GSWs (cops and .mil please don't answer)

[jeremy]

Ha, I bet we know each other then, as I worked at Wishard in that era too.
No, I won't ask you to reveal your identity, but I was the guy with the long hair.

In the 90's, a guy with long hair...

THAT really narrowed it down...

 

[Brown86]

I work at Methodist Hostpital downtown Indy and have helped pull a gsw victom out of a car once, and have seen a lot come through the doors. From what i have seen a lot of the time it all comes down to how long it took them to get through those ER doors and where(what part of the body) they were hit. Just hold pressure and get help ASAP. I remember a few times guys got shot and they would have made it had they just been their sooner. If it were my friend or myself, load me up and take me to the hospital right now! if you have to meet up with an ambulance then meet up with them don't wait around for them. You can hold pressure in a truck bed or back seat.Just make sure the driver can handle what is going on(the last thing you need at this point is a car wreck.Everyone stay calm it freaks people out when other people are yelling around them.). I'm not a Dr. but i do work with them and i know how the longer a person waits to be treated the faster problems start stacking up inside their body. I'm sure that someone else will tell you different but if it happened to me, we will be holding pressure and in the car to the first E.R. we can get to. O and get 911 on the phone..its a big help to everyone in the E.R. to know what is about to come throught the doors. People will run out and help get the injured out of the car..i've seen it. I hope this helps a little or at least gives you something to think about. Just remember if you are unsure or hesitate to help...doing nothing is the worst thing to do. Like my dear old Dad would say."Don't stand around with your thumb up your a**." There is no guilt when it comes to trying to save a life, and you don't need an army to do it, in other words if their are enough people to get the job done then just stay out of the way and make sure they have everything they need. If you find yourself standing there maybe you should be calling 911. Sorry if i went on and on about this but i have seen a lot of GSW and many were saved because they had someone to pick them up and get them to help.

 

[jeremy]

One word that will GREATLY increase someones odds of surviving a GSW event, Tourniquet...

 

[Gamez235]

Yes. Three times now.

 

[Randall]

About twenty year ago at my parent’s very rural farm an acquaintance of mine shot himself in the foot with my 1911. I assumed because that because his dad was a state trooper and he was a navy veteran that he had a clue but he failed to keep his finger off the trigger and put a 230 gr black talon (right after it came out) thru the top of his foot near ankle. When he was first shot he was very quiet and did not say a word. It was not until I asked if he had shot himself that we (my brother and other friend were also there) where sure that he had done it.
He had been wearing heavy orthopedic boot because of industrial accident (there may be a pattern here) and was not bleed much. Because of the lack of bleeding and the sheer remoteness we loaded him in the back of a truck and head towards the nearest town. He did start to go into shock on the way into town, but is short enough trip to get him to the local volunteer FD. As for how it made me feel I didn’t really feel much of anything just an urgency to get him care.

 

[themadmedic]

I work at Methodist Hostpital downtown Indy and have helped pull a gsw victom out of a car once, and have seen a lot come through the doors. From what i have seen a lot of the time it all comes down to how long it took them to get through those ER doors and where(what part of the body) they were hit. Just hold pressure and get help ASAP. I remember a few times guys got shot and they would have made it had they just been their sooner. If it were my friend or myself, load me up and take me to the hospital right now! if you have to meet up with an ambulance then meet up with them don't wait around for them. You can hold pressure in a truck bed or back seat.Just make sure the driver can handle what is going on(the last thing you need at this point is a car wreck.Everyone stay calm it freaks people out when other people are yelling around them.). I'm not a Dr. but i do work with them and i know how the longer a person waits to be treated the faster problems start stacking up inside their body. I'm sure that someone else will tell you different but if it happened to me, we will be holding pressure and in the car to the first E.R. we can get to. O and get 911 on the phone..its a big help to everyone in the E.R. to know what is about to come throught the doors. People will run out and help get the injured out of the car..i've seen it. I hope this helps a little or at least gives you something to think about. Just remember if you are unsure or hesitate to help...doing nothing is the worst thing to do. Like my dear old Dad would say."Don't stand around with your thumb up your a**." There is no guilt when it comes to trying to save a life, and you don't need an army to do it, in other words if their are enough people to get the job done then just stay out of the way and make sure they have everything they need. If you find yourself standing there maybe you should be calling 911. Sorry if i went on and on about this but i have seen a lot of GSW and many were saved because they had someone to pick them up and get them to help.

Good advice. Time is key for a lot of these.

One word that will GREATLY increase someones odds of surviving a GSW event, Tourniquet...

It can if it is on an extremity with bleeding that cannot be otherwise controlled. If you aren't under fire and can control the bleeding with pressure-a TQ isn't a necessity.

 

[jwfuhrman]

One word that will GREATLY increase someones odds of surviving a GSW event, Tourniquet...

Agreed, to bad the state of Indiana says its a last resort for medics to use a TQ....

 

[rhino]

I've never seen a gunshot wound that was fresh. I do have a plan. I do have a tourniquet in one pocket and IBD in another pocket. I know how to use them and when.

 

[Bill of Rights]

One word that will GREATLY increase someones odds of surviving a GSW event, Tourniquet...

So everyone remember: If Jeremy is ever shot in the head....

 

[Sylvain]

I always carry a first aid kit and a trauma kit designed to treat GSW as part as my EDC.
Another trauma kit stays in my range bag.
I never actually had to treat those wounds on a real life accidents but I had the training to deal with them.

Also I dont go to public ranges, that's maybe why I havent seen anyone getting shot.

 

[gvonpaul]

In the 90's, a guy with long hair...

THAT really narrowed it down...

Well I was the only guy working there with hair, and figured I could ID myself without giving my name by pointing that out.

 

[gvonpaul]

Good advice. Time is key for a lot of these.



It can if it is on an extremity with bleeding that cannot be otherwise controlled. If you aren't under fire and can control the bleeding with pressure-a TQ isn't a necessity.

Agreed, to bad the state of Indiana says its a last resort for medics to use a TQ....

Now it's an integral part of the Marion County bleeding protocol and is used relatively frequently. Experience with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan has shown that a limb can survive much longer without circulation than was initially thought. I believe even the police carry them now.
So throw that old info out and keep a tourniquet handy, it may save yours (or someone else's) life.

 

[MACHINEGUN]

One time I rode with the MCSD and I seen this guy who had committed suicide with a 12 gauge shotgun straight to his "grape". I was a Senior in High School and we had to do something for career day so I thought why not do a ride along? I wasn't forced to go in the house and see this, but I was asked if I wanted to or not (I was highly advised not to do so).. I wanted to see it, so I did. I must admit I was quite shocked by what I seen.. his skull and brains were all over the wall. It wasn't the visual that got me though, the smell was horrid.. even still to this day I remember that smell very well. I still do ride alongs whenever I get the opportunity, seen some crazy things riding along with IMPD also. The MCSD ride along was the weirdest though.. I'll never forget that as long as I live. I felt horrible for his Mother, it was her house he did that in. I think people who commit suicide are so selfish, I don't feel sorry for them one bit.

 

[lovemachine]

One word that will GREATLY increase someones odds of surviving a GSW event, Tourniquet...

So you wouldn't just slap a band-aid over it?

 

[jeremy]

Agreed, to bad the state of Indiana says its a last resort for medics to use a TQ....

I know...

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

I have never seen a gsw in person but I do test every bullet I ever carry for function in a bucket of wet newsprint. Seeing the destruction evident to my bucket from a gunshot and then imagining the same gaping hole in a guy's chest is very sobering. I certainly don't want to try it out on a man.

While testing the .357 magnum and surveying the damage, I was impressed. The bucket was swollen and cracked with a 4 inch wide hole from just one shot. I saw the stricken look on my wife's face and she asked me what the hell did I buy THAT THING for?. I rationalized that while we are hiking in the woods we could be attacked by a horse, or a cow or something...... (it COULD happen)

I think if people actually saw the terminal effects then they would be less likely to be flippant and say macho things like they do concerning their guns. It's not a joke when it's a man instead of a bucket.

 

[jeremy]

So everyone remember: If Jeremy is ever shot in the head....

If I am shot in the head a TQ around my neck is the least of my problems....

 

[jeremy]

I think if people actually saw the terminal effects then they would be less likely to be flippant and say macho things like they do concerning their guns. It's not a joke when it's a man instead of a bucket.

some of us are extremely aware of what are tools are capable of doing, and our flippant use of humor is what we do to cope with that knowledge....

 

[jwfuhrman]

I know...

Hence why EMT-B's can't go work out of state. Our certs are basically worthless.....

oh well, guess I gotta go take the Paramedic course..... thought about advanced, but nooooooooo Indiana is doing away with that cert level. Maybe I'll do the Intermediate as thats not going anywhere.

 

[jeremy]

Hence why EMT-B's can't go work out of state. Our certs are basically worthless.....

oh well, guess I gotta go take the Paramedic course..... thought about advanced, but nooooooooo Indiana is doing away with that cert level. Maybe I'll do the Intermediate as thats not going anywhere.

I love the discussions I have with our local ems director and the Volunteers on Trauma Management....