Crush injuries affect people all over the country every day, and yet they do not get a lot of media attention due to their often brutal nature.
Because these injuries can happen to anyone, it is important for people to understand more about them.
Most common victims of crush injuries
Up To Date talks about the impact of crush injuries on a victim. In essence, crush injury incidents occur at any point in which a person’s body, or parts of their body, get pinned, crushed, smashed, run over or otherwise flattened by a heavy and/or large object. These incidents are most common among construction or factory workers because of their proximity to heavy machinery and equipment, but they can happen to anyone.
Crush injuries typically involve either the trunk or the extremities. In some instances, such as the collapse of a building during an earthquake, a victim may suffer crush injuries to multiple parts of the body.
Extremity and torso crush injuries
With extremity crush injuries, such as injuries to the hands or feet, the biggest issues revolve around cell and tissue death due to a lack of oxygen. Many people who suffer from these injuries are at risk for necrosis, gangrene, and other infections that could lead to amputation or even sepsis.
On the other hand, crush injuries to the torso often result in problems that could lead to organ failure as organs attempt to make up for the lost efficiency in other parts of the body and overwork themselves.
In either case, these are severe injuries that result in equally severe repercussions, and could potentially lead to death if not treated quickly and well.