What’s Some Emergency First Aid Tips For Gunshot Wounds?
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.
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January 10th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
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.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Your first priortity would be to control the bleeding. If it is a leg or arm wound and bleeding profusely you would try to find something to make a tourniquet to stop the blood flow. If it is an abdominal or other wound then put pressure on the wound to help control blood lose. If the person is concious keep talking to them if it is a severe wound to try to keep them alert. If youare in a remote area once you get the bleeding contolled you would have to carry them to your vehicle and take them to a nearby clinic or house to call 911 if you don’t have a cell phone or you are out of range.