Being shot?

this realyl should be in the research board - but I'm sure a mod will move it.

In response to your question - stomach wounds are difficult. If it pierces the actual stomach you only have a matter of minutes - 10-15 - to repair the damage or thepatient is going to die. Bear in mind that stomach wounds have the added complication of gastric acid (primarily composed of hydrochloric acid - highly corrosive) leaking into the body - teh issue comes when it enters the blood stream or other organs and can lead to all manner of complications.

If she passes out would depend on how tough she is. I know some people who pass out from the pain of a broken finger.

Now thankfully I have never been shot before but I have heard that being shot in the belly is one of the most painful places along with the knee cap(not sure which is more so)

I do know 2 officers who have been shot(one current and one retired) I only ever asked the non-retired one (member of the NYPD) about it and he said it was the most terrible thing he had ever felt. He took it to the vest right below his trauma plate so it was maybe a few inches above his belly button. He told me that it felt like it ripped his entire insides out. I wish I could remember the conversation in a little more detail but it was years ago.

littleone12b said:

So, I have a character who is going to be shot in the stomach area, and she will survive, but what would it feel like during and after? Would she get any other symptoms? Would she pass out?

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A shot in the abdomen can strike a major blood vessel, causing rapid death, or in the spine, causing paralysis. If struck elsewhere, there is terrible pain, and a leakage of shit or stomach contents into the abdominal cavity that will result in a slow and extremely painful death by infection. It was referred to as being 'gut-shot'.

The victim may pass out from loss of blood, which can happen quickly or slowly, depending on where shot, or from shock or fear causing a rapid loss of blood pressure.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081221221021AATt94z

During the 18th Century, artillerymen were regarded as cowards by British infantry. When an artilleryman was captured by the British, by tradition an officer would shoot the prisoner in the belly with a pistol with only a quarter charge of powder in it, guaranteeing a long and agonizing death over a period as long as a week.

Today, a stomach wound that doesn't kill quickly can generally be repaired by surgery, internal lavage (washing), and antibiotics to prevent infection. But it's still gonna hurt like hell.

Perforate an intestine and you are in BAD shape. Perforate it many times--as a gunshot would likely do--and they probably can't save you.

A family member of mine just recently was found to have a perforated bowel after a surgery that didn't go exactly right. They had to go in a second time, remove a bit of her bowel to get rid of the infected area, put her on a cocktail of drugs, and eventually give her IV nourishment because she was getting weak from lack of food.

After that second surgery, they had her in hospital for (I think) about two weeks, mainly because they were concerned she still had bowel leakage and they might need to go in again. (She didn't, so they didn't.)

When she got home, she spent another week not moving much except to go to the bathroom, and she could only eat a few tablespoons of food at a time. After that, she began to perk up, but she's still not doing anything strenuous.

A gunshot wound to the stomach is very likely to kill your character, and if it doesn't, she's going to be in hospital for at least a month. It's a very messy wound. She would need to be on her way to the hospital almost immediately to survive it.

Maybe have your character shot through the lungs? I think that's a lot easier to fix, and I assume you'll need your character mobile and able to deal with plot-related things sooner than a gut wound is going to allow.

Some (though not all) belly wounds

All of the above rings true of what I've seen of gunshot wounds to the middle and lower torso. It's true that pain is evident to those shot; however, it's not immediate. At first, many don't realize they've been shot until someone tells them or they see blood. Some say it felt like a punch. If they survive the first 15-20 minutes, pain sets in with a vengeance.

littleone12b said:

So, I have a character who is going to be shot in the stomach area, and she will survive, but what would it feel like during and after? Would she get any other symptoms? Would she pass out?

Click to expand...

What sort of bullet?

How big is the bullet?

How far is she from the gun?

A lot depends on answering these questions.

And very importantly...what do you actually mean by the stomach area?

I've googled this very thing in the past because I was thinking about a situation where one of my MC's might be shot in the stomach and whether they could survive.

You would be amazed at how many people use the word "stomach" to refer to the entire abdomen when the stomach is one particular organ in the epigastric region and a bullet in the lower abdomen which lodges in the intestines in no way constitutes being "shot in the stomach".

Being shot in the stomach area can be quite serious. Where exactly do you mean? How badly do you want her injured? Someone shot in the mid epigastric region could have a ruptured spleen, liver, intestine, which is life threatening. She would end up with a colostomy bag with any type of intestinal injury. Spleen and liver injuries will leave her with life threatening blood loss and all that is without knowing the type of gun or the range she was shot. Surrounding organs, usually the lungs are damaged by the shock waves from the bullet. The patient can develop pulmonary edema which can require intabation and a lengthy intensive care stay. Let us know exactly what you want and we can help you better.

Don't now tell me it's an arrow - yes?

Merged two threads.

If you want to put your science hat on, try googling for Sperazza and Kokinakis. They did a heap of research in the 60s on the probability of personnel incapacitation from various rounds hitting different parts of the body. They quote it for a bunch of activities and time-scales, so chance of being able to walk/run vs immobile-but-still-able-to-shoot after so many minutes. It's a good ball-park for the survivability of an injury.

Depends on where she is shot and with what caliber. I am a trauma nurse. A shot above the navel at close range that touches the spine will sever her abdominal aorta and kill her in as little as 3 minutes. A shot from a distance of several feet, she could survive with treatment. Avoid the liver, spleen and kidneys if you want a real recovery effect. Keep it midline in the navel area and not deep to the spine and you mostly will hit her small intestine. Fast medical treatment will see her live.

Jessika, this is the second old thread you've revived. Please don't just to answer a question. It pushes the current interest topics off the top and leads people to answer questions that may not need attention.