have a 'save'; it is not simple but the field care makes a bigger difference for these types of wounds, IMHO so that the patient is able to make it to the trauma center/field hospital for definitive operative therapy. This is not generally the case for low velocity wounds which usually just scoop and run, do less in the field and a patient has the good chance of doing well.

Now, knife wounds which have been around for alot longer than GSW's, can be horrific wounds....the skill of the average knife user can cause death but unless they lacerate something that bleeds alot and fast, the patient 's chances of survival are good. On the other hand, a knife in the hands of a skilled warrior can produce devestating wounds that can either incapacitate or kill (or both serially) and make my job nearly impossible to have a good outcome. I would always rather deal with a GSW knowing there are few expert marksman out there....the knife wounds I have seen over the last many years seem to be getting more frequent and nastier and when the guy on the control end of a knife knows how to make the most damage happen, and makes it happen, the wounds are terrible and I believe more lethal. The analogy is: these wounds are equal to the injuries caused by a shotgun to the body as compared to a single small projectile.
Knives are common and with the economy the way it is and ammunition being scarce/expensive/etc, I expect a lot more knife wounds.....so be prepared. The external wounds will vary as they always have from stabs to slashes....but those with 'advanced' skills whether they are developed on the street or in a classroom will cause wounds that are likely lethal and will not give us much chance of salvage....we will likely have greater disability and deaths caused by these instruments that rival the GSW's of years ago on the streets.

So next time you look at a knife's design....blade shape/curve/attributes, think what kind of damage it was designed to inflict....call me crazy but there is a level of art-form here that now makes sense to me, i.e., blade design. Look at the Spyderco Warrior, the Spartan blades, the Yarborough ,,,,, Just add to the mix training and we have more work, medically speaking, coming to a neigborhood near you.

ss
__________________
'Revel in action, translate perceptions into instant judgements, and these into actions that are irrevocable, monumentous and dreadful - all this with lightning speed, in conditions of great stress and in an environment of high tension:what is expected of "us" is the impossible, yet we deliver just that.
(adapted from: Sherwin B. Nuland, MD, surgeon and author: The Wisdom of the Body, 1997 )

Education is the anti-ignorance we all need to better treat our patients. ss, 2008.

The blade is so sharp that the incision is perfect. They don't realize they've been cut until they're out of the fight: A Surgeon Warrior. I use a knife to defend life and to save it. ss (aka traumadoc)
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