Episode 17 S1-17
Treating a Bullet Wound
Featuring:
Day After Disaster Ch 17
Special Guest:
Dr. Ryan Chamberlin
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Steps as a First Responder:
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Remember getting shot hurts. Whoever is injured is going to be in a lot of pain and screaming.
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Try to compress the area.
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Try to calm the patient down.
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Get them out of immediate danger!
How To Treat The Wound:
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Remove initial dressing slowly.
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Irrigate with clean water. It does not have to be saline.
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Pick out any pieces of clothing that have penetrated the wound with tweezers or forceps. Usually the clothing is the biggest cause of infection.
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DO NOT CLOSE THE WOUND - it should have a chance to constantly drain. Otherwise the infection will get pushed into blood stream. It will drain pussy material.
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Don't worry about getting the bullet out. You can't get lead poisoning from a bullet wound. You may cause more damage looking for bullet.
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Cellulitis, redness around wound, should be tracked by marking the edge with a ball point pen each time the dressing is changed, about 24 hrs or so. If the redness is growing you may have a problem and should begin anti-biotic treatment if available.
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The more distal the injury the better chance of survival you have.
The Tampon Debate: Effective For Bullet Wound Treatment or Not?
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Dr. Ryan would not recommend it.
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However it would work in a pinch if it's all you had and he only recommends using it on a distal injury.
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If the injury is to the abdomen it may give a false sense of security because even though the outside bleeding has stopped the internal bleeding is the more serious problem and is now masked.
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He recommends using Celox, Quick Clot or an alternate hemostat
Featured Quote From Today's Chapter:
“It would be better to leave the past there in the past and just focus on the future."

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