Doctor Makes Shocking Discovery While Treating Parkland Shooting Victims

We ran into an article this morning comparing the difference between a handgun wound and a wound done by an AR-15 that we had to share with you guys. 

The findings are from one of the trauma doctors who was on staff during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week. 

The doctor's findings are extremely shocking. 


The major difference between a handgun wound and the deadly AR-15 used in this tragedy: 

"Routine handgun injuries leave entry and exit wounds...that are roughly the size of the bullet. If the bullet does not directly hit something crucial like the heart or the aorta, and they do not bleed to death before being transported to our care at a trauma center, chances are, we can save the victim."

The doctor then shares the dramatic difference her team found with the Stoneman Douglas victims. 

"The bullet from an AR-15 passes through the body like a cigarette boat travelling at maximum speed through a tiny canal...The high-velocity bullet causes a swath of tissue damage that extends several inches from its path. It does not have to actually hit an artery to damage it and cause catastrophic bleeding. Exit wounds can be the size of an orange.

While the shooting was still in progress, the paramedics were gathering up victims whenever they could ... Even as a physician trained in trauma situations, there was nothing [they] could do at the scene to save the victims who had been shot with an AR-15. Most of them died on the spot, with no fighting chance at life."


The doctor goes on to say: 

"As a doctor, I feel I have a duty to inform the public of what I have learned as I have observed these wounds and cared for these patients. It’s clear to me that AR-15 or other high-velocity weapons, especially when outfitted with a high-capacity magazine, have no place in a civilian’s gun cabinet. I have friends who own AR-15 rifles; they enjoy shooting them at target practice for sport, and fervently defend their right to own them. But I cannot accept that their right to enjoy their hobby supersedes my right to send my own children to school, to a movie theater, or to a concert and to know that they are safe. Can the answer really be to subject our school children to active shooter drills—to learn to hide under desks, turn off the lights, lock the door and be silent—instead of addressing the root cause of the problem and passing legislation to take AR-15-style weapons out of the hands of civilians?"

He also compared this tragic event to the shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport by saying: 

"A year ago, when a gunman opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale airport with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, hitting 11 people in 90 seconds, I was also on call. It was not until I had diagnosed the third of the six victims who were transported to the trauma center that I realized something out-of-the-ordinary must have happened. The gunshot wounds were the same low velocity handgun injuries as those I diagnose every day; only their rapid succession set them apart. And all six of the victims who arrived at the hospital that day survived."


We recommend reading the full article, The Atlantic.com


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