Fruits and Nuts

I saw my first actual real-life gunshot wound yesterday! I stopped by the ER to say hi and the place was happenin'! All the beds were full...one head laceration that needed stitches, one uncontrolled high blood pressure, one possible heart attack, and an Iraqi man with a gunshot wound to the buttocks. The bullet entered from the left side, just behind his hip, went through the left cheek, just missed the important opening...ahem...and reentered the right cheek, lodging in about the middle of the muscle. It was a 5.56mm round (that means it came from us), which is designed to tumble and bounce off all the bones upon entry, but by some miracle it broke nothing! There was a decent amount of muscle damage, but we pumped him full of antibiotics and sewed up the holes. It was very interesting, especially to see firsthand the stuff they talk about in the textbook...the entry wound was small, and the edges were cauterized from the heat of the bullet, the exit wounds were bigger and the edges were more serated, making them harder to stitch up. I mean, I felt bad for the guy...no one likes to get shot in the bum...but he was really lucky that it didn't break his pelvis, hip, or femur. Well, that's one for the books!

Rach