Doctor Tells of a 19-Gunshot-Wound Survivor - Page 3

Hondo11 · March 25, 2010, 03:46 AM

There is no magical formula for the lethality of gunshot wounds. Obviously, some things will do more damage than others (CNS hits, a bullet through the heart) and probably kill you (or them) "better."

I personally witnessed a teammate take a large caliber round through his shoulder. The bullet hit the bone, deflected upward and out the top of his shoulder, passing through his neck and severing his carotid artery, finally exiting the other side of his face, taking most of it (his face) with it. He "should have" died, but he didn't. We kept him alive for 4 hours until he was finally medivac'd to a hosptial. He's still alive today.

I also personally witnessed a gunshot wound from a .357mag that completely severed the femoral artery. Despite my best efforts, he bled out in 2-3 minutes. He was taken to a hospital, where they somehow "jump-started" him and kept him alive (how, I do not know...I DO know that he was bled out and DEAD.) He is alive today.

Which brings me to the important point. Never assume that a certain wound is lethal...whether it be someone else or, more importantly, YOU.

You can shoot a deer with a .30-06 and they will run half a mile before they collapse. Why? Because they don't know they're "dead" until they PHYSICALLY die. A human that's twice as large as that animal will get shot with a round half as big and they'll lay down and die. Why? Because we have conditioned our minds to believe that when we're shot, we're supposed to die.

Don't die until you're dead.

45ACPShooter · March 27, 2010, 04:17 PM

I think there's a lot of knowledge missing from our understanding of wound ballistics. We understand what kills someone but we don't understand why some people stop immediately and others keep going.

Drugs, adrenaline, and sheer determination seems to keep some people going longer but other times it's not so clear. All these factors help keep someone going longer but they are not absolute.

I've often heard that the reason people will stop when shot even if it's not an immediately incapacitating wound is because we're so conditioned by tv and movies yet people were still stopping after being shot since the first days firearms were ever used. It wasn't like everyone was being shot multiple times and all of a sudden that stopped because of tv. I think in part it must be the shock and pain of being struck must cause most people to stop after being shot. There's probably plenty of other factors we just don't know about.

March 25, 2010, 03:46 AM	#51
Hondo11 Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2008 Posts: 120	There is no magical formula for the lethality of gunshot wounds. Obviously, some things will do more damage than others (CNS hits, a bullet through the heart) and probably kill you (or them) "better." I personally witnessed a teammate take a large caliber round through his shoulder. The bullet hit the bone, deflected upward and out the top of his shoulder, passing through his neck and severing his carotid artery, finally exiting the other side of his face, taking most of it (his face) with it. He "should have" died, but he didn't. We kept him alive for 4 hours until he was finally medivac'd to a hosptial. He's still alive today. I also personally witnessed a gunshot wound from a .357mag that completely severed the femoral artery. Despite my best efforts, he bled out in 2-3 minutes. He was taken to a hospital, where they somehow "jump-started" him and kept him alive (how, I do not know...I DO know that he was bled out and DEAD.) He is alive today. Which brings me to the important point. Never assume that a certain wound is lethal...whether it be someone else or, more importantly, YOU. You can shoot a deer with a .30-06 and they will run half a mile before they collapse. Why? Because they don't know they're "dead" until they PHYSICALLY die. A human that's twice as large as that animal will get shot with a round half as big and they'll lay down and die. Why? Because we have conditioned our minds to believe that when we're shot, we're supposed to die. Don't die until you're dead.

March 27, 2010, 04:17 PM	#52
45ACPShooter Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2010 Posts: 116	I think there's a lot of knowledge missing from our understanding of wound ballistics. We understand what kills someone but we don't understand why some people stop immediately and others keep going. Drugs, adrenaline, and sheer determination seems to keep some people going longer but other times it's not so clear. All these factors help keep someone going longer but they are not absolute. I've often heard that the reason people will stop when shot even if it's not an immediately incapacitating wound is because we're so conditioned by tv and movies yet people were still stopping after being shot since the first days firearms were ever used. It wasn't like everyone was being shot multiple times and all of a sudden that stopped because of tv. I think in part it must be the shock and pain of being struck must cause most people to stop after being shot. There's probably plenty of other factors we just don't know about.