How do gunshots kill

For a child, a hit to a growth plate can result in two limbs of permanently different lengths. If it hits your brain, you will be changed forever.

Elective surgeries are cleared to free operating rooms. Specialty surgeons are often called in. Neurosurgeons treat gunshot wounds to the brain; cardiac surgeons, the heart. Orthopedic surgeons and hand surgeons manage wounds to extremities. General surgeons operate on the torso and chest wounds.

There is a tremendous difference in the amount of energy associated with a bullet from an AR rifle and that of a handgun, he said. Nikolas Cruz, the shooting suspect who opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people, used an AR semi-automatic rifle, according to local police. If a bullet from a handgun strikes a liver, it injures the organ by poking a hole and causing tissue disruption around the path of the bullet.

Rick Scott during a press conference on the Parkland shooting. Among them was Dr. Ivan Puente said. Follow LauraSanthanam. Support Provided By: Learn more. Thursday, Nov The Latest. World Agents for Change. Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. NewsHour Shop.

The femoral artery runs down the thigh, using the femur as a backstop. It supplies oxygenated blood to the leg, and in healthy adults is between 5 and 10 mm in diameter. The relatively small but powerful projectile that hit Lavery's massive leg barely could have followed a deadlier trajectory: It struck and shattered his femur, severing his femoral artery in the process. Unaware of the arterial damage, his powerful heart continued pumping large quantities of blood toward the oxygen-starved muscles in his right leg, causing valuable blood cells to accumulate uselessly in the expanding interstitial space.

Without immediate medical intervention, the wound would have killed him. He survived, but lost his leg above the knee. The human body does possess certain defense mechanisms in the event of rapid blood loss. Sudden amputations, in particular, will cause the surrounding musculature to tense and contract. Penetrating trauma and tissue damage from projectiles are a bit different. With bullets, it all comes down to shot placement and passage—which, without the gift of surgical precision that no gunman will ever have, is another way of saying it comes down to luck.

He recounts the story of a young man in Lebanon who survived after being shot six times. One of the six bullets stopped inside his pericardium, the narrow space between the heart and its thin protective membrane. Amazingly, the patient was alert and speaking lucidly to the doctors.

You can't assume anything, says Nair. Bullets can bounce, ricochet, and change vector under the skin. So, what can bystanders do when confronted with gun violence? First, if possible, stop the bleeding. Swelling and discoloration are signs of hemorrhaging anyone can recognize. You can control hemorrhaging by applying manual pressure, or by fastening a tourniquet—improvised or commercial—high and tight on the limb. What else is there to do? The answer is The lungs have no muscles.