What bullets do to bodies

crimsonaudio

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Important read here. I wish there was a simple answer to this problem.

Eighty percent of people who are shot in Philadelphia survive their injuries. This statistic surprises people when they hear it. They tend to think that when people get shot in the belly or the chest or the face, they die. But the reality is that people get shot and then they are going to survive, because trauma surgeons are going to save them, and that’s when the real suffering begins.
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/gun-violence/
 

AUDub

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This is a very good article.

Everyone working in trauma has a horror story or a specific example that really got to them.

For my dad, it was a 16 year old that was rushed to the ER after being shot while being robbed. Small caliber, chest wound, able to walk and talk to him. Stable when she came in. She crashed in a hurry and was gone. Dead within an hour. She was pregnant too. Baby, of course, did not survive. There were articles on al.com around that time. I'll see if I can find them.

He sees a lot of awful stuff. That one really got to him. He's pretty much a dyed in the wool Libertarian. He favors some form of gun control.

For me, we're treating little kids, and it's the sheer number of gunshot wounds I see in our PICU. And though I can't say for certain, I imagine a large number of them are accidental.

It's different on the front lines, seeing the real world effects of things we argue about in the abstract on the Internet.

ETA: A news report on the poor girl's murder.

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/01/mother_of_pregnant_16-year-old.html

Dad was the one that pulled her out of her boyfriend's car and into the ER.
 
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Bamaro

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The price of survival is often lasting disability. Some patients, often young guys, wind up carrying around colostomy bags for the rest of their lives because they can’t poop normally anymore. They poop through a “stoma,” a hole in the abdomen. “They’re so angry,” Goldberg said. “They should be angry.” Some are paralyzed by bullets that sever the spinal column. Some lose limbs entirely. During trauma surgery, when the blood flow is redirected to the brain and heart by an aortic clamp, blood goes away from other areas, and tissue in the lower extremities can die, causing gangrene, in which case surgeons must amputate the leg at higher and higher points, first at the shin, then at the knee, then at the thigh, to stay ahead of the necrotic tissue as it spreads. The femur bone may have to be disarticulated—removed entirely from the socket, and discarded. There was a woman several years whose boyfriend shot her in the leg. The bullet clipped the femoral artery and she bled. Goldberg was on call that day. She had to amputate the woman’s legs to save her life. “I’m so haunted by that,” she said.
This is something that is usually glossed over. People/news concentrate on the body count - the deaths. We hear how many died but ignore the wounded. Happens in wars, street violence car accidents etc. Many injuries are life changing events.
 

Bamabuzzard

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I'm not in the best mindsets to be discussing a topic like this right now but I'll try. Our vehicle was vandalized at a mechanic shop by criminals last week which has put us in a MAJOR bind that we are still currently experiencing. This past summer our neighborhood was victimized by car thieves trying to break into vehicles and steal either the entire vehicle or certain things from them. Our vehicle along with many other of our neighbors was vandalized. The neighborhood we moved from back in 2013 had a crack house in it. A gated neighborhood in one of the nicest and "safest" parts of the city, where the cheapest house was $250,000. So we're not talking about the hood. Crime is everywhere.

The problem is the same bullets that criminals are using to terrorize are the same bullets the innocent are using to protect themselves. When I bought my .45 the guy asked me what I'd be using the gun for. I told him home protection. I told him I've got a family I love very much and I wanted something that when the bullet hit, the perp stopped and dropped. So I got a heavy grain bullet compared to a lighter one. It travels "slower" but when it gets to where it's going it's ruining someone's day and more than likely their livelihood, regardless of what part of the body gets hit. And that's what I want. I don't have the capability or the interest in physically defending against a person or PERSONS trying to break into my home.

Obvious statement here, but the crime is the problem. Not the bullets. I get the spirit of the article and it is HIGHLY unfortunate that many victims of gun violence suffer the way they do afterwards, if they make it that far. But as someone who has had recent experience with criminal thugs attempting to steal and destroy things that are mine. Having to see on the news EVERY NIGHT about someone being shot, stabbed, robbed, burglarized...you name it. It gets old man, it really does. The average person works their butts off to put food on their family's table, buy nice things for their family and for the most part mind their own business. Only to have people attempt to terrorize and steal from you.

The news reported last night they caught the guys who broke into the mechanic shop and stole/vandalized the vehicles, which ours was included. They also had broken into, stole and destroyed property in EIGHT OTHER businesses the same week. The perps were 19, 15 & 14 years old. They are charged with simple burglary. My guess is they'll be out in no time and doing it again. I've seen this before.

I need a drink.
 
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Jon

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I'm not in the best mindsets to be discussing a topic like this right now but I'll try. Our vehicle was vandalized at a mechanic shop by criminals last week which has put us in a MAJOR bind that we are still currently experiencing. This past summer our neighborhood was victimized by car thieves trying to break into vehicles and steal either the entire vehicle or certain things from them. Our vehicle along with many other of our neighbors was vandalized. The neighborhood we moved from back in 2013 had a crack house in it. A gated neighborhood in one of the nicest and "safest" parts of the city, where the cheapest house was $250,000. So we're not talking about the hood. Crime is everywhere.

The problem is the same bullets that criminals are using to terrorize are the same bullets the innocent are using to protect themselves. When I bought my .45 the guy asked me what I'd be using the gun for. I told him home protection. I told him I've got a family I love very much and I wanted something that when the bullet hit the perp stopped and dropped. So I got a heavy grain bullet compared to a lighter one. It travels "slower" but when it gets to where it's going it's ruining someone's day and more than likely their livelihood, regardless of what part of the body gets hit. And that's what I want. I don't have the capability or the interest in physically defending against a person or PERSONS trying to break into my home.

Obvious statement here, but the crime is the problem. Not the bullets. I get the spirit of the article and it is HIGHLY unfortunate that many victims of gun violence suffer the way they do afterwards, if they make it that far. But as someone who has had recent experience with criminal thugs attempting to steal and destroy things that are mine. Having to see on the news EVERY NIGHT about someone being shot, stabbed, robbed, burglarized...you name it. It gets old man, it really does. The average person works their butts off to put food on their family's table, buy nice things for their family and for the most part mind their own business. Only to have people attempt to terrorize and steal from you.

The news reported last night they caught the guys who broke into the mechanic shop and stole/vandalized the vehicles, which ours was included. They also had broken into, stole and destroyed property in EIGHT OTHER businesses the same week. The perps were 19, 15 & 14 years old. They are charged with simple burglary. My guess is they'll be out in no time and doing it again. I've seen this before.

I need a drink.
I know it's hard to see it, especially when you've recently been victimized, but crime overall is way down year over and has been trending downward with brief upticks here and there but overall way down since 1990. Hard to see as the media tends to do the "if it bleeds it leeds" school of journalism but study after study show the same.

https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/crime-rates-america


 

Bamabuzzard

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Oh, I agree. From a macro standpoint crime is down. But if you live in areas whose crime rates continues to rise and you're doing your best to raise and protect a family. Those statistics fall on deaf ears. I know many will say "Then move". "Moving" isn't quite as easy nor is it feasible in many cases.

But again, as I mentioned right off the bat. I'm not in the best of mindsets to objectively discuss this. I can admit that.


I know it's hard to see it, especially when you've recently been victimized, but crime overall is way down year over and has been trending downward with brief upticks here and there but overall way down since 1990. Hard to see as the media tends to do the "if it bleeds it leeds" school of journalism but study after study show the same.

https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/crime-rates-america


 

Jon

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Oh, I agree. From a macro standpoint crime is down. But if you live in areas whose crime rates continues to rise and you're doing your best to raise and protect a family. Those statistics fall on deaf ears. I know many will say "Then move". "Moving" isn't quite as easy nor is it feasible in many cases.

But again, as I mentioned right off the bat. I'm not in the best of mindsets to objectively discuss this. I can admit that.
"then move" is a stupid line I would never use as it is, in most cases an absurdly difficult thing to do. I've been broken into and robbed and it sucks, my best to you
 

MattinBama

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The world definitely feels less safe now just because the news covers crime so extensively but also you see a lot more stories online now. You used to not see nearly as much.

Sorry to hear about the crime problems Bamabuzzard. We live out in a pretty remote area and both the houses on either side of our home have been robbed (not recently). I sleep with my pistol in arm's reach every night just in case. It's definitely everywhere. My parents live in one of those cookie cutter upper middleclass super nice but not gated neighborhoods and just a couple of years ago some guy was driving around in a truck with a lawn mower trailer parking like he was going to work at the house and then kicking in doors and stealing stuff.

Crime overall is down but there definitely are very few truly safe spaces to be had, at least without millions available. If our area went down in a hurry we wouldn't be able to move on short notice.
 

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