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This is pretty interesting article in the Truth About Guns...on a study done by the EMS MEd Blog. They took a look at 12 mass public shooting events and analyzed the various wounds. Their conclusion was that few could have been saved had they received immediate medical attention and none died from a wound to the extremities that a TQ would have prevented.
Specifically...
I'm still in the camp of carrying a TQ as, "it's better to have one and not need it..." But the thing that this really does solidify is that a good guy with a gun is the most important tool to have.
Study of Wounds in Civilian Mass Shooting Fatalities: Few Who Die Could Have Been Saved - The Truth About Guns
Additional findings...
Specifically...
The upshot: only 7% of fatalities could have been saved with prompt medical intervention. And for everyone who carries a tourniquet every day, according to the National EMS study, none of the fatalities died of blood loss from the extremities.
I'm still in the camp of carrying a TQ as, "it's better to have one and not need it..." But the thing that this really does solidify is that a good guy with a gun is the most important tool to have.
Study of Wounds in Civilian Mass Shooting Fatalities: Few Who Die Could Have Been Saved - The Truth About Guns
Additional findings...
In total, based on responses from medical examiners, a total of 12 mass public shooting events were analyzed in the study. A total of 139 fatalities with 371 total wounds were examined by the investigators. The key results from the study were as follows:
- There was an average of 2.7 wounds associated within the group of fatalities
The case fatality rate for civilian mass shootings was 44.6% (compared to approximately 10% during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as reported in other studies).- 58% of all victims (with fatal and non-fatal wounds) had at least one wound to head or chest/upper back
- 20% (28/139) of all wounds were to the extremity, of which none were deemed to be fatal
- 77% of all fatal wounds were identified in the head or chest/upper back.
In total, only 9 of the 125 fatalities or roughly 7% (14 excluded given absence of autopsy data) were determined to be potentially survivable- The most common survivable injury was a wound to the chest (89% of all survivable injuries) without obvious evidence of vascular or cardiac injury
- There was 100% agreement between the reviewers of the study regarding potential survivability of injuries