Boston Marathon Bombing Injuries: Blasts, Shrapnel and Traumatic Brain Injury
April 17, 2013 by Janelle Vaesa
This is what shrapnel looks like in an x-ray. This image shows shrapnel in a lower leg and foot.
The blasts that occurred on Monday, April 15, 2013, at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, left three people dead and over 170 injured during what was supposed to be a joyous occasion for the runners, their friends and family supporting them, and for the community celebrating Patriot’s Day.
We’ve now learned that there were metal pellets and nails, used as shrapnel, in the bombs, according to medical professionals at the hospitals treating the bombing victims.
Boston Marathon Bomb Shrapnel: Metal Pellets and Nails
According to CNN, medical professionals who treated the patients found up to 40 metal pellets inside some victims; and also found 20 carpenter-type nails inside another victim. These objects weren’t ordinary debris, but shrapnel, intended specifically to maximize injury from the bomb. Shrapnel, or scrap items, are put into bombs to wreak havoc – when the bombs explode, these objects go flying at great speeds. When they come into contact with a person, they can create serious and even deadly injuries.
Shrapnel Injuries
Dr. Richard Wolfe, chief of Emergency Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center told CBS News that the hospital first admitted 24 patients, seven of which have been released, but four remain in critical condition and the other 17 people are in serious condition.
Dr. Wolfe said that the main injuries were due to shrapnel hitting the victims’ lower extremities. So far, in the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, there have been at least two amputees and many serious wounds that required aggressive care. And this is just a small sample – only 17 of the 170+ people that were injured on Monday. U.S. News reports that some people experienced immediate amputations at the scene when their legs were blown off during the explosion. Other serious injuries included open fractures and blood loss. USA Today reports that at least one of the victims is a double amputee due to the damage done to both his legs.
continued at: http://www.decodedscience.com/boston-marathon-bombing-injuries/28675
