Need Gun Shot Wound Help!

I don't have medical training, so no doubt others here can give more specific info (and I know this sort of question has been asked here before - try the search on the bottom left of the page).

As I understand it - wounds that graze would only require cleaning, and possibly bandaging to keep clean. A "through and through" where the bullet isn't left in the wound, and if it didn't hit any vital organs or veins/arteries, might get your MC out fairly quickly. Avoid the torso.

Good luck, and welcome to the water cooler!

The flesh wound thing is kind of cliched. If you really want to use a grazing wound, I would suggest a head wound--given that your antagonist in this case is a sniper, or someone is trying to be a sniper.

there are some massive blood vessels in the triangle area you described...so be careful...

forearm shot that hit the edge of the Radius perhaps....

My expertise is in firearms and not so much in the exact specifics of what wounds they make, but my understanding is that the shoulder wound is way overdone in media in the sense that it's way, way, way more dangerous and deadly than it's often portrayed. Someone with medical training can correct me if that's wrong, but that's my understanding.

Also, what sniper rifle are you using? Some rifle ammunition is EXTREMELY powerful. Again, I'm not an expert on wounds at all, but my understanding of the power of a lot of the rifle rounds I've worked with is that being shot in the shoulder would be more likely deadly than not. My admittedly-limited-on-the-medical-side advice would be not to choose the shoulder wound if you want something minor.

(Somewhat related: In gun training, we're taught that being shot *anywhere* is potentially deadly. It's one of the rules of gun safety that you never, ever, ever point a gun at anyone you aren't willing to kill. Shooting someone in the leg can be deadly. I'm getting kinda far afield here though. )

Is it vitally important that she be shot, rather than pick up some other injury in the course of pushing the person out of the way?

If you absolutely need to shoot her, a grazing wound to an extremity is the way to go, to give her a brief swing through the ER.

The cops will probably want to talk with her after she's patched up, regardless.

slhuang said:

My expertise is in firearms and not so much in the exact specifics of what wounds they make, but my understanding is that the shoulder wound is way overdone in media in the sense that it's way, way, way more dangerous and deadly than it's often portrayed. Someone with medical training can correct me if that's wrong, but that's my understanding.

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You're right. In the area between the point of the shoulder, the clavicle, and the ribs, you have the subclavian artery, the apex of the lung, and a few other major structures. If it's a through-and-through penetrating wound it'll shatter the shoulderblade. If it doesn't exit, it could wind up anywhere.

MissMystery said:

I am not sure. I don't know a lot about guns. Do you have any good suggestions. The shooter is an ordinary man, but some what of a manic, so nothing military. The shooting stems from rage, but he is sane enough to turn his attention from killing the target right out to taunting the MC with how close he can get and how he will torture the target.

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I hate to throw a monkey wrench into your plot, but if your guy is an "ordinary man" with no experience, I don't find this scenario believable no matter what rifle you choose. Extreme accuracy in firearms takes a lot of training, and sniping is a very specialized skill. An ordinary guy can't look through a scope and start "taunting" people by purposely hitting close by (particularly close enough to graze!) while being sure he's not going to kill them. (Like I said above, you can never be sure when you fire in an unsafe direction that you're not going to kill someone; it's why good gun training emphasizes never even pointing a gun in an unsafe direction.)

Also, I should mention that someone firing in a rage, particularly someone untrained, is very likely going to have decreased accuracy on top of all this.

Sorry if that messes with your story!

I am no expert, but if you want to make it less deadly, you could have it ricochet off of a wall or other hard object behind them. The bullet would then have far less energy and could have fragmented. This would also seem more likely in your untrained shooter scenario, as it could be that he originally missed her and the stranger entirely.

I could see the ricochet hitting her in say the calf muscle, she falls and maybe breaks her wrist catching herself. That would seem to be a treat-and-release type of ER visit, though she would be laid up for a while.

Agreed that the shoulder wound you described is a cliche and far more deadly than it's usually portrayed. Grazes are much better of you want a "flesh wound".

If it were me, I would pick a grazing shot across the outside of the lower leg. If your charter needs run go for the shoulder along the fleshy part. How ever a grazing head wound will bleed like crazy. It will look horrific but is not necessary that is be very serious, shaved head and some stitches. The doctor may want to hold victim for observation.

Have some fun with it!

MissMystery said:

I am writing a story where the main character pushes a stranger out of the way and gets the bullet instead. I want wounds where she wont have to stay in the ER long or they would let her demand herself discharged.

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Heck, any injury that isn't life threatening and only involves bandages, stitching, bracing, broken bones or sprains will get you kicked out by your insurance company.

Any grazing wound, any pure muscle where the bullet isn't left behind and major arteries/veins aren't hit and anything that doesn't limit mobility. So, arms, legs except knees, grazing, even a head wound that just grazes the skull. X-Rays, MRI and maybe a CT scan and they'd be discharged.

In my current work, a 9 mm through the outer thigh gets the protagonist a ride to the hospital, a stitch and a bandage. I've used a graze to the inside forearm for the same thing as well. Similar would be fine for you.

I also spoke to a surgeon about a hit to the neck that takes out the jugular and survival, recuperation. It's a possibility for my next work. Conceivable that, with reasonable medical care to stop blood loss, the wounded character is out after surgery to stitch him up. This surgeon regularly removes the jugular entirely (ENT with head/neck cancer specialization) in his normal work.

Jeff