Boston bombings: Officer lost all blood but is expected to recover

[iandhr]

Source: LA TIMES

BOSTON -- A Boston officer shot and wounded in pursuit of the marathon bombing suspects last week had to be resuscitated after his heart stopped and he lost his entire blood supply, but doctors and relatives on Sunday said he was emerging from sedation and expected to recover.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Officer Richard “Dick” Donohue Jr., 33, of Woburn, Mass., had served with the department for three years when he responded to a call Friday for assistance after a shooting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, officials said. They said it was not clear whether Donohue knew at the time that the MIT officer who had been shot and killed was a friend of his, Sean Collier.

Donohue emerged from his police car and exchanged fire with the suspects before he was shot in the right thigh, officials said. A bullet severed his femoral vein and artery, and Donohue began to bleed out, doctors said.

“CPR was started in the field, and he required a prolonged resuscitation that started at the scene and at our emergency room,” said Dr. David Miller, a critical care doctor at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, during a Sunday briefing at the hospital.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-boston-bombings-mbta-officer-condition-20130421,0,6889893.story

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This is great news.

[Cha]

1. thanks landhr.. Those EMTs, Paramedics, Doctors, and

Nurses are amazing in what they do to save lives. Wow.. lost all of his blood.

Sorry, Richard Donohue's friend, Sean Collier wasn't so lucky.

[iandhr]

4. No problem

[Control-Z]

2. I've never heard of anyone losing all

their blood. Half their blood. 3 or 4 pints. But never all. He is a very lucky man to have had all these professionals available to him at the time.

[Skittles]

5. I'm wondering if they mean

his total transusions equaled or was more than his original volume

[Control-Z]

6. A full or total transfusion.

Yes. That makes more sense. And that I've heard of. Doh!

[Skittles]

8. it is still a bad headline

[Control-Z]

9. Right?

I checked at the link because I thought perhaps it had been misrepresented in the OP. Nope. That is what the L.A. Times wrote. I guess that's what happens when you pedal drama for a living.

[CountAllVotes]

3. You have 6.5 liters of blood total

That is approx. 1.5 gallons. That is a lot of blood alright!

I'm glad he is expected to recover!

[Journeyman]

7. Paul Simon certainly had it right: "These are the days of miracle and wonder". . .

Paul Simon, "The Boy in the Bubble," Graceland

[The Wielding Truth]

10. Does that mean brain damage?

[lexw]

11. I was wondering the same thing...

my sister in law died and was brought back after a several minutes of being dead.
Afterwards, she was able to function normally, but her personality was gone for over a year. It slowly came back.

[The Wielding Truth]

15. I'm so glad that you have your sister back. Our bodies have found wonderful ways to continue.

[Bucky]

12. I wonder if doctors call this a "Keith Richards"

Good job to all the surgeons and physicians involved. They've kept the loss of life to a bare, although still tragic, minimum.

[geomon666]

13. So is he a vampire now?

I can joke about this now because he's expected to be ok. In reality it's some scary shit.

[Franker65]

14. Miraculous

That really shows the efficiency of modern medicine. Hope he makes a complete recovery.