While I was in Iraq I drove tens of thousands of miles. IED’s and RPG’s were a part of life. Being in an ambush with bullets whizzing by my head had me counting my blessings. Every day was a potential date with death. But I beat those odds….
Back home where it was “safe” was actually the deadliest of all! Could I do it again?
PRESENTED AT THE EMERGENCY ROOM
- In extremis
- Unable to obtain a blood pressure
- Glasgow Coma Score was 3
DID YOU KNOW???
MEDICAL DEFINITIONS
In extremis – at the point of death.
Glasgow Coma Scale – a scale that is used to assess the severity of a brain injury, that consists of values from 3 to 15. A low score (as 3 to 5) indicates a poor chance of recovery and a high score (as 8 to 15) indicates a good chance of recovery.
Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) – is one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury, meaning that damage occurs over a more widespread area than in focal brain injury. DAI is one of the major causes of unconsciousness and persistent vegetative state after head trauma.
The outcome is frequently coma, with over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regaining consciousness. Those who do wake up often remain significantly impaired.
ARDS – respiratory failure that results from diffuse injury to the endothelium of the lung (as in sepsis, chest trauma, massive blood transfusion, aspiration of the gastric contents, or pneumonia).
INJURY LIST
- Traumatic Brain Injury – Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI)
- Fractures – C1, C7, T4, T5, first rib
- Cardiac Contusion
- Profound ARDS – Acute Respiratory Disease Syndrome
- Puncture wound to the chest
- Left arm traumatically amputated
- Right hand dislocation with nerve damage
- Left knee open laceration
AND THAT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING….
