posted on Dec, 7 2008 @ 06:46 AM
Absolutely a terrible idea...anyway you cut it... no offense.
You're right about needing to know medical stuff....
Take a course in First Aid... then Wilderness First Aid... then take an EMT or First Responder class. EMT is the longest of the ones I listed, and
takes about 3 months (3 nights/wk, ~4 hrs/night).
You also need the right equipment and the experience.
A GSW to the leg can be managed with some gauze and tape. GSW to the chest requires a piece of plastic wrap and some tape. (In general, of course)
Hypothetically...
Scenario #1:
You have an otherwise healthy young adult who was shot in the lower leg with a small-caliber rifle. His leg is not broken. ("It's just a flesh
wound!") You find one entry wound, but cannot find the exit, and therefore presume the bullet is lodged in his leg. Flush it well with clean water,
apply sterile gauze, and tape or wrap it, and get him to a Doc within a day or two.
Scenario #2:
Same patient, same injury. You prep the site according to pg 32 of your manual, sterilize your insturments, and establish a sterile field. After
washing up, donning a facemask and sterile gloves, you anesthetize the site with a local anesthetic. You attempt to visualize the bullet using a pair
or two of forceps and extract the bullet without damaging any blood vessels. You then irrigate the wound, and suture it closed. Since it wasn't a
sterile environment, and this is your first time, the wound is mis-aligned, and becomes infected. After it splits open, it goes downhill from there,
and your only choice is to bandage the wound and go see a Doc! (Assuming you do the surgery right!)
Look at all the equipment needed.... do you really wanna carry all that #???
X
-Paramedic, Wilderness Paramedic, EMS Instructor
[edit on 7-12-2008 by xavier36]
[edit on 7-12-2008 by xavier36]
[edit on 7-12-2008 by xavier36]