Getting shot

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Lets recap: Yes, you probably will have a chance to finish defending your family if you are determined. It is also important to remain determined to survive.
I think most of us could use some USEFULL first-aid training. If blood bothers you, help someone butcher their game until you get over it.

Maybe we should hunt to get used to adrenalyn and its effects. I know my range shooting and hunting shooting are quite different.

Make dicisions ahead of time about what you are going to be determined about. Example: If someone goes for my gun, that is a deadly assault. I must defend my possession of that weapon as though my life depended on it. It probably does. Do I center shoot an unarmed man who will NOT stop?
Police have policy, we who choose to carry, need to make those rules for ourselves. Ace
 
I have not ever been shot but I was blown up. For the sake of discussion, we'll leave the how and why out and I'll stick to what I remember. This happened 17 years ago so here's what I remember.

Two of us were injured, my friend in the leg and me in the knee. I don't remember the explosion. I remember being on the ground, a bit foggy like I'd been hit on the head. My ears were ringing which only made it more confusing. I tried to get up and fell down. My friend was hopping around yelling something. I really didn't feel any pain, only a numbness in my knee and that it wouldn't work I remember looking at my pants and thinking "Why is there a hole in my pants? I don't remember that being there..." I actually reached down and felt the tear trying to figure it all out. It really wasn't until I saw the blood that I really put it all together. I can't really remember what the wound looked like, only the blood oozing out of it. A lot of things go through your head when you realize what has happened. Time seems to move slowly and it's a struggle to figure things out.

The pain didn't really set in for a while, maybe 20 minutes. As I recall it started out throbbing a bit and worked it's way up. When the shock wore off it was almost unbearable. Luckily only two of us were hurt and both of us made complete recoveries. I had two surgeries to put my knee back together and am missing part of my knee cap. I'm one lucky guy considering that other than the big scar and a tiny limp, I'm fine.
 
If going into shock is gravely life threatening, would someone experienced please describe how to identify it and how best to deal with it?

Or are the basic processes listed above the only things one can do?

Thanks.
 
If going into shock is gravely life threatening, would someone experienced please describe how to identify it and how best to deal with it?

Or are the basic processes listed above the only things one can do?
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Shock is you body's response to any insult be it physical or emotional. Pale skin color and confusion are some of the best identifiers. Their skin will also likely be cool to the touch as the body stops circulation to non-essential areas. Shock is addressed after you check the vital issues known as ABCs
Airway: is it clear?
Breathing: Are they breathing? is it effective?
Circulation: Do they have a pulse? Do they have any severe bleeding"

Then we worry about the shock cycle. People need to be kept warm, awake if possible and as calm as possible. Things like elevating legs are done on a case by case basis, if you have any reason to suspect a bullet has struck the spine don't move them.
Beyond that, let the pros handle it, the best thing you can do is get help
 
I have been shot at and missed and I have been grazed by a ricochet which also embedded some floor tile in my cheek and chin.

The first time a former psychotic neighbor was drinking and took a shot at me as I was walking home past his house. It was a clean miss thank God - he was usually a crack shot.

The second time, believe it or not, was in a gun shop. The owners wife wanted to show me the ivory grips she had got her hubby for his birthday. While he was on the phone she unholstered his 1911, dropped the magazine and "attempted" to clear the chamber. Mind you this all happened in a matter of seconds and I really wasn't paying attention because I was looking at another gun. Well, in order to see if she had cleared the chamber (I suppose), she then pulled the trigger.

You guessed it. BLAMMO! live round bounces off the floor in front of me hitting me in the shin and sending floor tile into my face. Hurt like a Mo' Fo'.

In both instances my reaction was, "You have got to be kidding me!" immediately followed by massive amounts of anger. I am not sure, but I would say that would probably be my same reaction if shot for "real", given I was still breathing that is.

And oh yeah, I got a really really good deal on that gun I was looking at.
 
I thank god that I've never been shot, but so far I've never frozen when injured.

I'd have to say my worst injury was at AIT when a M1A1 tank commanders seat was dropped on my right hand (thank god I'm southpaw!). My hand was all ripped up and started pumping out blood. I didn't freeze, the first thing I did was send my fingers through thier whole range of motion to check for tendon damage and breaks. I got darn lucky in that respect, no problems at all. I was lucid enough to have a conversation with the turret chief about changing SOP to using a hoist for the seat from then on; while waiting for the ambulace.

As was said before, mindset is the biggest factor IMHO. I immediately occupied my mind with something, rather then just standing there and thinking OWOWOWOW!!!
 
Some THR members get really upset () when this question is asked- just giving fair warning.
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Put me in that category. Only thing I'll say about it is do everything in your power to avoid it.

Jeff
 
The first time a former psychotic neighbor was drinking and took a shot at me as I was walking home past his house. It was a clean miss thank God - he was usually a crack shot.
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:what:

Thank God indeed!

I've heard that getting shot in the crack hurts like crazy!
 
Never been shot but lots of other minor injuries (by comparison). However, a good friend was shot on thanksgiving 1997. Long story short, he responded to a call to back up another deputy. The bad guy was kneeling with an SKS next to him. When my friend got out of his cruiser the BG stood up with the rifle and started shooting. My friend managed to draw his weapon and a round struck between the middle and ring fingers blowing his gun apart, he was also shot through the right shoulder and bicep and took one round over the liver which (miraculously) was stopped by his vest. He crawled back to the cruiser and radioed for help. It took a year and a couple of surgeries on his hand before he was back to work. He was a much different guy after the ordeal and we never talked too much about what happened.

BG barricaded himself in the house after being shot in the ass by the other deputy and was arrested after a short standoff.

IMO your training, will to live, and refusal to lose or die make all the difference. Make getting home at the end of the day your first priority with the mindset that "I'M NOT GOING TO DIE TODAY".
 
I've never been shot, 'cept with errant birdshot that never broke the skin during dove season (and one drunken idiotic youthful mistake...)

I've come off a bicycle at 30 mph.
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As have I. Busted my clavicle pretty good.
I hit the ground tumbling. When I stopped rolling, I jumped to my feet. "I'm okay!". I probably had 30 seconds of immediate "fight" in me before I realized that yes, I was injured, and that the best thing to do was sit down on a rock and put my arm in traction. I wasn't under attack.

Once I was punched in the nose in an unprovoked bar attack. Busted my nose good, which immediately began gushing blood. I rushed forward into the attacker and landed a couple decent shots before the fight was broken up.

I agree, its about mindset. I guess this is where the Marine training certainly becomes an advantage.
Never give up.
Just because you're shot, injured, pepper sprayed, what have you, the attack isn't over. Its probably just begun.
language warning:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nILvfqWAXso
 
OK heres mine but its a lil lame...

I was playing flag football one winter my freshmen year in HS. My middle finger must have caught onto a belt and ripped my otherwise healthy nail off with only half a root holding it on. Well, prob some 30+ seconds went by until i felt a liquid dripping off my finger. Looked at it and was suprised at what i saw lol. I calmly walked over to the coach, "hey coach" and showed him the bloody mess, he did a eek face and told me to see the nurse. The pain didnt really kick in until maybe 15 minutes afterwards when my hand had warmed up.
 
I've gotten hit with rocks before when I was a kid while engaged in "rock fights" (didn't everyone do stupid stuff like that when you were a kid?)
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Yep, of course! Got a broken nose out of the deal in 5th grade that required surgery. I remember trying to cry right after it happened, but couldn't. Wondered why there wasn't any blood right before it gushed out and soaked my shirt. Walked home with my buddy who'd just clobbered me, I think he felt worse about it than I did. When my mom saw me when I finally got home, I fell on the ground and started to cry :). I think that was instinct on my part. Mom's are great.
 
Sorry, that's simply not possible, as far as I know. The range of human reactions, both psychological and physiological, to that kind/level of stress is simply too broad to be able to predict. And an individual reaction can be highly variable under different situations as well. I know of circumstances where people have fought on through lethal wounds, while others have fainted dead away at the sight of a muzzle flash.

I could well be wrong, but I don't think it is possible to predict what any given person can expect their reaction to be under severely strenuous circumstances. I have had far too many people tell me of their own experiences in trying circumstances to have any unshakeable opinions in that regard. YMMV of course.
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+1 for that one. People act differently to different things in combat. Especially when under different levels of tension and when the stakes are higher or lower than the next situation. However, people have this preconcieved notion of what usually happens when wounded in combat but the truth would surprise anyone.
 
Took a BB to the face when I was a wee laddie(OK, 17 yo, but with the attendant stupidity). A buddy and I decided it would to get into a short range BB Gun fight. I took one in the cheek(facial cheek). I honestly did not feel it. my buddy called the game on account of the fact that I was bleeding. I thought it had just bounced off, no such luck. It was in the face and I found that out later when I was leaning on my hand. It took the Doc about 45 min to get the damn thing out. The best part was the x-ray they took. In the film, the BB was about the size of a Baseball. The doc said "Looks like there's something in there." I thought to myself that maybe he got his M.D. in a Cereal Box. It was kinda gratifying to be able to read an x-ray as well as a doctor.
 
I've never been shot, but I can imagine it is not pleasant. I've never talked to anybody who was shot, aside from a guy who was hit in the with bird-shot, hunting with his brother. He said it was "no big deal" but obviously that was only because he didn't suffer permanent damage, it was his brother, it was an accident, and nothing much came from it. Still, he hardly said it was pleasant.

I've never shot anybody, so I wouldn't know what killing is like. My grandfather claimed to have killed "lots" of people in Korea, and he maintains it was pretty much the best thing he'd ever done and he'd do it again if he could. However, we've always been a little worried about him...

I've never been raped (I'm a man, but still, men can get raped, I guess), and I've certainly never perpetrated it against anybody. I've had two women describe to me what it was like to be raped, and I'd have to say, I'd probably rather die than go through such a thing... I figure typically it isn't something anybody talks about.


I don't really see what good this thread is, it's like asking people "did you ever get tuberculosis, get really sick, cough up blood, feel miserable, and wind up in constant pain, if so, what was it like?"

Isn't it enough to know that getting shot by default is not pleasant, not enjoyable, and aside from that, every person's reactions will vary due to numerous factors. There's no magic equation for "shot in this manner = this reaction" since there are always going to be too many variables that change with the circumstances and the individual involved.
 
I have never been shot, but have sustained other injuries, great & small.

I can not recall ever feeling a knife wound in the heat of whatever I was doing. I usually noticed it after the fact, when I was getting blood all over creation. All of my knife wounds have been non-life-threatening and not to vital organs. Some have been visually impressive, though: gaping, lots of blood.

When I busted my leg & ankle, I surely did feel that. Also heard it; it was like the sound you get when you break the leg/thigh joint on a raw chicken, but louder.

I did not faint or what have you. I knew that I needed my wits about me or I might be in BFE for a long while.

I also have seen some of my inner parts and not gone all woozy, both in high-stress situations and low-stress.

OTOH, my step-sister will faint of she cuts her hand on glass.
 
I haven't been shot with anything other than BBs, but someone mentioned other injuries. I had a hole ripped out of my ankle when a picture frame (heavy) fell on it, that made me dizzy from the loss of blood. Snapped a tooth off, that didn't hurt, just felt cold.

Got hit in the temple with a tennis ball served during doubles, dropped like a rock, couldn't see. Freaked out for a minute,everyone thought it was a joke, I was worried because my vision was screwed. That hurt for a whole day.

Younger, got kicked full force in the face and I guess I blacked out for a brief period of time. I remember the shoe and then I remember opening my eyes and seeing someone over me. They asked if I was ok and I said yeah. A little dizzy, little red in the face, little heat, but no real pain.

Been cut pretty badly a few times, never freaked out, just calmly took care of it. A friend of mine almost severed his finger and he freaked out, but blood doesn't bother me in an emergency so I helped him clean and secure it and took him to the hospital. He didnt handle it well, but afterwards he was fine.
 
I’ve not been shot except for a little birdshot to the side of the face but long ago was witness to two guys getting shot before my eyes. One guy panicked from the shot that (I think broke his arm) and the other just fell to the ground (deep thigh wound) and tried to crawl to cover. Both guys realistically “gave up the fight” but the thigh wound guy found a fighting position and held on. The arm guy screamed for a medic until long after 2 medics got to him and rendered what aid they could. In that fight, the first burst that wounded these two guys put a round between my legs that put dirt into my eyes that blinded me for the duration of the fight. My training didn’t cover that eventuality so much.
I would not recommend the experience to anyone, either as a witness or participant.

When I was shot in the face (much more recently) from a distant/errant sporting clays shooter, the immediate feeling was hotness at the impact places (my earlobe and cheek) the guy I was with got some shot in his thigh.
We moved to a safer part of the range (?) and I insisted my buddy squeeze the pellet from my ear lobe ASAP. Seeing my blood on his hands and the welts on his legs made me feel a bit shocky, which passed in 30 minutes or so.
The club has since moved its shotgun patterning board (which we were inspecting at the time) and restricted its usage when the sporting clays range is open.
YMMV
 
I've had flesh wounds inflicted suddenly by knives, power tools, and hand tools. Mostly they've been self inflicted. Mostly it's been because of carelessness on my part.

My reaction to sudden wounds is usually the "Shock! Ow! What just happened?!" startled reaction, followed closely by the "Oh, man... That is going to hurt in just a minute. That's really going to... OH MY GOD THE PAIN!" reaction. Granted, my injuries have all been either cutting/piercing with a sharp instrument (knife, saw, drill bit) or bludgeoning with a blunt instrument (hammer, baseball bat, the ground).

Getting shot, depending on the ammo, involves varying degrees of both impact/shock and piercing/penetration, but people are people. Usually sudden injuries register quickly with a shock, sting, warmth, or other sensation. Then, depending on the nature and severity of the wound, the initial sensation is followed seconds or minutes later by real pain. Both the initial and later sensations can be delayed or dulled by adrenaline-fueled fear or aggression.

My father's description of being launched into the air and landing in a river when a bridge was blown up beneath him in Vietnam is a prime example of this effect. His body went through the disorienting process of being uprooted, flung through the air, and landing in the water. Splinters from the bridge were embedded in his flesh, and he hit the surface of the water wearing all his gear and clinging to his rifle. After hitting the water, he remembers his rifle slipping out of his grasp, and oddly enough, he remembers being more worried about losing his weapon in that moment than he was about his own health. He is not sure how long he was under water before he came back up to the surface. Once he broke the surface of the water, he says he was unable to see anything, but he brought his right arm up out of the water, and when he brought it back down, his hand made contact with his rifle. His vision began to clear, and he could see the blurry forms of people running around on the shore as the remnants of the bridge burned. He opened his mouth and tried to call out to them, and that's when he realized he couldn't hear anything. He couldn't hear them, and since they were running around in confusion, he thought they couldn't hear him calling for help either.

He thought in that moment that he was actually dead. It was only then that the pain finally set in. It started with a stinging/burning sensation where the wooden bridge splinters were lodged in his legs and back, and soon it was joined by a throbbing in his legs where they had been wrenched out from under him when the bridge blew. The pain quickly grew from "Hey! I'm not dead!" to "OH JEEZ! I'M DYING!" as the shock and adrenaline wore off. Fortunately, he wasn't too seriously injured, and he was back in combat within a few days.
 
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