What's some emergency first aid tips for gunshot wounds?

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I know calling 911 would be 1st, but what can a person do before paramedics arrive or if in a remote location. I searched on internet first, and didn't find anything helpful. Please list first aid for exit and non-exit wounds.
First, control any life threatening hemorrhaging, ie arterial bleeding, with a compression dressing, pressure point compression, and/or elevation of ther wound if possible. Arterial bleeding is bright red blood that may or may not be "spurting" from the wound. If pressure points, compression and elevation don't work, put on a tourniquet. Leave the tourniquet exposed and note the time you applied it. DO NOT LOOSEN IT under any circumstances once you've applied it. Once a tourniquet is in place, the casualty will have 6-8 hours to get to definitive medical care before he/she risks permanent damage to nerves and tissues. Life threatening hemmorhage must be controlled before you do anything else. CPR won't matter if the person bleeds to death first. Next, you worry about securing the airway. Now, for other wounds. Entry and exit wounds may or may not travel in a straight line. So, just because you see an entry wound in the abdomen doesn't mean the bullet didn't come out near the shoulder. You must check from top to bottom, both arms, and both legs for any and all wounds. Once all wounds are located, begin treatment. Stop the bleeding. Apply dressings to all wounds. If you're in a remote location as you stated, you might as well apply a pressure dressing to begin with. This is NOT a tourniquet. Its a dressing with the knot applied directly over the wound or knot applied over another piece of material directly over the wound. These dressings are generally used on the extremities. Abdominal wounds can be slightly different depending on the nature of the wound. If any organs are outside of the body, place them on the abdomen before applying a dressing. Make sure the dressing is moist. DO NOT attempt to push the organs back into the abdominal cavity. Just cover them with the moist dressing. If the wound has no organs where they don't belong, ie outside, then just apply a large dressing over the wound. Chest wounds are their own animal. First, look for exit wounds. Apply an occlusive dressing, something that won't allow air to pass through, over the exit wound first. Secure all 4 sides of the dressing. Next, the entrance wound will be dressed the same, but make sure you don't secure the 4th side until the casualty has completely exhaled. It used to be, and I'm sure you can still find those who still do, that you would only secure 3 sides of the wound, leaving the 4th side unsecure to act as a flutter valve. I don't do this and it is not in my block of instruction either. There are a number of complications associated with chest wounds such as, pneumothorax, tension pneumothorax, hemothorax, hemo-pneumothorax, and a host of others. All you can do with any gunshot wound is control the bleeding, prevent further injury, and seek definitive medical care. All the while you need to maintain the airway, treat and prevent shock, reassure the casualty, and seek aid. I hope this answers your question.  (+ info)

Which war was it that they used cocaine to help numb gunshot wounds?

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I know its a weird question but I remember learning somewhere that maybe it was the civil war or maybe not even a war, that they would use cocaine to numb the gunshot wounds
World Wars 1 and 2, for sure, but cocaine was used as a local painkiller in every dentist and doctor's office until the 60s, it wasn't unusual or limited to the military.  (+ info)

Is there I can make my body tough enough to sustain gunshot and stab and punch wounds?

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I need the best recommended training you got.

If you are a trainer then feeel free to shoot me an email.
Maybe you can find the best protective gear  (+ info)

Is it true that kidney stones hurt like gunshot wounds?

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I've recently had one, but seems like it is going away for tonight. It's like really heavy sharp pain in lower stomach side... I was even afraid to move or breath at some point. I had same pains like 2 months ago, I couldn't fall asleep, wasn't even moving and it hurt like hell!

So yeah is it true that kidney stone pains are like one of the most terrible pains to experience in a life time or what..?
i've given birth to loads of children........and kidney stones are way way way way way worse!

there is no way that i could hold a conversation, stand upright, or even be aware of my surroundings when that pain hit  (+ info)

Is their a cure for Gunshot wounds?

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I accidentally shot my leg with a Desert Eagle handgun and it completely blew it apart, i have no phone i can get to right now and i did it next to my computer, what can i do?
Wow this is an interesting statement. Don't know if you're serious or not. Probably not. Well scream or something...Take some aspirin...wait no don't do that. Take some Tylenol.  (+ info)

Recovering from gunshot wounds or stab wounds?

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I was watching Law and Order earlier and it got me to thinking about the subject....

Has anyone out there on YA recovered from a gunshot or stab wound? What did the doctors/paramedics/other medical personnel do for you? How long did it take to recover? Tell it all.

Also, anyone in the medical field is welcome to respond as well.
Hi there,
I was shot in the stomach 2 years ago. This is a very basic rundown of what happened in my situation in relation to my wound.

The doctors removed the bullet in my gut and cleansed and scrubbed the wound with soap to remove foreign material.

They then used a syringe to provide high-pressure irrigation. (very sore!)

They removed the dead tissue from the wound with a scalpel. After cleaning the wound, they put a topical antibiotic ointment on it which I had to apply up to 3 times per day.

Once the wound was clean, they stitched the wound.

They gave me antibiotics for about 5 days after all signs of infection have cleared.

Then I put the bullet in my wallet and it's been there ever since! :-)  (+ info)

Why do gunshot wounds have a higher mortality rate compared to stab wounds?

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It's kind of like comparing cutting into an apple with a knife vs. hitting it with a sledgehammer. Plus some bullets are made to explode on impact sending shards of metal all over your body.  (+ info)

Why is the mortality rate for gunshot wounds higher than stab wounds?

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A bullet is traveling very fast and causes more damage than a stab wound. To die from stabbing the knife would have to hit a major artery or a vital organ.  (+ info)

Are there really vets who can deal with gunshot wounds ?

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this is just theoretical, but theoretically near Ipswich.
how did you get shot in the first place? or was it the dog that was accidently shot while doing a bird hunt?  (+ info)

I've noticed that gunshot wounds have higher mortality rates than stab wounds?

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Why might this be?
A knife makes a single clean cut wound that will certainly bleed a lot but if no major arteries are cut and the person receives first aid quickly his chances of recovery are good. However depending on calibre and type of bullet used by the shooter a gunshot wound is usually much deeper than a knife wound and it is not unusual for a bullet to completely penetrate the person and so cause two external wounds. In addition because of the high velocity of a bullet it causes a lot of body tissue damage because of the shock wave this rapid speed generates and all this damaged tissue bleeds even though the bullet did not actually physically touch it.

The link below may interest you it is to a site where they have done various bullet penetration tests.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/  (+ info)

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