I got the information below about first aid for gunshot wounds from a video I watched on Youtube by ThePatriotNurse. When the SHTF, you wont have the resources for education like you do now, so be sure to watch it.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds
Before I talk about the 3 types of gunshot wounds and how to treat them, you need to know and check the “ABCs” of first aid.
A = Airway
B = Breathing
C = Circulation
These 3 things are what you always need to check before giving first aid for gunshot wounds. If the injured person is having problems with any one these, there is really no value in treating their wound because they’ll die anyway.
If you are the one with the wound and are fine with the ABCs, then proceed to give yourself as much first aid as you can. What you do to yourself can be done to other people, too, if you happen to find them suffering from a gunshot wound.
A good tip to help with giving first aid for gunshot wounds is to use maxipads to stop bleeding. They’re extremely absorbant. Plus, they’re a lot faster and easier to apply than gause. Just apply it with duct tape on the 4 sides (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right) to seal it off.
Stock up on maxipads now to treat gunshot wounds because they may not be readily available later on when the SHTF.
Anyway, there are 3 types of gunshot wounds that you may have to treat if you get shot when the SHTF. Those in the abdomin, in the chest, and in extremidies (like in the arm).
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds In The Abdomin
The worst gunshot wound to treat is in the abdomin because you’re probably going to have a perferated bowl. As in, your intestines will probably have a hole in them, and that is hard to fix. Not that its impossible, but feces will leak all throughout your body cavity and you’ll most likely die within a weak from sepsis.
Put pressure on it after you apply the maxipad with duct tape on all 4 sides, and keep the pressure because blood circulates a lot around there.
If you experienced a high velocity gunshot wound, chances are that organs or intestines may be hanging out. Don’t try to put them back inside your body because they’ve already been exposed to bacteria and many other things. Put them on your chest and cover them with a wet cloth and just try to keep the area clean.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds In The Chest
The next type you’ll need to apply first aid to is a chest gunshot wound. You’ll have an entry wound and possibly an exit wound. Clean the exit wound if you can and apply a maxipad with duct tape on all 4 sides to prevent air entering the body cavity.
For the entry wound, you’ll apply the maxipad with duct tape on only 3 sides – Top left, top right and bottom left. This makes it so no air enters the body cavity but it also allows a little flap so any air alreay in the body cavity can escape.
Because of the location of this wound, there might be blood pooling and coagulating by or in the lungs, so prop yourself up if you can to keep your airway open.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds In Extremities
These areas are the easiest places to apply first aid for gunshot wounds because no organs were hit. But, you do need to worry about broken bones and blood loss.
Arterial bleeding is different than venous bleeding, and you need to know the difference. Arterial bleeding is characterized by bright red blood coming out in spurts. It also has a higher volume of blood loss. Venous bleeding is more bubbly and dark red, and it wont pulse or spurt like arterial bleeding.
Of course, apply direct pressure on the wound. But if you’re losing lots of blood (and you’ll know if you are), your next best option is to apply a tourniquet. You need to realize that once you apply a tourniquet, you’re not going to take it off. If you do take it off for whatever reason, the built-up pressure from the arterie will push the blood clot back into your chest area and may cause death.
Also, removing a tourniquet, you’ll be reinstating blood loss. So, if you apply a tourniquet, don’t take it off.
The way you can tell if the tourniquet is on tight enough is by feeling for a pulse down stream. Feel for it in the normal areas that you would. If you can feel it, your tourniquet isn’t on tight enough and you still have blood flow.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds – Conclusion
There are many videos on Youtube about first aid for gunshot wounds recorded by EMTs, so you may want to watch them for more practical instructions. The information in this blog post is just a basic overview of applying first aid for gunshot wounds.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds
I got the information below about first aid for gunshot wounds from a video I watched on Youtube by ThePatriotNurse. When the SHTF, you wont have the resources for education like you do now, so be sure to watch it.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds
Before I talk about the 3 types of gunshot wounds and how to treat them, you need to know and check the “ABCs” of first aid.
A = Airway
B = Breathing
C = Circulation
These 3 things are what you always need to check before giving first aid for gunshot wounds. If the injured person is having problems with any one these, there is really no value in treating their wound because they’ll die anyway.
If you are the one with the wound and are fine with the ABCs, then proceed to give yourself as much first aid as you can. What you do to yourself can be done to other people, too, if you happen to find them suffering from a gunshot wound.
A good tip to help with giving first aid for gunshot wounds is to use maxipads to stop bleeding. They’re extremely absorbant. Plus, they’re a lot faster and easier to apply than gause. Just apply it with duct tape on the 4 sides (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right) to seal it off.
Stock up on maxipads now to treat gunshot wounds because they may not be readily available later on when the SHTF.
Anyway, there are 3 types of gunshot wounds that you may have to treat if you get shot when the SHTF. Those in the abdomin, in the chest, and in extremidies (like in the arm).
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds In The Abdomin
The worst gunshot wound to treat is in the abdomin because you’re probably going to have a perferated bowl. As in, your intestines will probably have a hole in them, and that is hard to fix. Not that its impossible, but feces will leak all throughout your body cavity and you’ll most likely die within a weak from sepsis.
Put pressure on it after you apply the maxipad with duct tape on all 4 sides, and keep the pressure because blood circulates a lot around there.
If you experienced a high velocity gunshot wound, chances are that organs or intestines may be hanging out. Don’t try to put them back inside your body because they’ve already been exposed to bacteria and many other things. Put them on your chest and cover them with a wet cloth and just try to keep the area clean.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds In The Chest
The next type you’ll need to apply first aid to is a chest gunshot wound. You’ll have an entry wound and possibly an exit wound. Clean the exit wound if you can and apply a maxipad with duct tape on all 4 sides to prevent air entering the body cavity.
For the entry wound, you’ll apply the maxipad with duct tape on only 3 sides – Top left, top right and bottom left. This makes it so no air enters the body cavity but it also allows a little flap so any air alreay in the body cavity can escape.
Because of the location of this wound, there might be blood pooling and coagulating by or in the lungs, so prop yourself up if you can to keep your airway open.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds In Extremities
These areas are the easiest places to apply first aid for gunshot wounds because no organs were hit. But, you do need to worry about broken bones and blood loss.
Arterial bleeding is different than venous bleeding, and you need to know the difference. Arterial bleeding is characterized by bright red blood coming out in spurts. It also has a higher volume of blood loss. Venous bleeding is more bubbly and dark red, and it wont pulse or spurt like arterial bleeding.
Of course, apply direct pressure on the wound. But if you’re losing lots of blood (and you’ll know if you are), your next best option is to apply a tourniquet. You need to realize that once you apply a tourniquet, you’re not going to take it off. If you do take it off for whatever reason, the built-up pressure from the arterie will push the blood clot back into your chest area and may cause death.
Also, removing a tourniquet, you’ll be reinstating blood loss. So, if you apply a tourniquet, don’t take it off.
The way you can tell if the tourniquet is on tight enough is by feeling for a pulse down stream. Feel for it in the normal areas that you would. If you can feel it, your tourniquet isn’t on tight enough and you still have blood flow.
First Aid For Gunshot Wounds – Conclusion
There are many videos on Youtube about first aid for gunshot wounds recorded by EMTs, so you may want to watch them for more practical instructions. The information in this blog post is just a basic overview of applying first aid for gunshot wounds.
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