What happens when someone is shot? Medical info needed.

I'm sure there are better 'experts' around than I am when it comes to this, but just on the surface, I'd have to point out that a 'graze' wound woundn't lead to someone being so out of it that he'd require the assistance of a secondary character for normal, day-to-day activities. It certainly wouldn't compromise his life or require surgery (if the wound were shallow enough and didn't become infected).

My handy dandy 'Cause of Death - a Writer's Guide to Death, Murder and Forensic Medicine', talks about wounds and the 'Golden Hour' during which the person doesn't feel a lot of pain and may actually perform some amazing feats. The pain would start in about half an hour from the wounding and reach its peak at the end of the first hour.

The smaller the calliber of the bullet means a smaller wound: IOW, a .22 will do less damage than a .45.

I did a quick google - most of what I found went into more detail than you're wanting... clinical stuff that would appear in an academic paper targeting medical personnel; but, here's a nice site just in case you're into that:

http://www.btammolabs.com/articles.htm

Sorry I couldn't be more help. I bet there'll be a doctor/nurse/emt type along any minute now... if not, you might tap Jean Marie on the shoulder via PM and see if she can help you. Seems like she's an EMT, but I might be confused.

Good luck!

Ok, I need some medical information to make this believable. I have a character who's shot on the shoulder but the bullet doesn't really go in –It just grazes the skin.

First question: Is that possible at all?

-definitely possible


Second: How exactly would the injury feel?

-stinging and burning at the site

How much pain will he be in?

-depends on him -sorry, can't be more specific, everyone tolerates pain at different levels.

If he gets a fever, how soon after the injury does that happen? Does a high fever indicate a major infection or could he get one and not be life threatening?

-if he gets a fever it is because of infection. If it's bad enough to spike a fever he'd likely need IV antibiotics because he's septic (it's a long way from uninfected injury to fever). Untreated many people die from that sort of infection.

Third: What can he do at home to tend for the wound? Clean it and bandage it? Take something for the pain? Will any of this really help at all?

-yep yep yep - he could clean it with any number of products and bandage it. Ibuprofen or acet. for the pain. Likely it would help. A graze is apparently not hugely painful. It could leave a cool scar though.

Fourth: If this is a minor injury, how long will it take to heal?

-I couldn't say - this is another "everyone's different" answer. It depends on the way his body heals things

How many days/weeks till he can start using his shoulder normally?

It would be stingy but likely he could use it right away.

The injury has to be serious enough that he's "out of it" for a while and requires the assistance of a second character for normal, day-to-day activities, but not serious enough to compromise his life or require surgery.

That doesn't sound like it woudl fit with this injury - unless he's got some seriously low pain tolerance.

I hope this helps.

Anything is possible where firearms are concerned-- yes a bullet can graze not just the shoulder but any part of the body. A higher caliber bullet, as pointed out in the reply above, is going to do more tissue damage.

A bullet graze wound is pretty much like any serious soft tissue injury-- it can scab over and heal after a few days or it can get infected, depending on the health of the injured person and the circumstances under which the injury occurs. Some graze wounds hardly break the skin, and some leave deep jagged grooves that take a very long time to heal. If no vital organs or arteries are damaged, it will take about as long for a graze wound to heal as a small (1-2 cm) laceration that is not sutured and treated by a physician.

A good way to treat a graze wound at home is to scrub it thoroughly with soap and water and pack it with antibiotic ointment, and apply a loose dressing-- not too tight, you want some air to be able to get to it. You'll want something for the pain. Hopefully your character who is shot has something stronger than aspirin. If not he's going to be in a world of hurt. Within 24 hours there will also be a heavy bruise around the wound. Whether or not he can self-treat this wound depends on how tough he is, right?

I hope this was helpful!

Heres my 2cents...A graze would be just that a graze, whereas a bullet entering would be puncture, and any puncture wound is painful...
Also when something traumatic happens to the body, one of two things can happen, adrenaline kick...prohibiting pain for a while....or the body can shut its self down by fainting, etc...I'm guessing it would depend on the person, his strengths, endurances. Any infections would result from improper care of the wound ie cleaning....

Good question. I never experienced someone living after I shot them.

A graze might end up being cauterised by the bullet, depending on how close the shooter was, and reduce the chance of infection.

If you want to go for something painful with a chance of infection, but not immediately life-threatening, a through-and-through in the hand or foot would do it, provided no major veins/arteries or large nerves are severed.
You've got an open channel for infection, one hell of a painfull wound (the more serious ones tend not to hurt so much, as the body goes into shock & shuts down pain receptors), and probably someone who will sincerely want both their mother and a good dose of pain killer.

The level of pain also depends on where a person is shot. Many people who were shot in the stomach or other vital areas have been able to function fairly well (all things considered) because shock more or less shut down their pain sensors, for lack of a better term. But there are cases where a person shot in the hand or foot has been totally unable to perform even the most simple tasks due to the immense pain overload (consider the number of bones and nerve endings in either the foot or the hand).

This all comes from military battlefield medicine studies, by the way. YMMV with civilian stuff.

What you're talking about sounds like a grazing wound as opposed to any sort of through-and-through puncture wound. This would be more like having your shoulder touched by a hot poker. You may also want to think about what your character was shot *with*. A small caliber FMJ (full metal jacket) bullet is much more likely to graze and do minimal damage than a larger caliber round (or any sort of hollowpoint or expanding bullet, for that matter).

Actually, a smaller caliber does NOT necessarily mean less injury. I've worked many murders with a .22. The smaller bullet often lacks the velocity to exit if it hits bone and can bounce around inside cuasing massive damage. I've especially seen this with head injuries. The bullet enters the skull, but doesn't exit. It can turn a brain to hamburger. Of course a bigger bullet means bigger holes. IMHO- it depends more on where someone is shot than with what.

Soccer Mom said:

Actually, a smaller caliber does NOT necessarily mean less injury. I've worked many murders with a .22.

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Funny you mention that. I saw a video today in a training class where an officer shot a suspect multiple times with a 9MM. The officer then turned and walked away. The suspect was still alive and managed to raise and fire his weapon, one of those .25 junk guns. It just so happened by the angle of the officers body and the fact that he had raised his arm to key up the radio that the bullet passed just above his body armor and into his right armpit. It bounced around inside him and then penetrated his heart. He died instantly.


Brady

Soccer Mom said:

Actually, a smaller caliber does NOT necessarily mean less injury. I've worked many murders with a .22. The smaller bullet often lacks the velocity to exit if it hits bone and can bounce around inside cuasing massive damage. I've especially seen this with head injuries. The bullet enters the skull, but doesn't exit. It can turn a brain to hamburger. Of course a bigger bullet means bigger holes. IMHO- it depends more on where someone is shot than with what.

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I know this, but the question was about the damage from a GRAZE, not a direct hit. My answer was directed at the graze. That and I said FMJ round. A normal .22 is not FMJ: it's a soft lead projectile. Anything that's soft lead or unjacketed has the potential to do much more damage than a conventional FMJ slug.