It's becoming a "thing"
Crusty (that would be me) has noticed a trend in penetrating trauma as of late. Penetrating trauma in the sense of the GSW. This trend is far from empirical and purely anecdotal on my part. It comes from what I have been told about and seen over the last several weeks.
This new "thing" in GSW is male pts being shot in the genitals. I can think of 4 off the top of my head in the last several weeks. Now before you readers start saying "Well Crusty obviously a very angry female must have shot this guy in his cock and balls." I will tell you in these cases that you are very wrong. This particular subset of penetrating trauma is not because of some angry female but due to gang violence.
I have been told by people in the know that certain high ranking gang members are wearing Kevlar vests now, that people who want to be the high roller say they wear a vest even if they don't wear one. So because for whatever reason one gang member gets angry with another and they assume the other is wearing a kevlar vest they aim for the genitals.
Smart yet VERY mean spirited.
Yes I know getting shot is in itself mean spirited but jeez to get shot in the genitals intentionally is just harsh. These bullet wounds despite the caliber can be rather damaging because of the soft tissue involved. Also if you are male and see this injury it does as a part of male nature makes you cringe.
I was also told that this is a way to avoid a bigger charge if the shooter gets caught. Makes sense but really I'm no lawyer so I cannot speak to it directly. Seems to me if you point a weapon at a person and pull the trigger no matter where they get hit at that it's gonna be an attempt murder charge from the get go.
Also those of us who work in this business and have the most basic knowledge of A&P know that here are some real important vessels in that region that if they are damaged that the entire volume of blood in the body can be lost very quickly unless there is serious diesel bolus from EMS followed by bright lights and cold steel therapy by a trauma surgeon.
Just some thoughts on the GSWs I've seen or talked about as of late.
