-
Ballistics
The study of projectile motion and it's interactions with the gun, the air, and the object it contacts.
-
Trajectory
The path a projectile follows
-
Cavitation
The outward motion of tissue due to a projectile's passage - resulting in a temporary cavity and vacuum.
Related to the bullet's velocity and speed of energy exchange
-
Caliber
The diameter of a bullet - in hundredths of an inch; the inside diameter of the barrel of a gun or rifle
(0.22 caliber = 0.22 inches)
-
Yaw
Swing or wobble around the axis of a projectile's travel (if bullet is slightly deflected)
-
Factors affecting energy exchange between a projectile and a body tissue:
- Velocity
- Profile
- Stability
- Expansion and fragmentation
- Secondary impacts
- Shape
-
Factors associate with the damage pathway of a projectile wound:
- Direct injury
- Pressure Shock Wave
- Cavitation
- Temporary cavity
- Permanent cavity
- Zone of injury
-
Pericardial tamponade
Blood filling the pericardial sac, thus limiting heart function
Def: Filling of the pericardial sac with fluid, which in turn limits the filling and function of the heart
-
What percent of penetrating trauma mortality involves the head, thorax and abdomen?
90%
-
Critical structures in which the seriousness of a bullet's impact is increased?
- Brain
- Great vessels
- Heart
- Liver
- Kidneys
- Pancreas
-
Subcutaneous emphysema
Air within the skin's tissue
- If the barrel of the gun is held very close or against the skin as the weapon is fired, it may push the barrel exhaust into the wound producing this
|
|
