In today's turbulent world, you need to be prepared for any situation. And sometimes you just need to know a few simple rules that can save a person's life. This article should talk about what a gunshot wound is and what assistance can be provided to a wounded person before the arrival of an ambulance.
About terminology
At the very beginning, you need to understand the concepts that will be actively used in the article. So, a wound is damage to organs and tissues, which is accompanied by a violation of the integrity of the skin. Wounds are accompanied by pain, bleeding, divergence of the edges of the damaged areas and, of course, often a violation of the normal functioning of the damaged part of the body. A gunshot wound is damage sustained by a firearm.
About the types of wounds
It is also worth mentioning that a gunshot wound can be different. The first classification - depending on the presence of input and outputholes:
- Blind wound. In this case, the object that caused the wound gets stuck in the human body.
- A through wound. In this case, the object that injures the body passes through the tissues through and through.
Second classification, depending on the subject of injury:
- Wound of soft tissues - skin, muscles, nerve endings, tendons, blood vessels.
- Bone damage.
The following classification - depending on the penetration of the injuring object:
- A wound penetrating into the body cavity. In this case, the bullet penetrates into the abdominal, cranial, articular and other cavities of a person.
- Wound that does not penetrate into the body cavity.
And the last classification - according to the mechanism of wounding. In this case, cut, stab, chopped, bitten, scalped, crushed, bruised, lacerated and, of course, gunshot wounds are distinguished.
First aid
Very important is the correct first aid for a gunshot wound. After all, sometimes it happens that before the ambulance arrives, a person can die, simply without waiting for the simplest actions from outsiders. And everything happens due to the fact that people most often simply do not know how to do the right thing and what needs to be done to save a person from death. How can you help the victim if he has a gunshot wound?
- At the very beginning, the wound must be freed from clothing. This is necessary in order to evaluate her and understand how serious the bleeding is.
- Nextit is imperative to stop the bleeding, even if it is at first glance insignificant. If the blood leaves a little, you can simply raise the wound so that it cannot flow out (if the limbs are injured). Otherwise, the place of bleeding must be clamped with a finger (transferring the blood artery). Next, you need to try to apply a tourniquet a little higher than the wound itself. If there is nothing suitable at hand, you need to tear off a strip of fabric from the clothes and strongly squeeze the place above the wound.
- Wound treatment. Only if the bleeding has stopped, the wound should be washed and disinfected. To do this, it is good to use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Further, the area around can be treated with iodine to avoid infection. And only after that the wound can be bandaged with a sterile bandage. All these medicines should be in any car first-aid kit. So if there was a gunshot wound, you should try to stop any car and ask the driver for a first aid kit.
- If the bullet hit the bone (it is very difficult to determine this “by eye”), the wound must be properly fixed. Yes, you will need to put on a tire. Any materials at hand can be useful for this.
- It is important to remember that a person with a gunshot wound cannot always be moved, transported independently. Sometimes a bullet damages the internal organs so that the slightest unskilled movement can greatly harm a person. So before the ambulance arrives, it is best not to touch the wounded. The only thing you need to try to protect it from hypothermia, overheating orrain.
Limb injury
Separately, it is also necessary to talk about the dangers of gunshot wounds to the extremities. So, these are the most common wounds. In addition, they are very dangerous, because they are fraught with severe blood loss. Therefore, in the case of a firearm of a limb in a person, at the very beginning, you need to find the wound itself and do everything so that the blood stops. By the way, by its color you can determine whether it is venous or arterial. Venous blood is dark in color. Arterial is most often scarlet, it also comes out of the body of the wounded by the fountain. If the bleeding is venous, it is better to apply not a tourniquet, but a pressure bandage. In any case, it is worth remembering that all these auxiliary items can be applied to the body for no more than two hours (most often, during this period of time, the wounded person is already handed over to the ambulance doctors). You also need to determine whether the integrity of the bones is not broken in a person. If the bone is broken, it must be fixed in a fixed position. It is also worth remembering that if a person has a gunshot wound, he may experience pain shock. In this case, you need to give anti-shock drugs. If there are none at hand, do not panic. After a while, consciousness will return to the wounded. It is not necessary to beat on the cheeks, bringing a person to life.
Head wound
The most dangerous, probably, is a gunshot wound to the head. After all, the survival rate in such cases is not too high - about 16%. Butit is also necessary to provide assistance to the victim with such an injury. Here it is worth mentioning that when a person is injured, a person will have a lot of blood, since it is here that multiple vessels are located. The loss of consciousness by a person does not mean his death, it is worth remembering this. Order of steps for a head wound:
- The wound should be covered with a sterile dressing. If it bleeds heavily, you can try to stop the bleeding with a cotton swab.
- It is best for the human body to be horizontal.
- You should not transport the wounded yourself, it is better to wait for the ambulance to arrive.
- If a person's heart has stopped, artificial respiration and heart massage should be performed.
Neck and spine
It's easy to figure out what gunshot wounds look like, photos in this case are the first clues. So, in case of injury to the neck or spine, it must be remembered that a person cannot be transported categorically. The only thing is to put it on a hard surface. If the neck is bleeding, you need to try to stop the bleeding very quickly. After all, if the carotid artery is broken, you can die from blood loss in 15 seconds. So, you need to put a bandage on your neck. If it does not help, the artery must be clamped with a finger and be in this position until the ambulance arrives.
Wounded in the chest, stomach
Separately, you also need to consider a gunshot wound to the stomach and chest. So, at the very beginning, it must be said here that the human body is dividedinto three main zones: pleural, abdominal and pelvic organs. If a person has an internal wound, blood begins to accumulate in these areas. In this case, it is impossible to stop the bleeding on your own. Complications of injuries of internal organs:
- Pneumothorax. This is the entry of air into the pleural cavity through the site of the firearm.
- Hemothorax. This is blood entering the pleural cavity.
- Pneumohemothorax. This is getting into the pleural cavity of air and blood together.
You can only try to prevent the ingress of air. So, for this, the wound must be covered with a dense material or clamped with a hand.
Bullet extraction
As mentioned above, gunshot wounds are very dangerous for human life (the photo of the wounded is the first confirmation of this). However, in some cases, if it is completely impossible to get qualified medical care, you can try to remove the bullet yourself. But this must be done very carefully and only if the arrival of doctors is impossible for certain reasons. Action algorithm:
- First, the one who will carry out all the actions is preparing. Hands need to be treated with antiseptic.
- The skin around the wound is treated with an antiseptic.
- If possible, give an anesthetic to the wounded. This may be the drug "Spazmalgon" or the ampoule of the drug "Novocain". If this is not the case, a hard object should be given to the person's teeth.
- With a knife, you need to increase a littlebullet hole size. Then treat everything again with an antiseptic.
- Using the processed tweezers, you need to try to get the bullet. Care must be taken not to touch the large blood arteries, as a person may die due to hemorrhagic shock, i.e. blood loss.
- The wound after the operation must be treated again, bandaged.
Expertise
If a person is injured, it is necessary to call not only an ambulance (although it is in the first place), but also police officers. Thus, a forensic medical examination of gunshot wounds will also be mandatory. It is designed to answer the following questions:
- The nature of the injury.
- The direction of the wound channel, shot.
- The distance that was between the perpetrator and the victim.
- Type of weapon used.
- Number of bullet wounds.
- The sequence of inflicting bullet wounds (if there was more than one).
- Whose hand did the damage: your own or another person's hand.
It's worth saying that the forensic examination of gunshot wounds provides investigators with multiple critical answers to questions that can move them a few steps forward.
Arrival of doctors
It is very important medical care for a gunshot wound. So, only specialists can provide that help to a person that can save his life. However, the importance of pre-medicalhelp. After all, this can also save the life of the victim.
