Firearm Related Deaths in Lahore A Need for Efficient Emergency Services

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to know the areas of body most likely to be injured in firearm related deaths, the organs injured in such a situation, the survival time after these injuries and the cause of death in firearm related deaths. 240 deaths caused by firearm weapons were evaluated for the above purpose during a twelve-year period. It was found that an increasing number of people were dying of multiple shots and lesser and lesser number of people were able to reach the hospital following such an injury. The area of the body most frequently involved, in order of frequency was the chest, the head and the abdomen in deaths due to single as well as multiple shots. The organs most frequently injured in multiple shot deaths were the lungs and major blood vessels. In deaths due to a single shot death was most often caused by injury to the solid organs (lungs, liver and kidney) followed by the brain, heart and major vessels in that order.