Is it possible to survive a gunshot

All that momentum has to go somewhere, so the bullet transfers it to your body , causing it to expand and create a large cavity, then falling back in on itself.

After the bullet tears into your flesh, fate rolls the dice. Blood loss, which Narciso asserts is the number one preventable cause of death on the battlefield he says that about 90 percent of those preventable deaths are due to blood loss.

They cut through arteries and veins without alerting your muscles to the danger. The other danger, of course, is organ damage that leads to organ failure. If a bullet strikes a vital organ, it will tear through it the same way it did with your outer flesh. What about bulletproof materials like kevlar , you ask?

Think of the bullet as a soccer ball, and the kevlar—as well as your flesh behind it—being the net. Rifle rounds will go right through it. As stated, surviving a gunshot largely comes down to luck.

Still, there are a few things you can do to increase your odds of survival. How does it feel when it happens? Of course, many victims say the worst part is feeling their own warm blood pour all over their body. When you realize you or another person has been shot, call Both bleeding and damage from this pressure wave results in brain swelling, which can also lead to death.

A number of factors determine the extent of damage caused by a gunshot wound. These include the caliber of the gun, size and speed of the bullet, the trajectory and site of the injury. A bullet wound going through the right frontal lobe tip toward the forehead and well above the base of the skull is likely to cause relatively mild clinical damage, because it passes through no vital brain tissue or vascular structures.

However, a similar bullet passing downward from the left frontal lobe tip toward the temporal lobe and brainstem is likely to be devastating, because it passes through eloquent brain tissue and is likely to injure important vascular structures inside the head. A bullet trajectory through key blood vessels in the brain can result in rapidly expanding blood clot in the brain that can critically compress the important brain tissue resulting in immediate death at the scene.

If the victim survives the initial insult, the issue becomes the increasing pressure inside the skull. Gunshot wound head trauma patients are aggressively resuscitated upon initial arrival at the hospital. If blood pressure and oxygenation can be maintained, an urgent CT scan of the head is obtained. The decision to proceed with surgical treatment of the gunshot wound is based on the following factors:.

If patients are deeply comatose with minimal evidence of brainstem function and without evidence of an intracranial hematoma that might be causing coma, a fatal outcome is nearly certain. If a hematoma is confirmed by CT scan, an emergency craniotomy for clot evacuation, removal of debris and devitalized tissue may be performed. It is common for pressure to build up within the skull, so a craniectomy a procedure in which a large portion of the skull is temporarily removed to decrease pressure inside the skull is also often performed.

Understanding the trajectory of the bullet path is important in determining prognosis and management. Once safe, call and follow the instructions from the dispatcher. Surviving a gunshot wound depends on how quickly a patient gets to a hospital.

Ideally, the patient should be in an ambulance on the way to a hospital within 10 minutes of being shot. Stopping the bleeding is a crucial part of managing a gunshot wound. Methods for stopping bleeding include:. In general, you shouldn't elevate the legs of a gunshot victim. Gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest will bleed more quickly if the legs are elevated, making it harder for the patient to breathe. Let conscious patients sit or lie in a position most comfortable for them.

Unconscious patients should be placed in the recovery position on their side with their top leg bent at a right angle. Gunshot wounds are puncture wounds. Don't expect to be able to tell the difference between entrance and exit gunshot wounds. There's a myth that one type is significantly worse than the other. There's no reliable way to tell and it doesn't matter. Someone who has had a gunshot wound might also have substantial internal injuries with various effects, such as breathing difficulties, low blood pressure, and heart effects.

Begin CPR if the patient is not breathing,. This could be deadly. In some cases, a gunshot wound to the chest can be a seal-sucking wound that creates a pathway for air to enter the chest. For gunshot wounds to the chest, seal the wound with some type of plastic to keep air from being sucked into the wound.

This helps prevent the development of a collapsed lung. If the patient begins complaining of worsening shortness of breath after you seal the wound, remove the seal. A gunshot wound to the abdomen can cause severe bleeding, as well as organ damage and abdominal wall damage.

A wound that punctures the stomach or intestines can lead to an infection due to leaking of gastrointestinal fluid or feces into the abdominal cavity. You might notice rapid swelling of the abdomen, even with a relatively small puncture wound. For abdominal gunshot wounds, be sure to hold pressure on the wound. Emergency surgery is generally necessary. A gunshot to a limb is likely to cause a vascular injury, and it may cause nerve damage or broken bones as well.

In general, you should avoid moving a limb that has been shot. Preventing blood loss by holding pressure is the best approach you can take while waiting for medical help to arrive. A gunshot wound to the spine can cause paralysis, and a wound to the front of the neck can damage the carotid artery , potentially preventing blood from reaching the brain. Don't move someone who has been shot in the neck or back, as movement could damage the spinal cord , leading to permanent paralysis.

And if someone was shot in the front of the neck, hold pressure to prevent bleeding. Gunshot wounds are not straightforward, and they can cause injuries beyond the visible puncture site. Bullets can bounce around inside a person's body, and various dynamics affect their path.